COUSINS
Chapter 4: Picnics and Postcards

After learning about Vesta's status in Veltron, Cupcake had become overly excited, using the sheep's wealth as an excuse to visit her every other day. Cupcake's intentions were painfully obvious, and perhaps dishonest, and Olive quickly grew weary of them. Cheri ceaselessly explained to her cousin that Olive was not going to manipulate a new friend of hers because it was simply not the right thing to do. Money supplied a significant basis in the conversation, but it was oddly challenging to differentiate morality. Cupcake predictably groaned in her own dismay.

"You know what I still can't believe?" Cheri asked after sipping her afternoon tea. "Vesta gave away that money like it was just another day of the week. My curiosity is poking at how she got her fortune. For all we know, it might have not been the lottery and an inheritance or something like that."

Olive made a disheartened sound. "Well... that's almost right. Before her father died, he went on an expedition with her mother to Carpenter Mountain, where they found five thousand gold coins. Those coins were worth a lot of money and they managed to sell them for more than a staggering ten million Bells! What a lucky family! Vesta's been able to afford whatever she's wanted on demand since she was in high school."

The numbers changed on the digital clock sitting on the kitchen counter. It was 5:00 PM.

The rough flapping of wings was heard somewhere close by. Cheri rose from her seat, exited the kitchen, and started walking through the hallway to the foyer. With haste she opened the door to find Pete the postman—a pelican well into his years—flying above their house and making his way to one of their neighbour's houses.

There were three letters in the mailbox: two were typically coloured white, but the third was poppy red. "Let's see," Cheri said as she read the return addresses on the envelopes. "Nook will be remodelling his upper floor sometime this week—um, very interesting—oh, Officer Copper thanks us for our participation from the other day... and—what? Mail from the capital? They're writing from home already, well, whatever for? The three of us have barely been living here a week!"

"You must be bluffing," Cupcake spat. Her attitude was still bitter from the previous few days. "What on earth could they be so anxious to tell us so soon? Maybe Pudge did something heroic and they've been on the edge of their seats to get that news to us or something." She rashly grabbed a mug from the kitchen cupboard and placed it on the counter. It spun several times off the force she had caused it.

Olive took the news more lightly and saw it as a gift. "What's the sense in moping over our mothers? They raised all of us far longer than they honestly needed to. Of course, saying that, there was also the possibility of them kicking us out right after high school." Her short speech generated disapproval, but she just groaned and shrugged indifferently.

Inside the envelope were two letters and photographs. Cheri looked at the first picture, and gasped loudly, surprised by what she saw. It was of the cousins' mothers and Cheri's younger siblings, Bluebear, who was skinned a light shade of blue, and Pudge, an honour student who was a pumpkin orange. They stood in front of a gigantic house that Cheri had never seen before. Joyce, Cupcake's mother, was holding a Bubble Shirt on a ruddy hanger. It was one of the only non-Gracie outfits that Cupcake had been looking for since graduation.

"Oh my goodness!" Cheri's sarcasm was somewhat hidden. "Olive, can you believe Aunt Joyce? It took a while, but she finally found that garment for Cupcake. You know, the blue one."

A split second had yet to pass and Cupcake was already rummaging through the remainder of the envelope. After shrieking stridently, which caused Cheri and Olive to momentarily cover their ears, she held the Bubble Shirt in her hands adoringly, after which she almost sank to the ground in reverence. Her lips were glued together, but she moaned deeply, creating an orgasmic-like setting that motivated her cousins to shout random words, most having to do something with being quiet. Cupcake complied, rising excitedly and hurrying to her room to change into the outfit.

"She was a cheetah in her last life," Olive joked intently. "Aunt Joyce might've well worn it in the picture to have hyped her even more. Of course—"

Cheri intervened with a jagged snicker. "Wow, your mum wrote us a novel. Honestly, what's happened in a week?"

Olive snorted and Cheri gave her a look of concern. Olive laughed and said, "Well, you could say that my mum was always into writing and stuff. I bet she would have done incredible things had she not gotten involved with that electrician. Nobody saw that coming, not even me. So much time has passed though—I shouldn't bother thinking about it anymore. Can I see the letter?"

"Certainly," responded Cheri. "Here you are." She handed Olive the letter.

—

Dear Olive and my nieces,

Hello to all three of you! Have you adapted to Veltron? Is it a beautiful village or do you prefer home? Whatever the case, everybody is wishing you well. Although you've just settled in, we were so eager to write and tell you that Bluebear and Pudge entered their final courses in school. Bluebear is performing exceptionally in her technology classes and she is hoping to make it into Tünlesh University in September, where she will study computer sciences as well as a few other less important subjects. Pudge will start teaching at the Academy soon, part of his training. He's excited for that. I hope that all of you are proud of them, especially Cheri since they're her siblings, after all.

