Author's Note: Please try my other fanfics and original fics. I really would like your opinions on them. Yes, this is shameless self-promotion!
"I Am A Rock" is a Gundam Wing songfic about WuFei. It's a one-shot about 700 words.
These others are all in FictionPress.net under my same name "LSR-7"
"Changing Seasons" is about a girl who goes through treatment for leukemia based on my father's experience. It's about 3,000 words.
"Just Desserts" is based on a picture whose name I don't know, but I think he was the illustrator for a children's book about a dentist and a fig. It's a bit of a supernatural piece. Almost 800 words. I first wrote this in seventh grade and then revamped it in ninth.
"The Painted-form Wife: A Retelling" is a retelling of a Japanese folktale about a beautiful woman and the farmer she comes to marry. I think this is about 3,600 words.
"The Telltale Swab" is about my experience to the dentist's, it's meant to be humorous. It's almost 1,000 words.
"Where I Come From" is my short memoir about a section of myself that deals with my ethnic background. It's about 2,000 words.
So please go and read these and tell me what you think!
Chapter 13
"Bye Ganji! Remember to take those stitches out in a couple weeks!" hollered Sarah as she waved at the middle-aged man. He tipped his worn felt hat at her and rode out of the property.
Sarah shoved her hands into the deep pockets of her faded grey trousers, trying to ward out the cold and stiffly walked back into the house. In her hurry to get out of the cold, she almost ran her nose into someone's broad chest.
"Oh!" she said, startled, "Excuse me!"
"It's alright," replied a lightly amused masculine voice.
Sarah looked up to John's face and said with a smile, "You're right on time!"
"I try."
"Did you bring money? You'll probably need it."
"Got it right here," John answered, lifting a hefty sack into Sarah's field of vision.
"Great! It feels a bit cold out, so could you wait a minute while I get my jacket?"
John gave a nod and Sarah dashed off to her room.
The two rode leisurely as Sarah pointed out landmarks until they reached the inner town. They dismounted from their mounts, Sarah nodding or waving in greeting to people she knew as she led Hessen by the reins, John with Ralley in tow a step behind her.
"Here's Marzel's," announced Sarah.
A fairly well organized shop greeted John's eyes as he looked through the open door and shutters. Sarah and John tied their horses to a nearby post then went into the building.
Inside the shop and beside the door there was a scarred, wooden counter. In front of it, a burly man with a thick, curly, black beard, parted hair, and a leather apron snored on a chair.
Sarah grinned at the man before sighing quietly, feeling apologetic at having to disturb him. Walking up to him, she gently nudged him awake.
"Wake up Marzel, you've got a customer."
The black haired man bobbed his head up and rubbed his eyes with thick, callused fingers.
"Sarah, is that you?" Marzel asked with his deep, accented voice as he squinted to confirm with his eyes what his ears told him.
"Yes it's me, Marzel," she answered in a soft fond voice she reserved for the elderly. "As I was saying, you have a customer."
Marzel looked up towards the door and saw John's blurry figure.
"Hello there stranger! Hang on a moment while I find my glasses," he told John in a friendly business voice.
Sarah almost giggled while the elderly gentleman searched for his spectacles. John patiently waited by the door.
"Marzel?" Sarah finally said.
"Hm?" he hummed, half listening as he searched through a drawer.
"Your glasses are on your head."
"Hmmm? Oh! You're right, thank you Sarah," Marzel mumbled good naturedly as he fumbled with the glasses that had been hiding in his hair.
"Sorry for the wait. I'm Marzel, who might you be?" this question was directed at John.
"I'm John…" he trailed off, not having anything else to identify himself with.
Something seemed to light up in the elder man's face and he asked, "Of the Peronel's?"
"Yes," John answered uncertainly. Apparently the other men had spread news of him.
A large smile crinkled Marzel's eyes, a jolly face.
"Then you're the new hard worker who found the red stick this year, aren't ya?"
John gave a small, embarrassed cough into his fist and looked back up.
'Is he blushing?' Sarah wondered, but could not confirm it as he had composed himself.
Marzel gave a knowing look at John and then leaned towards Sarah and waggled his bushy eyebrows at her none too subtly. Sarah battled the growing heat in her cheeks and tried to change the focus by asking, "John, you needed stove parts?"
"Ah yes. Mister-"
"Just Marzel," Marzel interrupted.
"Marzel…" John began, almost testing the name out, "I'm looking for insulated wires and some adapters… Do you have energist connectors?" John asked, slightly hopeful towards the end since the clerk was nodding thoughtfully, a smile creasing his face.
"You've come to the right place."
Marzel swung a meaty arm around John's shoulders and asked questions about the young man's project as he led him to a corner of his shop. Sarah sat on the vacated stool and glanced out the open shutter to confirm that the horses were okay. She looked back to the men and saw that they seemed to be totally engrossed in a conversation.
