Planting Seeds of Knowledge [Open]

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn was in trouble.

Well, more she believed she was in trouble than she was in actual trouble, but all the same, she didn't want to be in the Hammel grounds right now. It had all started with extra math tutoring - something she needed with her less than conventional education - and she had been given a mock test to complete, to see her progress. It had been going fine up until the question n + 22 = 50. What is n? The girl had wrinkled her nose up, and written in her very simple, scratchy handwriting "A letter." This cheekiness, according to her tutor, would require her going to see James, because it was James' fault she was here, and James was the only man Autumn would hold any sort of proper conversation with.

After a long conversation that had ended in Autumn staring wistfully out at the trees and paying less attention than she should have been, the girl had simply grabbed the pitcher plant she kept in a tub by her bed, and headed off. Her insistance for bare feet would have made anyone else wince. The girl walked through gravel and stones, hot tarmac and others without even batting an eyelid, and though the soles of her feet were black, she didn't seem to care as she kept walking. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going at this point, but when she rounded up on the lake, she felt an at ease smile drift over her lips. Nature. Home. Settling herself down amongst as many trees as possible, Autumn set down the pitcher plant and curled her fingers and toes in the bushy, uncut grass.

Problems, Autie? Said the plant beside her, growing larger and larger as she concentrated on it.

"They're being stupid." She said softly, her lip jutting out slightly. "They asked me what something was, and when I didn't give the answer they wanted, they told me off." The red head huffed, then began weaving the grass into a braid, barely paying attention as it grew thicker and longer with each turn of her nimble fingers. "Then James appeared and talked to me." Autumn added drearily, lifting her head to watch the pitcher plant. "I think he mentioned something about having to think differently here. I stopped listening, there were foxgloves growing just outside and they looked so dear."

You should listen to him. He's trying to help you. The pitcher plant seemed to sway lightly as if nodding sincerly. I'm sure it's nothing personal.

Autumn sighed gently and rested her cheek in the grass, listening to the gentle gossip between the trees, and purposely raising the grass up around her, so she was hidden. "I don't want to think differently, I want to think the same. And no one ever bothers to think how I think. I have to change for them." With a sigh, Autumn abandonned her grass weaving and focused her attention on the forget-me-not's nearby. Dreamily, she continued to gossip to the pitcher plant, happy to be in her own little world of nature, where the cramped environment of Hammel was far behind. If she thought hard enough, which was easy for a girl with a wild imagination, she could pretend the caravans were only a few paces away. She could almost hear her uncle's guitar, and the clink-clink of beads as her mother and aunt made the bracelets they sold. Two years on, and Autumn still hadn't settled down.

It was hard.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Generally, Alice was encouraged to stay as close to campus as possible. Not because she was a danger to herself or others, but just because it was probably for the best. Or so she was told. Though Alice had gained considerable control of herself over the past year, she still occasionally had accidental projections. It was best to just keep her reality out of everyone else’s. However, today Alice was feeling rather confident that she could keep things in check. When she had decided to get out of bed this morning, she had seen everything just as plain and boring as everyone else saw it. Taking it as a good sign, she had made the executive decision to take a walk by the lake that skirted Pilot Ridge.

As she walked, she allowed her mind to wander. She repeated some facts that she would need to remember for a test tomorrow, and recalled everything that she had learned in training today. Vaguely, she reminded herself that she should practice her cello outside when the humidity calmed down. Wriggling her bare toes in the grass (having discarded her shoes near a tree on the opposite side of the lake when her walk had just begun) Alice looked wide-eyed up at the sky. Was she forgetting anything? She tilted her head at a strange angle, regarding the giggling clouds with a friendly wave. When the sky assured her with a warped return wave, Alice figured that she hadn’t forgotten anything (except for the obvious fact that she’d let go of her powers).

She had started on the north bank, and circled around so that she could head back to the school before too long. It was at that time that the fireflies started to rise up out of the grass. Alice blinked at them as the came up in clouds, blinking in a symphony of pink and red lights. She smiled fleetingly at them as they zipped over the lake. She broke into a run to catch them at the perfect angle just as they hit to water, but suddenly stopped at a mis-placed rustling.

