Hoping I didn't lose count...

Um... hey, Sea Glass. Do you still want to come to the beach? 

BEFORE THE BALL

A retelling by Owl

~~~

"Next, bind the two bundles together with florist wire - "

Cú Chulainn rewinded the video here, watching very closely as the narrator bound two separate sets of flowers. When she mimicked their movements, however, the flowers ended up seeming sloppy and lopsided - one was much taller than the rest and seemed to dangle downwards - as opposed to delicate and symmetrical, like in the video. With a sound of frustration, Cú threw the bundles to the side, and set the video back to the beginning to try again.

After twenty minutes of failure, she'd just about given up. "FEATHER!"

"WHAT? I'M BUSY!"

Grumbling, Cú got up from her chair and left her room, going next door to her sister's. "I'm trying to make Eris's corsage but I keep goofing it up please help me."

"Just a second," Feather sighed, turning back to her ironing board. A white dress was laid out there, with old-fashioned poofy sleeves and a long billowy bottom. 

Cú watched her for a moment, then asked, "Aren't you supposed to do that after you've washed it?"

"Ohshootyou'reright," said Feather, her whole body jerking in surprise. "JustasecondI'llberightback!"

With that, she hurried out of the room, freshly ironed dress in tow. Cú stared, in mild shock, at where Feather had just been standing. "Someone's in a rush."

~~~

While Cú waited for Feather's return, a shouting match was taking place downstairs.

"YOU CANNOT WEAR A HOODIE TO A BALL!" yelled St.Owl. 

"I LIKE MY HOODIE!" countered Devil Owl with a whine. "I WANNA WEAR IT!"

"HOODIE, SCHMOODIE!" St. snapped. "You've got a nice shirt in that closet somewhere. Wear it!"

Grumbling, Dev went over to hunt through his closet, and St. returned to her room (to listen to Panic! at the Disco). When he finally found his suit, he grimaced at the color. "Black? Oh, no. We're fixing this."

He grabbed the jacket and pants and went into the laundry room, where the machine was already running. He wrenched the lid open, tossed his clothes in, then rummaged in a cabinet. "Purple dye . . . purple dye . . . STTTTT., WHERE'S MY PURPLE DYE?"

"YOU USED IT ALL ALREADY!" St. shouted back.

"DO WE HAVE ANY FOOD COLORING?"

"IN THE CABINET OVER THE FRIDGE IN THE KITCHEN!"

"Ugh, but that's so high up," Dev groaned, making his way upstairs. Down below, the washing machine chugged on.

~~~

"Okay," said Feather dramatically, slamming a gigantic encylopedia onto Cú Chulainn's desk. "Let's see what Smith has to say on corsages."

"Probably a lot," Cú grumbled, staring apprehensively at the size of that book. She read plenty often, but Feather's nonfiction never failed to intimidate her.

Feather flipped open the book with a grunt, getting it to C, then Co. "Compartments . . . consumers . . . corsages. Here we go."

Though most of the book was written in tiny print, Cú was relieved to see it came with pictures. While Feather snapped instructions at her - and stopped her from doing something stupid - Cú fumbled with her poppies. When she was finally done, she paused to admire her corsage.

And hit her head on the desk with a groan.

"It's all right," said Feather hesitantly, "it takes practice . . . you know what, just let me do it, give me that ribbon."

And she snatched Cú's material and speedily made her own corsage, which looked absolutely perfect.

"Now you should really get ready," Feather advised. "We only have a few hours left. Is my dress done yet  . . . ?"

~~~

As Cú flipped through her closet, trying to find anything other than a tank top to wear, she heard shouts coming from downstairs. "Not again," she groaned.

"COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS, DO YOU HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR OTHER PEOPLE?!" Feather shrieked.

"You should be grateful, it looks better like that!" Dev countered stubbornly, indicating Feather's newly-purple dress. "Now GIVE ME MY SUIT BACK!"

"NOT UNTIL YOU FIX MY DRESS!" Feather stood on her tip toes and held Dev's suit high above her head so he couldn't reach it.

"All right, what's going on this time?" St. groaned, entering the laundry room.

"DEV DYED A LAUNDRY LOAD PURPLE AND NOW MY DRESS IS RUINED!" 

"FEATHER STOLE MY SUIT!"

"Okay, calm down," St. sighed. "Feather, give Dev back his suit."

"But - "

"GIVE IT BACK."

She sighed and handed it to him. He stuck out his tongue at her.

"And Dev, no dessert for a week."

"WHAT!"

"You know better than to put your laundry into a load that's already running! Now you've spoiled Feather's best dress. Go to your room and get ready." Dev complied, with much grumbling about how it had been an accident. "And Feather, next time Dev does something like this, don't steal his clothes, tell me. You've got plenty of other dresses, you could wear one of those instead. Or just wear this one, it doesn't look that bad."

