"Eric!" Sookie yelled and ran towards me as I walked into the farm house. I went down on one knee and caught her in a hug. (No vampires were watching, so I could indulge myself.)

"How are you this evening, my loose lipped little friend?"I asked. She looked a little puzzled. "I don't mind your Gran knowing about me, but if anyone else thought I was a vampire, that could be very dangerous." Mostly for them.

"Sorry," Sookie said looking down at her feet. "I was just so excited to hear you were coming over."

"No harm done, this time. I am glad to see you too." I noticed Adele looking at her meaningfully.

"Oh. Thank you Eric for fixing it so I could live with Gran. Thank you very much." I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"My pleasure Sookie. I think there is something in my briefcase for you. Let me see." I made a show of rifling through things inside. "Ah yes, a book about a princess."

"A princess?" Sookie asked, with very little enthusiasm. "Does a prince save her?" Adele gave her a sharp look. "Oh, I'm sure it will be good if you picked it out."

"Actually, in this book, the princess saves herself and the prince from a dragon."

"Really?" There was the enthusiasm I was looking for.

"Yes, something a little unexpected. I will read it to you before I go. First, we have some work to do."

"Work?" Sookie asked.

"We are going to see if you can learn to block out people's thoughts. I was hoping your Gran would lend us a hand."

"Do you think I can really learn to do that? Maybe then people won't act like I'm crazy or be afraid of me anymore." No ambition to amaze the world with her telepathic powers, just the desire to blend in. Just the need to be accepted instead of being ridiculed or feared.

"Let's sit at the kitchen table, Sookie. Adele, you can just do what you normally do after supper. I will ask Sookie to tell me what you are thinking from time to time."

"I will just get started on these dishes then," Adele said with a smile, turning on the water at the sink.

"Sookie, I want you to hold my hand. Can you hear your Gran's thoughts now?"

"I can sort of hear a little hum. She is thinking something about prayers."

"Ok, concentrate on me and try to block out her thoughts completely."

She closed her eyes very tightly, then opened them very suddenly.

"Oh! I got so excited I forgot to con-cen-trate. Let me try again." More eye scrunching. Then I felt her slowly relax and a smile spread across her lips. She sat still for about ten minutes. I could have sat and watched her for hours.

"And?" she asked at last.

"How did that feel? What did you do?"

"I really like being alone in my head. It was kind of like pulling up a wall and holding it in place. The longer I hold it, the easier it is."

"Are you still holding it up? And talking?" Could she really be this amazing?

"Yes. Yes! Oh crap! I lost it again."

"Sookie," Gran said in a warning tone, though her eyes looked bit misty.

"Sorry, I meant to say OH NO!," Sookie corrected with an extra emphasis on the "oh no".

"That's better, young lady."

"Sookie, are you holding the wall up again?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Ok, try to lower is slowly and tell me what your Gran is thinking."

She frowned a bit, then looked across the room at Adele washing plates.

"Gran is thinking she wishes they hadn't stopped making her china pattern so she could replace the ones that broke. She got those dishes when she married Grandpa."

"Adele?" I asked.

"That is exactly what I was thinking." Clever lady. I am pretty sure that isn't what she was thinking shortly before that.

"Let's try again, shall we?"

Sookie almost fell asleep at the table. She kept wanting to try "just one more time." I read her the princess story and Adele asked me to wait for her on the porch while she tucked Sookie into bed. She joined me on the swing a few minutes later.

"Eric, I will sleep better tonight than I have in years. I can't thank you enough for taking an interest in my Sookie."

I basked in her appreciation for a few minutes. "We have a long way to go, but tonight does give me hope. " I rose to go. "Good night Adele. Thank you for being our guinea pig tonight." She smiled and blushed just a little. Once when I asked Sookie what her Gran was thinking, she was thinking about running her fingers through my hair. I had a good laugh and Adele turned a very lovely shade of red. The needlework she was doing suddenly became very interesting too. I was already looking forward to seeing them again. When was the last time I had looked forward to something?