Stuffed Up

2. A Beautiful Gift

"These are good!" squealed Talulla around the mouthful she was currently trying to swallow, kicking her feet underneath the table in joy.

"They really are," agreed Joelle as she held up the street taco in her hands. Iris was sitting across the table from them with the map in her hands, screwing her eyes down at it; Zelda sitting beside her.

"So where are we exactly?" asked Joelle as she looked over at Iris, who didn't look over at her and instead kept looking at the map.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," said Iris.

"Where did Lorelei and all the rest disappear off to?"

"While you two were indulging yourselves with street tacos, they decided to go explore the gift shop across the street," said Iris.

This time she lifted her head from the map to point at a knick-knack shop across the street whose display window was so cluttered it was hard to figure out what exactly it sold. The name 'Five Star Gifts' was displayed in fizzled neon letters above the door; the 'V' and the 'G' long since burnt out.

"I give that place fie stars," teased Zelda.

"Stop with the awful jokes. Please," said Iris as she rolled her eyes. "You're worse than my father."

"What? RJ approves."

"You think he'd feel that way if he could talk?" asked Iris as she watched Zelda frown, putting down the taco she had been eating to cover where RJ's ears would be.

"Don't listen to her, RJ. I tell the best jokes around."

Meanwhile across the street at the gift shop, Lorelei was wandering around between the overly cramped aisles with Cooky against her chest. Allegra and Enya had wandered off down different aisles to look at things that had claimed their interest. A chipmunk version of the chorus of "Kung Fu Fighting" filled the air of the shop followed by Enya's delighted laugh. Lorelei had become so distracted by that sound that she wasn't necessarily paying attention to where she was walking. Lorelei let out a small squeal when a woman seemed to suddenly appear beside her, nearly colliding with her due to her inability to see over the stack she was carrying in her arms.

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear!" said the woman as she brought the stack down to look at Lorelei clearly.

"It's okay," said Lorelei with a smile. "You just startled me is all."

The woman nodded as Lorelei studied her. The woman was dressed in dusty blue jeans and a blue and white plaid top. Her mousy brown hair was streaked through with silver, tied at the base of her neck to keep it out of her face. Her kind face was weathered with wrinkles that crinkled a bit more around her blue eyes and pale pink lips whenever she smiled.

"Are you the owner?" asked Lorelei as the woman nodded, looking around with pride.

"I am," said the woman as she put the stack in her arms down onto the floor to hold out a hand towards Lorelei. "I'm Destiny. What's your name?"

Lorelei was wondering if this woman truly didn't know her or if she was just acting. She seemed so kind upon first meeting her though that Lorelei figured that she was really just another stranger to Destiny, which she was grateful for.

"My name is Lorelei," she said as she shook Destiny's outstretched hand.

"Nice to meet you," said Destiny as she looked at the pink bunny which was still tucked up against Lorelei's chest. "Who's that?"

Lorelei blushed slightly as she looked down at the pink bunny stuffy in her arms.

"This is Cooky," she said before looking back at Destiny.