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Emma does not often think this, but she would dearly, dearly like to be back at school at this particular moment.
Her parents brought her to the club to 'socialize', but they're the ones doing all the socializing. And now they've met some business friends of her dad's, and there's some secrecy clause about an upcoming deal, or something? So her mother's at the bar getting a drink with the guys' wives, but Emma's only twenty. So here she is, wandering around on the golf course, enjoying the sunset and trying to kill time until she can go back inside. And really, honestly missing school, where she doesn't have to go through this nonsense.
Finally she decides she's had enough of being outside- however much her mother protests that really, Connecticut is lovely in the fall, it's also chilly- and she starts to make her way back to the clubhouse. She's walking up the golf cart trail through the trees to get across the last hole when suddenly she realizes-
-the clubhouse isn't there any more. There's just more forest.
...what just happened?
imeanforever
"Breeders are a - kind of kinds. The particular colony is mixed, I think the representative said he was a lilybright, but I don't know what the other kind or kinds in their court are. Leaflets and other spontaneous kinds just start instead. I started in this tree."
"Well, now I know, I guess," Emma shrugs. "...thank you for explaining things, by the way. I didn't even know this happened because of my name until you bought me from River."
"Not immediately?" she says, after a moment's thought. "It's just- things will come up, and I can ask. It's nice. But, thanks."
imeanforever
"You're welcome. I have much less to occupy my time now the gate is trying to find the spot I aimed it at, so we might as well make conversation."
"Well, what about you? I don't know how much you wanted to know about my world, I did kinda a terrible job explaining..."
"More forest, actually. We live next to a park, I know it pretty well. Probably part of our house. It's, um, big? Two stories, lots of windows, painted kinda blue-grey. There's a garden in the back, Mom tries to grow vegetables but only really manages flowers. It's me and my mom and dad, I don't have siblings, there's a woman named Sharon Mom pays to clean the house every week, there's a gardener but I don't really know him at all. Um, what else... they've got cars in the driveway, I guess, do you know what those are? Do you know what everything I said was, for that matter?"
"They're-" she thinks. "It's like, a really small house, made of metal. There's space for two seats in the front, and two in the back, and they all face forward, and there's windows all around the top half so you can see, and wheels on the bottom. And if you know how it works, you can get it to move really fast. So we use those, to get around quickly."
She has no idea what passes for units here. Feet? Meters? Fairy units? She is not going to try to quantify 'fast'.
She has no idea what passes for units here. Feet? Meters? Fairy units? She is not going to try to quantify 'fast'.
"Well, we made roads for them. Bigger better paths, basically, covered with flattened rocks, to make it smoother? They're usually about the width of two cars, so you can have one going each way. And- I think cars do something special, to make it less bumpy, I don't really know how it works but my dad is always talking about how his car drives 'smoothly' or something."
imeanforever
"Huh. I guess that works if you don't have wings. The queen has a chariot, but it flies."
"There's flying ones too! They're bigger, and have more seats, but they have metal wings and then you can sit in them and 'fly'. They're called planes. They go crazy fast but they're expensive and really hard to drive and have really specific roads that they can use, and- um. Are hard to get off the ground?" She's not attempting the concept of 'fuel' right now. "So you only use them if you're going really, really far away, usually. Especially cause there aren't a lot of... roads, for planes... so sometimes there isn't one near you or your destination or whatever, and it's faster to drive. In a car."
She considers explaining vacations, but shelves it; it's probably not immediately relevant to Life In Her World. "Do you travel, at all? Or do you mostly stay with your tree?"
imeanforever
"Well, I move around to forage, and I go a little farther to get books, and sometimes I go further than that to have an idea of who and what's around in relatively easy flying distance."
"Where do you get books from? I haven't seen stores, or money, but I guess you just trade for things?"
"Yeah, we use money. For kinda everything. Don't worry, we'll help you around if you visit."
It's been months. Emma rather suspects there's a reward for her by now, just- knowing her parents. Promise would certainly be entitled it, much less basic walking around money.
And if for some weird reason her parents refuse, she will, she has some money saved. Promise rescued her.
It's been months. Emma rather suspects there's a reward for her by now, just- knowing her parents. Promise would certainly be entitled it, much less basic walking around money.
And if for some weird reason her parents refuse, she will, she has some money saved. Promise rescued her.