Cupcake will be as pink as a peach when she finds the Bubble Shirt in the envelope. Aunt Joyce was browsing through a thrift shop about two weeks ago and found it, but she didn't want to give it to Cupcake until after she had moved out. Why? No definitive answer. That's what mothers do. It's likely she'll be wearing it until Halloween! I'm right, aren't I?

Olive, I want you to take care of yourself. Be very careful. You know I love you.

I'm going to give the pen to Cheri's mum now. Kisses to everybody! Enjoy the pictures!
-Roseanne

—

"Oh, my mum's so silly!" Olive giggled. "She's right though. Cupcake will probably wear that outfit until it turns cold again. When that time comes around, we should write them back detailing their... um, let's call it accuracy... or not. One way or another I feel as though that'd be unnecessary. Now, where's the second part of the letter? She said that Aunt Sapphira wrote us too."

Cheri picked up the envelope off the table. A second piece of paper rested inside it, as well as a somewhat damaged photograph, likely from the ruckus caused at the Post Office. The second picture was of Kody, a bear with dark blue fur, and Yuka, a navy blue koala with an attitude similar to Cupcake's. Kody had been Cupcake's first boyfriend, but their relationship ended halfway through high school. They remained good friends afterward, surprisingly enough, and wrote each other once every season. Yuka was one of Olive's only childhood friends whom had recently gotten a job somewhere in the entertainment district of the capital. Kody and Yuka were decent friends, occasionally planning social events with some of their better comrades.

A grin came to Olive's face when she saw the picture. "That's just beautiful. I'm so glad they were able to overcome those personal dramas they went through," she commented. "Yuka's such a good girl. It's amazing that I miss her as much as I do." Flashbacks entered her memory and Olive glanced at the refrigerator, staring at it while the past robbed her of her mentality. She sighed joyously.

Because her cousin was spiritually elsewhere, Cheri decided to read the letter from her mother. It was longer than Roseanne's.

—

Greetings!

Hey! It's been a week since you left home! Since then little has changed, at least for me. Joyce and Roseanne have been going out with their friends often these days and are soaking up all the free time. Bluebear and Pudge are tired of school and very happy that it's ending in a month and a fortnight. Cheri, you should be proud of them! They're getting higher grades than you achieved in school! That's just individually... I can't imagine their marks combined.

Did you receive the picture of Kody and Yuka? It's a nice one. They visited us the day after we bid you farewell at the train station. We had tea. Kody plans on moving from the capital as well, claiming his name's being called by a far away world. He was always something different, but still I'll pray for his success. On the other hand, Yuka began dating a soap opera actor named Gonzo. We're all so proud of her—she's going to do an excellent job at directing TV series someday. Keep her in your prayers too, okay?

The best news of all is that Maple graduated this week! She absolutely did! It's still early May, but the graduation ceremony was held in the park the other day. At the end of June her class is going to pass through Veltron as one of the stops on their field trip to commemorate this event! There's a large likeliness that she'll be able to spend the three days that she'll be there for with you. It's been so long since she last saw the three of you. Maple truly misses seeing your faces and she can hardly wait until her class gets to Veltron!

We're taking Bluebear and Pudge out to dinner tonight and Yuka's coming with her boyfriend. It's a shame Maple can't make it since she's at her uncle's this week. She'll be with you soon, though! Look forward to it! I love all of you. Be well!
-Sapphira

—

Cheri read the part pertaining to her siblings' grades twice more. Anger dwelled inside her, a form of fury she had not felt in a very long time. Her mother Sapphira was probably one of the most blunt bears in the country, her way with words tacky, but pure. Cupcake's voice interrupted her train of thought, and as the pink bear re-entered the kitchen wearing the Bubble Shirt, a series of snapping echoes obliterated the once-calm household. Cheri tore off a corner of her mother's letter, feeling underappreciated by what she had written.

"Dazzling! Admit it, please, because you know it's absolutely incredible!" exclaimed Cupcake. "Mum has no idea how badly I've wanted this outfit. The trim is comfortable, maybe even more so than most Gracie designs because of the peculiar lace that's used. Now I'm going to need to clean the closet out and place this in there." For some minutes the pink bear explained that they were going to require another bureau because she desired more clothing.

After Cupcake stopped talking, she read the letters with interest and quietly gasped at the sight of the photographs. The image of Kody standing with Yuka initiated a trickle of jealousy in the back of her head, an awful reminder of the pain that she had not wanted to rid of after their relationship had ended. Betrayed and heartbroken—she had looked at it that way, but Joyce had insisted that she had been overreacting.

It was Cheri's turn to whine. "Hey, can I ask something? What's the lowest grade I'd received in school? Any ideas?"

