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 Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:18 pm
Lilah sat in the front row, her legs crossed so that one ankle lay over the other, and she leaned forward, both palms flat on the floor between her legs. The man upfront was a very attractive store worker (although at this age, Lilah didn't notice this yet, all she could see and here were the words he was reading).
Although his voice sounded bored (after all, this was his third story time in a row. Wasn't it someone elses turn??), Lilah hung on every word. The story was about seven brothers, each who had their own special talent.
He was on Fourth Brother, who had bones of iron! Lilah's mouth formed a little 'o'. What would happen to him, when the Emperor tried to drop him in the sea??
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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:24 pm
Distractions distractions. Surely there was something to entertain little Vance while Donovan did some more errand running in the mall? As if it was Fate itself, and opportunity arose. There seemed to be some sort of event going on for children. Perfect.
Donovan left Vance in the care of the volunteers, planning to come back before it was all done. Vance sat with his legs out in front of him, his palms on the ground behind him as he watched the person read a story. What was this story? Vance had walked in part way, and he had never heard it before. He shifted a bit, looking around at the other kids. Did they know?
It was then he spotted someone, who somehow looked familiar. He decided he would ask this girl based solely on the fact she seemed a little familiar.
Vance crawled over as discreetly as he could, then tugged on the girl's clothes with his mitted hand. "What happened?" He asked in a hushed voice.
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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:36 pm
The man was turning the page, taking longer than he really needed to, trying to give himself a break (and maybe torture the children a tiny bit), but in the end was really only prolonging his own suffering. Taking the opportunity, Lilah started to answer, before she turned towards the oddly familiar voice.
"Well, dey are all brothers, who are special, and the first one helped finish something called the "Great Wall" in one night and this "Emperor" guy is scared about how stwong he is, and so is trying to-" She finally had turned to look at him.
She knew she had changed a little. As if over night, she had gotten taller, tanner and freckled. She had started to wear her hair up, and instead of a big pink dress, was in a very girly skirt and shirt.
He, however, looked the same as he did that strange night that she dreamed him up. Lilah couldn't help it.
She screamed, a loud happy, excited scream and threw her arms around him, almost falling over (even though she was sitting).
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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:43 pm
Vance watched girl with his large red eyes as she spoke. He knew that voice, but where had he heard it... He listened to her explanation intently, taking in all he'd missed.
But then, she stopped, and pounced him in a manner he had not been expecting. He let out a grunt as he was hugged, slightly taken aback by the scream.
Wait... it was her! "Lilah!" He squealed happily, returning the hug with one of his own. "I thought I dreamed you!" So it wasn't a dream? Did he really get magically transported to a candy world? Dang... now he wanted to know how to get back!
For now though, he would concentrate on playing with Lilah. He was so happy she was real!
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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:54 pm
The reader 'aHEM-ed' loudly, staring at the pair. Dammit, this story time was just getting worse and worse. And he was only halfway through! The other kids weren't paying attention now, some watching Lilah and Vance curiously, others 'shush!'ing them to get them to shut up so the man could finish.
"But I dweamed YOU up!" she said, shaking her head. It seemed when she got overly excited, she still had some issues with all of her pronunciation of letters.
He was glaring at them now, but a volunteer helper had already made her way to the front, to escort the two to the back of the group, hopefully out of hearing range. Lilah followed, too excited to be a little bit embarrassed about being led away. She grabbed Vance's hand as she followed the lady to the back.
"Why were you in my dreams?" she asked, finally lowering her voice to just above a whisper.
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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:04 pm
Vance hardly noticed the huffy story teller, or the other kids shushing them. Lilah had a way to keep your attention, especially since she seemed so excited. "You did?" Then it was her fault! Maybe she had special transportation powers. Did she know how to get back to candy land? He really liked it there.
Vance got up when they were ushered to the back of the group, his mitten-clad hand clasping Lilah's as she took it. He looked at her with a confused face at her question, quirking a brow. "Why? I thought you said you did it?" Boy, he was sure confused! "I'unno. I woke up in there, then I woke up at home." Wasn't that how dreams worked? He didn't have many, but that one stood out.
"Does that mean Candy Land isn't real?" He asked tilting his head side to side mournfully.
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Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:47 pm
Lilah shrugged. "I'unno. I just showed up there too. Maybe it's real?" It'd sure be nice if it was real! She smiled a little, at his confusion. She had only meant she though that she had dreamed him up, not that she had pulled him into the dream world...What if she HAD though? She'd have to look into that one.
The volunteer had walked off, leaving them alone now. Lilah couldn't hear the story anymore (but that was ok! She had it at home anyway), so she assumed that meant that they couldn't hear her either.
"So you're totally real," she said, as though it still hadn't sunk in. "You look the same, though," she said, looking at him then looking at herself. She seemed to have age. Was she weird?! (There was an obvious answer to that one...)
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Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 7:12 am
So then that world made of candy could be real after all? Vance let out a happy sigh, a brief and dreamy look in his eyes. One day he would find that world. Then he would have to stock up on the candy and hide it from his dad. He'd only try and take it away, saying it would spoil his dinner. Psssh.
"Of course I'm real!" He squeaked, putting his hands on his hips. What could be more real than him? He knew he was real, as far as he knew.
The same? True enough. Lilah seemed to be taller. "How'd you get tall?" He asked curiously. He'd tried this conversation with Deimos too when he met him. Apparently it was possible, but just how was it done? It obviously couldn't be the candy. If only it were that easy. Lilah seemed to have changed, but Vance was still the same?