"I refuse to wear purple," Feather snapped, discarding her dress and marching back up to her room.

St. too, left the empty laundry room, humming "Roaring 20s" as she went.

~Brynn 

Today I'm hanging out with Sage, which is great. Sage is pretty awesome. Skye doesn't seem to like her too much though. We started chatting in the chat thread, and Skye just kind of walked away saying something like "Smh" and then going off somewhere to read. I don't understand why Skye is so boring. Whatever. Later today Zar's going to some family reuinion thing where everyone talks and eats and runs around at some big park. Now, I like parties in general but this one sounds boring beyond belief. I think I'll go back to the ball instead- Wait, what? Oh! Zar says that her great uncle works at some toy company and usually brings a ton of leftover beach balls. I LOVE BEACH BALLS EVEN MORE THAN AE BALLS! I'm totally going.

~Skye 

Sage is completely bonkers. Brynn is too, though, so I suppose they're a natural pair.

On the way home I stopped at a yard sale. I found a beautiful smooth stone, black as ink with only one small imperfection. As I held it in my hand I imagined the waves that had tossed it; the child's hand that lifted it from its resting place among millions of others on the rocky shore; the tumbling polishing it endured before meeting its ultimate glory: smooth and cool as a marble and looking vaguely like a piece of obsidian. Despite its ugly nick it was seamless and perfect, patiently enduring its trial period of being in a tray alongside assorted cheap earrings, buttons, and retro matchbox cars. I bought it for 25 cents.

I also bought a wig on a styrofoam head for four dollars. The wig looks like an old lady's hair: short, grey, and curly. I'm unsure of what I'm going to do with it, but I AM sure there will be some occasion to dress up like a grandma. Brynn's nickname for me is grandma, so I'm forming my idea for a comeback.

I took the wig home and proceeded to disinfect it with lysol and practiced putting my hair into a flat bun so I could hide my hair under the wig. Otherwise, this sums up the rest of my day:

Nymph~

It's hot. Obviously. It's summer. I'm going out to my woods, thinking of trying some chimeras. 

This is so much better than chat threads and parties. The crickets are still making a racket even though it's the middle of the day, and the sun isn't too direct when I step out of the shade. Streams are running low, creeks reduced to a trickle. I think they'll be that way for a while. 

I end up being a leaf for a while, just floating in one of Aquom's pools. It was okay. I got bored and charred some of the dry dead stuff that's lying around everywhere. It was fun. 

I'm still annoyed about Ocean. Viola? keeps going back over the whole thing for some reason. It really doesn't help. Who does she think she is, trying to tell me what I do and how powerful I am? Muscles for this, and claws. That tree's crowding some others. One leap, one swipe, a hundred blows. 

That's a little better. Not enough, though. I'm going for a run. Wolf. Human? Wolf.  

Elysium. There. A cat, a nap, and I'm here with the forest. I will be, I was, I am. Is and was and will be, is and was and will be... 

Okay, maybe I'll have some more legs. And a bell. A wind chime sort of bell.

I'm here.

Sea Glass~

I am tired. I have agreed to many social engagements. I shall have to rest for some time afterwards. I wish to rest now as well, so I flee once again to the shore.

The sand today is hot, but I am reluctant to seek refuge nearer the water. I settle on the damp stretch between the sea strand and the dry beach, fortunate that the tide is receding. My hands seek some task, so I set them to burying my feet.

I wonder if Celeste would like to do this. I ought to be reading Shakespeare for aer. The mere thought of my obligation increases my guilt over not having done it, and I realize this is why I continue to put it off. I do not wish to meet that guilt. I resolve to put an end to it. Right after this. 

I am alone. Thhis comforts me. I am alone with the sea and sand and sky. I have space to think and breathe. The wind tousles my hair, plays through it. I sit and watch. I feel as though perhaps I am growing from the earth, my head a toy for the changeable breeze, my feet a root in the beginning of the world. I close my eyes. 

A long while later, I rise from my daydreaming and return to the house, a skittering creature of the planet's surface once more.

Counter~

Neither Sea Glass nor I wanted to set a date or time for our trip to the beach, so we just didn't. Which, in retrospect, was a poor plan. I didn't set a time because I didn't want to intrude on Sea Glass. It felt awkward to go 'Hey, so is Saturday at five good for you?' What if xe said no? So here I am, pacing the house, worrying about a trip to the beach which has no time. "I'm such an idiot," I mutter, pacing faster, "This shouldn't be stressing me so much. Why am I so stressed? There isn't a time. There isn't a time and I don't know when it's going to happen..."

