Welcome to Gaia! ::

The sound of the doorbell interrupted the peaceful scene, followed immediately by a very muffled knock that went: "thud knock knock thud." A strange knock sequence to be sure.

On the other side of the door stood a short person wearing a heavy white overcoat with a blue scarf wrapped twice around his head and a dark blue hat perched on top. Only the round rims and white lenses of his specacles were visible from beneath the shadow of his hat. The thing material of the scarf trembled with each noisy breath, audible as a faint hissing even though the door. His hands were shoved deep into his coat pockets and he seemed to be bouncing slightly as he stood.

This little person would have been in odd sight in December, but his presence was made all the odder by the fact it happened to be the beginning of August. His coat was practically blinding in the light of the hot, bright summer sun.

The faint bouncing stopped and the little man looked up at Sarabi. "Delivery," he said simply, his voice reminiscent of a mechanical buzz. His head tipped to the right.

Instantly, the knock came again. "Thud knock knock thud!" It sounded a little bit faster this time.

Surprisingly, his hands were already back in his coat pockets by the time Sarabi opened the door. It looked at if he had not removed them. How exactly he had accomplished that peculiar knocking sound was even mroe of a mystery now.

The little man made a hiccuping noise and jumped accordingly. One of his hands emerged from his pocket with a clear plastic bag. "Delivery," he said again, and then sneezed.

When he sneezed, his whole body jerked, from his head on down to his toes. The small object in the bag bounced up and down. Closer inspection revealed it to be some sort of a plant objecy, white in color and shaped like a miniature cornucopia. It was hard and gnarled with delicate little black petals wrapped around its rim. The bag shook around as the little man pulled his other hand out of his other pocket and reached up to rub at his reddened nose.

"I had to put her in a bag," said the little man. "She made me sneeze." And apparently still caused him to sneeze despite being inside the plastic bag. He finished rubbing at his nose and stuck his hands back in his pockets. "If you have any further questions, please direct them to the regional headquarters in Barton." He nodded quickly.

"Don't--" the man protested, then erupted into a pair of loud sneezes that nearly sent him tumbling into the yard. He reached up tot rub at his nose and the sneezing seemed to clear but then he sneezed yet again. "I'm Dr. M. You are correct." He looked as if he might sneeze a fourth time, but the urge subsided. "Good day," he finished, bobbing his head and turning away.