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Oriana - Toddler Quest!
My my, it's been far too long for this little one! She was one of the first in the world, and she still hasn't grown? Well, we'll change all that! For Oriana's toddler quest, what she'll need is a sketchbook, two images of butterflies, two pressed flowers, and a brush.
A day out on the city. A day of bustling people, sunny walkways, towering buildings, blue halo skies and smells so putrid one wants to die on the sidewalk from grief. It was a day of annoyance and laughter, growth and fun. Well, for Ria, thus far it was minus the fun. Despite her small nature and size, Ria had developed a theory in the long drive to the city, the longer drive to a parking garage, and the short walk down the sidewalk; she hated it. Maybe not a theory, but it was an opinon and a strong one for a baby so young. It was her general opinion that if Sam had not decided she needed some people bonding time, that Ria would be back home sitting with her Balan and not hanging on to the straps of a baby backpack praying for life as she swished back and forth against Sam's back. Ah, the simple things in life.
The Sun burned brightly overhead, scorching Ria's face and chubby arms, making her feel like a hideous lobster as people stopped Sam to ooh and ahh over the tiny child. She put on her best pout face and desperately wanted to cry as Sam chatted up the other parents and let prospective's poke and prod Ria. What a horrible way to live.
It wasnt' long before Ria was beside herself with liquid nitrogen annoyance. The feeling spread eagerly through her veins, collapsing her endorphins and instead creating a War on Happiness in her stomach. Yes, the stomach. For a baby that's the center of everything.
They turned onto a street, one where the sky seemed to open up and little and stop the feeling of bitter agony at one's tiny size. People here seemed to be less friendly than the people who oohed over Ria and they looked with vaguely disguised horror at the child's drooping ears, green hair and pink eyes. Sam didn't notice, she was too busy being conceited in her own little Sam way as she tried to talk to the narrow minded Humans.
And Ria didn't like that action one bit.
Less than two seconds did it take Ria to decided to cry and then about a half a second more for her to open up her mouth and start in with a loud, high pitched wail. Sam seemed shocked that the child behind her was making a peep and she quickly halted in all she was doing to try and soothe her. But Ria would not be soothed.
Finally, after agonizing minutes of embarassment and futile work, Sam snatched Ria in a harsh grip and jumped into a store. The lights immediately dimmed, the harsh sun forgot it's work, and Ria quieted. Her eyes streamed clear tears for a few seconds before drying up, her skin became red and puffy.
"There are you ok no, Ri?" Sam asked, using that asinine baby talk again. Ria didn't reply with her normal 'elf' in response instead she stuck her thumb into her mouth, sucking futily, and began to look around.
Ria looked at Sam again, who was staring at her with a strange riddle of a look on her face.
"Elf" she pointed past Sam's shoulder to a large case behind her. It was perhaps then that Sam and Ria really noticed the store they were in.
It was a small, quiant store, filled to the brim with miscellaneous items of all kinds. Behind Sam, where a wall should have been, was instead a large cage, from floor to ceiling, of all kinds of butterflies and other insects. A mosaic of life where a mosaic of human progress should have been. Breathtaking beauty. The counter stuck itself to the end of the cage, behind it lots of animal tools were displayed. One would have thought, upon first glance, that the store was all about insects but it truely wasn't. Art materials and flowers fitted to the walls and created an atmosphere of artistic creativity and calm.
"You want to look at the butterflies?" Sam asked slowly to Ria as she took the entire store in. To her, it was quite what a city should be about and she was suddenly glad at Ria's distraction. Ria nodded to Sam and pointed again towards the butterfly, it was obvious that her eyes were lighting up upon sight of two different ones: A tiger swallowtail and a blue morpho. Painted Lady butterflies, Queen Alexandria's butterflies, Ulyssess Butterflies and Zebra Longwing Butterflies all flittered about for her attention but she ignored their colorful antics, her heart was set on two.
"Excuse me" Sam started as she moved around the case to the owner, who then she began to chat amicably with and it wasn't long before she was asking in sincere earnest about the butterflies. They were costly, but every time Sam looked to Ria she found the little girl's face fixed upon teh butterflies, her eyes obviously yearning for them.
"You have good taste," the owner said, when Sam pointed to the blue one and then to the yellow one, "That is a blue morpho, and that a tiger swallowtail." Sam nodded, knowing that Ria was well aware of this fact as she paid for the butterflies, the smile of delight upon her face. Even she was caught happy at the sight of such small creatures.
"I am not authorized to give you the butterflies right out of the case" The man said as he handed Sam a receipt, "Here is a picture of the
Tiger and the
Morpho, when they come in I'll call you and you can come back and pick up your butterflies."
Sam accepted the photographs with a smile and Ria clapped her hands in an ecstatic fashion, causing both the adults to grin foolishly. Ria loved being the baby everyone could love and the one that everyone could hate all in one package.
After a few seconds of chatting with the clerk, it was obvious that Sam had found herself hooked into his strangely odd and pleasant conversation. She partook to ignoring the young baby in her arms, her eyes flitting around the store as she wittily overcame harsh criticisms and strange questions. Only she could enjoy the fighting of clashing souls and becaus eof this it took Ria only a few seconds of wiggling for Sam to put her down on the floor and thus allow the baby freedom to explore the store while she attempted to convert the clerk into a agnostic.
Ria, who could barely crawl, pulled herself across the spotless floor of the store, her mind reaching out for something stimulating and her hands for something pliable.
It took her awhile and it wasn't until she started to round a corner did she notice a stack of drawing books and brushes. Her eyes widened in amusement, want, and distinct need. She proceeded to cry, pulling all her happy feelings into one of uttermost grief. The heartwrenching sound tore Sam from her argument and hasty she was as she rushed to the babies side.
"Ria what's..." Sam said hurriedly, before she stopped dead and looked down at Ria as she sat on the floor, cuddling a
drawing bookand a
brush.
"You are such a want child" she murmured, now disliking the interruption to her conversation and seeming very unforgiving about such an intrusion, before picking the objects up and bringing them to the counter to pay.
Ria squealed in delight, bringing rounds of laughter from the clerk, who was uneasy about Sam's return, before she continued her hunt. This time, a stack of pressed flowers caught her eye. She took her time with this stack, as they were not all uniform, and it was a long time before she picked out a
purpleframed pressed flower and a
pink flower pressed into a clear cube.
She cried again, putting on an adorable 'you can't say no to me face', as Sam came around an aisle. It had taken her much longer in coming this time; it seemed she had caught up on Ria's plan.
"Flowers now? Ri, after this no more" she said sternly, though she succumbed to the cuteness of her charge and she brought the flowers up to pay before promptly getting Ria back into her pack and exiting the store, ladened down with all Ria's goodies.
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