"I wanna be tall too!" He exclaimed with a look of determination, his hands balled into fists by his chest.
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Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:38 pm
The blond child shook her head. "I dunno!" she answered. "I just woke up one day and I was big! Maybe you have to just wait for it to get you?" Lilah stretched out her legs in front of her. "The night before, my legs felt funny, and my arms too."
Lilah fiddled with the fabric flower in her hair. She was still having trouble understanding how they had ended up in a dream world together. Maybe her momma would know, she'd have to ask later.
"How long after did you stay in the CandyLand?" she asked curiously. "Did the King let you eat anything else??" Lilah had been sad that she hadn't gotten to return with the King to the land he ruled.
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Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:48 pm
The green haired boy tilted his head and crossed his arms. So that was it? Vance would just have to wait patiently to be big. How boring! He would just have to complain to Mr. Bear.... where was Mr. Bear!? Oh N---Oh right! They left him at home to guard his pudding! Right right..
Vance straightened up again when he was asked a question. He puffed his cheeks and shook his head. "I didn't get to eat anything! The King was gonna take us back to the Candy Kingdom, but then I woke up!" He squeaked unhappily. "And then Daddy told me I couldn't have candy for breakfast even though I said please." And after all that dreaming of candy too. What a tease of a dream! He eventually got candy later in the day.... after apologizing for throwing a huge fit in the morning when Donovan had told him no candy for breakfast. He wouldn't be doing that again! Definitely no. Tantrums were bad.
Vance looked over at the other kids as most of them listened to the story time some more. He wasn't jealous of them. He was having much more fun with Lilah. He could get his dad to read him stories at home... did they even have any story books? They always just watched TV.
"How come they got story books? Where'd they get them?" He asked, referring to the adults up front. Those books looked colorful and fun. All Donovan ever got for Vance was toys. He had a couple books, but not many. "I never knew these stories. I only know The Three Little Pigs." Vance liked that book. Donovan always made silly voices with it.
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Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:55 pm
Lilah shook her head in disbelief. "He didn't let you have any candy for BREAKFAST?" she asked. "But that's the best TIME for it!" Cereal was pretty much just cardboard and sugar, right? What difference did it make if you were eating that or candy? She remembered when Maggie hadn't bought her any candy, and then somehow (she still wasn't sure how...) a candy apple had appeared on the window sill. It had ended badly...
Lilah stared at Vance incredulously. She was already reading books that Maggie said were "classics" (she wasn't sure what made them classics), like Pinocchio and A Christmas Carol, but she also still read the kinds of things that the adult up front was reading, the story books.
"Don't you have any books?" she asked curiously. "We've got a whole libary of them!" Momma had said that the room didn't appear until after Lilah arrived, but she was ok with that. It was right next to her room, even!
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Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:15 am
"See?! You get it!" Vance exclaimed over the outrage of not getting his candy in the morning. Geez, at least Lilah had some sense. All this time he thought he'd been in the wrong! That sneaky father must have been keeping the candy for himself! Tricky...
"I do got a book. The piggy one." He said to the girl, referring to the Three Little Pigs book. "All the other books are daddy books. They have lots of words in them, and they smell like the garage. I got in trouble cause I tried to color in the picture of the car." The books he was referring to were Donovan's car manuals, which he used to repair various models of vehicle. A big no no it was to try and color in them.
"Maybe Daddy will get me more little kid books if I ask him... what ones should I get?" He asked enthusiastically, deeming Lilah the storybook master.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:14 pm
Lilah nodded enthusiastically. Of course she got it. "Grownups are silly," she summed up. When SHE was a grown up, she'd have candy EVERY day!
She giggled a little. "Momma says she can't get mad at me for doing things I'm not 'apposed to do, cuz I don't know any better and she has to remember to tell me things that are bad but always forgets." The blond paused. "And I'm 'way too cute!' " It was probably a terrible way to raise a child, but Maggie was always trying her best.
Lilah thought for a moment. Well, SHE liked the princess-y stories. But maybe Vance wouldn't. If he liked the piggy story...
"Oh, there's one about these...funny named goats. They're called the Billy Goats Gruff, but I'm not sure why. But it's about them and a big ol' troll under a bridge who's trying to EAT them!" Who would want to eat a GOAT though? Ew.
She thought again. "Well, it's a princess story, but there's one about a princess and a frog, that I just heard about. I haven't found it in our lib'ary yet, but it sounds cool!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:41 pm
Wow, Lilah's mom sounded so nice! Vance wished he could get away with everything. So not fair! She was probably allowed to draw on the walls too! Geez, she got to have all the fun.
The story about goats and a troll got the boy's attention, lighting up and smiling. "Really? Oooh! I wanna read it!" He furrowed his brow and lowered his eyes, nodding to himself. Remember goats! He thought. Goats and trolls...
Vance looked surprised about this other book, his interest piqued. "A frog?" He said with a smile, balling his hands into fists excitedly. "There's a story about frogs? And Princesses?" Super! This book could be research for his hunt for princesses that Levi sent him on! If he could find out where the princesses were hiding, the lord of the Ocean would be proud of him! And apparently, this book had frogs, so maybe it would be something only he could do!
Vance bounced a bit and looked up expectantly at Lilah. "We gotta find the books!"
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:25 pm
"We gotta!" she agreed. She looked up and pointed about to a store about 25 feet away, a bookstore. "They'd have stuff, only..." She made a face, chewing a little on her bottom lip.
"Only, Momma checked me in...And I think that means they won't let us leave easily." She grinned, almost conspiratorially. "We'll have to bust out!"
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