Discussion began. Cupcake, intentionally trying to lower Cheri's grades for entertainment, cited home economics class as the only course that kept her average within a decent range. Although Olive tried her best, she could not remember any specific report cards, with the exception of one, on which her highest mark was 88. She was unable to recall what class it had been though.

"Bah!" Cheri cried. "I don't care anymore. Nope, I don't. I just don't like how my mum has to point out my lousy school performance all the time. Wait, what am I saying? It wasn't lousy... it just never matched Bluebear's or Pudge's, that's all. She treats it like a crime everyday." Frustrated, Cheri tossed the letter across the kitchen. It landed on the floor near the door and picked up some dirt as it drifted to a stop. Her cousins were speechless. "...What's so bad about an 88?"

A mumble came from Olive. "The lowest grade Pudge received in high school was an 85 in the special math program. Bluebear's lowest grade was 83 in the same class the next semester. Cheri, yours was probably something like a 60 or 65. I know you underachieved the last year of school because of your computer games addiction. It's too bad Aunt Sapphira took the computer away from you too late in the semester, otherwise your marks might have been saved. Your average was—"

Cheri waved her hands about and shouted several letters of the alphabet in random order. "Don't tell me! I remember."

Cupcake shook her head. "I think we should drop the topic. High school's been over a year now. Why don't we go for a walk? I can show-off this outfit to the villagers, and for all you know, we'll meet more animals. Other than Tom Nook and Vesta, who else do we know? I can't think of anybody." She had finally finished reading the letters and looking at the pictures, carefully placing them on the table. The clock read 5:15 and the bears decided that they were going to eat an early dinner before going out.

The sun was hovering above the mountain ranges, preparing itself to sink behind them within the next few hours. Cupcake threw herself into the early evening air, desperate to scurry through the town modelling the Bubble Shirt. Although it had only been one week, she knew where most of the residents lived. Cheri and Olive walked behind at a slower pace, quietly socializing.

"Vesta," Olive said. "She's obviously going to show Vesta first. I wonder if she'll care?"

"I'm thinking that too," Cheri concurred. "You'd heard what Cupcake said though. If we run into somebody we don't know, she'll show them anyway. Typical Cupcake. Where do you think she is right now?"

Cheri and Olive caught up to Cupcake quickly. She was talking with a blue bull, whose horns were a striking yellow, resembling a banana, but at the same time almost an uncanny shade of gold. He had introduced himself as T-Bone, a florist studying law. He had a moderate interest in clothes and fashion, evident by his concentration on Cupcake's outfit.

"That looks splendid on you!" T-Bone exclaimed. "I've seen it at Nook's before, but I'd never thought of buying it because it doesn't come in my size. It's also the same blue colour my skin is, unfortunately. I'd look silly. On you, however, I think the outfit looks good." He scratched his chin and contemplated this considerably before changing his mind, stating, "Actually, it looks great, Cupcake! Five stars!"

Cheri joined her cousin in the conversation with Cupcake. "Hello, pleased to meet you," she said, her attention on T-Bone. "My name's Cheri. I'm Cupcake's younger cousin." She exchanged handshakes with the bull, who nodded and bowed courteously to the red bear. "So I see you've met dear Cupcake—and how would you refer to her?"

The wind howled. T-Bone shrugged at the pace of a sloth, raising his shoulders and opening his mouth to say something, but Olive intervened by clapping her hands violently to interrupt the awkwardness of the moment that Cheri had created. "I'm Olive. I'm also a cousin of these two." She was unable to think of anything else to say and instead smiled.

"Stunning!" Cupcake's voice echoed in their ears. "It's not even a Gracie design and I'm flattered to be told that I look good in it! Come on, girls, you all know very well that I look more than just unbelievable, right? Well, anyway, I wonder who else would want to see me in this enchanting piece of work?" Without hesitation, Cupcake waved goodbye to T-Bone, and started in the direction of Tom Nook's store. Cheri and Olive laughed at their cousin in her current condition.

Less than a minute later, Cupcake had encountered another resident of Veltron. Named Penny, she was a short mouse no taller than a metre. Like Vesta, the fur around her eyes was not the colour of the rest of her body. Penny was a soil-tanned colour and a much brighter shade of brown circled her eyes. The mouse was wearing an orange spring gown that matched the tone of her skin.

"It's nice to meet you," Penny said, taking Cupcake's hand and shaking it viciously. Cupcake gawked slightly.

"I'm Cheri!"

"My name is Olive. It's a pleasure."

"Likewise!" Penny responded. "I live next door to T-Bone, and he's been my neighbour for many years now, if I'm not mistaken. My house is the one with the brown roof and the garden of white tulips. You girls should drop by for a snack sometime." She bowed in a similar fashion to T-Bone and saw them off as they continued their trek through Veltron. Cupcake announced that she was going to see Vesta next and not take another detour. Her cousins were relieved to hear this.