Alice’s entire world seemed to halt as her toes stopped just inches from Autumn’s hand. She stared at the space that Autumn occupied. There was a girl in the grass, barely visible until you were almost stepping on her. Alice’s head suddenly snapped back to the water. The lights were gone, having faded into the natural sunlight winking off at the lake. In an equally sharp movement, Alice looked up at the sky. Its warped, swirling movements had settled into the naturally lazy floating of ‘normal’ clouds. The arresting moment of nearly stepping on Autumn had put her brain back into sorts.

“I almost squashed you. I’m sorry.” She said softly, a little put out that the fireflies had gone so quickly.

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn's idle gossip with the plant seemed to span hours, in fact, she had barely noticed anyone else's arrival at the lake at all from her hiding spot. There was a lovely sound, much akin to a blackbird's song coming from a tree nearby, and the young girl was listening to each note with a rapture she could only save for nature. She'd nearly forgotten about Hammel entirely by this point, and had thrown herself into making rows and rows of bluebells and foxgloves surround her with pretty little bonnets of deep red and blue. To a passer by, this would indeed, be troubling, but Autumn had forgotten that her power was some terrible secret she had to guard with her life, and between listening to her beloved pitcher plant, and creating her own private flower garden, the girl couldn't care less.

She did, however, snap out of her reverie at the sound of feet squeaking on faintly damp grass. Frowning that someone would dare interupt her conversation with an audience of trees, plants and flowers, the girl lay still and hoped the intruder would pass her by undetected. Hushing the dear little pot plant, and hissing a "Shush!" to the gossiping bluebells, Autumn pretended she was hiding from her mother. It was a habit she used to do whenever it came to bed time, and she thought she was quite good at it. However, the squeaking grass sound got ever closer, and though the red head was sure she was perfectly camoflaged, a pair of shoeless feet - much like her own - appeared.

As her green eyes scanned up the newcomer, she realised at first that she wasn't exactly looking where she was going, and that she had come dangerously close to murdering one of her bluebells. Huffing softly, Autumn sat up, grass seeds littered in her hair, and eyed this blonde girl with a slight ounce of mistrust. This wasn't some girl sent to bring her back to the four walls she'd already grown so tired of, was it? Nudging Alice's feet back so she didn't get any closer to her little flower garden, the girl plopped her pot plant into her lap.

"It's okay. But you almost squashed Mr. Bluebell, and I think he would have been more upset than me." Gesturing at her garden, the red head shifted over to make room for this new girl. "You aren't here to bring me back are you?" She said ruefully, toes digging into the grass as though she would root herself to the spot if it were so. "I'd rather drink a cup of cold cat sick." And with that, Autumn huffed and sprouted a rather angry looking stinging nettle. "Mr. Stinging Nettle agrees with my sentiment, and will protect me if need be."

Autumn's odd use of words seemed to suit her, as her eyebrows raised then narrowed shortly after. "Oh. I suppose you weren't supposed to see that." She added vaguely, frowning at the stinging nettle. "This would be so much better if it wasn't all some big secret." Folding her arms and looking up at Alice expectantly, the girl shrugged softly. "What this place needs..." She began, clearly ending the conversation to mutter to the bluebells. "Is ladybirds."

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice gasped and looked down, practically leaping back several inches to clear herself of the bluebells. “Oh no! That’s my worst nightmare! Is he mad at me?!” She fretted, actually chewing on the side of her finger in her mouth, looking to Autumn with genuine concern. Her heart rate picked up as she crouched and gently patted her spindley fingers over the flower that had brushed her foot. “Hey, I don’t think I can talk to you but sometimes I see flowers that look like you only they’re sometimes gold and usually grey, but still I’m sure you’re their cousin or something and they wouldn’t like it if I---“ Alice stopped her babbling and looked back up at Autumn.

“Take you back where. What? Should I be bringing you back somewhere?” Alice inquired, smiling in a friendly way. “I was taking a walk. I think I lost my shoes, but I don’t really like them anyway, so its okay.” Alice explained, drawing back again when a nettle bush sprouted near her. Woah. Hostile.

Clearly this girl was talking about Alice bringing her back to Hammel. She’d just made a plant grow! Blinking, Alice tilted her head and stared unblinkingly at the bush for a moment. When she squinted and looked at it a certain way, and stuck her tongue between her teeth, it looked like a big cuddly hedgehog. And suddenly it was. The hedgehog-bush snuffled in the bluebells gently, then sneezed at Autumn.

