The book Izzy found described a tea party for imaginary friends. She smiled as she read the directions on the next page:

“The three will come to have some tea. Make sure to set the table right, followed by the enchantment. The Red Gift is what they seek before they leave. Nothing else will satisfy.”

There was a white table inscribed with the square within a circle from the book. Each corner had a star with a different number of total points. Four wooden chairs topped with a teddy bear, a glass doll, and bunny with droopy ears. The last chair was for her. She gave them each a cup with tea and a biscuit, but kept questioning what the ‘Red Gift’ meant. She decided Red Chocolate Kisses.

Sitting at her corner, she read from the book, “Nosferatu Necrofelious Liminality!”

The shadows from the room seemed to move. They crawled across the floor until they poured themselves into the mouths of the toys. The eyes of the three become red. The bunny’s ears moved toward tea cup and grabbed it by its handle, pulling it to its mouth, now real. The doll and the bear stared each other in the face before eyeing the girl.

“Welcome to my tea party! I hope everyone here likes tea and biscuits.”

The doll looked down at the tea and chocolate kiss. Her words played in a high pitch. “Where is the Red Gift, little girl?”

The bear fell backwards laughing, stopping only to say, “You realize we were summoned by a five year old. You are five, right?”

“Four and a half, thank you very much, but it’s not proper to ask a lady’s age.” Looking at the three, Izzy took a sip of tea. “I’ve called you here today to have polite talk and drink tea.”

The bear stood and got back on the chair. “Yea, yes—tea, that’s what we’re here for, isn’t that right, Ba’al?”

The bunny emptied his cup. “She’ll do.”

“Don’t you dare, or I’ll send you back to the pit.” The bear took a sip from the cup. “Now what’s the topic of conversation.”

The little girl cleared her throat. “What’s everybody’s favorite color?”