Magic- By the CarsAki and Mimi belong to me.
"Mommy!" Mimi ran towards the porch as her mother, Aki, exited, carrying a massive set of speakers. "I got it, I got it!" Mimi reached her arms up, Aki leaning forward to offer the speakers to Mimi, though Mimi apparently wasn't reaching for the speakers. She was reaching for the little MP3 player that had been perched atop them. "Wow, Thanks Mimi..." Aki said as Mimi ran towards the little fire pit, thumbing through the songs on the small device. They hadn't changed since yesterday, of course, this was Aki's summertime mix. It was a very old MP3 player, as were the large speakers that she carried to the tiny table by the fire pit. Sitting the speakers down and getting everything situated, she straightened her back and stretched. "Okay...You know how to start it up, I'll get the wood while you get us a song ready." Aki smiled, though she already knew what song Mimi was going to choose. Out of her entire selection of two hundred plus songs, Mimi had chosen the same song every single night to start them off. Oftentimes Aki would find that she had hit the replay button and the song simply kept going all night. Aki didn't mind, of course, it was a good song, but even good songs could get worn out eventually.
Mimi hummed to herself as her mother brought over fire wood and began settling it in the pit, placing the MP3 on the little stand atop the speakers, she flicked on the speakers and turned the volume up to fifty. Loud enough that the moment the music started playing her momma jerked in surprise and clasped her paws over her ears. "Jeeze Mimi! Are you deaf!?" Standing, Aki moved the turn the music down to a more tolerable number. Mimi was, of course, already dancing around the fire pit, causing Aki's shoulders to relax a little and her smile to return. Folding her arms, Aki watched as Mimi spun around and sang along with the music. "Summaaaa" The adorable little girls voice that sang the words had Aki giggling, even more so when Mimi sang 'Turns me upside down!', where upon she did a head stand. "That it does..." Aki laughed as she returned to her work, finishing up the pit and lighting it. She let Mimi enjoy her song while she went inside to fetch the supplies.
By time Aki had returned, it seemed the song was already on loop, leaving her shaking her head and sighing. Another night of the same song over and over again? Sitting her tray of marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolates and tiny weenies down, she folded her arms. "You know, there's more songs than just this one, right?" Aki arched her brow, watching Mimi spinning around in the glow of the fire light. The sun had begun to set just before she entered the house and now it was almost completely gone. The stars left decorating the sky above them. This was not like living in the city, there was no light pollution here, only pure, lovely, darkness. The sky above was littered with stars, only the glow of the fire and the nearby bug zapper glowed brighter than they did.
Mimi simply spun towards Aki, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her face in her mothers tummy a moment before looking up at her, waiting for the moment the song spoke the words. "I got a hold on yooooooooou!" before she squeezed Aki tightly and sang at the top of her lungs. Laughing, Aki scoop Mimi up in her arms and began dancing with her. "Uh ooooh it's maaaagic! " The two sang. "When I'm with yoooou!" The two continue until the song ended, only to repeat once more. Sitting Mimi down, Aki lightly and playfully ruffled her beloved child's hair and gave her a kiss. "Okay okay, I'm hungry, how about those s'mores?" Mimi threw her paws into the air and gave a happy 'Yaaaaay!' before moving to the tray and building several. "I'll cook for you, mommy. I'm a pretty good cook." The matter of fact tone Mimi used when talking about making s'mores had Aki laughing. "Oh yeah? Good, maybe you can start cooking dinner for us, then."
Mimi nodded, not skipping a beat. "I'll make s'mores every night for dinner. Though..." Glancing at Aki, Mimi paused a moment before shaking her head. "Maybe not every night. I don't want you to get fat."
"Hey!" Aki exclaimed, still grinning. "You gotta make more than just s'mores anyway. You can't live on chocolate and marshmallow, Mimi, you'll turn into a marshmallow..." The child seemed to ponder this a moment before shaking her head. " I wouldn't want to be a marshmallow..." Hesitating, she handed Aki a perfectly melted S'more. "I'd be too delicious...so I'd end up eating myself...then I'd be dead..."
"Uh..." Aki said through half a bite of s'more. "Then I guess I will just have to keep cooking, so that you'll never turn into a marshmallow." Leaning back chair, Aki tilt her head back and watch the stars above them. Before she knew it, Mimi had come over and settled down in her lap, cuddling against her side. "A shooting star!" She quickly closed her eyes. "Make a wish! Make a wish!" Humming to herself in thought, she finally settled on a wish and fell silent. Aki watch quietly, snagging another s'more before Mimi opened her eyes and relaxed, watching the fire and wiggling as the song repeat once more. "So...?" Aki asked, looking to Mimi. "So what?" Mimi questioned, not looking at Aki. "So...What'd you wish for?" Aki asked. "Pfft. I can't tell you that. Everyone knows you can't tell your wish. If you do, it wont come true." Mimi shook her head, as if her mother was simply out of the loop. "Ah, yeah, right. Forgot about that." Aki chuckled to herself and hugged her daughter close to her. It was summer and the two were quite warm near the fire, though not hot. It was a comfortable warmth, cozy, especially with the breeze that occasionally left the fire flickering back away from them.
