Lost And Still Missing

2: A Dustland Fairytale Beginning

It was a bright and sunny morning as usual in the Truffula Valley. The Barbaloots were out and about, gorging themselves on the delicious truffula fruits. And the Humming Fishes sang and danced to and fro in the long, flowing, and pristine crystal clear river. The Swomee Swans frolicked in the sky, and would occasionally come to roost on top of the fluffy truffula treetops.

The wind always carried a soft gentle breeze. It was calm and soothing to the soul, with the sweet scent of butterfly milk mixed along the way. The sky was pure and blue, and the clouds up above looked very similar to cotton candy, and they give you the impression that you could just reach up and touch them. And let's not forget the soft, colorful pink and orange truffula tufts lining the hills and mountains as far the eye can see.

It was yet another peaceful day in this paradise, and everyone within it didn't have single care in the world...

"Wooo-hoo!"

...And that included a certain young woman, speeding down from a fairly high hill riding a wooden sled of sorts that worked even with no snow. Her own little joy and laughter filled the air as she expertly leaned left and right, avoiding all the truffula trees down the way. Her dark brown eyes sparkling with excitement as adrenaline rushed through her system, the wind brushing fast past against her.

"N...! ...a!"

"What!?" the young woman looked back towards the voice, spotting her blonde little friend from a distance frantically pointing and waving her hands.

"Look! Out!" her friend shouted at the top of her lungs in exasperated breath.

But it didn't do much good, by the time the young woman had noticed the rocky obstacle on the way, she was already too near to swerve away, and she was coming down fast. So she got up and promptly jumped off her makeshift sled, the latter crashing onto the rocks and having bits and pieces of it breaking and flying off.

The young woman in the meanwhile landed square on her feet on the grassy ground, clean and unscathed.

"Whew! Well, that was fun!" she exclaimed proudly, running her hand through her curly auburn hair, only to have it get stuck mid-way.

"Speak for yourself, Norma!" the woman in a red plaid flannel and denim overalls from before commented loudly, jogging slowly up to her before stopping to catch her breath. "Aren't you... huff... aren't ya a little too hot-blooded to be a florist?" she added, panting heavily.

Norma simply let out a good laugh as she got to successfully untangle her hand from her hair, replying, "Oh, Carmen, don't be such a stick in the mud! Me being a florist has absolutely nothing to do with how hot or cold my blood is; Also, you should've gotten your own sled so we could've rode down the hill together!"

"Oh, and get myself nearly killed?" Carmen replied with a slightly apathetic-but mostly tired-look on her face, crossing her arms, and side-glancing at the sled's carnage, "No thanks. I'd rather read a book, y'know, so can we go home yet, please?"

"What? No way! Come on, we barely just got here!" Norma said as she interlocked her arm with Carmen's, then tugged on her slightly.

Carmen rolled her eyes at her saying, "Well yeah, but I'm already super tired from running and screaming after you,"

"Pfbt, well nobody asked you to!" Norma shot back, and the two started to slowly walk on forward while talking and bantering along the way.

The two had been fairly good friends for a while now. And they were both contrasts in all the possible ways. Norma was a pretty small person, but quite fierce and jumpy and just full of energy; and she lived for adventure of all sorts and trying new things. Carmen on the other hand, would rather gladly prefer the quiet life just reading a book all day if she could. She was much taller than her chubby little friend, but for some reason she would always be the one getting dragged around into Norma's endeavors. But they looked out for each other nonetheless.