Girls Wanna Have Fun

Writers: Chelle, Eimi
Date Posted: 7th April 2010

Characters: Parale, Venrys, Syren
Description: The girls meet Parale and they have bubblies.
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 8, day 7 of Turn 5
Notes: Mentioned: Ioven
Notes: Follows Let's Make A Deal

Syren pulled her sea-green skirt tight around her as she
squeezed herself between the chair and the wall. She was _just_ small
enough to fit. Venrys would never think to look for her there, she
thought, covering her mouth with her hands to suppress a gleeful
chuckle.

She froze when she heard the sound of the door open. Syren knew from
past experience that the first rule of hide-and-seek was that you
shouldn't move if the seeker was close-by. Somehow her big sister could
always tell when she moved. If she stayed very still, maybe she
wouldn't be noticed...

Parale moved through the doorway, holding the basket she had filled with
berries. She had a plan in mind, to bake a pie as a treat, and had just
come in from outside. Her skirts swished around her, marking her
passing as she walked through the room.

Was that the sound of Venrys' skirts, Syren wondered. Something didn't
sound right. But then again, her sister could be tricky. She always
somehow seemed to find her, no matter how hard she tried to hide.
Syren just really wanted to know for sure! And so she carefully peeked
her head around the back of the chair cushion to see if it was indeed
her sister come to look for her.

She heard a noise. Thinking it might be a tunnelsnake, she stopped
walking and carefully looked around the room. And then she saw the small
movement. It was a child. "Dear, are you looking for someone?" Maybe the
girl had gotten lost.

Well, _that_ certainly wasn't her sister! Syren didn't know that woman
at all! She ducked her head back behind the chair thinking that maybe
if she hid again the woman would not notice her.

Parale smiled at the little girl's antics. Still, she wondered if maybe
she was afraid. "Listen, I have berries to make a bubbly. Do you like
those?"

She did. Syren _loved_ berries. She loved them even more than
hide-and-seek. Peeking back around the chair her eyes darted around.
"Is my sister here?" she whispered, loud enough for the whole room to
hear if there had been anyone else there.

"I don't think so." She did a quick glance around, but didn't see a
sister of any sort.

Syren couldn't be sure. After all, her sister was very sneaky and
always seemed to find her no matter where she hid. Carefully she
stepped out from behind the chair and looked around for herself. "I
don't see her," she confirmed and then held out her hand to receive her
berries.

Parale smiled and handed her a few to munch on. "Careful or you'll get
juice on your dress. Do you know how to make bubblies?"

The little girl just shook her head as her mouth was busily munching the
berries.

"Would you like to learn? Or do you need to get back to who's watching
you?" She certainly didn't want the little one to get in trouble. She
knew what it would feel like to have lost a child.

"No one's watching me," Syren replied, licking the juice from her
fingers. "I'm playing hide-and-seek."

"Well all right then, come along and I'll teach you how." Parale was
used to the small children grabbing her skirts and simply following. She
usually had the older ones, so this was a treat.

A sticky, berry covered hand reached up to take hers.

Parale smiled and grabbed Syren with her free hand. She chattered along
the way to her quarters. When they arrived, she gestured for Syren to
get the door for her. She had her hands full with the basket.

The little girl pushed it closed with both sticky hands, just as she was
asked. She then pulled out a chair by the table to climb up on it in
order to see what the woman was doing, since she was still too short to
really see the top of it standing on the ground.

Parale set the basket down first. Wrinkling her mouth, she found a towel
to cover Syren's clothes. She handed it to the girl. "Can't get all
messy can we?" Then, she began washing the berries, showing Syren how.

"That one's broken," Syren said, pointing to a berry that had split in
the hopes that it would be given to her to eat.

"Oh? Well we can put it in the bubblie anyway. We just need them to be
clean first." Parale began humming slowly as she worked, though it
didn't take long to get most of the berries clean.

The little girl was a little disappointed that she hadn't been given the
berry, and was about to argue the point when she heard a muffled sound
outside the door.

"Syren! Syren! Where are you?" a young voice called.

"Shhhhhhh..." Syren whispered, grabbing the woman's sleeve. "That's my
sister."