Eris watches me upside down, stretched over the back of the sofa. She's been listening to my monolouge in silence for the past three minutes or so, but takes my pause to interject, "Look, why don't you just go anyway? Sea Glass is at the beach all the time, isn't xe? Xe'll find you." I shake my head without looking at her, still pacing.

"But what if xe doesn't? What if xe's doing something else? Or if xe changed xyr mind?" Eris sighs and flops into an upright position. Her leg is off again. 

"Just go, Counter. You'll be fine. If xe wants to be your friend xe'll be there." I shake my head again and Eris groans. "At least get out of the house! You're giving me a migrane, all that pacing and muttering! I'll probably have to take you to the insane asylum. Get out." 

"Fine." I grab an energy bar on my way out the door, then grab a second. Who knows? 

I feel better once I get on my bike. The air rushes at my face and I can't hear anxious thoughts over the wind singing in my ears. I feel as though I can outride fear. I am unstoppable, I am the wind.

But too soon, I've reached the beach. I prop my bike next to a bench and wade through the fenced path between the dunes. It smells sultry, and the bugs are chirping away in their little chainsaw voices. I wrap my energy bars in the towel and lay it in the sand, then strip off my shirt and march down to the water. 

I really hope Sea Glass comes. 

Dewy~

~~~~~~~~~~

Sage came into our lives with an Almighty bang. She burst through the front door and said 'GREETINGS SISTERS AND BROTHER I COME FROM A DISTANT FIGMENT OF SOREN'S IMAGINATION.'  She's pretty cool! She made friends with Brynn, and there like two peas in a pod. I played basketball with her, and she beat me, but it was really fun! Right now she's playing Minecraft with Soren, shouting at a mooshroom. She cracks me up already. 

Sage~

~~~~~~~~~

Whoa! I've been an AE for a day and I already have a friend and an animal I invented. Plus, now the ferretgoats are YEETING! Yeeting ferretgoats! Isn't it awesome?! Okay. Gotta get back to Minecraft... MOOSHROOM DO YOU WANT TO BECOME STEW.

Alright. I'm back. Brynn drew a picture of some sort of evil dinosaur chicken. It's beautiful. I'm learning about my new siblings... Dewy's room is never quiet, Lev's always is, and Midnight's is full of pictures from far away places and star charts. They're all pretty awesome. Soren's imagination is HUGE. I explored a cave of deep thoughts, a valley of stories, and an ocean of smartitude. My favorite place, though, is wackyland. Pie wars, yeeting ferretgoats, hoards of pigs, you name it. If it's awesome, it's in wackyland. I'm hanging out there now. I just said hello to a burping dragon-chicken. 

Whoops, gotta go. I'll be back later!

Sea Glass~

I have a sense of aimlessness today, so I go to visit the beach. The salt wind tosses my hair in greeting and parts the clouds as I come within view of the shore. My feet grow warm with the sand. I wander instead of sitting, the soft rhythm of my steps a countermelody to the tide. A gull cries nearby. I look up, and that is when I see them

If we had ages, theirs would be about equal to mine. They are blonde and shirtless, the latter evoking a rush of heat to my face. I am looking away when it clicks; this is Counter, the AE I spoke to on the chat thread. No doubt he has been waiting for me. 

I break into a loping run. It is not long before he takes notice of my approach, and moves a few awkward paces in my direction. I slow gradually and stop several feet away. 

"Hello," I begin nervously. "You are Counter, correct? I am so sorry to have kept you waiting." 

~Aww, my little SG, not assuming gender! Also, I promise xe's faithful to Celeste; xe's just prudish.

Nymph~

Today is a good day. Sunny. I woke up early--earlier than usual, anyway--and went out right away. 

It's the beginning of the end of summer, and the bugs seem to know it. They're going crazy. Zipping around being pretty little nuisances while they still have time. These nights are nice ones to be a bat.

I love my tail. I got it in a ski lodge. It's a tiger's, long and vivid and nearly prehensile. It makes me want to drip with jewels and go swimming in the waterfalls, which are almost at normal heights from yesterday's rain. So I do. Obviously.

Elysium is the best.

I spend some time in trees, some more in the ground, and a lot in clearings, being mysterious. Nobody's around. That only makes it better.

There are little white stars of flowers and fluff in the grass. I address my soliloquies to the oaks and the cedars, taking a moment to acknowledge the evergreens, too. I haven't seen daylight like this in ages, or at least hours. My speeches are inspiring, my actions bold and glorious. I make a grand gesture and close the scene with a flourish.

I roll through almost half the network of trails after the finish, cleaning up where I need to and pausing where it's pretty. Which is almost everywhere. It's getting dark by the time I go back to the house. Shift off the dirt, try on curves and a mane. Viola? is glad to see me, she makes it very clear. I put on wings and horns and bask in praise by the bonfire, eating marshmallows like grapes.

Definitely a good day.