Note: "xie xie nin" is politer than "xie xie ni" Note number two: Susan is fairly young
Other, longer notes: The story is pretty slow paced for now. Do the conversions feel natural? Suggestions? Reviews? But don't be like a friend of mine and write "apple" as a review. Just . . . "apple."
"Fu?"
"Yeah?" He picked up the brush.
"When do you think I'll be able to fly?"
Brush at the ready, Fu craned his neck to see the small child's face. He followed her dreamy gaze to the window where lazy clouds where framed. "Don't know, kid." He looked back at the mess of bed head and sighed. He didn't see her glance at the far door.
"Is Baba still asleep?" She winced as the bristles caught a rat.
"Yep. He spent all day yesterday and was up really late last night doing his job as the Chinese Dragon. He's fine. Just needs some sleep." He pulled back the brush. His fingers pushed into the stiff bristles trying to pry loose the mass of hair that shortened their effective length. "I'm sure he'll take you flying. When he wakes up and gets some breakfast. Or supper."
"吃早饭," others phrases tumbled over her tongue.
"Whatcha doing?" He cocked an eyebrow.
"Practicing zhong wen. Baba said I must learn both it and ying wen equally. Said ying wen is a really common language but zhong wen is another."
"You're pretty good at both now."
"Hmm." She didn't see Fu's ears perk. "But I want to fly on my own."
"Telegram!"
"Mail!" Susan scrambled forward. Fu barely managed to get the brush back from its prone position, tangled in her hair before she sprinted down the hall to the front door.
Outside, staring into the swirling grain patterns on the front door of a rather modest dwelling stood a young elf. Bored with that, his gaze shifted to the soft clouds that had rolled in - it was supposed to shower tonight.
Cl - rash.
Startled, he teetered back and stumbled down a couple steps. The door in front of him flew to the side, clacking against the side of its rack as a young girl faced him and beamed brightly.
"Mail?"
"Shi." (Yes – it's pronounced with an "er" sound on the end) His hand reached far into the small bag draped over his shoulder, further down than it should have gone. From its recesses, the hand pulled out a simple, yellow folded slip. "To Loung Lao Shi."
The small girl took it with both hands, studying it closely. "Xie xie nin!" (to politely thank you or thank you "honored person") She disappeared back into the house as a dog standing on its back legs strolled up.
"Don't mind her. Who's it from?"
"Someone by the name of Chang. Sign here, please."
"Chang? Wait, as in that chick," he paused his pen, grimacing as he remembered the incident where he had spit kitty litter into her hair when he had first met her - accidently of course.
"Sorry," He caught the dog's attention, "but I have lots of letters to deliver." He patted his small bag. "It's my first day. Need to make a good impression on the boss."
"Oh, um, congratulations. Bye!"
"Xie xie nin. Zai jiang! (good bye)"
Fu shut the door behind him and looked at the turned over table and its scattered contents and released an irritated sigh.
Susan dashed down the hall and skidded almost into the bedroom door. He was probably still asleep. She shifted from foot to foot, contemplating between her choices. "Uh." She gripped the notch and pulled the door open. "Baba," she whispered. The blankets of the bed roll beside the spot where her bed roll had been gently rose and fell. She tiptoed to it gently. A tentative finger hooked over the edge of the blanket and pulled back. "Baaaabaaaa," she sang softly. He didn't stir. She straightened, inhaled deeply, and leaned directly over his partly covered face and smiled.
Susan jumped down the last couple of steps to the first stone in the path. She turned, waiting to see Fu finally coming down the hall to the door. "Come on, Fu! We need to go!"
"Yeah, yeah." The dog idly strolled forward. He stalled and turned back partly. "You sure you can handle her in your condition? That," a slick smile spread halfway across one half of his face. He let out a chuckle, "vixen-" Lao Shi cleared his voice, his eyes darting to preoccupied child behind Fu. Fu turned to see Susan watching something in the trees. "Oh, right, but keep a line open."
"I will be fine. I'm a grown man. I can take care of myself."
"If you say so," Fu threw back. He smirked as he sprinted off, recovering the distance between him and Susan.
Lao Shi watched them leave but his mind slowly turned its attention to the letter partly crumpled in his hand as the two traveled further away. Why was Chang coming here? As far as he knew she was native to the Hong Kong area. Why would she after all this time hunt him down and travel this far inland for a "casual" visit? He brought the letter up to look at it.