tickling birds

ann and amber

It was a warm, sunny day. Anne and her pet flower lily were in the flower field of Primavera Forest, looking in admiration at the flowers. Anne took in a deep breath and sighed happily as she looked over the large field of flowers around her.
“They truly are very pretty, and this warm sunshine really compliments them,” said Anne before looking down to her flower lily. “Don’t you think so too?”
The flower lily nodded in agreement and the two resumed browsing.
Shortly afterward, they heard footsteps behind them and turned around to see what the source was. Approaching them was a green-haired girl with grey eyes.
“Hi, you’re the other girl that’s here!” the girl chirped.
“Oh… I am?” asked Anne with a curious smile.
“Yeah,” replied the girl with a nod. “The girl at the flower shop said there was another girl that came here. And that’s yoooou!”
“It is indeed,” replied Anne with a smile and a sweat drop on the back of her head. “I guess then you’re gonna hang here and wait for her to join us later as well?”
“Mmmhmm,” replied the girl with a nod.
“Alright then, I’m Anne by the way,” said Anne.
“I’m Amber,” replied the girl.
“Well met Amber,” replied Anne.
“… hey,” said Amber with a look of realization.
“Hmm, what is it?” asked Anne.
“Our names sound a lot alike!” chirped Amber happily. “Anne… Amber… Anne… Amber… Anne… Amber… Annmbeeeer! Heehee!”
Anne and her flower lily both smiled and chuckled in adoration of her child-like antics.
“Oh yeah, and this is my friend, Lilja,” said Anne, looking over to her flower lily.
“She’s so pretty,” chirped Anne, moving closer to the monster and petting her.
Lilja sighed happily in response.
“No arguments there,” said Anne happily.
“I like flower lilies, along with any other monster that’s cute or flower-like,” said Amber.
“My feelings exactly,” replied Anne. “And I’m guessing you’re a flower lover too huh?”
“Yeah, I like them lots!” replied Amber.
“Me too,” said Anne. “What’s your favorite kind?”
“All of them!” replied Amber.
“Wow, you really DO love flowers then,” replied Anne.
Amber’s attention was quickly  afterward grabbed by the flower Anne was wearing in her hair.
“Hey, that’s a queen amber in your hair,” said Amber.
“Oh, why yes it is.
“It looks so good! Can I have it?!” asked Amber.
“Sure,” replied Anne before removing the flower from her hair and giving it to Amber.
“Yay!” chirped Amber happily.
She took the flower from Anne and started nibbling on one of its petals.
“Mmmm, yummy!” she chirped happily.
“Oh… you wanted it for a snack?” said Anne with a surprised smile and a sweat drop on the back of her head.
“Mmmhmm,” nodded Amber. “So sweet.”
After Amber finished, she pulled a toyherb from her pocket and offered it to Anne.
“Here, you can have this one,” said Amber.
“Ah, thanks,” replied Anne, receiving the flower and then placing it in her hair. “How does it look?”
“Very nice,” replied Amber, Lilja nodding in approval.
“Great,” said Anne. “Now then, while we wait for Shara, tell me a little about yourself. Are you from around here, or visiting like I am?”
“Visiting,” replied Amber. “I’m from Selphia. Ellie and I have a flower shop , just like Shari.”
“Shari?” thought Anne, chuckling a little before saying, “Sounds neat, what kind of flowers do you sell?”
“All kinds,” chirped Amber before listing all the types of flowers and seeds available at her and Illuminata’s shop.
“Sounds great, I’ll remember to stop by if I ever visit Selphia,” replied Anne.
“Yay, I can’t wait,” chirped Amber. “I want you to meet Ellie… and become friends.”
“Maybe we will, is she nice?” asked Anne.
“Yeah, and really fun too,” replied Amber. “We look for clues… and hunt down culprits.”
“Oh, so you’re detectives too?” asked Anne, surprised by it.
“Yep,” replied Amber with a nod.
“Interesting,” replied Anne, still not completely sold on the idea.
“And you should also meet my other friends as well,” said Amber.
“Oh? Like who?” asked Anne with a smile.
“Well, there’s,” said Amber before listing everyone in Selphia and the things she liked about them.
“My goodness, that’s a lot of people,” remarked Anne, a bead of sweat on her head and Lilja heads. “I’d almost think you just listed everyone from your town.”
