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 Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:13 am
It had been really cold lately. Really cold. Sylvester certainly wasn't a fan of it. But today was much better. It was nearly spring-like, the perfect kind of weather to be outside in! Today was just like the day he'd been born, or at least he imagined it to be. That whole day was kind of a blur, but not the kind of blur being babysat or going to the eye doctor had been. Those kinds of blurs sucked, but Sylvester didn't think being born had sucked. He walked at a steady clip, happy to pursue this runaway train of thought until it crashed.
Shiny. There was something shiny in the alley. He stopped, not twenty feet away from the door of the shop, and glared at the mysterious flickering. That was a really dark alley, and with Smerdle a couple of blocks away at the pawn shop, Sylvester really didn't want to investigate further. Nope, not at all.
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 12:44 pm
For obvious reaons, Onoway was a very quiet girl. Combine that with how lightly she walked, and it was easy to believe she snuck up on people without even meaning to. This was one of those times.
The butterfly stopped behind Sylvester, peering at the 'flicker' with slight interest. Onoway tried to not wander about the unknown. After all, curiousity killed the cat, hm? Finally, she spoke in his voice, flatly, "What are you looking at?" Maybe he at least knew what it was?
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 2:08 pm
Well, that was certainly unexpected. Sylvester started at the sound of his own voice coming out of what seemed like thin air, but he was proud to notice he wasn't as frightened as he might have been a couple of months ago. Maybe he was braver or something! Or maybe it was because he only knew two people who could talk like he did - Onoway, and... well... himself.
"Oh hey, Onoway," he said, turning around slightly to address her before looking back down the alley. He squinted. "I don't know." Whatever it was flickered again, and then it was gone. This was stupid. He looked at Onoway again. "Were you on the way to the Stationery Store? 'Cause I don't think I was." He had definitely wanted to go someplace other than here, he just didn't know of any.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:47 pm
The other Tale stared at him briefly, then for a few more seconds made no motion aside from blinking. In her sisters voice, as people tended to react oddly to her having a boys (she knew he wouldn't, it had just become habbit), she answered, "Yes, I had planned to."
With the glimmer gone, even she couldn't prevent being curious. Sure, she was a very calm, polite little girl. But she was still a little girl, a child. Unfortunately, a glance toward where the flicker had been brought up nothing. "Did you just plan to wander...?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:01 am
"Nah, Mama told me to wait in there for her, like always," he said. "But we could go in there any day. You ever been to the park?" he asked. Sylvester was admittedly a little nervous about intentionally breaking the rules for the first time in his life, but it was really too nice of a day to waste inside. "We could come back before anyone noticed," he added. He knew his own punishment would be less than severe, but he also remembered Noharu. Or Noharu's voice, at least.
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 4:05 pm
"Once, I met others like us there," she answered him. People tended to be intimidated by Noharu, and some would even avoid her "children" because of her. But she hadn't thought too much about using her voice scaring people. "If you would like, I would be glad to go with you."
Going there sounded much better than visiting some store anyway...
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:07 pm
"Really? Maybe there'll be some of us there today." Sylvester had only ever met other Tales near the store or at the get-togethers the Authors seemed to always be planning.
He started walking toward the end of the block, leaving enough room on the sidewalk for Onoway to walk beside him. "So, how've you been? D'you have any new voices?" He didn't mean to pry, but he thought being able to talk in someone else's voice for a while would be one of the coolest things ever.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:46 pm
"Perhaps," Onoway said softly. To some extent, she was glad she could use others voices instead of having her own, because she guessed it would've been very boring!
The small girl smiled lightly at the question. It was nice to have some interest in the power, if you chose to call it that. It made her feel a bit less weird talking about it so casually. "Yes," she answered. "About three. Would you like to hear them? One of them is very mean, though--meaner than Noharu!"
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:49 am
"Oh yeah, sure!" Sylvester said, perhaps a bit more excited than the situation warranted. He imagined that a talent like hers would really come in handy if she ever wanted to do voices for cartoons. Not that she probably did.
