The Month of Gathering (September) Ages 7/8
Week 1
My birthday's going to be at the end of the month!
I'm not very excited about it, though. I never am. That's 'cause we don't do anything. I mean, sure, my parents greet me and give me a lot of hugs (and I mean a LOT), but besides that, nothing. I don't mind; I've gotten used to it. I wasn't even shocked or whatever when my folks said they wouldn't be able to give me the usual stolen present this year.
There's a bout of flu that's been going around in class. Everyone's getting colds, tummy aches, and stuff like that, probably because of the cold weather we've been having lately. Kayley's new to the whole missing-class-because-she's-ill thing. It's driving her crazy, but the Kyrii is forcing her to stay home. At first the twins were allowed because all they had were runny noses, but after hitting the ceiling twice (literally!) they had to go as well. The only ones who haven't been affected are me and Razor.
So yeah, not off to a good start. Hopefully my luck will change soon.
Week 2
Nope, no luck so far. Now even Razor's sick.
"I wish we had some of those Mulberry potions like at the palace," he grumbled. "That'd probably do the trick."
It got so bad that the Kyrii finally allowed me to skip class. "No point since you're the only one here," he said, running his hands through his brown mane tiredly. He needed a break as much as I did.
I decided to get something for my class at the apothecary. Luckily, it wasn't one of the shops that I robbed before, so the Moehog lady that was running it didn't instantly throw me out. She did, however, give me suspicious glances, so I had to wait for a distraction before I could make off with any of the medicine.
One came quicker than I thought. A Kau came, wearing the royal seal on her cloak. "One 'Vial of Fire,' please."
The shopkeeper winced. "Oh, that's nasty one, Selma. I feel sorry for whoever's going to take it. Who is it this time?"
"A Kougra girl," said Selma. "Her name's Brynneth." My ears instantly pricked up. "She has a case of the flu, too. Poor lass, she's missing both her sword-practice and patrol. It's simply killing her." I had to smile at that.
"We all get sick sometime," the Moehog said knowledgeably. "Now, would that be two or three liters?"
Silently, I made my way out of the shop, the potions tucked underneath my jacket. I was a little disappointed by the news, since I planned to say hi to Brynn later. I also wanted to…well, maybe tell her I appreciated that she cleaned up Summer's grave. It made me feel a lot better. Looking back at it now, the idea seems silly. She doesn't know that I met Summer before, and I don't think she'd like the idea of her role model actually 'encouraging' me to be a thief. So I guess I won't mention it when I do see her.
I spent the rest of the day distributing the elixirs that I had. First I went to Razor's house.
It was very neat and orderly, for a thieves' place. His mom was really excited to see me. "He doesn't have many friends, you know. Spends his time playing with dolls."
"Action figures!" He corrected. He smiled at me between sneezes. "Hanso!"
I handed him drug. "Just what the doctor ordered." He drank it all up, and then burped. He was already feeling better. I left him happily reading comic books.
My next destination was the twins. Evidently, they had to be separated because if one got healthy, the other would get contaminated. I had to run back and forth between rooms to deliver messages.
"Tell Julius that I want my teddy back!"
"Tell Juliet that it was mine!"
"Tell Julius that I saw it in the store first and bought it, so that makes it mine!"
"Tell Juliet that it was my neopoints that she used, so technically it's mine!"
"Tell Julius that I never touched his neopoints!"
"Tell Juliet that I saw her filch some from my pocket the other day!"
"Tell Julius that we're thieves; we're supposed to steal!"
"Tell Juliet that we're siblings; we're not supposed to steal from each other!"
"Tell Julius that we are too!"
"Tell Juliet that we are not!"
"Tell Julius that we are too!"
On and on and on. Eventually I gave up and left it to their parents. They were crestfallen, since they hadn't had a rest for a long time.
Last stop was Kayley's, but I didn't know where her home was. I just gave it to the orange Ixi that ran the bookshop, since I knew she went there a lot.
By the end of the day, I felt like Tarla; taking the hard route instead of the easy path, delivering items to needy people. I was exhausted, crumpling head-first on my bed. Still, I can get why she does it, now: It makes her feel good about herself.
But no way am I going to do it EVER again.
Week 3
I guess all that back-breaking work paid off- everyone was back in class today with no sign of ill health. I'm sure Kayley was particularly glad about this, and she devoured our lessons with zeal. No one mentioned my visits, though, which annoyed me a bit. But hey, we're kids- seven-year-olds aren't very grateful.
Week 4
When I entered the classroom on my birthday, it was all dark. Huh, I was the earliest one! That was weird. Not even the Kyrii was there. I flicked on the light switch from outside and turned the knob-
Only to have this HUGE cake falling down on me! My head popped up from underneath the frosting, still covered with cream.
"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled. They laughed at the look at my face. Being a thief, I was usually able to see things coming- but this sure wasn't one!
"You didn't actually believe that we'd let you do all that without being grateful, did you?" Razor giggled.
Kanrik stepped out of the shadows. "The cake-falling was my idea. A little payback from April."
"You sure got me, sir!" I licked the icing from my cheeks. "Hey, chocolate! My favorite!"
"So what should we do first?" The Kyrii asked. "Games? Giveaways? Puppet shows?"
"EAT! EAT! EAT!" The twins screamed, already digging in. Even if they weren't obsessed with sugar, it made sense. Having the pastry crash on me, I got myself stuck at the middle of it. I had to literally eat my way out. Luckily, I had my parents and, yeah, I guess I should just admit it, friends to help. It was fun.
The only one who didn't join in was Kayley, who watched from her own dark, little corner. I grabbed a slice before the twins could gobble it up and passed it to her. She was taken aback. "What's this for?"
I shrugged, then whispered, "I never really thanked you about last month. You know, about the whole bereavement thing."
"You didn't need to. I got used to it."
"I got used to the fact that I never had any parties."
"Oh yeah?" She countered. "Well, no one's ever given me a potion before."
"That person also never got escape lessons," I shot back.
"I made it absolute torture!"
I rolled my eyes. "Stop berating yourself and eat the cake, okay?"
All in all, it was the best birthday I had, ever. The only thing missing was one person- but I didn't think she'd be allowed, anyway.