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 Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2005 11:30 am
"Yo, Boss Lady?"
"What is it?"
There was a hesitant pause; then, "A comes before P, right?"
Silence.
"Yes, Angie. It does."
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:54 am
Today was not shaping up to be the greatest. First off, Angie had woken feeling extremely nauseous, and spent an hour or two in the bathroom; then, she overcooked breakfast and had to eat her own disaster (it was either that or the butler's cooking); then, she had tripped over a small dog on her way to work and pretty much bent herself out of proportion trying not to land on her stomach. She was, of course, yelled at by the dog's owner for not paying attention where she was walking, if the dog was hurt she'd have to pay its many medical bills, yada yada yada.
Angie had an intense dislike of small dogs at the moment.
"See Spot," she read flatly to a ring of small, drooling children sitting on a so-called 'enchanted carpet.' "See Spot run. See Spot run into the path of an somewhat obviously pregnant girl who is late to work. See Spot trip said girl with his chubby little body. See Spot's owner yell at the girl. See Spot roll on the ground in victory."
One of the children blinked sleepily.
"Run, Spot, run."
She glared at the books as she shoved them in their rightful places on the library's shelves. It was bad enough that she had begged Boss Lady to let her do storytime today, but then she had to go and tell the children all about how they should keep their dogs on leashes and be nice to soon-to-be-mothers, help them across the street, and what have you. Worst of all, Boss Lady had been watching this little tirade herself and, instead of being Permanent Storytime Lady, Angie had been shoved back to shoving books back on shelves.
It was lovely.
She thrust a few more books onto the shelf, not really looking at the authors' names anymore. It was just her luck. She could have been the ultimate Storytime lady if today hadn't been so mean to her! And why did the Boss Lady have to go watching her every move, anyway? She could do a perfectly fine job by herse --
Belatedly, she noticed one of the books on the shelves didn't have anything written on its spine.
She felt somewhat hesitant, but took the book from the shelf anyway; inspection revealed that there was nothing written on the front or back covers, either. Carefully, she opened the front cover and looked at the first few pages.
The first three were completely blank. Then, on the fourth were strange markings.
The strangest thing was that Angie could understand them perfectly.
She licked her lips nervously and scooted the book underneath the shelf. She'd pick it up later. The only question was how to get it out of the library..
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 3:24 pm
Angie couldn't help but sigh as she eyed the security systems at the doors.
She did not have a wide knowledge of electronics or how they worked, apart from video games. In her mind, the Internet was of the same caliber as ponies with rainbows on their hindsides and blonde, blue-eyed fairy princesses. Even worse was her experience with other electronics, like radios or VCRs or even calculators. Everything just seemed to -- to fall apart after a few moments in her hands. At first, this seemed like a very, very bad thing, but now, she was seeing this uncanny ability in a new light.
"Don't let me down," she mumbled to her fingers, and took a deep breath before kneeling next to one of the security system.
She fumbled with the screwdriver for a moment before finally unscrewing the cover off the control panel. She couldn't help but wonder how in the world people made these sorts of things as she stared at the complex controls.
Angie jabbed a couple of buttons with the screwdriver and, for good measure, tore out one of the wires before jamming the cover back into place and fleeing the scene.
A few moments later, she was back in the lobby with the mysterious black book she had found earlier. Now she had to test her handiwork. If it worked, she'd take it with her when her shift ended. And if it didn't.. well.. she'd just steal it before turning in her nametag.
Biting her lip and praying to whatever gods she believed in, she carefully passed the book through the security system she had rewired.
Silence.
Slowly, she let out a breath, then hid the book underneath the book return. So far, so good..
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 6:50 am
"Yo, Boss Lady, I'm leaving!"
"I'll see you tomorrow, Angie," said Boss lady, stifling a sigh as she sorted out a pile of papers.
She stepped into the lobby, looking to make sure nobody was watching before pulling the black book out from underneath the book return. She took a deep breath before stepping through the security system she rigged.
Nothing.
