“Clearly it was put there. Probably by a crane or something.”

“Probably,” I responded with a hum, tilting on the back of my heels. “But what if it sprouted there?”

My companion stopped in her tracks with a judgmental stare. “It did not.”

I smiled. “Well no, probably not, but what if it did?”

“But it didn’t.”

“But Maybe,” I added with emphasis to the word, “it did.”

Her eyebrow twitched. That was all I needed to know. I’d managed to get under her skin again. It was all I could do to keep the smile on my face from turning into a big grin. She scowled. Apparently, I’d failed.

“It would make no sense for a house to just sprout there, like that on a ledge, none-the less!” she added with a flourish of her hand. “In fact, it doesn’t make sense for a house to sprout at all!”

“Really?” I tilted my head with a puzzled look while she fumed. “I mean, I don’t see why a house sprouting from the ground is any stranger than a plant sprouting from the ground.”

“Excuse me?” I laughed, the look on her face had gone from fury to genuine concern for my mental health in seconds. I continued.

“I mean honestly, have you never thought how strange it is that a living plant sprouts from a seed and pushes through the ground?” She narrowed her eyes with distrust.

“No, I don’t see how that’s strange. In fact, we studied plants in my science class the other day.”

“Hmm. Well let’s try the other angle then. Let’s say it was dropped there -“

“It WAS.”

“well, don’t you think it’s strange that it fell?”

I must have grown another head with a stranger face than the one I had if her look was anything to go by. “No! Of course that’s not strange! That’s normal!”

“Is it?” I mused. “Is it really normal for something to fall? What if the normal was actually to float - to not fall. Maybe earth is the odd planet out. Maybe things were never meant to fall, but now they do. In fact, what it-“ I stopped, I had clearly lost her, but she no longer looked mad. Instead, it seemed she really was trying to figure it out. What if floating buildings WERE normal? I laughed. “Alright, kiddo. Let’s go on and get your ice cream.”

And just like that, the spell was broken. “Aw come-on! I’m not a kid!” She whined. “Ugh, why do you have to be so weird!”

I laughed again, skipping along the beaten down sidewalk like the adult I was. “Being like everyone else is over-rated. Now come on! They’re closing soon!”

Her face paled and with one last look at the house, she darted off toward the ice cream shop. “Last one there is a rotten egg!” She called back.

I huffed out in amusement and looked back at the house, still balancing precariously on the roof. It really was convincing. I turned and followed slowly after cousin, letting my hand naturally drift to my ear. “You can turn it off now. Thank you, it worked splendidly.”

“Yes ma’am.” The voice cackled over my earpiece. And then, hesitantly, “May I ask… how was that helping with the war effort?”

“Yes, ask all you like. My answer will remain unknown to you however.”

“Yes, ma’am. Of course ma’am. Good day.”

The earpiece turned off and I hummed, enjoying the simple moments. Watching people amble through the streets, and getting to prank my favorite little cousin. Ahh, such moments were truly a blessing.