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The Lantern Festival (10) : Scientists have been hard at work trying to understand the strange, glowing qualities of the luminescent caterpillars found in the caves by the reservoir. The caterpillars still shrivel up if they are taken out of the caves but their glowing secretions have been processed into an organic paste that can withstand the outside world. The city is selling paper lanterns infused with various seeds. The glow paste is full of minerals to support healthy plant growth without risking damage to the environment; all lantern purchases come with a small packet of activating power that will heat the paste up enough to mimic the effects of a candle without the concerns of flammability. When the glow paste loses its heat, the lantern will return to the Earth and upon the first rain (or any contact with water) the paper will dissolve and the seeds may begin to grow. All proceeds from the lanterns are put right back into the community to support local conservation and environmental protection efforts.
"Heeeeey! Girl, hey! Stop and listen to me!"
Henley would not have even mentally registered that the unfamiliar voice from below was speaking to her, except that from seemingly nowhere, a young boy promptly invaded the forefront of her vision. She was so taken aback that she almost didn't stop herself from snarling at him- rude thing yelling and chasing her!- ...But he was so small, with a pudgy face and grubby little fingers. Maybe only four or five Earth years old, if she wanted to try and hazard a guess.
Instead of grimacing, she tried a wavery smile and did a quick eyeline scout of the area to try and deduce who this child belonged to. Hardly a few yards away, a young woman sent her an apologetic wave from behind a booth, but she remained seated, rather than move to retrieve what may have been her offspring.
Henley had been cutting across the park in her efforts to return home after the day's outing. Maybe she was passively aware of there being a few more people than usual on her journey, but honestly they seemed to come and go in waves with no particular pattern to the days they were swarming and the days they weren't. She was rarely accosted, and when she was it was usually by men who were promptly shown how to properly conduct themselves. Children never ran up to her. ...She didn't know what to do with children.
But this one seemed very far away, so Henley brought it upon herself to stoop down to his level, earning her a chocolate-stained grin. She hazarded a guess that sweets were keeping him entertained when other people weren't.
Now that he had her undivided attention, the boy jabbed an envelope-sized paper pouch in her direction before dutifully beginning his explanation. "Mama said today is the last day, so we need to give away all our lanterns before tonight, so people will take them home and send them up into the sky! Take one, okay? It's good for the grass, I promise!" He was still grinning, holding the envelope out for her to take, but...
Her quizzical expression and canted head must have been enough information even for this boy that she didn't understand what he was talking about, because he made a little huff of sound.
With a little grumble, he tore open the envelope, pawing around in its contents so he could properly show her: "Look, it's seeds, okay? Sssseeeeds? Like that make the trees grow? And this other stuff is magic powder to give them food! That's cool, huh? It's glowy- Hey, can't you say anything? How come you're not talking to me."
A magic powder? Was it really magic? Henley's eyes must have betrayed her wonder as the boy shuffled everything back into the torn envelope and tried to give it to her again, but she promptly shot him a grimace and gave her a curt little shake of her head.
"That's okay, you can still have it, even if you don't say thank you. But it's nice to say thank you, y'know."
Henley's lip jutted out as she accepted the seed envelope that had been thrust at her. It seemed a little strange to be gracious to someone who'd run up to her unprovoked and started shoving chores at her. Shouldn't he plant the seeds himself, if he liked them so much? But he was so young, and they must have so many little envelopes to find homes for. She could humor him. Henley folded her hands together in front of her, and inclined her head deeply to the boy in thanks.
She thought she heard a startled little intake of breath, and a whisper that sounded something like... "Like Kung Fu Panda-!" (whatever that meant) before the boy reciprocated the action, and then galloped away to exclaim to his mother that he'd given his envelope away, and-
That was all the interaction she had with him. She picked herself up from her stoop, dusted her jeans, hefted her bag on her shoulder, then continued home, almost forgetting that she was still holding the ripped envelope in her hand.