Parale frowned, looking from Syren to the door. "I think you need to let
her know where you are, m'dear."

"But... I'm hiding," she said, her face beginning to pout slightly. It
wasn't often that she got to do something without her big sister.

"But you and I can't eat all of these berries by ourselves. You'd burst
I think." She finished washing the berries and then began to gather the
ingredients she would need to make the dough.

"But Venrys eats a _lot_. She'll eat _everything_!" Syren protested,
her eyes growing large and pleading. She liked this woman! She didn't
want to share her with her sister.

"We'll share. I'll make sure." Parale inwardly grinned at just how smart
Syren was. "You'd better hurry though. We're going to need help creating
the dough."

"Ok," Syren sighed. She decided not to argue any further. Her new
friend might get mad, and she really did want to eat some bubblies.
Opening the door, her scream echoed down the hall. "_Venrys_! I'm
_heeeeeere_! _Venrys_!"

"Syren?" a voice echoed down the corridor. "Where are you?"

"I'm _heeeeeeeeeere_!" the little girl repeated, as the sound of soft
leather shoes could also be heard running through the corridor.

Finally a girl of eight-turns appeared in the doorway, her face flushed
and her brow knit together. "Syren, you scared me nearly to death!
Don't disappear like that or I'll tell Daddy on you!"

"But I was _hiding_," Syren protested.

Venrys put her hands on her hips in a very motherly way. "This is out
of bounds! I told you to go hide in the common's room."

"I did! But now this lady is teaching me how to make bubbly pies so
come on." She reached up and grabbed her older sister's hand and nearly
dragged her into the room. "This is Venrys. She's my sister. She's
bossy."

"Good day to you Venrys. You'll need to wash your hands. Do you know
how to make pie dough?" Parale smiled to herself as she measured out
everything to make it easier.

"No," the girl replied simply, eying the stranger a little suspiciously.
She wasn't supposed to go to the homes of people she didn't know, her
father had said. But she was torn. Bubblies sounded really good.

"Well come on over here then and you'll learn." Parale had everything
set out. Rummaging, she found another towel to cover Venrys' clothes.

Venrys put her hands behind her back and rocked a bit uncertainly. The
woman was a stranger, but she seemed nice. Her father would get angry,
but he didn't really have to know. And the berries looked good...
Syren seemed to know her... But her father certainly wouldn't approve!
"My father says I shouldn't blindly trust a stranger," she finally said,
her voice quiet and unsure as she quoted her father word for word.

"He did not," Syren protested as she got back up on her chair.

"Shut up," her sister snapped back. "He did so, and he said I'm
responsible for you when he's not around!"

"Venrys, it's not nice to tell your sister to shut up. And mean girls
don't get bubblies," Parale scolded softly. "Your father is right,
though. You should be careful of strangers." It sounded like the girls
had an involved parent. That was good. "My name's Parale. I've lived
here for my whole life. And I'm a fostermother. Tell me about you and I
won't be a stranger anymore."

The older girl grimaced thoughtfully as she considered that statement.
Just because she knew someone's name and where they were from didn't
mean they were not a stranger. But she did want bubblies very much!
"My name is Venrys. I'm eight. That's my sister, Syren. We're from
Sunstone Seahold. Our father is Ioven. He's a ceramics maker. He's
forty turns old. How old are you?"

"I have 33 turns now." Ceramics? Surely it couldn't be.. No. It
couldn't. Parale smiled. "Well it's nice to meet you, Venrys and Syren.
Now wash up like I said and we'll do some dough."

Venrys wavered only for a heart beat or two before she gave in and
walked over to the sink. The woman was still a stranger in her mind,
but _everyone_ was a stranger the first time you met them, she reasoned.
You'd never make a friend if you didn't spend time getting to know
them. Next time, Parale wouldn't be a stranger anymore. And a friend
who knew how to make bubblies and wanted to share them with you, that
was a good kind of friend to have!

After the bubblies were done, Parale split them with the girls and sent
them on their way. She munched, wondering if it was indeed just a
coincidence. Ceramics...

Last updated on the May 3rd 2010

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Girls Wanna Have Fun