The Intriguing Emotions of Ford

Chapter Eleven: Feeling Thankful

The time was nine in the morning. I was already well on my way to the clinic for work, but the others were having a meeting at home.

"Hmmm..." Neon muttered, pacing around the room.

"Is everything okay, Neon? You seem sorta worried." Morgan tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Papa Morgan. I just wanna do something nice for Papa Ford; he does so much for us all the time!"

"That's really sweet of you, Neon." Paru patted her on the head. "What sort of ideas do you have?"

"Well, I want to do something that he'd want. I only know about you two, though. He's the only Papa I don't know much about."

"True. He is quite reserved. I was going to suggest making soup, but we did that for him all the time. It has to be original." They all nodded in agreement.

"How about... A whole FEAST of soups? Like, ALL the soups we can think of."

"All we can think of? That's hardly anything! We need more!" Neon folded her arms in anger. "Right, I'm going out."

"On your own? Where to?"

"To get inspiration for the feast, you silly billies!"

"Well, take the dog with you. He'll keep you safe." Neon grabbed the lead and stormed off into town.

"Oh, I hope she doesn't hurt herself or get lost and scared..." Paru twiddled his thumbs in uncertainty; he wasn't alone in his fears, as Morgan was also unsure.

Neon, however, was confident as ever.

"Okay, Jaki. Let's get going." Neon plodded down to Brad's restaurant. "Hiya, Brad!"

"Neon? Well, ain't this a pleasant surprise! I've never seen you here without your folks before. You're a brave girl coming here alone. What're you doing here?" Brad enquired.

"I need inspiration for soups for Papa Ford! I wanna make him a delicious feast, but I don't know many soups." Marco came downstairs as they were discussing the problem.

"Soups, eh? They're my specialty. Come on into the kitchen, Neon. I'll teach you how to make this super-simple one."

The two of them got straight to work, and soon they had been making soup for an hour.

"Well, I think my papas are wondering where I am. I'll see you later, Brad and Marco! Oh, say hiya to Carrie for me, please!" Neon dashed out of the restaurant and took Jaki with her.

"Now, where to next...?" Jaki barked at a gateway taking them to another town. "What, over there? As long as we're quick. We don't want our papas worrying about us."

They took their dinky feet over to the neighbouring town, where new cultures (and likely new soups) would be about.

"Who do we talk to...?" Jaki pulled Neon over to a fruit stand, where a kindly young woman was running a business.

"Oh, hello, young lady! Say, you look just like a man I've met before. Would you happen to be Doctor Ford's daughter?" Neon nodded proudly. "You look just as smart as him, too. I'm Caolila. Who might you be?"

"I'm Neon! I need ideas for soups for my papa."

"Soup, huh? I can do that! Come on over to my place, I'll show you my best recipe." Neon followed Caolila over to the woven hut they lived in. "Oh, yes! These are my two kids, Schalk and Alma. They're about your age, too!"

"Oh, cool! Komo mai, Schalk! Komo mai, Alma! Heh. Papa Morgan taught me some Hawaiian." They shook hands politely and strolled over to the kitchen.