Feeling proud of her master scheme, she kicked one of them. It slowly started to tip over, and then fell, and sent the rest of the security systems toppling like dominoes.
Boss Lady jumped up as a loud BEEBEEBEEBEEBEE filled the library, and Angie fled for her life. --- "Chyre! I'm home," Angie called, tossing her backpack carelessly into the butler's arms as she stepped over the threshhold.
Her sister's head appeared over the banister. "How was work?"
"Same as usual," she lied, flopping down in a chair. "Some idiot knocked over the security systems trying to smuggle out a book, though."
"How weird." Chyre wrinkled her nose. "What kind of book was he trying to take?"
Angie's brain jammed.
"It was.. uh.. the... Diaries.. of Anne Frank."
".........the Diaries of Anne Frank?"
"Yes."
There was silence.
"I'm, uhm, going to go see if I can make something for dinner," Chyre murmured, carefully slinking off.
Angie was pleased. --- Later on, Angie flopped onto her bed and pulled the book out of her bag. It was strange, how a book like this would just magically appear in the library -- I mean, sure, this kind of thing would happen all the time at other libraries in Gaia, magical books appearing with instructions of how to use a pendant as a key to another dimension, or how to curse someone to an endless life or something, but Boss Lady was very particular about what books went where (and Magical books with Instructions of How to Use a Pendant as a Key to Another Dimension did have its own category) - and this one certaintly would have gone upstairs with the rest of the Strange Languages section, not the children''s area.
She was starting to have second thoughts about stealing the book. She was a faithful employee (of four days), after all -- Boss Lady trusted her to do a good job, and with this book, she had let her down. What was she going to do next? Put the Paddington books in the Max the Rabbit section? Use up all the soap in the bathrooms?! When did it end?
She winced for a moment, but opened the book nonetheless.
It was like all the other books one would be able to find in the library -- well-worn, slightly musty. But she could just tell it had been to other places than the library; there was just something about it that tipped her off. The way the paper felt on her fingers, the strange language...
That, and it didn't have anything to show that it belonged to any library anywhere.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:36 am
Angie had spent all night reading the book she had taken from the library; she had to say, it was more than a little weird. Even if she understood the language in which it was written, she could barely understand what was actually written. Someone, obviously enough, used it as a diary, and wrote down anything interesting that may have happened during the day in it.. Everything was really vague, though, like names and places. Currently, she was stuck reading the same line over and over.
She sighed, then flipped to a blank page and picked up the pencil on the dresser next to her bed. She thought briefly for a moment, then began to write.Angie Dear Book Thing. Hello. My name is Angie, and I'm weird, according to people. I don't think I am, though. I think those people are weird. They shove pixies into sticks and eat them, after all. Right now, I'm pregnant. Don't ask how, I don't like to tell. But now I'm getting fat and it's harder to reach my feet. Plus, I keep throwing up. That makes me sad. I hope the kid isn't trying to tell me something. I haven't seen Cy in a while. ..even though I live in the same house as him. I wonder where he is? It's weird, though. That I got pregnant. I didn't think I could, considering I'm not really normal after all. I guess that's not a bad thing, though. I've got a job in a library. I shelve books. That's where I found you. I got lucky, though. Getting the job and all. I guess I really can be in the right place at the right time. A lot has changed since I got pregnant.. I had to leave Salbasi, for one. I tried to get Kokoro to go with me, but he wanted to stay and be with the other Ieldi while he could. I feel bad. I miss him. He used to cheer me up a lot. I hope he's okay, all by himself. I bet he's throwing a party right now or something. And now I don't know where Cy is, or what he's doing. It's weird. I though moving in with him meant that I would see him more. Meh. All I have to say is that this kid better get out of my stomach, and soon. I'm hungry. See you. - Angie
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:37 am
Angie Hi Diary. I'm really starting to miss old Koko. He could always make me laugh. I feel sad without him. I hope he's alright. I'm starting to wish I had just dragged him off that stupid clocktower and been done with it. I wish he'd come back..
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:38 am
Grumble.
