Lost Change

Chapter 74

We wandered throughout the city some more before Minna stopped in front of a house. The sun was starting to set by then, but there was still plenty of light to see with. The house was tall - at least three stories - but took up less of the lot than similarly sized houses I had seen. The yard was clearly the focus of this house, with several beautiful trees in the front yard, and a long hedge of bushes lining the path up to the door. I didn't see any at the moment, but I suspected the yard would be full of blooming flowers in the early spring.

The backyard was fenced in and seemed obscured by some sort of mesh. At first I thought it was some kind of method to keep bugs in, as if the house was set up for a bee keeper or a butterfly gallery, but when Minna brought us closer I saw the gaps in the mesh were much too wide to stop bugs.

It would keep in larger animals, though. Most birds would be unable to fly through the barrier. Dragonets certainly wouldn't be able to, unless hatchlings were much smaller than I suspected. The mesh wouldn't block breezes or light from reaching the backyard, though it would offer privacy against anyone spying from the street.

And, I thought brightly, it would keep larger animals out. The entire backyard is a chicken coop, or a duck pen. An aviary.

Minna tapped a code on the panel by the door and took us inside. The house was empty, like all the other houses Minna and Arlia had looked at, but somehow it felt more... welcoming. The windows seemed to let in more of the evening light. The halls were wider. The dining and living rooms were more spacious, and the kitchen just felt happier, somehow. The other houses had felt like they had been built for survival, but this one felt like it had been built for living.

We glanced through the rooms on the first floor before Minna came to the back door. She opened it to a backyard even more impressive than the front had been. The mesh enclosed the entire yard, attaching to the house somewhere near the roof and stretching out towards the fence in the distance. There was plenty of room to fly around in.

Four fruit trees dotted the yard. They were short, but I could spot bright fruits growing from each of them. The branches looked sturdy and strong. They would cast plenty of shade if the sunlight grew too strong, and they would provide an excellent perch to relax in.

The ground was covered in soft grass, but looked to be loose dirt for the most part. It would be easy to dig hollows into if I wanted. Flowers and shrubs lined the fence, many of them with berries of their own, and a decent sized pond was nestled underneath one of the trees.

I stared at the pond in sudden curiosity. I wonder if it has fish...

Minna seemed to notice my interest and held up her hand. I hopped onto it and spread my wings for balance, then glanced back at her. She smiled at me as she reached up and unclipped the leash. "Go on."

I flapped a few times to get some altitude, then glided to the pond. Sadly, it was empty of fish... but it was still a fairly deep pond. The water was clear and smelled fresh, as if it was fed by a stream somehow and not a stagnant pool. It was late in the day, so it was a bit cooler than I probably would have liked, but...

I heard Minna laugh as I simply hopped into the pond and began splashing around. I felt a bit of happiness at knowing I had made her happy. The pond was wide enough to let me swim laps in without being bent into a circle, so I paddled around for a few minutes and simply enjoyed myself.

After I was sure I had washed off most of the dirt and dust my scales had collected through the day, I crawled out of the pond and sprawled on one of the rocks nearby. It was late in the evening, but there was still some sunlight, so I happily stretched out my wings to dry. Minna watched me for another minute or two, still smiling gently, then glanced back into the house. "I'm going to check out the upstairs rooms. I'll be back in a few minutes."