Although Vesta had just returned home upon their arrival, the sheep welcomed them in with open arms. The interior design of her house almost made all three cousins fall silent. Clothes were assembled throughout the room, thousands of colours clashing with the carpeting and wallpaper, but it did not seem as though Vesta cared about colour coordination. Five metres separated the ceiling and floor, with numerous furniture occupying every remainder of space in between. A luxurious chandelier hung in the middle of the living room above a larger than typical coffee table, on which laid cooking magazines. Pictures were on all the walls, some of Vesta and her parents, while others were of animals the cousins did not know.

"Wow..." Olive breathed slowly. She had lowered her voice. "It's like living in a castle with Veltron as the moat. What a gorgeous house."

Cupcake eyed the living room several times over. Impressed with the layout, and its accompanying choice of colour, the pink bear prepared a speech in her head discussing the room's beauty, but chagrin got the best of her, and she decided to put it off for another time. She could not deny the kitchen or Vesta's bedroom of their libertine styles, though she admitted to herself that she preferred the living room to the others.

"How are all of you doing? Would you like me to put on a pot of tea?" Vesta asked as she entered the kitchen, tying a greying apron around her waist. She suddenly changed the topic: "I'll tell you, it's difficult to participate in the village's constant string of fundraisers, especially because lately I've been spending a lot of money renovating my bedroom—I'm surprised it hasn't fallen apart yet. When I first bought this place, it was a mess and I thought it'd be best if I cleaned it up."

Cheri glanced at a wooden grandfather clock that was at least fifty years old. "Some of the items you own are really nice. I'm curious to know how much some of them cost... such as the grandfather clock."

Vesta smiled. "Surprisingly, only 5000 Bells. I won it at an auction last year. The retail price is more than 40,000 Bells! I was lucky!"

Olive laughed excitedly. "That's a lot of money, but when you're rich, spending your entire fortune is like a day-to-day activity. I'm sure Vesta's grown so accustomed to it now that she barely recognizes it. I can't wait to start buying goods instead of paying off a loan. I think we're down to 210,000 Bells. I think that's it..." Her voice trembled at the thought of the debt.

Widening her eyes, Vesta shouted, "Do you really have that much to pay on your house? Oh, I'm sorry to hear this. How about I offer another 10,000 Bells? That'll ease you for a few weeks before Mr. Nook begins breathing down your neck again." She placed the tea kettle on the stove, maximizing the heat. Steam rose from the kettle a minute later.

Cupcake nodded heedlessly at the suggestion, but Olive's protesting skills got in the way. "You're our friend, Vesta! Not the bank! I assure you we will find jobs that satisfy our needs, such as money. The debt will be paid with time!" The two bears eyed each other suspiciously, delirious of the other's intentions. Olive then added, "We will manage. You know we will."

"How sensitive of you," Cupcake put in. The pink bear turned from her cousin to Vesta. "Olive is a tough cookie sometimes." Her tongue was lingering unexpectedly and she was uncertain whether she should continue or not. Then, she said, "Thank you for that offer, Vesta. I too believe that the three of us can manage." This statement gently surprised Cheri and Olive.

Vesta smiled.

A chorus of crickets sang irritably throughout Veltron. At 10:00 PM, Cheri, Olive and Cupcake returned home to the relentless noises, most of which emulated the cries of children. Immediately Cupcake made a break for the bedroom, casually spitting "goodnight" as she walked. Cheri and Olive entered the kitchen, from which a rich fragrance was floating about, likely whipped cream, and they sat down at the table.

"Well, well," Olive pondered aloud. "I can't remember the last time Cupcake's been so up in arms about anything. Her temper can quickly change based on what's going on, right? One minute she's all over the place, running to and fro and excited about her outfit, and the next she's depressed because of our lacking funds. I wish she would take more responsibility instead of always wanting to depend on others."

Cheri shrugged aimlessly. "Who knows. I'm still wondering how long her mum has had that outfit. It must have cost a millennium."

"...Cost a millennium? Well, all right." Olive was speechless, bewildered by her cousin's notoriously bizarre metaphor. "I'm turning in too. Goodnight."

Cheri remained at the kitchen table, somewhat embarrassed by her unorthodox twist on words. Because she was not entirely exhausted, she went into the living room and sat in the plush armchair, resting her sore muscles on the relaxing cushions. Suddenly, noticing the letters on the coffee table—moved there by Olive before they went to Vesta's—Cheri became motivated to retrieve a piece of stationery and a pen to write a letter home.

Strangely, the red bear was unsure what to write in the letter. Uninterested by the thin blue lines that ran across the stationery, she quickly abandoned the attempt, and walked into the hallway, taking a burgundy hockey stick out of the closet. Cheri decided that she was going to practice some shots on the hills near their house before turning in that evening.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I think this is a good chapter. I hope you enjoyed it!