John was making hand gestures, explaining modifications he was planning, Marzel nodding in understanding or questioning for clarification. Marzel walked to the counter in a shuffling tromp and pulled a piece of paper and a pencil out of one of many drawers and shuffled back to John, holding the items out to him. They cleared a small space and John drew and wrote small notes of measurements.
"I think I see what you're trying to do," Marzel finally said after studying the sketch.
They seemed to be gathering odd bits and pieces, and the only thing Sarah could identify was the spool of insulated wire John held.
The young adults exited the shop several minutes later, John now being in possession of a medium sized brown paper bag.
After depositing the goods John bought into a saddlebag, John informed Sarah in an almost embarrassed manner of his need to purchase clothing.
"I know just the place," she replied, patting John's hand reassuringly.
'Is he afraid of clothes shopping?' Sarah wondered, 'Or is he shy about me going with him? Maybe he needs underwear!'
Sarah blushed at the last thought and efficiently led him and their horses to a well kept, glass-windowed shop. A wife and husband team owned and ran this business, known for their efficiency and quick service. Several women and a couple men milled around in the store, no doubt looking for suitable attire for the upcoming festival.
"Hullo Sarah," one of the wandering women said with a pleasant smile.
"Hello Monki," Sarah replied in kind.
"Looking for clothes with your man friend?" the young woman asked in a conversational tone.
"You could say that, I suppose. I'm actually showing John around town. Oh! Sorry!" Sarah said, suddenly realizing she had not introduced him to anyone properly. Turning to John she pulled him by his arm next to her and gestured to the other people in the store, introducing everyone to John and John to everyone else.
One or two of the people present couldn't help but stare at John's metal arm while the others either averted their gazes or ignored it completely. Neither action was lost upon John and Sarah. Polite conversation about the festival began, filling in John, the stranger, on details and customs. They really didn't have much opportunity to talk about the goings on of the festival in such depth usually because there were few new comers to their town so they were more than happy to talk to John.
"…and then the young men chase the chosen goose into a crate! There's one for each participant with their own numbers. If they get it into one of theirs they win the goose! But last year was just dreadfully hilarious! That goose had spunk and chased the men! One of them even hid in a crate trying to get away from that vicious goose! In fact, they just ended up working together, they didn't care who got it as long as they caught it and ended the madness. I'll tell you, they certainly ate that little devil with relish!"
As John listened intently to a few of the chatty women on the town's seemingly strange traditions, Sarah wandered towards the back where Mr. and Mrs. Tankurcous, the owners, would be.
"Mrs. Tankurcous?" called out Sarah.
"Sarah? Is that you?" came a young voice.
"Kancia?"
The mentioned woman peeked her head out around a dressing room door. A couple of rolled red curls framed her pale, rounded face, and her lace-covered, over-indulged body soon followed; she and Sarah were hidden behind a partition from the rest of the store.
Sarah clinically took stock of her flame-haired friend as a doctor and a friend worried about Kancia's health. A few times before Sarah had told Kancia of her concerns, but Kancia couldn't kick her snacking habit nor keep to a regular exercise regimen. Of course Aunt Rena argued that Kancia was a healthy female specimen.
'She would,' Sarah thought humorously. She mentally shook herself of these thoughts and returned to the present.
"Did you know that Nanaii came back?" Kancia gushed.
"No, I didn't. Did you see her?" a happy Sarah asked.
"Yes! I saw her, Junes, and their parents coming into town with a few others. They were absolutely covered in dust and were really tired! They came back in time for the festival, I'm glad to see! They miss it half the time!"
Sarah listened to her excited friend, whose voice would crescendo to illustrate, in Kancia's mind, the most important information. Sarah was glad to hear that Nanaii had returned safely since traveling was so dangerous, especially now that the Zaibach Empire had fallen. Soldiers-turned-bandits and some natural predators haunted the forests, dry ravines, and canyons of the broken empire. Although it didn't seem that war had touched this country town, the draft and the shipping off of men to dig out drag-energists for the war effort had certainly left a jagged scar in the hearts of the townsfolk.
"Hello ladies!" came the well-settled cheerful voice of Mrs. Tankurcous. The lanky, well dressed (even though it was her work clothes) woman came into view with a canvas measuring tape hanging from her graceful neck.
"Hello Mrs. Tankurcous," replied Sarah, smiling at the happy businesswoman.
"Are you here to pick up your dress? Let's check and make sure the alterations still hold true."
And before Sarah could reply the still youthful looking middle-aged woman pulled her away and Sarah gave a helpless look to her red haired friend. Kancia waved, an amused smile on her face, and she then went back to her dressing room.