The cicadas trilled out in the distance and the soft pops and cracks of wood could be heard from the fire on the brief occasion that the looped song came to an end. These were pleasant nights, nights where the sky was decorated with stars and no clouds in sight. Aki closed her eyes and took it all in, feeling Mimi settling in more against her shoulder. They had eaten their fill and it was growing late, Mimi yawning against her shoulder as her eyes began to droop. "All sung out?" Aki questioned quietly. "I got a hold on you!" Mimi giggled softly, hugging her mother. "I think I'm the one that's got a hold on you, cutie." Picking Mimi up and carrying her to the house, Mimi was already asleep by time Aki got her to her bedroom. Tucking her in, she lightly kissed her daughters forehead and whispered a goodnight. Heading back outside, she cleaned up, put away the food and speakers and doused the fire. Aki sat on the porch a while longer, rocking back and forth in her rocking chair and watching the sky. Catching sight of her own shooting star, she closed her eyes and made her own wish. She wanted more summers like this, more summers with her youngest and last baby, her only girl. She just wanted them to last a little longer. Just a little bit longer...(1,263 words)
Nerina and Ahti belong to me.
Silly wizard- If I was a blackbirdSummer had come again and Nerina stood at the head of her ship. Long had it been that such a ship had been procured. Her long life of learning languages and cultures had paid off and in the end she took to the seas that she so loved. Though, as it were, summers were always divided. To obtain more money for their family, Nerina and Ahti separated. Both were known far and wide for their skills. Though Ahti had originally been the best there was, he taught Nerina everything he knew, sharing his love with the female that eventually became his mate. Reflecting on the parting, Nerina glance to the ship of which she knew Ahti would be sailing out on tomorrow, a day after her own departure. Summers were fantastic times to get work, merchants usually paying extra for the help to get through storm ridden waters, often paying in wares or food items. All of which Ahti and Nerina stockpiled in their home in case they ever needed to sell them during emergencies. Her ship was wide, though it was already filled to the brim with sailors, merchants, and passengers. Her family was left behind and her head needed to focus on the sea, thought here was still one thing that her heart longed for. She willed the time to go faster, watching the sun as it lowered towards the horizon, it would be dark soon, and she had requested that everyone be ready before then. It wasn't due to not liking departing at night, there was no challenge in leaving the docks after the sun set. There was simply a cliff she wanted to see before the sun set.
Finally, time had come and everyone had settled in, Nerina taking her place at the ships wheel and barking out orders to the small crew she had at her disposal. Her men obeyed her without question, she had proven herself worthy as well as very wise to the ways of the waves. Not to mention, some of the men still thought she was a sea witch...with the way Ahti had pulled her from the water and all. Pulling the ship away from the dock, Nerina calmly answered all questions of how long it might take, whether the clouds on the horizon spelled a storm or not, and if there were any discounts to lost merchandise if a storm did happen to rattle the boat. All questions that she had answered a thousand times and did so yet again without so much as a thought. Her ears were perked and her eyes barely even grazed over her passengers. It was the distant cliff that her eyes kept turning towards. A small cliff that hung just over the tip of her main mast, a cliff that her ship was steadily approaching. The sun was almost even with the horizon, now, and the sky above glowed orange and red, the clouds that drifted about overhead scarlet with the suns light. Just as they drew upon the cliff Nerina ran for her mast. Shimmying up the mast and up into the crows nest, she watch as a tall, handsome figure step out on the cliffs edge, his voice booming out over the sound of everyone, including the ocean below. He sang to her, the same song he sang upon every single departure, every single summer they had to leave one another. A wide grin spread across Nerina's maw as she reach the top of the mast, her ship steered by one of her men below.
"If I were a blackbird, could whistle and sing...I'd follow the vessel my true love sails in.." Ahti sang, his eyes locked on Nerina as she reach for him, the ship tilting dangerously close to the cliffs tip. Ahti still sang, but reach his paw out to her as they drew closer. It was brief, but the two of them were ready for it. They had spent many summers doing this exact same thing, and the first few they had managed a miss here and there, but not this time. Their paws clasped for a moment and they both lean as far as they could, meeting in a brief, loving kiss before the waves tore them away from one another. Ahti still sang his song and Nerina stay at the tip of the mast, watching her mate as he shrank and eventually vanish in the distance, no longer distinguishable from the land.
Taking a deep breath, Nerina blink the moisture from her eyes and slid down the mast, resuming the position of captain and once more taking the wheel in her paws. (775 words)
(2,038 words total.)