The old man suspended the tiny cage in a small anteroom behind the counter at his shop.
"There you'll stay," the old man said, "for the time being."
"I have rights! Constitutional rights!" Jeff sputtered in outrage.
"So sue me," the old man smirked and gave the cage a little twirl. As he listened to the little fairy-boy's shrieks, he moved to a phone on the wall and called one of his best customers.
"Is this Harris?" The old man spoke into the phone.
As the spinning cage slowed, Jeff put his hands around two of the enclosing bamboo bars to steady himself.
"I have something you might enjoy," the old man said and listened for a moment. "Yes, it will be expensive, but we can discuss a payment plan."
The old man steadfastly refused to answer questions or supply more information once the call ended. To Jeff's pleading inquiry he said only, "You'll see." He then drew the curtain across the anteroom doorway, leaving the fairy-boy in a gloomy seclusion.
Twenty minutes later, the bell on the front door chimed and a heavy set guy wearing an Aquaman tee-shirt entered the establishment. "Ah, Harris," the old man said, glancing at his watch. "That did not take you very long.
Harris Danforth, a graduate student in medieval history, was a nerd. But he was a nerd that took pride in all of his nerdish interests and accomplishments. He and his friends no longer subscribed to the notion that being a nerd was uncool.
"What do you have?"
"It's in the storage room," the old man said, drawing back the curtain. "Take a look."
Jeff, who had been waiting curiously to see the other person, lost his nerve when a guy not much older than himself pushed his face right against the cage. "What the hell is it?"
"I must tell you?" The old man joked.
"It looks like a fairy!"
"If it looks thus, a fairy it must surely be," the old man said.
"Help!" Jeff squeaked. "Don't listen to that old fool. He tricked me! I'm a student at Barrie Academy and..."
"He stole from me, but he didn't realize what he had stolen," the old man interrupted.
Harris laughed appreciably. "I'm sure," he said as he ran stubby fingertips along the bamboo bars. "How much?"
Jeff listened in horror as the two men haggled over a price. "You drive a hard bargain," Harris said, but he relented. "You've got a deal if you throw in the cage."
The old man's face brightened. "That's why you are my best customer, Mr. Danforth."
"You can't sell me!" Jeff objected.
Harris handed over his debit card.
"Now, mind you, keep him in the cage," the old man instructed. "He can fly. I suppose you could clip his wings..."
"No, never," Harris said. "That would decrease his value. I have another idea for keeping him under control."
The transaction finished, Harris reached for the cage. "Come on," he said. "Time to get you home."
"Goodbye," the old man said, looking at the cage and its tiny occupant.
For the next twenty minutes, Harris entertained himself listening to Jeff's endless pleas for help and self-serving account of falling victim to the old man.
Harris knew the old man's scrupulous nature. He would never have done something to an innocent person, so he knew the story of Jeff having stolen from the old man to be true.
When he finally stopped his car, Jeff finished in exasperation. "So! Are you going to let me go or what?"
Harris walked from the car to his apartment, without answering. Jeff looked through the bamboo bars and saw a place decorated with plastic spacecraft models, action figures, and shelf after shelf of books and comics.
Without a word, Harris opened the cage and grabbed Jeff with his thick fingers. With his other hand, he reached into a drawer and removed a teeny-tiny collar.
He smiled. "I knew this might come in handy again after those experiments with Mr. Pinky."
"You're squeezing me," Jeff complained. "And who is Mr. Pinky?"
"Mr. Pinky was a little white lab mouse, may he rest in peace," Harris said, concentrating on the task at hand. Soon enough, he had the tiny collar strapped around his fairy's neck. His last action was to snap in place a tiny padlock.
He then released Jeff. In his surprise, Jeff hovered in place, scattering fairy dust.
"I am sure you'll be tempted to leave, but don't."
Jeff saw an open window above the kitchen sink. He looked back at Harris, who now held a small device in his hand.
He made his choice and flew toward the window.
Harris pressed a button on the device and zapped the unfortunate fairy with enough voltage to produce an explosion of fairy dust. With a pained scream, Jeff crashed into a sink filled with soapy water and dirty dishes.
When Harris rescued the bedraggled fairy-boy, he explained. "At night, you will sleep in your cage," he said. "The rest of the time, you can fly free. But if you try to escape or disobey..." He lifted the zapper in front of Jeff's face.
"No! Please, no!" Jeff begged, remembering the pain from the nasty electric jolt.
"That's much better," Harris said and took time to admire the naked little fairy-boy.