“I think Mr. Stinging Nettle-Hedgehog is a good protector. You should keep him.”Alice said with a curt nod. What was odd about this? Absolutely nothing. Alice was just talking to a new friend in a flower field with a giant hedgehog snuffling about. “I’m Alice!” She suddenly chirped.

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn's pale gold eyebrows raised up higher when Alice mumbled her sincere apology to the bluebell, and she brightened visibly. "Mr. Bluebell says it's quite alright, and that you should watch where you're going more closely in future." She said softly, chin resting on her palms as she watched the bluebell stretch it's leaves in what she could only think of as a sleepy, laid back gesture. "You should come and sit down. This is my hiding spot. If I work hard, I can make the grass so long no one can see us, and that would be nice."

"Shoes are overrated." Said Autumn rather blandly as she wiggled her toes. "I only wear them in Winter since Mama says you can catch frost bite." The girl sighed noisily, and toppled back to her prone position in the grass. "I used to like Winter a lot when I was little, now it just makes me tired. It's grey and there's hardly any trees to talk to, since they're all asleep." Settling the pitcher plant back down amongst the foxgloves, the red head offered a smile up to Alice, only to start as the nettle plant turned into a hedgehog.

"Oh how dear!" She said sweetly, laughter reaching her eyes. "I think I shall keep him. As long as he gets on well with my pitcher plant. He tells me I should behave more often." Trailing off, Autumn wrinkled her nose. "I am behaving. I'm just not behaving how people behave round here." Popping a few more bluebells up from the ground, the young girl rolled onto her stomach and buried her elbows into the ground. "I'm Autumn, or Autie, if you'd like." She smiled, watching the large hedgehog bustle around, faintly mesmerised. "I don't suppose you could make fireflies? Or big red ladybirds?" She asked curiously, weaving two overlarge grass strands between her fingers.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice breathed a heavy sigh of relief and gently perched herself near Autumn, careful not to crush any of the plants the girl had risen from the earth. “They grow so fast. They must really like you. It’s probably because your hair is pretty and warm like the sun.” Alice said, nodding slowly to herself. Compliments like that often tumbled out of her mouth without a second thought. She wasn’t really trying to flatter anyone, she just spoke in simple truths. “I sometimes like to hide, so that’d be great!” she chirruped.

“I usually forget to wear shoes.” Alice mused, twirling a stringy strand of blonde hair against her finger. “But they trip me up anyway, so when I do remember I don’t remember and I don’t wear them.” She explained. Alice beamed at the hedgehog, but leaned away from it, knowing full will it was still probably stinging.

Alice smiled at the ground, then over at Autumn. “Unfortunately, he’s not really there. At least to you he’s not. To me he’s real. But if you touch him he’s still a nettle bush.” She said, rocking slightly in the grass. Her voice was like a sweet hum as she explained things. “I don’t sleep. So I dream in real life. So I’m sorry you can’t keep him but I’m sure I can draw you one if you like, or someday show you another.” She smiled apologetically, her large eyes looking almost watery.

She blinked and sat up straighter. “Autie. That’s like Lutie. Only it starts with an ‘A’ and doesn’t really sound like Lutie.” She said, smiling. Autie was pretty. The girl was named after the seasons, which was beautiful. “I’m Alice. Alice and I can make fireflies but I don’t quite remember what ladybirds look like because once when I was looking in the book of botany the ladybirds turned into lady birds and got up off the page and flew away, so I can’t remember.” Alice said in a long, rambling sort of way. Her sentences tended to have that round-about logic to them. In order to show what she’d just said, Alice hummed at bit and looked out over the lake, envisioning the bright lights of the pink and red fireflies that had been there before. Quietly, she pointed them out to Autumn, afraid that they might go away if she broke her concentration too long.

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn looked at the plants around her with a smile, then looked back to Alice, shrugging her small shoulders softly. "Well, I talk to them and keep them company, I think that helps. It would be rather annoying if people summoned you up just to make you do a little dance or something, then put you away as though you were a hinderance." Wriggling her nose from side to side, the red head eyed the grass around them and concentrated for a moment. At first, nothing much seemed to happen, then suddenly, lush thickets of green shot up from the earth and towered over them both, only mottled by the flowers from before.

