As soon as she came back to her room, she started to feel exhausted, so she drew little flowers, and Mother Peebo and her Peebolings. It was good for a chuckle. Boolo always was, no matter how long she stayed there. She thought of admitting it to the Wolf King when he inevitably came to visit later on. Was it even clairvoyance? More like some sort of train tracks that drew themselves over time and kept becoming clearer even after the train had passed. And the train was always too slow. At least, drawing cheered her up. Hopefully, the next meal would be soon, and she would feel better by then.
She started to hum a song, and kept drawing. She drew herself with a different haircut. She had one braid loop, but maybe she ought to have two long ones. It might be annoying, but it would be pretty. She added a pine tree crown on her head, with lit candles on top. She probably wouldn’t end up ever wearing that at all, but it was nice to look at.
Back home, she knew Mother always sang songs, and there was music everywhere. She would dance on top of Her clouds, and a few lucky ones would get to watch Her. She had never been home, but she had gotten images of it, and sounds. The information wasn’t hers to possess, but she still had it. She was forbidden to be home, or to talk, write, or even think about it. She wasn’t supposed to know about home. Home was a highly secret place nobody knew about, other than the ones who had been in it, and she hadn’t been in it. They said it was a coincidence that she acted like she was from there. She wasn’t from there. She had never been there. Yet here she was, with gifts and visions only they could have. But since thinking about it was forbidden, she decided to stop.
Well, she only decided it for one second, as a matter of fact, because Kuba liked thinking. She had thought up her own name, and -- well, nothing else, but the fact remained that she liked to think about back home. She was forbidden to think about it, and she could feel watchful eyes full of ire staring at her like flaming orbs, but if their owner was very cross with her, they didn’t show up to yell at her. It would be a pretty pitiful thing to do, to pretend not to exist but still show up all the time. It would be like if someone was fishing, and the fish were hiding, but one fish came up to tell the fisherman that there were no fish.
She wasn’t even supposed to know about that yet. Someone else was, but none of that had happened yet. About the watchful eyes, and home -- that was someone else’s reflection, and someone else’s battle, but much like everything else, it came too soon. Maybe it was because her mind was disorganized. Maybe she needed training from the people back home, but not now; that would also be too soon. Everything was too soon. It was a real problem of hers..
She kept singing to herself until she started to feel like it might be time for a nap. It was too soon, of course. It wasn’t even noon yet. That, and the light that came in from the window was too bright for her to close her eyes. As she focused on it, she realised that she could hear the children laughing and squealing from it. Boolo was back outside, and he was trying to stop everyone from making a snowman in case it became edible, or alive. Luckily for him, it stayed a snowman -- a normal one.
“Nyeeeh,” said Boolo, and he sat down to munch on some of its snow.
It tasted like snow, which was pretty nice, too. Kuba decided that it was time for all the snow to become normal once more, which prompted some disappointment, of course, but at least, they had their fun for a while.
“Hey! Strawberries? Are you alright?” Book Violet fretted.
“We’re strawberry BUSHES, thank you very much, unless you only meant to talk about our strawberries, in which case I’ll be forced to thank you much more sarcastically,” replied their leader.
“That’s nonsense,” Golden Wolf commented from another window.
Sapphire Rod, who was also at the window, looked back at him sarcastically.
“No, not their degree of politeness. I meant -- why are there strawberry bushes with eyes in our castle?” Golden Wolf exploded, very annoyed. “Who’s doing this? Why is this happening?”
Sapphire Rod pointed to him, because he had been the one to draw them, after all. Kuba stopped listening when their conversation descended into bickering about calling each other bald and the like. She looked around some more, then back again as they started to hit each other with socks. She decided to avert her eyes before she made Golden Wolf panic about protocol or something. That, and it hurt her back to be looking directly downward from her window, because she had to angle her neck and arms very uncomfortably to do it.
If it had been night and not late morning, she would have gone on top of the highest watch-tower to dance. Sadly, it wasn’t nearly the time for that, and she was incredibly bored. It felt like she had been in her room for hours. She didn’t even know if she ought to leave. To everyone else, she had left the common room minutes ago with tears in her eyes. It wouldn’t make sense to them to see her come back bored after fifteen minutes or less.
Eventually, out of options and bothers to give, she decided to go see Peebo. Peebo was making various sea-animal noises from where she was sitting on a little bit of snow like it was a throne, and she tried to eat her mittens as Kuba arrived, but then wiggled her hands away, because they were very cold. As she decided that maybe Peebo needed a throne, she picked up the baby. Coincidentally, Sheeno arrived with an apple in his mouth.
