The Dale Decision

Thistle - Awakening

Seven and three quarters years after the triplets' birth

 Thistle wondered why he was shivering. Then he wondered where he was.

This was like waking up after a strange dream. Wait, he was waking up. He was asleep? Of course, he was lying down and there were blankets around him. No further deductions were really needed.

He was startled by a few noises – the door creaking. Footsteps. Movement all around him. Those had woken him up. His eyes snapped open.

He was relieved to see it was light now – the night had ended. He was even more elated to see Whistle tiptoeing into the room, followed by Ma and Nana. Feeling more relaxed, he sat up in his bed. There was no noise from Bristle's bed; he looked over and saw she was sound asleep. She was mostly concealed under the blanket; her hair was all they could really see of her.

In the meantime, Wis had arrived at Thistle's bed. She was still pyjama-clad... and Ma and Nana were still wearing nightclothes. He hadn't slept in late... they had just got up early by the looks of it. Maybe Pa hadn't woken up yet, or the Dales...

"Hi Tis," said Wis brightly, though still speaking softly – after all, Bis was still asleep, and they were rather reluctant to disturb her sleep, owing to events from the previous autumn. Not to mention the disturbance to all of their sleep that had taken place in the past night...

"Morning Wis... and Ma and Nana," said Thistle. Nana and Ma had taken a seat on Wis' bed, and Wis had crawled onto Thistle's own bed.

Wis waited a while for someone to speak, then started speaking. "We had a big long talk about some things... that's where I was. It was about what happened during the night. Nana helped me figure some stuff out." She looked over at Ma and Nana, as if to indicate she was done talking. It was understandable she'd keep things brief if she wasn't given enough opportunity to gather her thoughts and find words for everything.

"Yes, it was quite the conversation," said Nana, speaking softly herself. "And it would be perfectly fine if I had a similar conversation with the two of you... or if Whistle here wants to talk about it further."

"Okay," said Thistle. He looked over at Bis again. "Maybe not now, though." Besides Bis being asleep right now, neither of them would really want to have this kind of conversation in the morning.

Nana nodded her understanding. "Perhaps after we bury the time capsule – during the afternoon? Or evening?"

Thistle leaned forward, mystified. Time capsule? What was that all about? Things were already mysterious enough...

"Oh..." said Nana, realising his confusion. "That was part of the earlier conversation. Crystal, do you want to take the honours?"

"Yes – I've prepared a number of things – mostly trinkets – to bury on the grounds of the manor. Not just to dig up in the future, but to give us... more of a connection to the Dales. Not only that but the whole burying part would be a nice moment of togetherness with them, as well."

Wis turned back to Thistle, a smile appearing on her face. "We'll be making a memory," she said after a little contemplation.

"We've got it planned for after lunch – your father is already aware of this – but I should discuss it with Dalton and the rest of the family," said Ma.

"Bis as well," said Whistle, nodding over to her.

"Yes... talk about the connection and togetherness with the Dales," said Thistle slowly, trying to remember some of what Ma had said. "With burying the... time capsule." It sounded a little less unusual. Ma mentioned something about digging it up in the future; that was probably why the word "time" was in the name... it was dug up after time passed. Despite the earliness of the hour, he felt a little curious. What were these trinkets Ma intended to bury? With time capsules, was there a certain amount of time that had to pass? Were there some kind of rules...?