"You must have nice hard feet." Autumn commented with a curious look on her face, fingers moving over to poke between Alice's toes. "It's okay, some of the flowers I bring to life have to rest again later, else they'd die in the wrong season." The girl pouted at this, and stroked a foxglove fondly, as though it were a treasured pet. "Stinging nettles don't sting me like they'd sting other people." She added, watching the fake-hedgehot snuffle around in the roots of the trees. "It's more a tingle than a sting."

But then, the fireflies came, and Autumn watched with large green eyes as they flitted around. Her lips parted slightly, then returned together in a bright, eager smile. "That's lovely." She said softly, following their every move with delight. "Ladybirds are bright red." The girl finally said, managing to tear her eyes away from the glittering lights in the sky. "With black spots. They eat aphids, which is good, because aphids eat my dear little plants." The girl sighed, and watched a beetle wiggle through the grass beneath her body. "Imagine what it would be like to be eaten alive..."

Breathily, the girl tickled the bottom of the pitcher plant and eyed it as it wiggled away from her fingers. "I think it would be horrible." She added, looking around her for a moment, then nodding as though someone had told her something. "Miss Beech Tree says you left your shoes in a tree a couple of paces back. She also said she likes your clothes." Autumn said the words as though they were completely normal in any conversation, lifting up some of the thick grass and taking a small handful of seeds from it. "I could make a crown of flowers for you if you'd like." She suddenly said, smiling warmly. "All the prettiest colours. Reds, blues, purples, pinks, yellows... of course, the flowers would be a tangly mess and wouldn't live very long... but..." Autumn looked up. "Did you know that taking a flower from the earth makes it die? So making flowers with no earth would be like making zombies."

Autumn seemed amused by the thought of zombie flowers, and fell into silence, fingers now fidgetting with the beads around her neck, listening to the click clack as they bashed against each other.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice giggled madly as the grass and plants suddenly shot up around her, some of her light blonde hair getting stuck in the stalks. She ran her hands over her scalp to get her hair to sit right again…well, as right as anything could sit with Alice. She then ran her fingers gently over the stalks, plucking them like the strings of a harp. “They are your friends. And you care about them.” Alice murmured, beaming proudly at Autumn. “They must really like you!”

Her toes wriggled dexterously around Autumn’s fingers, an absent minded gesture. Alice’s feet weren’t very ticklish anymore, so she didn’t mind Autie examining them. She tilted her head lopsided when Autie began to pout. “If they die in the wrong season, they come back in the wrong season?” She assumed. That made sense. Alice had probably read something about that somewhere…she couldn’t really remember. Maybe she had dreamed it once.

It pleased Alice to see Autie impressed by her work, and her sleepy smile broke over her face in thanks. “Its nothing really…” She murmured. “Since I can remember this is the world I’ve seen.” She shrugged. “Since I’ve been at Hammel I’ve only realized that there was something different.” Alice beamed. “Now I can bring my world to the other world!” She explained. Autie had said something about Aphids, but admittedly, Alice wasn’t listening. She was too preoccupied with watching the fireflies buzz about the tops of the grass, hesitant to delve down and reach for the girls.

Alice snapped back to attention when Autie mentioned someone knew where her shoes were. She lit up with joy. “Tell her I say thank you very much. That really helps. I usually forget where I place things because I get preoccupied with the thigns going on around me.” She explained. “And sometimes I think I just dreamt about putting something down and didn’t actually bring it with me at all. Like maybe I only thought I put it there so it wouldn’t make sense to go back and get it because its not there because I only thought I put it there.” What? Those words weren’t normal conversation? Well Alice wasn’t really a normal girl.

She scooted forward slightly and gasped, shaking with excitement. “Would you really? I would love a crown of flowers!” Alice wrung her fingers together in fidgety joy, but also a bit of nervousness. “It won’t hurt them, will it? I don’t want to make them cry or hurt or anything like that. That’s mean.” Alice watched intently as Autie discussed the idea of zombie flowers, and she too grew quiet. It was a serious matter. She chewed her lip as she thought of that terrible fate.