He stopped at the corner of the block and looked both ways before stepping into the street.
Back in the alley next to the shop, a strange portal opened, filling the small space around it with a pale blue light. A man stepped out, muttering to himself. He brushed off his coat and picked up a glittering snowglobe from the top of a nearby garbage can.
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:11 pm
After a light laugh (the only kind her sisters voice provided), she took a deep breath and made an angry face. "My name's Akilah and I hate everything!" And, indeed, such an angry voice much more so than Noharu's, as she had said, did lead one to believe the original speaker hated everything. Or close to it.
The girls wings fluttered absently as she two glanced from one side of the street to another, then followed her fellow Tale.
Little did she know that shining thing had provided a few seconds interest was more than just that...
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:11 pm
Such a horrible voice coming out of such a small, calm girl like Onoway was a definite shock. "Wow," Sylvester said, his mouth left hanging open in surprise for a moment. "I don't think I'd want to meet that person ever! And they just gave their voice to you? It sounds like you would've had to take it from them." He knew she really couldn't, but still.
He reached the opposite side of the street and stopped. "Well, I guess this is it." The park was fairly full, not surprising considering the weather. Sylvester started toward an empty bench, not able to immediately think of any rides that wouldn't pose a problem to either his neck or her wings.
The man down the street stepped out onto the sidewalk proper and looked around for any sign of the kid. He squinted. There. And a... butterfly? Were they all animals? Weird. He began to follow, still a good distance away.
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:37 pm
Onoway glanced over at him. She could see where one would think that, and her cousin definately wasn't someone she'd want to meet in a dark alley like the one they'd been staring at not very long ago. "Actually, she gave it to me," the Tale explained, in her calmer voice. "She hoped that it would help scare people away from my sister, she likes her. Neither of us are strong, though."
A soft wind picked up, and her wings twitched. "Yes, it is," she agreed, shifting uncomfortable. She couldn't place why, but suddenly she felt very... uneasy. Ignore it, you're just paranoid, her mind said.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:02 pm
"Well, now that we're here, there doesn't seem to be much to do, does there?" Sylvester said. All of the fun things were surrounded by loud children, and there was no way he would ever ask other kids to move. He bent his legs for a second and jumped onto the bench, content to sit and watch until something interesting presented itself.
Something interesting was certainly on its way. The man was across the street now, and he approached the two children with purposeful strides. He stopped behind the bench and tapped Sylvester on the shoulder.
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 7:35 pm
Onoway, as always, agreed with a mere nod. Actually, she was sure if they asked some of the other children they'd let them take part in whatever game they were playing. She understood not everyone approached strangers so easily.
Speaking of...
So she had been right. But this stranger didn't seem like a potential friend, at least not at the moment. In a very, very rare turn of events, Onoway's eyes narrowed in a glare darker than any little girl should be able to use. "Who are you?" she demanded, and suddenly her sister's voice didn't sound as soft-spoken as before.
Hey, who could blame her? Noharu had told her kid strangers were alright, but adult strangers... not so much.
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Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:37 pm
After a sharp intake of breath, Sylvester turned around to look at the strange man. His mother had told him nothing about keeping away from anyone in particular, but his own natural fear and wariness had him on edge. He might have remained silently staring forever if Onoway hadn't asked the guy who he was. And in such an ominous tone too. Sylvester was glad it wasn't directed at him.
"Tim. Uh... I'm Tim," the man said. "Look, I didn't mean to upset you," he said to the butterfly Tale. He turned to Sylvester, a smile creasing the skin around his eyes. "Don't you remember me?"
Hmm, no. "A little," Sylvester said. He figured it was best to lie in this case, rather than make a large, happy man upset.
"You bit me, man!" Tim said excitedly. "And sent me away to another world! It was really great. I wanted to thank you, just like you said I would." He continued smiling and nodding at the kids until he began to come to the conclusion that they had no idea what he was talking about.
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