Chapter 15:
Drink it!
Constantine:
“Well, it is time to drink the potion,” Daniel says, as he hands me his concoction.
“I have never seen such a potion before,” I say. Still, I lift it up, and take a sip. My stomach does the same flip as before, and I feel fuzzy. My palms begin to sweat. I send a suspicious glance at the potion.
“You are happy, but still working through your situation?” I ask. He nods.
“Can you blame me? I might never go back to Earth,” he says, and I take another sip. It makes me feel warm inside. As if Daniel and I were old friends, who shared their emotions many times before.
“I want to do an experiment,” I say, as I take the headset from around his head. I place the headphones on my own ears, load up another bottle of solvent, and set the timer. “Say the first thing that comes to your mind.”
He doesn’t speak for a while, and then begins in an uncertain tone.
“I want to see the Cosmos, but I don’t think I will have the time to,” he says, and I feel for him. To be given such an opportunity, for such a short among of time, is cruel. I nod at him, and look at the solvent. Ah, it seems that I am going to make another bittersweet potion. Should I tell him? Before I can work up the nerve to spill the beans, he continues. “But, you know, I am glad that I am here. Nothing tied me to Earth. You are the first person I spoke with about my hobby, in the past five years.”
“You mentioned you are a writer?” I ask, taking my eyes off the potion, and giving him my undivided attention. I decide not to tell him about imprinting yet. We simply don’t know each other all that well.
“I write, from time to time. I worked on your stories, and crafted something of a blog post based on them, but I didn’t feel like posting it anywhere. What you shared with me... Felt, private, somehow,” Daniel tells me, and I nod again.
“I felt the same way, about the orange potion with the red bubbles. Did you figure out what it represented, by the way? Or, were you just trying to tease me?” I ask.
“I know precisely what it is, and I’d like to nurture it. We can start with a friendship,” he tells me. I blink. What else can be between us? It is not like... oh.
The realization hits me, and my cheeks color crimson. I glance at the potion, and it glows white.
“I am fine with it, really,” he assures me, and I bite my lower lip.
“I... let us talk about something else. Who do you think stole the happiness bottles from the storehouses?” I blurt out the first question that comes to my mind. He blinks at that.
“What?” He asks. I have to remind myself that he must have paid more attention to the spokeswoman, than to the bottom corner, where the recent news was being written out.
“There have been break-ins into storehouses recently. Happiness potions have been stolen. Mostly those bottled by me,” I say, and he nods.
“Well, I know nothing about the Cosmos, but logic dictates that it must be an unhappy person. Are there any races, that look uglier than the others?” He asks, and I puff up my cheeks.
“Daniel! In the Cosmos, we don’t do shape shaming. There are so many races, each with their different characteristics, that,” I begin, but he holds up his hands in surrender.
“Look, from our talks, I have come to the conclusion, that the people of the Cosmos are not so different from the people of Earth. You know, it is weird to think that Earth is not a part of the universe,” he says.
“Well, it is, sort of. Just not legally,” I say. He shakes his head.
“Anyway, back on point. You are a nice man, Tine. But there are plenty of people who are not. If there is one race that is so different from the rest that the others would find them...well...different,” I can see that he is trying to be politically correct about this, and finds it difficult. Still, after he makes a slight pause, he continues. “Then, maybe, they will find it hard to be accepted by the rest of the universe, and that will put a damper on their happiness.”
“Do you know how many planets are in the universe? What a Naga will find as different, is no strange thing for someone from Perseus, for example,” I say.
“Yes, but what if the different person doesn’t live in Perseus, with all of its planets that find their shape normal. What if they live in Ursula, and are not accepted?” That question throws me out of the loop.
“Well, it is true that all the robberies have happened in Ursula, so far. Well, I am not 100% sure about the latest one, but if the news report is broadcasted here, then,” I let my thoughts trail off. “You know, there has been a break in right here, in Mirstone.”
“Is that what this town is called,” Daniel asks, and I begin to talk again.
“Mirstone is part of Ashfeld province. Wendel is a city to the north, that is the capital city of the province. Ashfeld province is one huge valley, that is cut in half by the Ravenrune river, which has moonstone on its river bed,” I tell him.
“Moonstone? As in, stone from a moon? How many moons did you say there were around Ursula 590?” He asks.
“Five. They do much the same as the moon that is the satellite of Earth,” I answer his question before he asks it.
“Have you, the Naga, I mean, landed on any of your moons?” He asks. I smile brightly at that.
“Landed? We have amusement parks on them,” I tell him, and chuckle, when he looks at me with a shining hope in his eyes. “Yes, I think I will take you to Ursula 589. That is the name of the closest moon. You’ll love it there. They have food from all over the Ursula system.”
The beeper sounds, and I look at my potion. The white glow is gone. It is the orange potion, with the red bubbles. I take it, and hand it over to him.
“Bottoms up,” I tell him, not managing to imagine ever giving this particular potion to anyone else, much less selling it.