Angie was sick again that morning; worse, the feeling of nausea hadn't gone away by the time she had to go to work. Chyre tried to conjole her into staying home, saying that it wouldn't be a very good idea to work, but she went anyway -- Boss Lady was depending on her, after all; that, and she didn't know the phone number for the library.
So there she was, rearranging books on the wooden shelves, stomach growling every few minutes. She felt a bit stupid now for not caving to her sister's demands; it didn't feel very good to be on her feet.
Angie took a few deep breaths and moved a few more books. She wasn't going to let this get to her..
Wasn't going to..
Oh s**t.
As a book clattered to the carpeted floor, Boss Lady looked up from her papers and lowered her reading glasses slightly.--- A voice softly called out her name.
Angie looked up at the wall of the bathroom stall, clutching her stomach and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. What was it now?
"Angie, are you in there?" The voice asked quizzically. Quickly, she glanced at the shoes underneath the stall door and sighed inwardly.
"You -- you, uh.. yeah, Boss Lady," she mumbled, feeling slightly guilty.
"Uhh.. Angie, can you come out? I want to talk to you."
She winced and stood up shakily, steadying herself on the walls; she quickly flushed the toilet before opening the door a bit.
Boss Lady was frowing. Not a good sign.
"Angie, you shouldn't be doing this. I - I mean, you're a pretty girl, you've still got time --"
She blinked stupidly. "..What?"
"You can kill yourself doing that, you know? I mean - you might be a little pudgy," Boss Lady continued, casting a quick glance at Angie's stomach, "but that's NOT the way to take it off.."
Angie instinctively wrapped an arm around her stomach. "Boss Lady, I'm not --"
"Your family must be so worried about you!"
"BOSS LADY, I'M NOT ANOREXIC."
"No you're not! You're bulemic!"
Angie stuttered, eyes wide. "I -- I'm not -- bulemic either -- I -- uh --"
"I'll go find the number you can call," Boss Lady said worriedly, starting to walk away. Angie, however, grabbed her arm quickly, swaying slightly. "Boss Lady I'm not fat I'm pregnant," she whined.
There was an awkward silence as the older lady looked at Angie, then at her stomach.
"..Oh."
"Yeah. I'm sorry for making you worry, but.."
"No. No, it's.." She sighed and leaned against the sink, brow furrowed. "And I've been making you work so hard all this time.."
Angie blinked again. "..really, it's not that hard.."
"No! You shouldn't be lifting your arms above your head," she snapped, getting back into character. "No more shelf duty for you! I want you on the check-out counters!"
"But I don't know how to work those," Angie whined, looking incredibly confused again. "I'm really bad with electronics and computers and stuff -- I --"
"No matter! I'll have one of the other employees tell you how to work it.."
"But --"
"I'm so sorry, Angie," Boss Lady said gently, putting her hand on her employee's arm. "But now it'll all be alright. You should get back to work."
Angie stammered as Boss Lady left the employee restroom.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:45 am
"Hi honey, I'm home," Angie grumbled, tossing her sack into the corner.
There was the pattering of footsteps as Chyre ran from the other end of the mansion to where Angie was. "Hey," she said breathlessly, kneeling down next to a chair and patting it to tell her to sit. "How was your day?"
"It was... weird." The navy-haired girl sighed, sinking into the chair. "I told Boss Lady I was pregnant today. She thought I was --"
"I have something to tell you."
"What?" Angie said bitterly, narrowing her eyes. "Are you having a baby?"
"Don't be stupid," Chyre said, wrinkling her nose. "But it's kinda weird."
"What happened? Ooh, did you catch the butler looking at girly magazines?" She perked up a little.
"Er.. No."
"Did you find fifteen million gold?"
"..no."
"Did --"
"I felt the baby kick, you moron!"
There was silence. Then, Angie blinked. "..how could you have felt the baby kick if..?"
"Well, we do have a weird connection, you know," Chyre prompted, shifting her position a bit. "It happened while you were gone. It just started kicking. Did you feel it too?"