Poor flowers…

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn tipped her head forward and laughed softly, touching the flowers around her with a sigh. "They're pretty amazing, they're like my replacement family." She said, cheek resting on her hand, gently blowing on one of the bluebells to get it to nod softly. It was true, since being here, she'd relied on nothing but the company of plants. From short tempered weeds to the slow, steady words of the tall trees with their wisdom and advice. It was wonderful to listen to, even when they were scolding her. It didn't bother her that she hardly spoke to real people, they were stuffy and rude and didn't listen properly.

"Exactly." She added to Alice's words, admiring the dirt on her soles with laugh. "Your feet are nearly as dirty as mine!" Smiling, she stretched and wiggled her own feet, mirroring Alice's own movement. However, Autumn's eyes got distracted by the fireflies, and she rolled onto her back, dreamily, watching the colours swirl amongst the grass and sky, lips curled up in a bright, interested smile. Nature reminded the girl so much of home, from the chirrup of crickets, to the sweet song of the birds. Nothing like Hammel, with the screaming children, loud music from radios and TV dramas.

"Hammel really is different." She agreed, sighing heavily. "My family? We were all travellers, Romany "gypsies" who lived with nature." Smiling, Autumn curled her fingers in the big red bush of hair she had, memories flooding through her mind. "We had big old style caravans that had been in the family for years, painted yellow and red and pulled by welsh cobs. I also have a pet dog, called Danjadan." The girl's face brightened as she thought of her beloved collie. "Danjadan was my best friend, he listened to me even when I talked a lot of patooey. Then there were my cousins, and aunts and uncles, and Grandmama and Grandpapa, and Mumma and Papa." She counted off the relatives on her fingers, suddenly remembering the grass seeds in her other hand, and tossing them out to grow somewhere else.

Listening to Alice, Autumn smiled and laughed, her eyes sparkling. "I think sometimes things move when we're not looking. I mean, sometimes I put beads down on my dresser, I wake up and they're on the floor or sometimes in my hand." She looked quizzical for a moment. "And sometimes my hair decides to become a big bushy animal in the dark, like a lion." The young girl had often pretended she was a lion creeping through the jungle when she was much younger, especially when she was in trouble. "Thankfully, my pitcher plant keeps an eye on things so I don't get befuddled."

At the affirmative in regards to a crown of flowers, Autumn braided a large ring of plain grass, and carefully plucked it. "Grass doesn't talk." She said simply, nodding at the grass as it regrew in the place it was taken from. Then, with a soft wink and a trace of her pinky finger, flowers blossomed, thick and fresh, and she laughed, placing it on Alice's head. "You look like a fairy princess." She said with a bright smile. "I could be a princess too!" and with that, the girl made another flower ring, and popped it over the top of her bushy hair.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Contemplating who had replaced her family, Alice concluded that she no longer really had a family. She couldn’t remember what her parents looked like, and the only person she ever heard from outside of Hammel was Peter. Well, maybe Peter was like her replacement family. Like the brother she’d never had! That was a nice thing to think; Peter was nice. It never occurred to Alice that something that wasn’t so nice to think was that she had only made a tiny handful of friends, all of whom did not really understand who she was. However, Alice was too far into her own world to think like that. The eternally optimistic blonde didn’t even have the capacity to be unhappy. “They must be wonderful.” She said, beaming.

Alice giggled when Autie’s wriggling feet were present, reaching out and tickling the sole’s of the other girl’s feet playfully. She doubted they were ticklish if she always walked around barefoot, since Alice was really ticklish on her feet anymore. She walked around barefoot so much that calluses had formed to keep most of the prickling sensations from concrete sidewalks and burning asphalt out of her mind. Surely Autie was barefoot more than she, so it made sense to Alice that Autie wouldn’t be ticklish. That’s why she tickled her! It was more fun to tickle someone so that they didn’t laugh so hard their ribs hurt, but only so that they giggled and shrank away for a second.

Alice’s concentration, now focused on Autumn’s description, wavered enough to rid the two girls of the illusion of the fireflies and present them with a new one. Like something out of a psychedelic trip, a tiny caravan and great pink and green tents marched by them, only the size of small pebbles. Alice didn’t really notice them, but only had a far off look in her eyes as she tried to picture what a Welsh cob was. As she thought, the tiny caravan’s (which before had been pulling themselves, their swirling yellow and red designs shifting gleefully) leads became ears of corn with great bushy tales like foxes. “Wow, that sounds beautiful.” She said wistfully, still unaware that her daydream was parading around their feet like a circus of fleas.

