The Dale Decision

Bristle - Sightseeing

When the meal was finished and they'd cleared up, Wis got out the journal and wrote it all down, with a little additional commentary provided by Bristle and Tis – mostly concerning the merit of moving the noticeboard so it was in view of their bunks, or making some kind of duplicate if it couldn't be moved.

It did sound like a bit of hassle either way – the former meant everyone would have to go to their bedroom to check it since it was in a less accessible place and the latter idea meant that if anyone wanted to put up a notice, they'd have to make two for each noticeboard.

They were still talking about this when Hayley came over to ask if they wanted to see the aviary. They gave Wis plenty of time to finish up the journal entry before they went. Not only did Kendall want to join them, but their parents and Arden as well.

At first, Bristle was a little surprised about their parents accompanying them, but she realised they were to here to see the sights as well... the only "sight" they'd really seen together as a family was the graveyard... unless the time capsule burial spot counted as a sight. In any case, that list could use some additions. They might have some wanderlust of their own.

Kendall and Ma also raised the idea of bringing some refreshments outside and having a picnic to serve as their morning tea this time. Everybody was in agreement, and helped get some things together, mostly from the breakfast they'd just packed up.

Fortunately, Bristle didn't feel as tired as she had yesterday around this time. As they started walking across the grounds, carrying all the picnic items with Hayley leading the way, Bristle was feeling surprisingly energised. Even though her sleep had been... disrupted again, it didn't seem to affect her as much. Maybe she hadn't had nearly as much trouble getting back to sleep after the... nocturnal awakening. She was actually rather familiar with those.

In fact, she was feeling so peppy that she teased Tis, saying at least this time, Ma did not need to provide egg and cheese sandwiches to motivate him to come to the picnic. Tis retorted that he hoped the Dales had peppers so hot they'd be too much for her to tolerate, and that would humble her. Most of the journey to the aviary went this way. Wis was contented listening to the adults' conversations; she had already spent more than enough time listening to their bantering.

They went down a new path – Tis said that they had avoided this one the previous day. They were led down a set of steps. Bristle looked around at the surrounding landscape and imagined that there was some kind of slide that they could use to travel down this slope – that sounded like a lot of fun. She suggested it to Tis, and it immediately set off his imagination too.

He did say that the stairs they were using would still be necessary – just to get back up to the top of the hill – but that could mean the slide and staircase might be able to intertwine; have one cross over the other by way of a bridge. There could even be a section where the slide split into two and arrived at two different destinations. Amusingly, Tis said that they'd really want to make sure they took the right path if one of them ended in a pool, which was another idea he was taken by.

The discussion managed to catch Wis' interest as well, and she turned her attentions from the adults to their conversation. She added that that this would be a good place for a special enchanted slide that could go uphill and do loops.

Come to think of it, forested areas seemed ideal for both enchantments and slides; the slides could run tree to tree, and be suspended from big branches. It made Bristle want to do a drawing or even a painting of that, and Wis said she wanted to note it down in the back of the journal once they had an opportune moment.

They had left the staircase far behind by the time they'd finished this conversation about slides. Bristle had momentarily forgotten they were here to see the aviary, which they soon arrived at. She had gotten a little distracted.