“Peebo! Look! It’s a funny apple! Looook!” Sheeno cooed, and he slurped it into his mouth like a spaghetti.
Kuba made a very silly face, because she was very surprised, and Sheeno laughed. He pointed to a little cart that two women had put up.
“Boiled apples. They’re silly apples,” Sheeno explained.
He went to get another one, and squished it in his hands for demonstration. The apple was as soft as a baby's cheek. Maybe even softer (if that was even possible).
“Fat apples,” he laughed. “I can squish them. Do you want a fat apple, Peebo?”
He gave it to Peebo. Peebo started to chew on it. She liked apples a lot. Maybe when she grew up, she would say that she was going to marry apples.
“You know, I don’t like Peebo like mum and dad do. It’s just that she’s the only girl,” Sheeno explained.
“There are many girls everywhere in the world,” Kuba suggested.
“Maybe,” Sheeno said unhappily. “But I want them to be here and right now. And also here. Mum says I can never get married if I don’t meet a girl my age. Wait! I said that. Maybe Peebo said that. Hmm! I don’t know who said that. Maybe it was you!”
“It wasn’t,” Kuba rectified lightly. “But maybe they can be a tiny bit younger, or a tiny bit older. Are there other girls almost your age?”
“Ehhhh. I don’t know,” Sheeno mumbled, and he scratched his head. “There’s only Peebo. I don’t talk to anybody else. I stay with the babies.”
“Well, staying with the babies is very delightful, too,” Kuba agreed, and she looked down at Peebo, who looked like she was more puffy coat than human.
“But maybe I can get a girlfriend on the radio. There are a lot of girls on the radio.”
“Sheeno, you’re seven. You can’t get married just yet,” called out his mother from the apple cart.
“Wellllllll!” Sheeno let out, because he was thinking about it as he said it. “Wellllllllll. I don’t know. But I’m sure you would be very happy if I got a girlfriend.”
His mother laughed.
“Yes, but you’re seven, poor dear.”
Peebo was licking her own face thoughtfully. She then became very tired and rubbed her little eyes. Kuba brought her back to her mother, and smiled as Peebo curled up happily in Book Violet’s arms. She then decided to go back inside, and Sheeno took her hand to follow her.
“Hello! I’m going to sleep now!” Sheeno exclaimed. “I’m going to make myself a little bed now. Boolo! Look! I’m making a little bed.”
He took off his coat and put it on the ground, then wrapped himself in it.
“Boolo! Look! I’m a worm,” Sheeno laughed.
Boolo giggled and waddled closer.
“Nuuuuuu,” he let out confusedly. “I don’t know if I like worms. Neeeeh. Maybe I also want to be a worm. It’s very complicated.”
He sat on the ground and put his cheek on his fist.
“Mr the king? Can I be a worm?”
“You can if you want to,” replied the king easily, and behold, Kuba was distracted from the conversation now.
“But I don’t really know. I don’t know anything. It’s mysterious,” Boolo muttered. “Now I’m going to sleep.”
“Everyone seems dreadfully sleepy all of a sudden,” Kuba whispered worriedly.
“It must be naptime,” the king suggested.
Kuba made a face like she was going to cry.
“Naptime,” she remembered. “That’s adorable.”
She put her face in her hands.
“Naps. My goodness. Are you going to take a nap?” she cooed.
“Hmm. I don’t know either,” Boolo let out. “I’m a little bit hungry. It’s too complicated. That’s why sleeping is nice. I don’t need to make decisions.”
“Well, if you’re going to take a nap, we should stay here in case one of you needs to go to the bathroom,” the king decided. “Or to go upstairs at all.”
“I can go upstairs on my own!” Sheeno remarked proudly.
The king nodded.
“Will you help Boolo if he needs to go?”
“Yes! Then maybe I can be the intendant when I grow up,” Sheeno exclaimed. “But that’s Lord Golden Wolf. Hmm. But maybe I can also be the intendant. Maybe we should all be the intendant. Goodnight! Oh no! I need to go to the bathroom. But I’ll go now. Come on, Boolo.”
“No! I’m gonna draw,” Boolo explained.
“Okayyyy. Byeeee!”
Sheeno unwrapped himself and promptly rushed upstairs. Kuba laughed, then turned back to the king. Boolo was softly falling asleep on his drawing, so the king removed the paper and quill from his face.
“I’m hungry,” Boolo muttered, and so he ate one of his snow biscuits. “Lady Kuba? Are they real snow?”
“They’re biscuits, but not,” Kuba explained.
“Okay,” Boolo let out, and he fell asleep.
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