It's been a while since I've updated so please don't make fun of my disheveled writing! 😂
================================Getting everything situated for the night was a bit of a hassle. Maple claimed the couch and 303 was too much of a pushover to fight for it. So, the teen used the pillows used for the back of the couch to create his own little bed. I debated with myself about whether I should reveal my powers to the girl or not. I decided to, since, trying to pretend I didn't and constantly making excuses for my bizarre abilities would only get tiring. So I casually as possible offered up the idea that I had powers, waited an hour, and then showed her by flying around a little. As I expected, she did freak out a little. But, like ripping off an old bandaid, the long-term difficulty was reduced down to only a few awkward hours of her hiding from me. After a little bit, she simply adjusted to her new circumstance and returned to preparing her bed.
303 left for a time to steal some more blankets and pillows for all of us, talking when he returned about building a little loft like my own for himself in the future. And as the new member of the "family," Maple got to see first hand 303 and I bantering back and forth over the matter. As sad and empty as my house was, I wasn't all too interested in turning it into a home for more than myself. Sam was mess enough to clean up after... At least now he knew to go outside before having a bathroom break.
Once all had settled among the four of us, I grumbled under my breath as I watched 303, Maple, and Sam all settling into a peaceful sleep under the soft firelight. With a sigh, I turned from them and hovered up to my own damp mattress. Like an old grouch, I rolled over in my bed, tucking my only blanket around me.
.
Maple burst through the front door with glee, hopping into the first puddle she saw. I stepped out after her slowly, taking notice of the clear skies. At last, it was no longer raining. Last night had been an uncomfortable one with all of the water dripping on me. 303 always told me to fix it, but I never felt the need...at least not until I was woken to the sound of Maple and 303 talking together, the slow realization that my nights would be much shorter now coming to me.
I circled around the small forest clearing as Maple searched the outside world for herself as well. I watched for any signs of monsters; any traps having been set off. Before I allowed the young girl to exit, who was begging to do so, I warned her not to go into the woods. I did not explain why, though, since explaining to her why I had set up so many traps would be a difficult task.
303 had left only thirty minutes ago for "work" as he called it, and already I was sick and tired of being in the presence of a human for so long. Other than her repelling childish traits, I didn't quite know why.. I just never felt right around humans. It would take some getting used to before Maple ever felt like a normal addition to my life.
Satisfied after neither seeing nor smelling any signs of monsters, I turned instead to inspecting my own house. Expecting the little human child to not get bored and venture into the forest would just be stupid. So, instead of simply walking up to the creature to explain why, I began construction on a little cobble wall. It would be hardly any taller than my own head...but it would do the trick. As I set to working, Maple ran around plucking the surviving lilies from the field. When I had finished placing a ring of stones all the way around the clearing containing the house, I at last turned my interest onto her.
"What... are you doing?" I asked, tilting my head slightly. Right in front of the house by the front door, A line of the plucked flowers were now being half burried by their stems into the earth. Maple worked happily, her hands even dirtier than mine.
"Making a garden!" She exclaimed, turning around to me. "Mommy had one like it!"
"Oh.." I stepped a little closer to inspect her work. "The flowers will die since they don't have any roots." I commented. The little girl suddenly turned to me with sad eyes.
"N- no they won't!"
"Yes, they will. You cannot argue with reality."
"-Then... Then how do I fix them?!"
"Well...those ones are doomed to wilt..but if you could grab some more," I pointed at the few remaining wild lilies in the small field. "If you dug them up instead, they would have a higher chance of surviving."
"Oh..." The young child turned back to her plucked flowers sadly. "..Can you help me..?" Her bright blue eyes sparkled up in my direction. I stared, thinking for a moment. Perhaps...it wouldn't hurt to give the young human something to do.. I agreed with a simple nod. Then, I turned to the flowers and walked towards them, the little girl springing after me.
I showed by example how to do such a thing as I knelt down next to the flowers. I had attempted a small garden behind my house so I could grow my own food...but the recent rains had choked them all out. ...The last thing to make me snap.
I followed the stem of the flower down to the grass. Then, I cleared the top layer of soil away carefully as possible. Maple followed my lead with a bit of struggle. She had a much harder time pulling the grass apart. The wet soil made it easier for me to stick my fingers into and start to pull out. Maple tried to do the same, but only hurt her fingers and started to get upset. I was done by the time Maple had only begun to make some progress.
"Hmm... Maybe you need a tool." I then vanished, teleporting into the recently destroyed town. I stepped over a few bodies and pushed open a door into a flower shop, where I looked around at the different tools. I grabbed an arm full of a dozen or so strange looking tools and teleported back. Maple jumped, but when she saw my hands were filled with the familiar trinkets, she smiled slightly. She seemed to know at least how to use the tiny shovel, claiming she saw her mom use it before. So I let her learn via trial and error as I replaced one of Maple's doomed to wilt flowers with the one I had dug up.
Maple finally arrived with her own flower and began planting it beside me. She seemed to be doing decently, so I left her to it, even teleporting away. I returned with another arm full of flowers this time from the shop. I continued to go back and forth between the two places until ALL of the flowers from that shop were now in my yard. ...What? Not like anyone else would buy them. The place had basically been abandoned. The little girl seemed happy to see all of the flowers, so at least that wasn't all for nothing.
We spent the entire rest of the day turning what was originally just going to be one row of flowers into the entire house being decorated on the outside with the flowers! I even grabbed some mulch, since I had seen that used before and thought it might help. 303 returned just as we were finishing, having to stop for a moment and marvel. Pebbles made up little pathways around the house, lined by pretty hot pink flowers. Other shades of purple and pink flowers came together forming large flower petal shapes; in the center little yellow flowers were planted. To finish it off. Around the base of the house was where all of the bushy flowering plants were, smaller flowers of all colors in front of them.
After 303 had recovered, "...Wooooah... You guys did all of this?! Heh, I didn't know you were the decorating type, Herobrine." Placing his hands on his hips; a smirk on his face.
"Oh, no. All of this was her idea.. I just did what she wanted me to." I defended... But was it really a defense..? Maple then bound over to the robed one to start showing him around. She wouldn't, however, until he pulled his hood off and returned to "normal," which he found endearing.
When the sun finally set again, we all settled in as before. I ate my fill of snacks, as did everyone else, and we all went to sleep happily that night. ...Except my bed was still a little soggy.
YOU ARE READING
Mortalized
Short StoryThe scales rise, and then they fall.. only to ease back into balance once again. It isn't for nothing. No breath is wasted; no moment is set aside as meaningless. In the end, it is not the quest to become immortal which triumphs all, but the journey...