Gasping suddenly, Alice arrested out of her daydreaming and looked to Autie. “You think so too! So do I!” Alice said, reaching out and taking Autumn’s hand with a serious look on her face. “I earnestly believe that there are necklaces plotting to destroy us. Really violent and mean they are.” She shook her head and tugged gently at Autumn’s beads. “no ones like this. The chain one’s that move. They’re evil.” She said, her wide eyes trembling a bit as she shook her head and laid her hand over the scar on her chest, hidden by her dress.

Glad for a change of subject, Alice clapped with glee when the crown was perched on her head. Crossing her eyes to try and look up at it, she giggled. “I love it. I’m sure its beautiful, since you made it just for me. I feel beautiful in it.” Alice clapped again when her and Autumn matched. “Oh! Its perfect. You look wonderful.” Blinking, Alice looked down to find her accidental caravan marching around a bluebell, reaching out hesitantly she scrubbed her hand over it. To Autumn, the caravan would have disappeared? To Alice the tiny wagons and little carts scattered everywhere in the dirt only to right themselves again and continued their endless parade.

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn loved her flowers. She loved how full of plants her little dorm room was, and how the window sometimes brought bumblebees and other insects into her tiny world. There was nothing like it, that sweet fragrance of the leaves and flowers, the buzz of the little bugs, and every day, she'd sit and spray them with water. "You should come by my dormitory some day." The girl said dreamily, curling her hair around her fingers with her lips curled in a fond smile. "There are carnations, roses, orchids, ferns..." Trailing off, she brushed her hands over her beads, then suppressed a little giggle at her feet being tickled.

Autumn's little toes curled up and flexed at the finger, then she wiggled her nose. "I have dirty feet according to the girls and boys at school, they say it's disgusting." Shrugging rather impetuously, the red head continued to make little braids from the grass surrounding her. She did, however, stop as she saw the little caravan circling the flowers. "No no silly!" She laughed, eyes sparkling. "Welsh cobs are big horses." She gestured with her small hands. "They have soft long hair. Two were skewbald, one was chestnut and the others were bay." Autumn added with a little smile, drawing pathways for the tiny contraptions to trundle through. "Everywhere was home. No limits." The young teen added, her hands now back down on her beads.

"Oh." She frowned, disappointed as Alice's voice changed to fearful. "Don't worry." She said soothingly, stroking the blonde's hand with her small fingers. "I don't like chain necklaces either. They catch my hair and pull it out! Sometimes great big clumps the size of my finger." Wrinkling her nose up to show how much she disapproved of the chains, Autumn continued to try and calm the other girl, tipping her head to the side. "We should go and find pretty stones." The red head said with a big smile. "I can make them shiny and carve things into them, then we can make you a nice necklace, not a nasty one."

Happy now the pair of them were sporting the flower crowns, the girl rose, waving goodbye to the little flowers, and watching as their little heads disappeared below the ground once more. She did pout when the caravan disappeared, and she huffed slightly. "I was enjoying those!" She mumbled, picking up her pitcher plant again, then offering a dainty hand out to Alice. "If you want, we can stay here for a while and make bracelets." It was obvious Autumn liked this idea, as her cheeks seemed to glow with eager excitement, and she fidgeted in the long grass, blades of it sticking in her bright yellow dress.

"We need stones that are sort of round." She said, one hand on her hip, the other cradling the pot plant to her chest. Skipping carefree out from the deep pits of grass she'd made, the young girl disappeared off to the lake shore, humming softly as she picked up stones she liked, pocketing them. "Hey." Autumn said suddenly, looking over at Alice. "Are there any sorts of colours you like especially? Like pink or... or blue?" Her eyebrows furrowed softly as she looked at the little stones in her hands. "I don't mind, I'm good at making bracelets." She added, stroking her hand over the pitcher plant's main leaves, smiling as they curled up to the sky.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Cooing softly, Alice sighed. “I adore flowers. Constance is a doll.” She said, nodding slightly. “She is an orchid. Maybe I can bring her to meet your friends, do you think she would like that?” Alice asked, her speech quickening as her excitement mounted. Constance didn’t really have friends in Alice’s room, besides Alice. Usually she read her letters to Peter out loud to her, but Alice thought she might enjoy some time with her own kind…or at least people who could understand her.