Chapter 15:
Drink it!
Constantine:
“Well, it is time to drink the potion,” Daniel says, as he hands me his concoction.
“I have never seen such a potion before,” I say. Still, I lift it up, and take a sip. My stomach does the same flip as before, and I feel fuzzy. My palms begin to sweat. I send a suspicious glance at the potion.
“You are happy, but still working through your situation?” I ask. He nods.
“Can you blame me? I might never go back to Earth,” he says, and I take another sip. It makes me feel warm inside. As if Daniel and I were old friends, who shared their emotions many times before.
“I want to do an experiment,” I say, as I take the headset from around his head. I place the headphones on my own ears, load up another bottle of solvent, and set the timer. “Say the first thing that comes to your mind.”
He doesn’t speak for a while, and then begins in an uncertain tone.
“I want to see the Cosmos, but I don’t think I will have the time to,” he says, and I feel for him. To be given such an opportunity, for such a short among of time, is cruel. I nod at him, and look at the solvent. Ah, it seems that I am going to make another bittersweet potion. Should I tell him? Before I can work up the nerve to spill the beans, he continues. “But, you know, I am glad that I am here. Nothing tied me to Earth. You are the first person I spoke with about my hobby, in the past five years.”
“You mentioned you are a writer?” I ask, taking my eyes off the potion, and giving him my undivided attention. I decide not to tell him about imprinting yet. We simply don’t know each other all that well.
“I write, from time to time. I worked on your stories, and crafted something of a blog post based on them, but I didn’t feel like posting it anywhere. What you shared with me... Felt, private, somehow,” Daniel tells me, and I nod again.
“I felt the same way, about the orange potion with the red bubbles. Did you figure out what it represented, by the way? Or, were you just trying to tease me?” I ask.
“I know precisely what it is, and I’d like to nurture it. We can start with a friendship,” he tells me. I blink. What else can be between us? It is not like... oh.
The realization hits me, and my cheeks color crimson. I glance at the potion, and it glows white.
“I am fine with it, really,” he assures me, and I bite my lower lip.
“I... let us talk about something else. Who do you think stole the happiness bottles from the storehouses?” I blurt out the first question that comes to my mind. He blinks at that.
“What?” He asks. I have to remind myself that he must have paid more attention to the spokeswoman, than to the bottom corner, where the recent news was being written out.
“There have been break-ins into storehouses recently. Happiness potions have been stolen. Mostly those bottled by me,” I say, and he nods.
“Well, I know nothing about the Cosmos, but logic dictates that it must be an unhappy person. Are there any races, that look uglier than the others?” He asks, and I puff up my cheeks.
“Daniel! In the Cosmos, we don’t do shape shaming. There are so many races, each with their different characteristics, that,” I begin, but he holds up his hands in surrender.
“Look, from our talks, I have come to the conclusion, that the people of the Cosmos are not so different from the people of Earth. You know, it is weird to think that Earth is not a part of the universe,” he says.
“Well, it is, sort of. Just not legally,” I say. He shakes his head.
“Anyway, back on point. You are a nice man, Tine. But there are plenty of people who are not. If there is one race that is so different from the rest that the others would find them...well...different,” I can see that he is trying to be politically correct about this, and finds it difficult. Still, after he makes a slight pause, he continues. “Then, maybe, they will find it hard to be accepted by the rest of the universe, and that will put a damper on their happiness.”
“Do you know how many planets are in the universe? What a Naga will find as different, is no strange thing for someone from Perseus, for example,” I say.
“Yes, but what if the different person doesn’t live in Perseus, with all of its planets that find their shape normal. What if they live in Ursula, and are not accepted?” That question throws me out of the loop.
“Well, it is true that all the robberies have happened in Ursula, so far. Well, I am not 100% sure about the latest one, but if the news report is broadcasted here, then,” I let my thoughts trail off. “You know, there has been a break in right here, in Mirstone.”
“Is that what this town is called,” Daniel asks, and I begin to talk again.
“Mirstone is part of Ashfeld province. Wendel is a city to the north, that is the capital city of the province. Ashfeld province is one huge valley, that is cut in half by the Ravenrune river, which has moonstone on its river bed,” I tell him.
“Moonstone? As in, stone from a moon? How many moons did you say there were around Ursula 590?” He asks.
“Five. They do much the same as the moon that is the satellite of Earth,” I answer his question before he asks it.
“Have you, the Naga, I mean, landed on any of your moons?” He asks. I smile brightly at that.
“Landed? We have amusement parks on them,” I tell him, and chuckle, when he looks at me with a shining hope in his eyes. “Yes, I think I will take you to Ursula 589. That is the name of the closest moon. You’ll love it there. They have food from all over the Ursula system.”
The beeper sounds, and I look at my potion. The white glow is gone. It is the orange potion, with the red bubbles. I take it, and hand it over to him.
“Bottoms up,” I tell him, not managing to imagine ever giving this particular potion to anyone else, much less selling it.
