Vhalar 22 722
Eternity sat in her back yard with one of her neighbors, Mary, and caught up a little. It’d been a few seven trials since they had last talked so Mary had brought over some food and they shared it over light hearted conversation. Eternity was always happy for a fresh meal that she could eat in her own home. Mary and her husband were bakers who did their own deliveries so if they were out of the house, it was likely they had a basket of bread with them.
“…then I said, ‘you smell like burnt onion, get out of my shop!’ and wouldn’t you know it, he threw an onion right at me! Hit me right in the shoulder and we’re talking about a large onion here. It hurt! I had half a mind to run after him with a stick but there were so many other customers I hadn’t the time.”
Eternity chuckled at Mary’s story and asked, “so did you tell your husband?”
Marry nodded vigorously, “of course! He found out where that man lived and gave him an earful. Husband felt so bad for my arm that he bought me this.” She pulled up her sleeve to reveal a bracelet that had some jewels along its length.
“Gosh Mary,” Eternity said with genuine surprise, “he spoils you. Do you really wear that when you’re out and about? If you’re not careful a thief will snatch it from you.” As she said the words she pretended to snatch the bracelet off her arm, which she probably could have done if the bracelet weren’t the topic of discussion.
Mary shook her head and set the bread basket aside. “No, I’ve never had to worry about that stuff, believe it or not. I think our family is blessed, we’ve never had to deal with thieves coming in our home or muggin’ us. We’ve had a few bread snatchers over the years but that can’t be helped.”
Eternity smirked. She liked Mary, which is why she’d never robbed her. Eternity thought of that family’s home as if it were a glass box to be broken in case of emergency. There was likely enough loot in that home to be able to start a new life in a new city, not that Eternity thought that would ever be necessary. She’d also not thought very much about the logistics of selling that much stolen stuff in one go. Her back up plan definitely needed some work.
Eternity asked, “with all the gifts you’ve gotten, surely you have a safe or something to keep your belongings safe. Your luck might run out one day and I’d hate to hear that you didn’t take adequate precautions.” She wanted to gather some information for the sake of knowing.
Mary looked at her strangely and said, “it’s funny that you ask. My husband was just talking about getting one of those. I hear they’re expensive. I prefer a… well I suppose I shouldn’t say.”
Eternity egged her on, “oh it’s just me here Mary, I’m not going to tell anyone. What do you expect me to do, break in and take a bunch of your clothes?” she finished with a laugh but it was overdone and awkward.
Mary gave her another strange look and said, “well, you never know. Oh, I wanted to ask you what you have been doing with your time as of late. Did you ever find another job?”
Eternity shook her head and said, “no job, I have money for now though don’t worry. I was actually doing a bit of singing lessons. I thought maybe I could start doing performances at bars in a couple seasons if I get good enough.”
Mary looked at her in shock, “singing? You? Well, I suppose I’ve never heard you sing before, have I? Well then, let’s hear a song.” She was giddy with excitement. She thought Eternity was so pretty and thought her singing would be heavenly.
Eternity winced and said, “no, that’s okay. I’m really not good yet. My teacher never misses an opportunity to remind me.”
Mary shook her head and said, “tsk, tsk. You have a lovely voice I’m sure you can sing just fine. Out with it!”
Eternity groaned. She knew exactly what Mary was going to say but she felt obliged to comply with her request. She stood up and looked into the sky to gather some inspiration and then began to sing a simple tune she’d learned at a bar. She hated how hard it was to sing without being able to rely on someone else who could sing or play an instrument. She was bad even with a warm-up so without one her voice sounded shrill. She couldn’t even get the lyrics right and stuttered on many occasions to correct the words which didn’t do her any favors. Mary looked at Eternity with a pained look on her face. She was too polite to ask her to stop so she suffered until the song was finished.
“Well,” Mary said, “that was… really something.” She quickly stuffed some bread in her mouth to avoid elaborating further.
“Yeah I know it’s bad, but I think I can learn,” Eternity said when she sat down. She could see one of her other neighbors snickering at her from their own yard. It was embarrassing enough when strangers made fun of her, but people she knew? That was enough to make Eternity’s face turn scarlet. She buried her face in her hands and stomped her feet. “I can’t believe I just did that.”
“It’s okay to fail you know,” Mary consoled, “I tried to be a jewelry maker once but once I knew I had no talent for it I moved on. I would love to be able to work with jewels but a girl’s got to make a living. May I ask why you want to sing?”
Eternity parted her fingers so she could look at Mary and said, “I just thought I could make it work. I’ve tried so many things and haven’t found anything I’m good at. I’m good at some things, mind you, just not at anything that someone would be willing to pay me to do. Would you believe my singing teacher thought I was so bad that she said I’d be better of being a house wife?” she groaned again in exasperation.
“Mmm,” Mary said, “well, keep your options open. By the way, what’s that pot for?”
“Oh that?” Eternity said, “I thought I’d try my hand at gardening. I dug up some soil and put some seeds on top.”
Mary walked over and said, “you’re supposed to bury the seeds, not just lay them on top.”
“Really?” asked Eternity, “I read a book and it said to add seeds to soil, it didn’t say anything about burying them.”
Mary chuckled, “because it’s common sense, silly. I grow radish sprouts because they’re a tasty garnish and I always bury them.”
Eternity frowned and walked over, “what about trees? Nobody’s burying acorns. And are do you mean to say that farmers plant every single seed? There are hundreds if not thousands of plants on a farm, that’s far too much work.”
Mary shrugged, “acorns different for reasons I cannot explain. Of course farmers bury their seeds, that’s why it’s hard work. Just bury them, trust me.”
Eternity sighed and fetched the glove she’d bought for gardening since her hands had gotten so smelly last time. She pushed the seeds into the soil and said, “there, that good enough for you?”
Mary elbowed her, “I was only trying to help. I should get back to my route. Thanks for having me over and good luck with your lessons and your gardening.”
Eternity pursed her lips and said, “thanks for coming,” then she led Mary back through her home and out into the street. “See you later.”
Privacy was something that Eternity very much needed for the time being. She went over to her table and started writing down some questions she wanted to ask at her next singing lesson. She then pulled a simple book she’d bought last afternoon which had some common songs in them. Most of them were religious in nature and had to do with worshipping immortals. The book didn’t include any notes, it was just a collection of lyrics and it was expected that people would already know the tune. There were general ones and those that were dedicated to specific immortals. Eternity didn’t favor one over the other, but she did pray to Edasha the most so she found a song about her that she recognized. It was a song about Edasha making someone jealous.
Eternity read the lyrics in her head and tried to memorize them. She thought that if she knew the words perfectly then she wouldn’t stutter so much when she sang. As much as she tried to study, she couldn’t quite get the memory of her neighbors laughing out of her head so she cut her studies short. She needed to get out of there and go for a walk. She grabbed her weapons and headed straight for the proving grounds where she could hopefully take her mind off her embarrassment.
[Template credit to Pyrre]