“Mmmhmm… because it IS,” chirped Amber.
Both Anne and Lilja just smiled and chuckled for a moment, not really surprised by this.
“So uh… what brings you to Sharance?” asked Anne.
“Ellie said I should take a vacation for a while and told me about this place. I’m a little sad she couldn’t come with me. Said somebody needed to stay and watch the shop. But it’s ok, she told me ‘As long as you’re smiling and enjoying yourself, I’ll be happy too.’”
“Sounds nice,” replied Anne. “And how ARE you liking your time here?”
“I love it,” replied Amber. “This place is so nice and so are the people. And I really like this forest, it’s so great.”
“Agreed,” replied Anne. “Did you know? They say that it’s always spring in this forest; all year round. You could walk here from Sharance in any season, even during the hot summer or cold, snowy winter, and it would still be like it’s spring in this forest.”
“Yeah, I DID hear that,” replied Amber. “And that’s why I really like this place. It’s perfect for laying in the sun. And look at all these pretty and yummy-looking flowers growing here. This place is soooo greaaaat!!”
Suddenly Amber’s buttefly-like wings sprouted from her back, taking both Anne and Lilja by surprise.
“Are those… wings?!” asked Anne.
“Huh?” asked Amber before realization kicked in and she replied with a smile, “Oh yeah, …yep, they sure are.”
“So… are you… a fairy?” asked Anne.
“… Not sure,” chirped Amber.
“You don’t know?” asked Anne with a surprised smile and a sweat drop on her and Lilja’s heads.
“Well, I guess I’m a still human, buuuut…” replied Amber before resuming smiling and saying, “Well, maybe I am, and that’s fine.”
Both Anne and Lilja still had stunned smiles and scratched the sides of their heads.
“No matter, it’s not important. Just curious is all,” said Anne. “Anyways, can you fly with them?”
“Mmmhmm, watch!” said Amber before she started flapping her wings and rose off the ground.
She flew about above the field, giggling and “whee”ing as she did. Anne and Lilja watched in amusement. After a short while, Amber landed and retracted her wings. Amber and Lilja clapped.
“Thank you, thank you,” said Amber bowing.
“That looked like fun,” said Anne with Lilja nodding in agreement.
“It was,” said Amber. “Now I feel a little bit hungrier. Maybe I worked up an appetite flying this time?”
“Yes well, maybe don’t eat any of THESE flowers, alright? I really want to look at them a little longer,” said Anne with a smile and sweat drop.
“Ok,” said Amber. “I wanna look at all the pretty flowers too.”
“Then let’s look,” said Anne.
“Yeah,” chirped Amber.
The two girls and Lilja moved and looked around the flower field, taking time to list the names of the flowers they saw and some facts about them and smell them.
“So many pretty flowers. It’s like they’re all one big town, but the people are flowers, heehee!” chirped Amber.
“Yeah, quite a large community, isn’t it?” remarked Anne with Lilja nodding afterward. “Speaking of which, Shara said she likes to visit this place and talk to the flowers.”
“Really?” asked Amber. “About what?”
“I don’t really know, we should ask her later,” replied Anne.
“I like to tell them that they’re very pretty and to grow even prettier,” said Amber.
“They say that talking to plants helps them grow. Maybe they’re trying to fulfill your request,” said Anne.
“Yep!” replied Amber. “I wish they could talk too. So that they can say hello and we could chat while Ellie and I wait for customers at the shop.”
“That WOULD be really nice, wouldn’t it?” replied Anne. “And it does make you think. What WOULD flowers say if they could talk? What would they talk about? Would they wonder what the world is like outside the parts they know? Would they have hopes and dreams they hope come true? Maybe they have feelings about their color and size and those of other flowers around them. So many possibilities.”
“Yeah,” replied Amber contemplatively.
The two continued browsing the flower field, taking a little while to watch the butterflies. At one point, one of them flew onto Amber’s nose and the threesome shared a laugh about it. After a little while, they sat down on the ground.
“Wow, they were all so pretty,” said Amber.
“Agreed,” said Anne. “Well, it seems like Shara still hasn’t arrived yet. Anything else you want to do?”
“Hmm…” hummed Amber, trying to think.
