☁️ • Promises Cerulean • (Colentine)

3. Catching Crickets

Children in Meadowlark use crickets as currency, often trading them in exchange for favors or chores.

•••

Just as the afternoon was warm, so were the hearts of a certain duo who were frolicking about the field. They had been catching crickets, though Cole hadn't had much luck. Clémentine had eventually caught a few, and decided to help the other child fill their jar as well.

“Cole, look! This one shouldn't be too hard to catch,” said Clémentine, pointing out an insect that was hopping about a bit slower than usual.

“Really? Where?”

“Over there! Hurry, it's hopping away!”

Cole squinted their eyes, trying to track the small, brownish figure. By the time they finally noticed it, it had already gotten far. The child sprinted, placing their jar upside down on the area in which the cricket sat. However, when they checked to see if it worked, the thing had disappeared without a trace.

“Oh, I'll never be able to catch one at this rate. I might as well just give in for now,” they sighed, with a healthy dose of drama.

“Don't give up now! You'll always feel more hopeless right before everything works out. Why did you want to catch crickets so suddenly anyway? I thought you didn't mind taking chores,” asked Clémentine.

“Uh- well, I just wanted to see if I could. And maybe catch up with the rest of you… you know?” they lied.

In truth, Cole needed Kingsley to distract a certain muse whom the former child was crushing on, so that they could prepare a surprise for them. However, Kingsley had demanded five crickets as payment, claiming, “Sorry babygirl, but business was business.” Cole, who was terrible at catching crickets, explained they didn't have any on them. So now in order to finish the surprise, they needed five crickets to buy them some time. This brought us to our current predicament.

Of course Clémentine knew that Cole was never the competitive type, and even if you didn't know the guy as well as they did, it would have been easy to tell that their nervous voice was hiding something. Still they didn't point it out, trusting their partner, and not wanting to spoil any potential plans.

“In that case, let's just try to find another.”

Almost tauntingly, the insects chirped all around, challenging Cole to do their worst. Each time they dove into the grass with their jar, it was for their unknowing partner, who was frolicking cluelessly through the field, shouting, “Here's one!” Yet the container continuously came out empty.

“Over there! One here! Look, hurry!”

And still, crickets. Or more accurately, a lack of crickets.

“Oh wait, I think I've caught one!” Cole exclaimed excitedly.

“Ooh, let me see!” Their companion seemed almost more thrilled than they.

But upon closer inspection, “Ah, I don't think that's a cricket, my Honeysuckle…”

“Hm… how much do beetles go for then?”

“Well I don't know,” they pondered, “I suppose we could ask Kingsley. They practically have a monopoly over all of us.”

“Kingsley…?” Cole sighed, “You're probably right.”

And so off they went. The iconic trio of Clémentine, Cole, and the beetle in the jar, in order to see the playground’s very own millionaire.

•••

“Well, well, well. It seems you're requiring my assistance once again. That's to be expected. But I'll have you know that I don-”

“Yes, yes, you don't work for free. I know. I'm actually here to ask about payment,” Cole’s tone retained a bit of impatience as Kingsley turned around ominously in their treestump-turned-chair.

“Then get to the point, my faithful client. I don't have all day. After all, we business-people are very, very busy.”

“Busy doing what-?”

“-We understand you're a very busy person, dearest cricket capitalist. All we need to know is the price of this,” Clémentine took over and played along, shoving the jar closer to Kingsley.

“Hmm, I'll need to take a closer look,” they took the jar from Clémentine, analyzing it at very many angles.

“Interesting, interesting, yes…” they nodded quite intellectually. “Okay, this is equivalent to… 4 crickets! Because it has cool horns,” they pointed out.”

“Four? I'm only one short…” Cole pondered their options. They likely couldn't borrow from anyone, especially not Clémentine, as that would ruin the surprise.

“Short of what?” their partner chirped.

“Oh, ah, just the uhh… the amount of crickets I wanted to catch. For no reason. But the beetle counted for four, so I suppose I'd only need one more.”

“Well if it's about how many you can catch, I suppose we could commit to just one. Should we go back to the field?”

And so they went again, leaving the beetle with Kingsley. It was once again the dynamic cricket-kidnapping duo of Cole and Clémentine! Surely luck would be on their side this time.

…Right?

•••

Tension hung in the air, a man-made silence disrupted by the sound of crickets littered throughout.

Chirp… chirp… chirp…

Courtesy of Clémentine, Cole's hair was tied back into a braid, allowing for maximum tactical focus. Any minute now, it would get just close enough. The cricket which Cole was eyeing. With each hop, it inched closer still.

Slowly, they raised the glass jar which would soon contain the insect. It hadn't a clue. Closer, closer.. Clémentine, who was watching, gave a nod. Cole nodded back, shutting their eyes. And then…

Clink!

Nervously, they opened their gaze. And then there were two gasps.

“Wonderful!” Clémentine exclaimed.

Apparent through the glass was a lone cricket, chirping woefully in defeat. Carefully, Cole slipped a cloth beneath the rim of the jar, flipped it right side up, and sealed it in with a lid that had a few holes poked into it.

“I did it! I've actually managed to catch one. Though with a lot of assistance… thank you, Clémentine,” they wore a smile which was small, but proud.

“It was mostly you, though! All I did was find a few. In the end, you caught it,” they studied the cricket for a bit. “But what are you going to do with it?”

“Ah, I don't know yet. I mean, I'd probably trade it for something, right?” They already knew quite well what they needed to do, yet they still couldn't explain the whole thing to Clémentine quite yet.

“Just don't spend it all in one place,” their companion teased with a wink.

“...Very funny.”