John followed Mr. Tankurcous to the back of the men's dressing rooms where many bolts of cloth lay stacked beside drawers and cabinets. The sprightly co-owner of the store stopped at one drawer and pulled it open to reveal an assortment of men's underwear. He began to pull out so many colors and patterns that it made John dizzy just watching him.
"Ah, there now, here's a nice one!" said Mr. Tankurcous.
John looked down to see what had been chosen by the other man. When he did, a very bright green assaulted his eyes which caused him to quickly start worrying.
"Ha ha! You should have seen the look on your face! I'm sorry, this one is a gag I love to use, but I don't get much opportunity to use it. Now back to business!"
John almost sighed in relief, because he had been quite worried about offending the graying, elder man. Still smiling happily over his joke, the tailor waved his hand over the open drawer and said, "Take your pick, I believe they should all fit you."
Mr. Tankurcous was famous for his accurate guesses concerning measurements, and although John wasn't aware of this, he still trusted the older man's judgment and looked for suitable boxers.
"You're here to get dressed up for the festival too, am I right?" the curious proprietor asked over his shoulder as he walked to a storage room nearby.
"Yes, and I would like some clothing of my own since I've been wearing ones lent to me." John informed him. While he spoke John had found a pair of white boxers with big, red hearts printed on them and made a funny face as he put them back and finally dug out some plain black and blue ones. After another moment of thought he also picked up a plaid pair.
Suddenly a bundle of cloth was shoved into his arms, and John desperately tried to keep the items that already occupied his arms from falling.
"Try these on," said Mr. Tankurcous.
Setting some items down, John carefully unfolded the black material and found that he was holding a pair of expensive looking trousers with a dark blue stripe going down the outer sides. To go with these he also had draped over his arms a white button-up shirt, with a tall collar both made of fine quality materials as well and a dark blue vest.
"I thought those colors would suit you," said the tailor as John fingered the fine material.
Turning and walking into a dressing room, John closed the door behind him. He came back out earlier than expected, his upper body bare.
"Uh, sir…" John started.
"Oh, yes, I should have thought," Mr. Tankurcous interrupted while pulling his measuring tape from around his neck.
"Arms out and away from your sides please," the slim man requested in a business-like tone.
John complied and the storeowner took measurements around the shoulder with the mechanical arm then across the shoulders. It seemed the elder man was about to ask something when his eyes lingered over the bolted straps on John's chest, but with a show of kindness he did not.
"A moment please," the shorter man said and briskly walked into the recently vacated dressing room. He returned with the white shirt and blue vest. "Arm through the sleeve please."
John did as he was told and put his left arm through the loose white sleeve. Mr. Tankurcous buttoned the cuff and then pulled the shirt straight as he draped the other sleeve over John's right shoulder.
"This would fit, it just needs some alterations on the other sleeve," he paused a moment before looking up at the young man to ask, "Do you want to hide the arm? I can make the sleeve larger. Or would you rather leave it bare?"
'Do you want to hide the arm? Hide the arm?' John echoed in his thoughts. He considered in silence, looking at the loosely fisted hand of his metal arm before remembering Sarah.
"Bare," John answered without hesitation.
Mr. Tankurcous told John to come back the next day for the altered outfit. After he got dressed back in his clothes, John left a deposit and walked back out to the main part of the store.
He soon saw Sarah chatting with a plump red-haired woman and she noticed him and waved him over. The woman she was talking to turned around to face him as he walked over.
"Kancia, this is John. John, this is Kancia, one of my friends," Sarah said, gesturing to each other with her free hand. The other one was occupied with a long bag that was draped over her arm.
The pale red-head smiled up at him and for a moment, and John thought she had a slyness about her.
"I've heard so much about you! So, will you be breaking the stick with Sarah?" Kancia asked in a cheerful but blunt manner.
"Kancia!" Sarah said through clenched teeth, her face reddening in embarrassment as Kancia giggled.
Meanwhile John was at a loss, not understanding the terminology.
A couple of people nearby overheard what was said and shifted slightly closer as went through items on tables and counters, trying to listen without drawing attention to themselves. This community, unfortunately, thrived on gossip, as there was usually little else to do aside from work.
When John didn't comment and Kancia noticed his blank face, she elaborated. "The one who finds the stick will get married in the coming spring. You found the stick at Peronel's, correct?"
At John's nod she continued, "You're supposed to break the red stick with the one you love, and you keep one half while she keeps the other since you are two parts of a whole just like the stick."
At this information John's eyebrows lifted in sudden understanding.
"Thank you for informing me. I'll keep that in mind," he quietly responded, very aware of the implications of his statement.
Kancia nudged Sarah with her elbow and Sarah looked around, avoiding people's eyes while hoping no one noticed her flaming cheeks.
Author's Notes: Once again I must apologize for my tardiness in posting up a new chapter. Here are a couple reasons (A.K.A. "excuses") for the months lateness.
