Post by bobaTJ on Jun 21, 2020 13:55:46 GMT -5
Eela walked the Smiley Sands with Twilly at her side. It was a whole different experience. Hooves were far from the most sensory of appendages, but it was still nice to feel the sand rise up in the cleft and swirl around her ankles. Their surroundings, however, were very familiar. Eela still liked to wander. What if they found some interesting footprints? What if an entire civilization had sprouted out of the ground overnight? There was always something new to discover day by day, even if it wasn't as impressive as a new biome or an undiscovered species.
What Eela found was not so happy as coming across the meaning of existence. There was a chromillia unlike any she had seen before hunched over the dust. Its colors were dark and dull. Its stalk bent limply. Its face, if that was a face, had gone from a familiar smile to a frown. Eela reached out and touched a hand to its bark. She wasn't sure what she thought that she would find. When no obvious answers came, she pet the chromillia softly, like she did for Twilly.
"What's the matter?" she asked. Eela began to walk a slow circle around the plant then. She looked it up and down for any signs of external damage, but saw none. That didn't mean that there wasn't some problem beyond her sight line, though. Eela bent forward and wrapped her arms around the chromillia as best she could, and leaned her cheek against it. The chromillia let out the saddest little chime Eela had ever heard. Was it... dying? What was death, really? Eela didn't want to watch anything die. She looked sadly up at the plant.
What had worked once for Twilly could at least not make the situation worse. Eela made up a gentle tune and sang it to the sad chromillia as she stroked its bark. Twilly, sensing something, walked around in tight circles and laid down by the plant's roots. They would be there for quite some time. Twilly eventually fell asleep while Eela sat upon a root of the chromillia and sang until it was singing with her.
What Eela found was not so happy as coming across the meaning of existence. There was a chromillia unlike any she had seen before hunched over the dust. Its colors were dark and dull. Its stalk bent limply. Its face, if that was a face, had gone from a familiar smile to a frown. Eela reached out and touched a hand to its bark. She wasn't sure what she thought that she would find. When no obvious answers came, she pet the chromillia softly, like she did for Twilly.
"What's the matter?" she asked. Eela began to walk a slow circle around the plant then. She looked it up and down for any signs of external damage, but saw none. That didn't mean that there wasn't some problem beyond her sight line, though. Eela bent forward and wrapped her arms around the chromillia as best she could, and leaned her cheek against it. The chromillia let out the saddest little chime Eela had ever heard. Was it... dying? What was death, really? Eela didn't want to watch anything die. She looked sadly up at the plant.
What had worked once for Twilly could at least not make the situation worse. Eela made up a gentle tune and sang it to the sad chromillia as she stroked its bark. Twilly, sensing something, walked around in tight circles and laid down by the plant's roots. They would be there for quite some time. Twilly eventually fell asleep while Eela sat upon a root of the chromillia and sang until it was singing with her.