Submission (#2260) Approved

Crrrrrunch, scrrrrrunch, zingggg…

Aveline slowly stirred and yawned. She sleepily lifted her head from the pillow and glanced around with bleary eyes. Her neighbor was up early this morning. She sighed and yawned again, willing herself to emerge from her cocoon and stretch. The smell of spindleberry blossoms greeted her as she ambled into the kitchen for breakfast. She must have forgotten to close the window before bed, as the curtains above the counter drifted lazily inward with the breeze. She swept the curtains aside and paused to take in her surroundings. It was gorgeous out. The fluffy, pink trees were covered in delicate white blooms. With every gust, the breeze sent petals dancing down through the air.

Had it been four months already? After hunkering down through miasma season, she couldn’t bring herself to return home. It was like a fairy tale. There was a certain draw to eternal spring. Faerindell’s pastel forests and rolling fields full of flowers were quite the contrast to Silveil’s towering mushrooms and endless night. Perhaps she had finally found a place to settle in and grow into her own…

Reluctantly, she pulled herself away and opened the pantry. She was running a little low on jam and only had the end of a loaf of bread. It seemed like just yesterday that she had stocked up. Perhaps she had lost track of time. Life did move at a different pace here. After finishing off the last of her jam and bread, Aveline emerged from her quaint cottage and struggled to pull the door shut. The oval frame was slightly warped, and it took a bit of elbow grease to negotiate its closure. Finally, the door clunked into place, shaking the house and triggering a small avalanche of petals that had settled on the roof. Thank goodness she didn’t have any pollen allergies.

As she made her way down the cobblestone path toward the village, her neighbor waved and wished her a good morning. His farm provided her with most of her sustenance these days, so she could hardly be upset about waking up early from time to time. Today, the farmer was tilling the soil, preparing to plant a few rows of dragonapples. The thought of dragonapple preserves and ricotta on fresh, crusty bread made her mouth water. Drizzle on a little local honey and…

“Aveline!” The little, mostly white kittom was jolted out of her daydream. “Aveline, I need youuuuu…” A little ball of green and blue came bounding around the bend too quickly, nearly sliding into a stand of fluffy, pink bushes. Aveline shook her head and chuckled. Her buddy, Adria was always zooming around for some reason or another. The kittom skidded to a stop in front of her and burst out a string of nearly unintelligible speech, not bothering to catch her breath. “Need… n-necklace… help… find… please… precious…”

“Whoa, slow down,” Aveline patted Adria on the back, “did you say that your necklace is missing, and you need my help to find it?” Adria nodded, glancing down at her paws in despair. Aveline had never seen her this distressed. “I’m on it,” she offered with another gentle pat.

Adria quickly recounted where she had done the previous day. She knew for sure that she was wearing the necklace yesterday morning, as the town’s baker had complimented it. “Let’s start there.”

A few minutes later, the two kittoms were marching down the town’s main street, checking the gaps between the cobblestones as they went. No sign of the necklace. The town was overgrown with trees and berry bushes, with plenty of nooks and crannies that could swallow up a piece of jewelry. The shops in the main square weren’t laid out in a grid, having been built in the days before cities were planned out. They each had rounded windows and doorframes, similar to those in Aveline’s cottage, and the pastel shingles on their roofs were partially obscured by flower petals. The brick exteriors were covered in patches of moss and flowering vines, having built up over countless generations.

First, they visited the baker, then the florist, then the grocer, then the curio shop… nobody in town had seen Adria’s necklace. Minutes turned into hours, and soon it was time for lunch. Aveline returned to the grocer and assembled a basket of bread, crackers, cheese, assorted berries and pumpkin juice for a picnic. She led a distraught Adria into the forest. The trees grew thicker the further they got from town, filtering out the sunlight. Fairy shrouds draped down heavily from the branches, swaying lightly in the breeze. Butterflies and bees waltzed through the clusters of blooms, feasting on their sweet nectar. The sound of buzzing was almost hypnotic. Soon there was a break in the trees and the forest opened into a perfectly circular meadow. Pink, purple and white flowers reached up toward the sky between tufts of emerald grass.

The change in scenery seemed to improve Adria’s mood slightly, and the two kittoms dug into their provisions. The cheese, a soft white variety rolled in minced cranberries and mild chili peppers, was particularly delicious today. Adria and Aveline ate in silence, basking in their calm surroundings. When they were satisfied, the two kittoms packed up the leftovers without a word and meandered back toward the village.

Murmurs and lively whispers greeted them as they neared the town square, an unusual occurrence in this sleepy town. The kittoms turned the corner cautiously, wondering what could cause such commotion.

“He’s a thief!” cried the baker, holding a tiny, dark kittom by the scruff of its neck. A half-eaten loaf of bread lay on the cobblestones by his paws. The constable assessed the situation.

“Did you witness the alleged theft?” the detained kittom cried out. The baker shook his head. “Did anyone else see anything?” Nobody said a word. “Then what evidence do you have to charge me? Anyone could be walking around town with their half-eaten lunch. Just look at those two!” The kittom pointed at Adria and Aveline’s picnic basket. Oh, boy… Adria could recognize that little brat anywhere…

“But that’s my signature bread, you were in my shop, I’m a loaf short, you never paid…” the baker began.

“Maybe you need to keep better books,” the kittom retorted.

“Enough!” cried Adria. “He’s my brother. I will pay for the bread and make sure that he doesn’t set foot in any of your shops ever again!” The baker and constable reluctantly agreed to let the rogue kittom go with a warning. Adria grabbed him by the ear and dragged him to the edge of town.

“Ow, ow, ow!” he protested.

Aveline tried to remember his name. It started with an R. Maybe Rhyme… or Rhapsody? Yes, Rhapsody. Adria rarely brought him up. It seemed that the two had always been at odds and that Adria was glad to be away from him… until now.

“Now go!” Adria snarled. “Return to whatever hole you crawled out of.”

“Dearest sister, you seem more short-tempered than usual this morning. Did something happen?” He poked her in the nose with a branch covered in pink leaves. When did he have a chance to grab that? “Wait, where is your necklace? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without it. Well, maybe once…”

“It was you, wasn’t it? You took my necklace, you little rascal.”

“Are you calling me a thief, too? Such a shame, dearest sister.” He sneered at the two kittoms in front of him. “If I did take it, it would be hidden somewhere you’d never think to look…”

Suddenly it struck Aveline – her window was open this morning and some of her food was missing. “He must have hidden it at my place!” The two kittoms dragged Rhapsody back through town and up the hill to Aveline’s cottage. Her neighbor had long since finished in the fields and a small bundle of jam and figs was waiting on her doorstep. How thoughtful…

“Where did you hide it?” Aveline insisted as she set the bundle on her dining room table, trying to get over the creepy, unsettling feeling that this strange kittom had entered her home uninvited.

“I doubt you’ll find anything in your house... unless you are, perhaps, a thief yourself. Now that would be quite the tale to tell, wouldn’t it?”

Adria tore her house apart, but the necklace was nowhere to be found.

“It seems you are getting to the tail end of your search. I think I’ll wag it.” Rhapsody snickered and gestured to the door.

“Wait, it couldn’t be… tale, tail, wag… Adria, check my tail!” She was always getting things tangled in that little welkin ball of floof. It would be the perfect place to stash a trinket. Sure enough, nestled deep within the curls was Adria’s necklace.

Rhapsody slipped out while the other kittoms were distracted and made his way deep into the blush forest, carrying a parcel of jam and figs that wasn’t intended for him…