Quickly afterward, Lilja snuck her vine under Anne’s shirt from the bottom and started tickling her belly.
“Heeheeheeheeheeheeee! Liljahahahahaaa!” laughed Anne as Lilja snickered.
“Yeah, tickles, those are so fun!” said Amber. “Can I tickle too?”
“Suhuhuhure!” laughed Anne while Lilja nodded.
Amber got up, ran over to Anne, pushed Anne’s shirt up with the edges of her hands, and joined in tickling Anne’s tummy for several seconds.
“Hey, I have an idea!” chirped Amber happily.
She stopped tickling Anne’s belly, crawled over to her feet, removed her sandals, and started tickling her feet.
“Heehee! Now you’re getting tickled in two places at once,” chirped Amber.
“So I ahahaham!” said Anne during her laughter.
The tickling continued a little longer until Anne said she had enough.
Both Amber and Lilja stopped and waited for Anne to catch her breath.
“You’re very ticklish Anne,” said Amber.
“Definitely true,” said Anne, still breathing heavily.
“Yep, just like Ellie,” said Amber.
“Is that so?” asked Anne.
“Mmmhmm,” replied Amber with a nod. “Ellie and I like to tickle each other sometimes. It’s lots of fun!”
“I can imagine,” said Anne. “So, where are some of your favorite places to be tickled?”
“… Everywhere!” chirped Amber.
Both Anne and Lilja had stunned smiles with sweat drops on their heads.
“Ok, …well, if you could narrow it down to two or three, where would they be?” asked Anne.
“Hmmmm…” hummed Amber in thought. “I think they would be my feet, belly, … and my head!”
“Uuhuhum, your head?!” asked Anne.
“Yep, I love it when people pet me on the head. It tickles!” chirped Amber.
She then lowered her head close to Anne’s face and said excitedly, “Go head, pat my head!” causing Anne to lean back a little in surprise.
“U-um, well, alright,” said Anne and started patting Amber’s head.
Amber started giggling in response.
“You know, I didn’t even realize these were antennae,” said Anne, looking at the purple antennae on Amber’s head. “They looked like purple strands of hair from a distance. I guess THAT’S why this tickles you, huh?”
“Teeheeheehee! Yep!” said Amber happily.
Anne stopped shortly afterward.
“Thanks for that,” said Amber.
“You’re welcome,” replied Anne.
“Now tickle me other places too,” chirped Amber.
“Well alright,” replied Anne. “On your belly and feet this time?”
“Yeah,” replied Amber with a nod.
“Sounds like a plan,” said Anne before looking over to Lilja and saying to her, “Alright, I’ll take her stomach and you get her feet, ok?”
Lilja nodded.
“Yay!” chirped Amber before sitting down, removing her boots, and resting her legs in front of her with the bottoms of her bare feet facing Amber and Lilja.
“Ok, ready!” chirped Amber.
Anne knelt down beside Amber and Lilja took position in front of Amber’s feet.
“Here we go,” said Anne before she and Lilja began tickling Amber.
Amber began giggling and quickly after laughing with her wings again emerging from her back.
“Teeheeheeheeheeheeee! You’re good tihihicklers!” laughed Amber.
“Why thank you,” replied Anne with Lilja nodding.
The tickling continued for a little while longer, Amber letting out a squeak and laughing a little harder when Lilja’s vines tickled the stems of her toes, making Lilja snicker a little.
“Ok Lilja, I think she’s had enough,” said Anne when she thought Amber might pass out before long.
Lilja nodded and the two stopped.
Amber caught her breath, retracted her wings, and said, “That was lots of fun. Thanks you two.”
“No problem, that WAS a lot of fun,” replied Anne before asking Lilja, “Don’t you think so?”
Lilja nodded.
“So… what should we do now?” asked Anne.
“Hmm…,” hummed Amber as she thought. “I think I feel like laying in the sun for a while,” and laid down on the ground.
“Yeah, that sounds good right about now,” said Anne as she and Lilja too laid down on the grass.
The threesome closed their eyes and happily sighed in relaxation.
“So warm,” chirped Amber.
Both Anne and Lilja chuckled in response.
“Rather unusual girl this one, but super friendly. A real social butterfly. …Hey, maybe THAT’S what she is. Or at least half one,” thought Anne.

The End