"No.." Angie whined, sinking back in the chair. She felt left out.
"Oh." Chy blinked. ".. Isn't it great, though? The baby's kicking!" She squealed, bouncing a little, but almost immediately winced and bent over a little.
"What? Is it kicking again?" She said excitedly, leaning over the side of the chair to watch curiously.
"S-stop moving!" The blonde hissed, bent over her stomach. "God, it feels like it's doing somersaults --"
"Really? Cool!" She said gleefully, poking her stomach. "Hi, baby!"
"Stop -- poking --!"
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:46 am
Angie Hi Diary. I am happy. The baby's kicking, according to Chyre. I can't feel it, but she can. It's kinda funny and kinda weird. I can't help but wish I could feel it too. Just a little. I'm tired of being stuck with the vomit. It's getting harder to see my feet now. I miss my feet. I remember when I could reach down and touch my toes. Those were the good days. I think I'm getting fat. Boss Lady caught me being sick earlier today and she thought I was anorexic or something. It was weird. And I got reassigned to check-out duty. I broke the computer. Tomorrow I go back. I think the techie employee guy isn't happy with me. I'm getting really tired. Tomorrow I'll do more stuff. Night. - Angie
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:47 am
Angie Hi Diary. I am happy. The baby's kicking, according to Chyre. I can't feel it, but she can. It's kinda funny and kinda weird. I can't help but wish I could feel it too. Just a little. I'm tired of being stuck with the vomit. It's getting harder to see my feet now. I miss my feet. I remember when I could reach down and touch my toes. Those were the good days. I think I'm getting fat. Boss Lady caught me being sick earlier today and she thought I was anorexic or something. It was weird. And I got reassigned to check-out duty. I broke the computer. Tomorrow I go back. I think the techie employee guy isn't happy with me. I'm getting really tired. Tomorrow I'll do more stuff. Night. - Angie
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:02 am
It was Friday afternoon.
Angie rested her chin on her palm and waited for the inevitable crowd of youths, hungry for knowledge and learning.
It was a long day.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:03 am
Angie sighed in relief as she sank back into the cushy chair, swinging her feet up onto the nearest thing. She had been on her feet all day, and damn did they hurt.
"Tell me you don't want me to rub those things," Chyre whined, flopping down next to her. "It's not like you're the only one taking it tough. The baby was kicking all day and I got to deal with the nausea today."
"Really?" Angie murmured, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Interesting. I didn't get anything like that."
"Lucky you," Her sister grumbled, folding her arms.
There was silence.
"Hey, Chy, could you do be a favor? Get me a CD player and headphones and a couple CDs? Thanks," Angie said, disregarding her response (which, naturally, was negative). After a moment, however, she got up and left the room, then returned with the requested item.
With a grunt, Angie hoisted herself onto her side, popped a CD into the player, and hit the play button. Adjusting the volume, she took the headphones and clamped them firmly around her stomach.
".. Angie, most people play classical stuff to their stomachs.. and you're playing Franz Ferdinand?"
"Yup," she answered simply, sinking back into the chair with a satisfied look on her face. "Tell me if there's any reaction."
They were quiet for a minute or two, muffled song lyrics filling the air, then, as the song changed, Chyre grabbed her stomach and bent over a little. "Damn! That was a big one," she growled, then flinched again and hugged her knees.
"Hey, cool!" Angie beamed and patted her stomach. "Hi, baby! You've got a good taste in music!"
"You're cruel, Ang! Way too cruel!"
"Am not," she whined, then stuck her tongue out. "You're too wimpy."
"Well, the kid's too kicky," Chyre grumbled, trying to relax again. "I swear, that thing better get out soon or I'm going to take it out myself.."
Angie stared at her in horror, her arms subconciously wrapping around her stomach.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:04 am
It was quiet in the mansion. The grandfather clock in the hall slowly ticked away the seconds as moonlight streamed through the tall windows. The last strains of her Coldplay CD faded away.
