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 Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 12:58 pm
It was a late afternoon in the busy shopping centre. People bustled from shop to shop, plastic bags rustled with packages to be taken home, notices of sales in various shops were overheard by screaming women who feverishly ran between shops, and shouts of protest from bored children were heard from left, right and center.
In all the bustle, a toddler stood beside a toyshop window, bright pink nose cushioned against the glass. She was clad in her pink leotard dance gear (complete with matching pale cream arm warmers, and leg warmers - Klia had insisted on the colours), something her Mother had promptly bought her after her first few lessons, and around one wrist was a huge wrist-tag complete with her details.
Her huge green eyes followed the train in the shop window, followed it up the steep hill, through the tunnel, through the heard of sheep, and back again.
It was fascinating, she'd never seen such an interesting contraption. Edwin's young mind boggled at the steam escaping from the tiny engine, the way the wheels moved so fluidly on the plastic tracks- how, why, when, where- there were so many questions about how it worked, and seemingly no one to ask.
"Oooh," She whispered in awe as the sleek engine ducked behind a hill, spreading her fingers out like a starfish on the glass.
Clearly, she had not noticed the lack of her guardian, or if she had: she was far too interested in the train to care.
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:22 pm
Carlisle sometimes ran errands separate from the family when they went to the mall. Actually, his aunt was off ignoring the booming beats coming from a Hollister as best she could while ensuring the baby ate. He'd been jettisoned to go find earrings for little Sara (he had a picture, since he couldn't quite read yet) but somewhere along the way he'd gotten sidetracked. He was watching the progress of people through the thoroughfare, fascinated by the variety inherent in Gaian society- there was an angel, and a cat-girl, and a... What the heck was that?
He gave up and turned around, intending to reorient himself and go find a store where he might find- he looked at the photo again -well, earrings. Of some sort. They were pretty but he didn't really like them, because well wasn't Sara only a baby? Speaking of babies, there was one right over there. In a leotard and what looked like detached sleeves to his untrained eye; she had bright red, almost magenta hair, and (this is what bothered him) she was alone. Everyone around her kept moving and she stayed still- there wasn't a parent or a guardian anywhere in sight.
For a moment, he was conflicted. A little girl was all alone, but he had to get these earrings and then get back to his aunt. But there was a little girl, alone, in a crowded mall! Chivalry won out, and Carlisle hurried across the way to crouch next to the little redheaded child. "Hey there," he said, loud enough to be heard but hopefully not enough to startle; she looked entranced by something, and he looked up at the train. He had no head for maths but it was a truly realistic toy, so he thought he understood her fascination with the little thing. He continued, "Are you all right..." A tag caught his eye, and he couldn't read it too well so he paused for nearly a minute to decipher what he thought must be her name. Then he continued, sounding it out- "...Ed-win?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:41 pm
Was he talking to her? Did he not know she was watching the train! Edwin was about to turn around, and huff at her Mother, but instead of brown furry paws and fluffy tails, before her was a young boy: with long black hair to boot. Her fingers stayed smushed to the glass as she turned, large green eyes gazing up towards the lad: who was this!
What was even more dumbfounding was that he knew her name.
Mouth wide agape, she retracted one hand, pointing a thumb directly at her chest. Yes, she was Edwin.
The little girl studied him, from his glowing halo, to his long silky black hair: he did not look like anyone suspicious. Her Mother had installed it in her to not talk to strangers, but this stranger knew her name: surely that made him not-a-stranger? It barely occurred to the rose that he'd found out her name from the tag hanging around one wrist.
"I Edwin," She repeated. Cocking her head to one side, she had questions of her own this time. "You?"
Then, just for good measure, she then pointed at the train. "Puffer train," She said with pride.
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:52 pm
She seemed like she was okay. Not hurt, anyway, which was a really important thing. He felt a bit better for that, but no way did he feel good enough to just muddle off now. Besides, if he did leave, he'd feel ashamed all day. Abandoning a helpless little girl was something he imagined Merroth would do. Heck, he imagined Merroth wouldn't have even noticed Edwin. (Wasn't that a boy name? None of his business, he decided; he'd met people named Sunshine Hope Destiny, and they were demons, so it wasn't his problem if someone forgot gender identity somewhere.)
"My name's Carlisle," he said, hoping that was the answer she was looking for. "Wha--" She kept going, and he followed her gesture to the train she'd been contemplating before. "Yeah," he agreed, "That's a pretty great train. It looks just like a real one," which was of course a lie. He'd feel bad about that later, but she seemed pretty happy with the train.
He watched the train for a minute, giving it all of his attention for a few go-rounds. Then he turned his gaze back to the girl and asked, "Hey, Edwin, do you know where your mom or dad is? You shouldn't be alone around here."
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:48 pm
Her face broke out into a smile as the toy rallied it's way over the hill, nodding vigorously to each of the older boy's comments. So, this train looked like a real one? Edwin had not had the luxury of seeing a real train yet, so she could only trust in what Carlisle had to say, and trust she would! The red and black markings, the way the plastic wheels turned: she committed it all to memory, oh, how she wanted to take it apart just the once. To figure out its very inner workings.
"Mummy?" Whilst the common sense of being alone occurred to her new friend, she knew little of the social 'norm' which was supposed to be taking place. Her large green eyes glanced from one side to the other, expecting Emi to jump out, or even Klia: the thought of losing one of them had not even crossed the rose's mind.
Peeling her hands away from her latest object of fascination, Edwin turned her full attention to Carlisle. Emi hadn't mentioned buying anything, or nothing she could remember, all she could remember was the beautiful train with it's steam that begged to be investigated. She slowly shook her head, reaching her chubby fingers out to grasp onto Carlisles.
"'Lisle has pretty hair," She said with a smile. Her Mother shortened her name all the time: and it was far easier than mumbling over larger words! If Carlisle had expected her to be anxious without her Mother, he had found the wrong child, whilst loosing Emi was a sticking point, currently he was far too interesting to be pulled from quite yet.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:15 pm
Well, at least she was an extraordinarily calm child. Carlisle canted his head away for a moment; did she have an accent? He couldn't tell that well, was pretty much insensitive to the variations of pronunciation. "Yes, I guess she's not here," he said, since the little girl seemed to not see her and turned back to him. When she grabbed his hand, he smiled and closed his fingers lightly around hers; easier, that way she couldn't get grabbed away. You never knew, around here.
"Thank you, yours is lovely, too," he answered, smiling without guile; he really meant what he said. "Is your mom's so pink?" Anything to get a clue as to where her parent was, or what she looked like. He stood up, looking around for someone resembling the girl; no one caught his eye, though. And then he glanced back inside the toy store. No one there, either, not that he expected. He didn't have much hope for Edwin herself telling him.
Since he couldn't find her mom, not here anyway, Carlisle decided his duty was to at least get her out of the thoroughfare. Or... they could go to the security desk? "Do you know what your mom's name is," he asked, keeping his smile on his face.
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