Alice’s fear quieted slightly when Autie’s fingers caressed hers. It was soothing to know that Autumn was real, and that she was there for Alice in her continuing battle against necklaces. She offered a shaky smile when Autumn showed some solidarity, and offered to remedy the situation. Placing her ear to her shoulder and wincing slightly, but still managing a smile. “Maybe not a necklace, but I’d like to help you find some stones.” Alice admitted with a measure of shyness.

Slipping her hand into Autumn’s, she sprang up much like one of Autumn’s flowers. “Yes lets stay for a while.” Alice replied dreamily, wishing that time would slow down enough that they could stay in the grass forever and never miss class. Alice actually enjoyed class sometimes. Usually, actually. Even when she couldn’t pay attention Alice liked to look at the windows. She didn’t particularly like windows because they detracted from her studies, but glass was really fascinating. It was clear, but not perfectly clear like air. It made things fuzzy and muddled colors.

Right. Stones.

Alice looked down at the ground, coming out of her haze of thoughts. “I like all colors.” She said absently, her voice sounding far away as she examined the dirt. “Particularly yellow. Its looks like something tasty.” Alice muttered, biting her lip. “I also like sparkly. But I don’t think that’s a color really.” She tilted her head towards Autumn. “What does round look like?” She inquired hesitantly. Alice something thought things were round that weren’t round. Round sometimes to her looked more like blue. Blue was very round.

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn's emerald eyes positively glittered with excitement as Alice said she owned an orchid, her lips curling upwards in her best, brightest smile yet. "Really? You have an orchid?" She said, her fingers wringing in her dress eagerly. "I'm sure everyone would love to meet her, the roses are slightly hoity-toity, but..." She trailed off, pushing her hair out of her face absently. "They're bound to warm up to Constance. She is an orchid, after all."

Autumn's feet padded softly across the bank of the lake as she went on her stone hunt. "Sometimes, when I'm afraid of things, I pretend I'm a warrior in a battle." She said thoughtfully, picking up a smooth black stone. "I have mini fights with some of the straps on my dresses sometimes. They attack me and try and squeeze my arms off." Autumn liked dresses, it was true, but sometimes they did odd things, like rose up too high, or dug the straps into the top of her shoulders. "Maybe you should have a fight with a necklace."

Holding hands with Alice, the redhead pointed out a yellowish stone and lifted it up to inspect it. "Hmm. Is this yellow enough?" She asked curiously, giving the blonde girl's hand a gentle squeeze. "It's not quite round but I have files in my dormitory and I can make it rounder." She assured, pocketing the stone along with a few others. "Sometimes I find sparkly stones. They're often in surprising places." She raised her eyebrows, then toed through the stones on the lake shore, nose wrinkling up.

"Round is like this." Autumn curled her forefinger and thumb together, then nodded to herself. Grabbing some more stones, and setting the pitcher plant down with a view of the lake, she sighed. It had been a while since she'd been able to go stone collecting, and she was struggling to find ANY nice stones. Sometimes, she assumed stones went into hibernation, and perhaps this was a day where the stones were doing so. "Do you see any nice ones?" She said with a sigh, pouting just a little. "I want to find a sparkly one just for you ."

As she finished her words, she noticed a couple of people walking over the other side of the lake. "Do you reckon they're married?" She asked dreamily, her hands dropping slightly. "Marriage is pretty. Especially when they wear the dresses..."

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice beamed proudly. “Constance is my oldest friend. My penpal gave her to me when I first came to Hammel. She was just teeny-tiny then.” Alice moved her thumb and forefinger together to indicate a small amount. “but now she’s big and strong.” Alice explained, expanding her fingers until her hand was open. “Are Orchid’s very popular with flowers? Is that why they will warm up to her?” She inquired, following Autumn to the side of the lake.
Autumn's feet padded softly across the bank of the lake as she went on her stone hunt.

