Ada looked at Lila excitedly. "What did you get?"
Lila pulled something out of her pocket. She showed it to Ada. "It's a bunch of pots you can put things in!" Ada smiled. She thought of all the food she didn't eat at the mealtimes, and decided it would be the perfect thing to store in her new pots. Lila set the pots on the dollhouse kitchen counter, and Ada walked over and picked them up.
The one she had picked up felt nice in her hands, sort of like her night dress. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling her night dress, like the pots, had come from outside. Everything that was from outside felt nicer to her somehow. She didn't know why.
Ada pulled on her blue skirt. She liked it, but it didn't feel as nice on her skin as her night dress. She looked up at Lila. "Thank you!"
That day, Ada went outside with Lila. They played in the pool for a bit, and then Lila let Ada walk around on the ground for a bit while her wings dried. Ada felt the softness of the grass and the dirt. She almost wished she lived outside, where things felt so nice. Suddenly, she stepped onto a slightly lower piece of ground. It was muddy, and Ada slipped and landed on her back. She rolled onto her front and tried to stand, but she slipped again and landed on her face.
"Lila!" Ada cried. "Help!"
She slipped again, this time muddying her hair. Now she was completely covered in mud. Her blue outfit was a brownish color, and her dark skin was splotched with lighter brown patches of mud. Her pretty hair was caked with mud, and the blue flower in it wasn't blue anymore. Her usually translucent wings were now an opaque brown. She lay motionless on the muddy surface, trying not to slip again.
Lila finally picked Ada up. "Ada!" she cried with a note of terror. "Are you alive?" Ada nodded and tried to sit up. Lila brought her into the house and went into her room. She set the fairy on the dollhouse bathroom floor and said, "I'll be back."
When Lila returned, she had a cup of water with her. She poured it into the tub in the dollhouse. Then she went out again.
Ada, curious, stood up and spit mud out of her mouth. Then she touched the water in the tub. It was cold. She shivered and tried to warm it up. Soon, Lila had returned holding a tall bottle of something.
"Ada, you need to take off your shirt and skirt," Lila said. Ada, try as she might, could not peel the mud-caked clothes off her body. Lila picked up the fairy and quickly unhooked the Velcro, then pulled the shirt off. She then pulled the skirt down over Ada's feet. Ada looked at herself and was happy to see that her skin that had been under her clothes was its normal dark chocolate color.
Lila set the dirty fairy face up in the tub. Ada shivered and tried to climb out, but Lila held her down. "It won't be for very long," she said.
Lila squirted something out of the bottle she had brought into the room. When she tried to put it onto Ada, the fairy tried to move over so as not to get it on her.
"It's okay, Ada, it's only shampoo," Lila said. "It's used for cleaning yourself." Ada relaxed and let Lila rub the shampoo all over her wings and body. It felt a bit strange, but Ada didn't mind much. Soon, Ada was squeaky clean. But you couldn't say that for her clothes. They were as dirty as ever, and Lila took them out of the room. She came back, and Ada looked at her. "What will I wear?" Ada asked.
Lila looked at Ada. Then she opened the plastic box she kept her dolls in and pulled out a large blue piece of cloth. She tied it around Ada and said, "You can wear this until your clothes are dried."
Ada sat down in a chair. The piece of cloth was very uncomfortable, but it was only for a little while. She smiled, her green eyes sparkling. Her hair and skin were back to their squeaky clean state, and she was happy.