Angie opened her eyes a little. She'd dozed off after the first five CDs. Making as little noise as possible, she pulled the headphones off her stomach and set them on the table.
She sighed and let her head fall onto her shoulder. After a moment, her hand slid down to her stomach.
Angie patted it gently. A gentle kick was her response.
The corners of her lips twitched slightly, and then she fell asleep.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:05 am
It was Saturday, so Angie didn't have to go to work.
She was bored already.
Surpressing a sigh, she leaned back in her armchair by the window, a book lying open on her lap. It felt empty in the huge mansion. Chyre was out, buying things for the baby before it came, so Angie was stuck with the butler as her only company.
She didn't understand it. Just a few months ago, she was living in Salbasi with Kokoro, an air sprocket called Sana, and a gembird called Iol, and now she was all alone.
Angie cast a glance at the Durem clocktower on the horizon, then sighed and turned her attention back to her book.
Just a few moments later, there was a whump.
Angie immediately looked up. A purple streak slid down the glass as gem-encrusted feathers floated around the area that the crash occured.
She shot up quickly and ran towards the door immediately, throwing it open.
And then her heart shot up somewhere in the vicinity of her throat as her eyes fell upon a black-haired, blue-feathered boy, a scared look on his face and his fist where the door once was.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:08 am
After a bit of shrieking, the butler had resigned to serving them all tea (Kokoro's with extra honey). Angie sat down at the coffee table almost immediately and looked at the Ieldi expectantly.
"What's wrong?" She said quickly, lacing her fingers together. "Did something happen..?
Kokoro ignored Iol as the gembird swooped over his head and off into the house and sat down on the couch. He looked at his tea for a moment, then picked it up, but didn't drink it.
"Everyone.. kinda.. disappeared," he said awkwardly, gazing into the cup. "I dunno where they went. I couldn't even feel the spirits. I couldn't stay there alone," he murmured, looking up at his guardian quickly. "It was ... kinda frightening."
"Everyone..?" Angie sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Well, that's what I was afraid of, I guess..." She trailed off, looking at the rug as if it would give her the answers to all her questions. "It's weird that the spirits were gone, too.. Maybe Kyendi is.."
"Is what?" Kokoro said immediately, setting his tea down with more force than he had to. "Do you know something?"
"No," Angie replied stubbornly, wrinkling her nose. ".. but, um, before Kyendi, all the Ieldi lived in this great big tree... and it just died one day.. I dunno how..
Kokoro almost seemed to deflate at this, sinking back into the cushions. "I don't want Kyendi to die," he said glumly. "Then I'll be one of the only Ieldi left. And I'll be lonely."
The teal-haired girl nervously wrapped her arms around her stomach. "I'm sorry, Koko," she said softly. "But there's really nothing we can't do. We can't even prove that Kyendi's.. well, you know."
There was silence.
"I missed you."
"I missed you too," he murmured, finally taking a sip of his tea. "Erm.. would you mind if I.. stayed here? You know, with you? I don't really want to go back.."
"NO! -- er. Not at all," she rushed, cracking a grin. "I'll see if I can get you a room and -- uh, yeah. Please stay!"
"Good, then," he said, grinning himself. "Um, I brought Sana and Iol back with me, as you might be able to tell." He made a face as Iol sat down on his hair. Sana whizzed over and started to shoot bursts of air at the gembird in an attempt to get him off, but only succeeded in making Kokoro's hair all the more messier.
Angie laughed and plucked the bird off his head herself. "Good! I missed them, too. Even you, Sana the terrible," she said, and Sana clicked and puffed at her as well. "You remembered to blow out all the candles in our house back there, right?"
"Sana did it for me," he said dismissively, then finally looked at Angie's stomach. "Gee, ma, you've put on some weight.."
"Oh, shush," she gushed and whacked him lightly around the head. "Are you hungry? I'm gonna go see if I can find anything to eat, 'kay? BUT-LERRRR!"
Kokoro watched Angie rush away, then looked at his tea again, swirling it gently around his finger.
He'd give her the bits of his relic that he'd picked up later.
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