 Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 2:15 am
Quote:  It was a hard day in the life of a child: a certain child, in particular. All around the world, children were starving – nay, dying! And here he was, with a clump of carrots before him.
“I think I shall deliver these to the less fortunate of our species,” Ezra declared grandly. He had never met a “posh” soquili, but he had been given the impression that this was how they spoke, and that their words were generally respected. (It should also be noted that Ezra had not yet fully grasped the concept of sarcasm.) “They will live another day, and I’ll learn the most important lesson of all: sharing.”
This had been delivered in the gravest of tones, coupled with properly dramatic gestures and a continuously pounding paw to emphasize every word. Despite such efforts, however, their nurse did not budge.
Quote:  Elijah, on the other hand, was nearly crying with laughter. A sense of propriety kept him from guffawing outright, but he could not entirely mask the sound. The end result was a series of choking gasps, one of which was sufficiently loud enough to catch the attention of the nurse. She glanced at him, briefly, and that was all Ezra needed. With a swipe of his paw, the carrots went over the bush and fell out of sight.
The nurse glared at Ezra, though to his credit he made a good show of pretending to chew. Still, it would have been impossible for him to have finished the food so quickly, and she went straightaway towards the bushes. Ezra looked meaningfully at his brother. Elijah rolled his eyes, but conceded.
While Ezra tackled their nurse’s ankles, he ran to the carrots, snatched them up, and zoomed off, with Ezra hot at his heels.
Quote: Two by two. Two by two. Four by four. Mimsy Grum matched his steps carefully to the imagined tempo, smiling at the resulting tappity taps and wondering what kind of secret message the aliens were sending him. Perhaps it was not a message at all, but a stunningly choreographed dance? He tapped louder.
It had been a while since he last ate. His parents might have reminded him, or even his brothers, if he hadn’t gotten lost hours ago. He was supposed to be looking for them, but the message seemed more important. If there was a world-ending prophecy that could only be communicated with careful footwork, he didn’t want to miss it!
Two by two. Two by two. Four by— Oof. He’d fallen into a ditch.
Quote: Ezra was out of breath by the time they’d outdistanced their nurse. He flopped on the floor, resting in the grasses behind the cover of trees. “Why—“ he panted, “why’d you bring—the carrots.” He looked at the offending fruits (or vegetables? Eh, didn’t matter) with a sour eye and tucked his legs closer to him, as if to ward off such a heinous presence.
He didn’t pay attention to the answer, though. A cloud of dust appeared in the distance, and he was on his feet in a flash. “Hide!”
After a few moments, however, it became clear that no one was coming, especially not their nurse. If the dust didn’t indicate someone was coming closer, then, it meant someone had fallen. “Let’s check it out!”
Quote: “You might not want them, but I do!” Elijah said, making efforts to nibble them between pants. At Ezra’s warning, however, he jumped away, and the carrots were left to fall a second time.
“What is it?” he asked, peering around a trunk. He fluttered his wings nervously when he realized the carrots would give them away, but was hesitant to risk grabbing them when he wasn’t sure what they were even hiding from. “Wolves? Bears? Mom?” His only reply was a shrug, and then a ‘Let’s check it out!’
Annoyed by the false threat, he dusted off the carrots and chewed one while they walked. “Is that... Is that the hole we made last week?”
Quote: “Quite so, quite so!” Mimsy said from below. He actually didn’t know who dug the hole, or how it got here. He only knew that he was in it, and that agreeing with someone was usually enough to butter them up and convince them to help him.
Until then, however, he’d been content to lie on his back, his legs flopping in the air as he kept up his dance. No one had asked him what he was up to yet, but he didn’t have to be asked before he started saying something. Why, if he did, he might never be able to say anything!
“I’m decoding a message, but I’m getting dreadfully tired. Say, do any of you have a pillow by chance?”
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