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 Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:48 am
It was hot. Shay decided she did not like the summer very much- there was only so many times in a week she could convince her guardian to take her swimming. Today was not one of those days. Anna said she had an early practice and she was sleeping still. Gam was awake though and she had bothered him enough to get him out of the house.
He had taken her on the bus, it was quite an adventure for the little girl, and even better was the air conditioned building that was beckoning her forward. She loved shopping, of course she didn't have any money today, but window shopping wasn't to bad either. Or maybe her surrogate brother could be coerced into getting her ice cream! "Gamvail? Can get ice cream please?"
The winged boy looked at the child with a raised eyebrow and sighed. It was easier to give in than argue with her. "Sure kid." He went to take her hand to guide her through the crowd but she ran ahead soon lost in the ocean of people. Gam swore and pushed his way forward. No sign of her.
Shay wandered through the huge (to her at least) building looking for the ice cream shop. It didn't seem to concerning to her that her care taker was gone, she would just him later. She was big enough now to be by herself, Anna had said just that week she looked like she was almost 5!
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:19 am
Ranza was itchy. The itching got progressively worse all morning while the parrot girl trolled the mean streets of Durem looking for her brother's bike, and now she felt like she had fire ants under her skin. She didn't know what had caused her mysterious ailment, just that it started this morning and showed no sign of stopping - her head itched, her wings itched, her legs itched, and even her tail itched! (But she refrained from scratching there, because you couldn't pick at your butt in public.)
And to compound the itching, it was fsking hot out! While it was unlikely she would find Nahuel's schwinn there, Ranza decided that a sidetrip to the mall was in order. At least, she thought as she worked on the growing red patch on her arm, it was air conditioned.
Once she was enveloped by the crowd, she played a game with herself where she was a plague victim running from government agents who wanted to kill her - hey, it worked in Running out of Time! And then, in the distance, like a shining beacon of light - ICE CREAM!
Ranza sprinted the last ten meters, unaware of the trail of shed blue feathers she was leaving in her wake, and pushed the door to the shop open.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:41 am
Shay suddenly realized this would be much easier if she could read. She knew that it started with the letter "I" cause her alphabet book said it did. Maybe if she was lucky there would be a picture. She was once again confident with her logic and started walking again when a strong hand wrapped itself around her upper arm. The puppy-girl cried out in surprise and kicked out at her assailant.
Gam grunted as her foot caught him in the shin, "Hey, stop it! Why the hell did you run off. You're going to get me in so much s**t." He knew he wasn't supposed to swear around the child, but she had scared him half to death. He continued to curse under his breath as he towed her towards the shop that sold the cold treat.
Shay pouted but trailed along dutifully. Her sullen expression brightened as they followed a strange looking girl through the door. Her hair matched Gam's wings! Well some of the feathers at least. She poked the itchy girl before her older brother could stop her. "Hi! Where's your hair?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:54 am
"My hair?" asked Ranza, reaching up to pat her head. Was it...? Nope, still there! She looked quizically down at the little girl, evaluating her. She looked about the same age as Orli, but so much cuter by virtue of not being Ranza's sister.
"I've got feathers instead, she explained.
Another feather floated to the ground. She ignored it, and cast her eyes towards the counter. Hmmm, what looked good?
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:10 pm
Shay nodded with oureally understanding. She was glad that she had real hair though. Anna always did such fun with it. She tried to puzzle her way through it when she caught sight of the falling feather. She followed it with her eyes and then bent to pick it up. "You dropped one." She announced holding it out to the older girl. Shay always collected Gam's feathers and kept them in a box underneath her bed. She wasn't sure why she kept them yet, maybe an art project would eventually suggest itself.
Gam had give up on trying to prevent Shayleigh from bugging the stranger and was looking at the different flavors under the glass, "What kind do you want rugrat?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:34 pm
Ranza blinked at the fallen feather, took it, and tried to stick it back into place, which only sent two more drifting to the ground. "Eh, whatever," she grumbled, vaguely remembering losing some of her softer feathers when she was still a toddler. But that hadn't itched like this did! Oh well.
She followed the other two over to the counter and surveyed the tubs beneath the glass. Rum raisin? Or Rocky road? Or maybe Rainbow Sherbert, or Cotton Candy? Why was this such a hard decision?
She looked awkwardly over at the little girl and the boy with wings that matched hers. "I'm Ranza," she offered, smiling.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:43 pm
Shay grabbed the fallen feahters again and stuffed them into the pocket of her bright sundress. More for her collection! She wandered over to the counter and grabbed the edge to pull herself up onto tiptoes. Oh they all looked so yummy. "I'm Shayleigh, and that's Gamvail, but I just call him Gam. It takes less time"
The turkey boy smiled, "nice to meet you Ranza."
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:02 pm
Ranza looked the boy up and down, deciding he could have passed for a relative of Nahuel's friend Garrett. "You a hawk or something?" she asked, still thinking about ice cream. Rocky road sounded good, she decided.
She looked down at the puppy girl, and felt a bit of compassion. The kid had spunk. "Need a lift?" she asked.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:43 pm
Gam looked at Ranza with a raised eyebrow, one of his favorite expressions- not that he would ever admit something like that. A hawk would be pretty cool, he never thought of being a different bird before. He was what he was, and even if it did get him almost cooked on occasion it just seemed right. "I'm a turkey," he answered bluntly. It wasn't completely true but people don't respond well to "I'm the guardian of cannibalistic deaths".
The little girl had decided on bubblegum ice cream. The bright blue colour was happy, not mention that it had bubble gum in it! Of course she couldn't really see the flavors at the back- and some she couldn't read the names of. SHe nodded at Ranza enthusiatically. "Yes please!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 6:58 pm
"Oh," replied Ranza, deadpanning only to stifle a laugh. Well, she guessed someone had to get the short end of the stick. Not everyone could be a jaguar or a star or a nifty bird of prey. There were a lot of other, worse, things to be. Like, spirit of garbage slugs. Or a reincarnated earthworm.
Or a turkey.
Ranza burst out laughing and stammered something that might have been, "I'm a parrot." Trying to distract herself, she tried to be busy hoisting his sister up by her armpits.
"See anything you like?" she asked, still trying not to laugh.
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