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The Meteor Shower (3) : It wouldn’t be a star festival without a meteor shower! Right on time, a beautiful array of shooting stars graces the night sky. This time of year is unnaturally clear and it’s incredibly easy to see the stars. Most meteor fragments appear to be little white or yellow lights streaming across the sky, but if you watch closely enough you may find that some of them seem to be a whole rainbow of colors. The scientists have reported that it’s just different components burning up as they enter the atmosphere, but there’s something undeniably magical about it.
Surtur stood along the edge of what he could only describe as a street. There were technologically advanced vehicles, buildings, lights, the smell of food, and people.
He stared in shock and amazement at all the people there. Looking up, he could only describe it as the mid-day sky that he’d seen last so, so many years ago. It was bright and blue and Surtur had to squint to try and take everything in.
It was amazing.
Was this where he was called? But why? Had someone in the cosmos realized he was alive and was brought there so he could fulfill his destiny?
He needed to find out who was in charge and let them know that he’d arrived, but… There were stalls of food and what looked like games set out. There were decorations hanging from the street posts. He couldn’t read what it said, but they were bright and had stars in many different colors.
Could this be referencing how he’d joined the clans and other worlds together?
He would have spent longer speculating, but his stomach was pretty much empty, so he strode confidently across the street, waving to the people inside the large metal carriages, who so kindly blasted loud noises in celebration of his arrival, and stopped in front of a vendor.
“Greetings! I will take five servings of your delicacy,” Surtur announced with a bright smile, but was greeted by a look of annoyance. It took him a moment to realize that the people behind him were muttering their annoyance as well.
“Gotta wait your turn,” the vendor said, to which Surtur turned and--
“Oh! This is a line for service? How ingenious!” he gasped, turning to stare at all the-- oh, they didn’t look too happy to see him. How strange, he would have expected them to be happy.
Ah, he suddenly understood. They knew of his arrival, but not who he was. After all, he’d been isolated for hundreds of years.
He trotted to the back of the line where he stood behind some scruffy looking fellow.
“Excuse me, what world is this?” he asked as politely as possible. He was pleased that he could at least understand them, so they must be in the Sol System still. He had no idea how so many people could be in one place.
The man at first ignored him, and then gave him a weird look, and then ignored him again.
Well, that was fine. Maybe he was having a bad day.
“Excuse me, what world is this?” he asked again when he finally reached the front of the line again.
“What are you pretending to be? Loki?” the man behind the counter snorted. “You wanted five? That’ll be twenty bucks.”
“Bucks?” Surtur stared in confusion. The man looked exasperated.
“This is a festival, not a larp. Either you pay or get out of line,” he grunted.
“Oh, a buck is a currency? Strange. But I understand. Thank you, kind sir,” he said with a small, polite bow of his head and then, reluctantly, stepped to the side.
Bucks… where was he supposed to find bucks?
“Excuse me, where could I earn a buck?” he turned back to the vendor to ask, and flashed an apologetic smile to the woman he just interrupted.
The man seemed to not have heard him or--
Surely he wasn’t being ignored??
But so many others were looking at him! Or at least until he made eye contact with them. Hmm.
Unable to determine how a buck was earned, he left the vendor’s location to wander, seeing if he could locate others looking to obtain bucks.
“Excuse me, is that a buck?” he asked a young woman who was putting a dollar bill into the hat of a man made entirely out of metal. The woman stared at him strangely and then giggled with her friends. And surprisingly, she pulled out the same piece of paper and held it up for him! A buck had been earned! He wasn’t sure how, but she gave him one!
“Is this twenty of the bucks needed?” Surtur asked as he placed the dollar on the vendor’s counter. Exasperated, the vendor pulled out one skewer of whatever meat was being cooked, although it seemed smaller than the others, and handed it to Surtur. “Just take it,” he grunted.
And thus! Surtur had food!
He would definitely need to search for more ways to obtain bucks.
In his wanderings he noticed how others would dress up in clothing different from others, or play musical instruments to attract attention. He could do that! Not only could he do that, but he was positive he could do it better.
And so he did. He had his flute with him, of course, and he stood on the corner of a street and he played his flute. He didn’t have anything to store the bucks in, so he used a lightweight cup he found on the sidewalk, which he weighed down with a piece of broken concrete.
It took a little time, but sure enough, people started throwing coins and pieces of paper into his cup. Success! He bowed politely to each person who placed something in the cup, and after listening to a few of the other melodies around him being played, started playing the same. Nothing too complex, but enough to earn more of the bucks needed for food on this world. Whatever this world was.
After having obtained more food with his newly earned bucks, Surtur located a quiet (ish) spot in the grass so he could look up at the sky. He ate what was called a cheeseburger with enthusiasm. Above, he was grateful to be able to see not only the moon, but meteors streaking through the sky in bright colors.
Well, with at least one moon, he knew he could rule out Mercury and Venus. Perhaps Mars or even Earth? He would have to figure that out once it was light again. And for the first time in centuries, as he made himself comfortable on the grass, he didn’t have to worry about the mist swallowing him up that night.
Word Count: 1049
