[I really need to get my a** in gear when it comes to RPing, so here we go, a public RP, open to whomever and limited to none. 3nodding ]

Heavy frost lined the very tip of the grass, which, when the sun was just right, sparkled and dazzled the eye, and it made a pleasant crackling noise when stepped on. Your breath came out in little gray puffs, and some young children amused themselves and others by mocking the adults they saw smoking: making a V with their fingers and placing it to their mouths, where they pretended to inhale on a cigarette, and giggle when they blew out smoke/carbon dioxide. It was the perfect time of day to be outside, getting exercise and just having a good time. And that was exactly what a small, fire-haired toddler was doing: having fun.

Unfortunately, her mother wasn't.

"No!" Ilistala shrieked, running at full speed from her reluctant mother Ioyla, who was chasing her down the sidewalk. "NonononoNO!" The toddler zoomed down the block, arms stretched and bent behind her, little leathery wings flapping furiously in the wind. She screamed and continued to tear up the sidewalk, with Ioyla huffing and puffing behind.

She held shopping bags, each one filled with sloppily wrapped gifts, the calling card of a truly lazy shopper, and she had to stop several times to make sure her presents didn't spill out onto the streets. Which they didn't, Hallelujah praise the Lord God our Savior Amen.

Ioyla continued chasing Stala past Gambino outfitters, through the townsquare, past the bustling Marketplace, where several customers watched the sprinting duo with mingled curiosity and annoyance, and finally in front of the Hat Rack. Ilistala stopped dead in front of the store, spying a certain hat that caught her attention, and her heart.

"Ducky!" she breathed, Ioyla crashing into the window right next to her amazed daughter so as not to run right into her. Stala toddled over to the twitching, fallen Ioyla, plucking her shirt and pointing at the ducky hat displayed in the window. "Ducky!" she said again, squealing and clapping her hands together. Ioyla chose to ignore her child for a few more minutes, opting instead to stare at the gray sky, exhausted gray smoke shooting out of her mouth with each exhale.

[ heart ]