As she leaned against the counter in the kitchen in a pair of scrubby blue-jeans, enjoying a Pepsi between packing boxes, the doorbell rang. Ears pricking, she set the can aside and padded to the door to open it, only to be greeted by a Fed-Ex truck snoring away down the street.
Looking down, there was a small parcel sitting on her doorstep that had been addressed to her. It was wrapped up impossibly-tightly in a labyrinth of various packaging tapes and covered with stickers warning the carrier not to shake it, not to drop it, not to even breathe on it if it could be avoided.
The foxcoon stood there for a moment in puzzlement, wondering what it could be. As far as she could remember, she hadn't bought anything on Ebay lately and it was still far too early for Christmas gifts to be arriving (she hoped, anyway...she hadn't even begun her shopping). Well, then what in the world...??
Picking up the box carefully, she brought it into the house and carried it into the kitchen with her. Well, first thing was first...find out what the hell was inside. Opening her silverware drawer, she retrieved a kitchen knife and began to gingerly slice away at the layers of tape.
"Whatcha got there, aunt Karma?" a young voice from behind her inquired. Not turning around, Karma continued her operation.
"I don't know yet, Zhane...." she murmured, freeing one of the box's flaps from the tape. "Unless your dad used my debit card to order something?"
"But he's got his own cards..." the golden-haired boy replied, cocking his head in a confused manner.
"That's what I thought." Karma nodded. "So, I really have no idea where this came from or who sent it..." Another layer of tape popped open as she sawed open the second box flap, releasing a sort of herbal smell from deep within the package. Intrigued, Zhane hovered closer to watch her unwrap the box in silence.
When the flaps had been freed and opened, she was greeted by a layer of bubble tape and packing peanuts that foamed over the sides of the box onto the countertop.
"Rrgh....I hate snowman turds..." she growled, making the child giggle. After a moment of digging, she finally found what she supposed was the shipped item. It stood about four inches high and was wrapped in a white piece of paper and....honestly, it seemed like an awful lot of packing for such a tiny thing.
"What is it?" Zhane asked eagerly.
"Getting to that..." Karma assured him, carefully unwrapping the paper from around the item, Inside was a tiny glass bottle with an impossibly-thin neck to which a small ornamental pinecone had been tethered with a bit of string. Inside, there were layers and swirls of beige, cream, and black sands.
"COOL!" the child proclaimed. "Can I see?"
"Only if you're careful with it." she told him warningly, gingerly handing over the ornamental bottle of sand. It was sad that she trusted Talonfaust's son more than her own with fragile items.
Zhane seemed mystified by the tiny glass artifact, holding it in his cupped palm and turning it over carefully to see all sides of it. It was...well, for lack of a better word, it was awesome. He'd never seen anything like it before!
While Zhane was occupied with the bottle, Karma finished unfolding the paper it had been wrapped in, finding that it was a piece of stationary with a letter printed on it. Smoothing the wrinkles and creases, she read it.
Quote:
To Karma,
Hope this letter finds you well. We had a bit of a housing issue with one of our most recent specimens at FtA. Since Vik and Kri have already done their thing with the ashes and the charm, the Hayeta is already manifesting as I write this and it needs a guardian.
Since we don't have space here at headquarters for another inhabitant, we pulled our records to see who had attended the last sale we'd held and your name came up. After some discussion, we decided the bottle would be sent to you.
Do NOT shake the bottle or upset the contents, do NOT remove the cork, and whatever you do, do NOT remove the affixed pine cone. All of these are very important for the Hayeta's development and even a slight upset could be disasterous.
If you have any questions, you know where to find me and I guess you know where to find FtA Headquarters as well since you made it to the sale. You can expect your new arrival in a couple of weeks to a month as that seems to be the norm of development.
They emerge fully able to speak, walk, and talk so be prepared to handle him/her.
Have fun!
~Puchi
Hope this letter finds you well. We had a bit of a housing issue with one of our most recent specimens at FtA. Since Vik and Kri have already done their thing with the ashes and the charm, the Hayeta is already manifesting as I write this and it needs a guardian.
Since we don't have space here at headquarters for another inhabitant, we pulled our records to see who had attended the last sale we'd held and your name came up. After some discussion, we decided the bottle would be sent to you.
Do NOT shake the bottle or upset the contents, do NOT remove the cork, and whatever you do, do NOT remove the affixed pine cone. All of these are very important for the Hayeta's development and even a slight upset could be disasterous.
If you have any questions, you know where to find me and I guess you know where to find FtA Headquarters as well since you made it to the sale. You can expect your new arrival in a couple of weeks to a month as that seems to be the norm of development.
They emerge fully able to speak, walk, and talk so be prepared to handle him/her.
Have fun!
~Puchi
Karma read over the letter several times and then heaved a deep sigh, turning it face-down on the countertop.
"What's wrong, aunt Karma?" Zhane asked, not looking up from the bottle he held.
"Its another child." she replied sullenly. "I just....I can't seem to get AWAY from them."
"A child?" Zhane asked, quirking a brow and peering closer at the bottle until his nose touched the glass. "It just looks like sand, though..."
"Well, apparantly its going to manifest into one." she explained, reaching out and gently taking the bottle from him to examine it herself. The glass seemed to be giving off a faint blue aura and, as she watched the tiny earth-toned grains, they seemed to vibrate ever-so-slightly with life.
It wasn't that she wasn't grateful to FtA for considering her, and would likely write them a long slobbering thank-you letter later that evening, but really...she'd spent the last few years raising kids and just wanted to reach a point where she was done. The idea of having another newcomer, even if it was a tiny one, didn't sit very well with her.
"I don't even know where I'm going to KEEP it..." she groaned aloud.
"Well...um...." Zhane faltered. "Well maybe I could take care of it...?"
Karma found the idea of someone else taking over instantly appealing, but found likewise that she had her reservations about it. Puchi had made it sound like whatever this thing was, it was very delicate. As in, too fragile to leave in the hands of a rambunctious young boy even if he DID mean well.
"I dunno, Zhane..." she said hesitantly.
"Well we're moving into a new house, right?" he pressed. "And its just gonna be me, mom, dad, Phae, Val and Codiene. And I'm getting my own room!"
"I know....I don't think space is exactly the issue, its just that I don't want to have to explain it to Puchi when you come crying to me with a broken bottle is all."
"I won't break it!" he assured her. "I'll keep it way up on my dresser where Phaerna can't reach it and I'll keep stuff away from it so nothing can fall on it."
"I think my biggest worry about it, Zhane, is that you're a little young to be a parent. I mean, something like this is a big responsibility...its not just a guinea pig that you throw food pellets and fresh water at once in awhile and you're good to go."
"Yeah, but aunt Karma, Phaerna's the one who wanted the guinea pig." he explained, as though this would resolve the issue. "It even gets to sleep in her room."
"Zhane, I--I dunno. Let me think about it, okay?" she relented.
"Okay!" he agreed, deciding that this was much better than a no.
"Good. Go help your dad finish packing up yours and your sister's stuff."
"Okay!" he said again, bolting from the kitchen to scramble back down the hallway and do as asked. Once he was gone, Karma turned full attention to the bottle and staring at it for a good five minutes as though she expected it to do something other than sit there.
She thought again about letting Zhane take over and bit her lip. Usually 'let me think about it' was just a stalling device toward an eventual no, but she decided that this time she really -would- invest some thought into the matter.