I'm in my senior year of high school and I had to write several essays to go with the college applications I had to fill out. The good news is that through my hard work I got accepted to all four of the colleges I applied to. Just for the heck of it I'm telling you guys that three of the four colleges are in Washington and the other one is in Oregon. I also applied for a WUE scholarship and got one for one of the Washington school so it'll pay for more than half of my tuition (not including books, boarding and food!). Yay me! I'm hoping I won't end up paying any student loans since I was told by several people both on the net and off that loans are evil.
Another reason is plainly school itself, although my work load has decreased since entering second semester and I'm having fun in Jewelry and AP Psychology. I can't say the Japanese is the most fun, that's only because I'm teaching myself because I'm ahead of my class, which is the highest at Japanese 4 and it's hard to regulate my studying, but I'm going along and doing well on the tests. This includes learning more than ten kanji (Chinese characters) a chapter and I'm trying to do about two chapters a month, although I signed to do one chapter a month.
Applying for scholarships is tiring. That's all I'm going to say about that one.
It's hard for me to continue writing, but I want to. The next chapter will probably take forever to come out too, you'll just have to deal with it! *Sigh* If I weren't writing this story and I was just a reader I'd be tired of waiting and am since there are a few stories out there that haven't updated in a while.
It was my birthday on Sunday, February 16th. I turned 18! YAY!
In Alaska, where I live, there is a celebration called Fur Rendezvous, Fur Rondy for short. During this time the dog sled races start (unfortunately the snow disappeared so they have to start it in Fairbanks now, which is about 8 hours away in the middle of Alaska) I think this is a result of global warming. Anyways, other events include weight pulling contest where dogs try to pull the most weight the fastest for a short distance. There is also oyster shucking. I was with my family at a seafood restaurant where an oyster shucking contest is held every year and I figured I wanted to enter it. I got the entry form and found out that the minimum age limit was 21, but I was allowed to because my dad signed off on it. It was ladies night so I competed against three women and we got a lesson on how to shuck oysters. These oysters were so hard that even the top chef and the owner of the restaurant, who were teaching us, were having a bit of trouble. They chose out easy looking ones from the "Rocky Balboa" oysters and changed it so that we only had to do 6 instead of the customary 12 oysters. Anyways, to make a long story short I won with the fastest time of 2:21 minutes (the woman in 2nd got them done in 2:40) and the neatest ones meaning that I hadn't scratched the oysters up. I won $50! I am the ladies night champion and it was my first time shucking oysters. I had cut my ring finger on the 6th oyster though. But that's okay.
This chapter is probably one of the most boring ones I have written. I'm sorry if it bored you. I hope to have more action soon. I don't mean sword fights and killing dragons, but something like activity instead of shopping. I hate clothing shopping with a passion! Well, not with a passion, I just hate wearing dresses and skirts (with the exception of Prom I suppose) and having to go try on clothes. Anyways, enough of that. I hope the next chapter will include the festival, but it might get pushed until the chapter after the next.
Now onto the comments!
Kartos~ Too bad I don't have the patience or the time (ok, maybe I might have the time if I worked at it :-P) to do as you suggested. I have school still. Glad you liked the chapter, this one, I hope, is longer and more to your liking compared to the last one.
Rai Dorian~ Thanks!
ShadowShapeShifter~ Thanks, I like having cute scenes, who couldn't when you have little kids to play with? I think it'll be a while yet before you see wings again.
Kae Noel~ Well, here's more but not soon. Sorry! I'm waiting for your installments for "Weeping Willow" as well.
Elihice~ What's MarySueism? I tried to look it up in the dictionary but I couldn't find it. Sorry I left you suffering for 3 months!
Teal Huskie~ Thank you very much. I'll see if I can get to the posters sometime. I had forgotten until I saw your comment.
Erik's Girl~ Thank you very much. Mmmm… Folken… *drool*
Otaku Pitcher~ Thank you so much for all your compliments. Don't berate yourself, I'm a bad author for not updating as much as I should and I'm impatient with myself.
Jessica~ Wow! You're my 75th reviewer! Thanks for leaving a review and your compliments! I'm glad that you like it. This is the first of its type I've ever written. I really do hope this turns out to be a good romance, but as you can see nothing much has happened yet. Hello neighbor! Perhaps if I yell loud enough you can hear my voice from Alaska. LOL! You're lucky that you found my fanfic only recently, you didn't have to go through the 3 month wait like most of the others.
Thank you everyone for your patience and for reading. Please, as always, leave a review! Whether it's a question about the story, clarification, about me or anything else.
PS- I have art up on mediaminer.org. This includes a sketch of Sarah, several of Folken, Van, one of Celena and others from a couple other anime and just art. If you want the address, please e-mail me at LSR_7@yahoo.com and I'll send you the address.