Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was late evening and everything was quiet except for the light tinkling of the chimes on Raife's porch. The crickets weren't out yet, but it was still dark enough that Raife had brought her lantern out to the porch so it lit up the sky a bit while she read a novel about Japanese women in World War II. It was a good night for reading. For once, Raife had nothing extra she needed to be doing. The kids were tucked in bed -Mikhael personally preferred the company of his bed to Raife, so that hadn't been a struggle- the boys were out destroying god-knows-what. It didn't matter as long as they weren't here and it was silent.

Before she turned to page sixty-three and found out what happened to Tokyo Rose after the war, Raife paused and looked up at her lantern. She watched the swirl of red and the unnatural glow for a moment, admiring the soft light it gave to the porch. A soft gust of wind sent it swinging softly and she tilted her head a bit, watching it creak and sway precariously, slapping against the top of the roof. Frowning, she wrinkled her nose a bit, watching it cautiously. If the wind blew a bit harder, it might smack the roof and break. s**t, Chai would kill her if she showed up back at her house with a box full of broken magical lantern shards.

Levering herself up carefully off the bench she sprawled over when she set up to read, she examined the lantern. Pressing her hands up under the bottom of it, she lifted it slightly, only to remember how light it was. Of course it swayed so much in the breeze. She looked around absently for a stray branch to tie onto it to help weigh it down. Finding nothing, she released her grasp on the lantern and went inside to search for something to attach on the bottom of it. Pushing open the heavy double front doors, she surveyed her living room and front foyer. A few couches, a couple of tables...and an utter mess. Raife groaned a bit and picked her way through the mess to flop over on the couch. How was she supposed to find anything in that mess? A pile of papers in the corner toppled over with a crash like an answer from heaven that she never would.

She supposed it was time to clean.

Raife grinned with pride at the sight before her. Her living room and foyer were sparkling clean. Well, damn, she'd never seen them that clean. Hell, it'd been a few months since she'd seen the floor. The carpet was a lovely shade of blue that didn't match the beachwood hardwood floor at all. She chuckled and looked at her pile of possible objects to dangle. She'd set them out as she discovered them during her cleaning session. Now it was time to evaluate.

A can of soda....the right heaviness, but..too weird.
A photograph...who wanted to hang a picture of themselves out where the world could see?
A chime....what good was a chime if there wasn't another one for it to dangle into?

Lastly sat a key. It was one of those old thick brass kinds, completely useless for opening anything but a one pin lock. She wondered what it belonged to at one time? She supposed that would remain a secret, as it seemed perfect for what she needed. In anycase, when she found the box, she'd certainly know where the key is.

Snatching the key and a piece of cord up, she went outside and tied it securely to the bottom of the lantern. Instead of swaying, she was pleased to see the counterbalance on the bottom of the lantern worked perfectly. It still shifted a bit, but more or less stayed where it was supposed to be.

An excellent day's work realized!