Biting her lip, Alice’s fingers tangled in the skirt of her dress. “Last time I fought with a necklace I lost.” She murmured, reaching up and tugging down the sleeve of her dress to show off the gnarled scar on her collar bone. Uncomfortably she readjusted her dress and kneeled to pick of a stone that was decidedly square. “It turned into a snake a bit me.” She finished.

Finally she managed to turn her attention to the stone in Autie’s hand. “It looks good.” She approved, giving Autie the thumbs up. “What do you mean, surprising places?” Alice inquired, wondering what sort of places were surprising to find rocks in. Really rocks could be found just about everywhere. Maybe under other rocks? Or in trees? Alice would admit to being surprised about finding rocks in trees.

Slowly, Alice mimicked the gesture that Autumn made, making a circle with her thumbs and first find. “Round is like this.” She repeated, nodding down at her hand. Yes. It looked blue. Good. She had been right. Looking down at her feet and wriggling her toes, Alice bent down, her fingers still curled into a round shape, and placed her fingers around a stone. It fit almost perfectly, though it was a little irregular around the edges. She picked it up and squinted at it, holding it out to Autumn. “Is this blue--I mean round---enough?” Alice asked, smiling dreamily when Autumn announced she wanted a special stone for Alice. Peter was usually the only one who wanted to do something special for Alice. It warmed her heart to know Autumn was already such a good friend.

She followed the red-head’s gaze to the couple and tilted her head. They were difficult to see, but it wasn’t hard to picture the woman in a big white dress. “I don’t know, but wouldn’t it be pretty if they were getting married right now?” Alice asked. “Flowers, and sunshine and love…and stuff.” Alice drabbled, turning a couple of rocks that she had picked up in her palm.

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn had to think for a moment to think of the correct explanation to why Constance would be popular. Drumming her fingers on her lips for a minute, then shrugging, the red head turned. "Well. Some flowers have different personalities. Orchids are graceful, like ballerinas, well mannered and polite. Pansies tend to gossip. Roses are kind and slightly posh." The girl listed the flowers off, pulling her fingers back as she counted them off. "I like Bluebells because they talk a lot and some of it is really interesting."

"Oh no!" Cried Autumn, aghast as Alice showed her the scar, and she hurried over, putting her hands on her shoulders. "I promise you, none of my necklaces would ever do that." Proudly, the girl bobbed her head. "I put tiny luck symbols on them so they're good necklaces, and they'll protect you from stuff like that." Flicking her toes to remove a sharp piece of worn glass from her foot, she peered over at the stone her blonde companion had picked up. "No naughty necklaces." She hummed, skipping back off, her dress billowing out behind her.

Wiggling her nose, Autumn continued her diligent search, keeping one eye on the pitcher plant, happily eating the mosquitoes that gathered near the pond. "Once, I found a sparkly blue stone... in my bra!" The girl's eyes went wide. "I have no idea how it got there, but there it was, all shiny and pretty and wonderful. It's on my bracelet." The girl offered it out, showing the one stone she liked. "Bra stones are special." She admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear and gasping suddenly, lifting her foot up. "Another surprise!" She shouted, pulling a brightly coloured red stone from between her toes. "See?"

Taking the stone from Alice, the red head tilted her head and nodded eagerly. "That's perfect, Alice." She cooed, pocketing the stone, along with the red one. Autumn didn't get spending money. The girl lived at the mercy of her "captors", having the school meals, the school allowance for books. She hated it, but at the same time, desperately tried to earn her living with the tools she'd packed back home. Her stone crafting tools were worn, and hand-me-down, but she loved then, and making jewellery was the best gift she could think of to cherish her new friend. "You remind me of a daisy." Autumn finally said, her eyes flitting to the grass, where one of the aforementioned flowers lay. "You're pale, and you have yellow hair, but you're pretty to look at and probably ignored for not being a typical flower."

"I'd like to go to a wedding." She added dreamily, resting her head on Alice's shoulder. "We had a Romany Wedding for my cousin, Marianna. She married a real handsome guy. I made flower wreaths and helped mumma make the food." Watching the two people walk hand in hand, Autumn looked down at her own, slightly freckled hands and sighed, frowning. "I dunno if anyone would ever want me." She said softly, trying to avoid her lip jutting out in a distinct pout.