“You do,” I assured him quite calmly. “That is why I am here.”132Please respect copyright.PENANAwEzUnsdCbS
“How are you acquainted with any of them?” He asked quite seriously, and only132Please respect copyright.PENANAXJaVqwK9fM
then did his eyes seem to notice my hair, which was blue all over except for its still132Please respect copyright.PENANAFMoDvpg6AP
black tips. “You’re quite the odd one.” He admitted, while he was far from what anyone132Please respect copyright.PENANAZQDswEgMmY
would deem as ´normal´. “And I do not need my bigger glasses to see that.”132Please respect copyright.PENANAGgSNG5UOHf
“Here. This is for you,” I tried to hand him my big notebook, the one that had been132Please respect copyright.PENANA13os7dQ9dG
resting safely beside me. Almost falling out of it was a whole compendium of drawings132Please respect copyright.PENANAPpcUjaoMfP
and other poorly attached notes. “Father wanted you to have it.” I nudged it towards132Please respect copyright.PENANApyF8Bc7Oyb
him. “He also wanted me to go with you.”132Please respect copyright.PENANASGUy6Wef6C
“Father, you say?” He cautiously asked as he refused the offer, “I am afraid I will have132Please respect copyright.PENANA3MYBqyOs8r
to doubt that. You see little one, I am not one with many friends, let alone associates.”132Please respect copyright.PENANA322Ikg3xFA
He then took a few steps back “No, you must be mistaken. But fret not, you may132Please respect copyright.PENANADAVN3WUQrp
accompany me back to my place, if you so wish of course. After all, it is not proper to132Please respect copyright.PENANAu6yV9KYSUJ
leave one so small and meek behind, especially in a place like this. Old Gorliochi over132Please respect copyright.PENANARZ9P5KL0mh
there,” His eyes went straight towards that beast; this one was completely relaxed even132Please respect copyright.PENANAcYsCoQfQB7
if its jaws kept finding one thing or another to chew on, “he can easily carry the both132Please respect copyright.PENANAxFMvOU98nE
of us for as long as necessary. He has been with me for many seasons now, lending a132Please respect copyright.PENANAV6rs9Digx5
hand in the carrying of all sorts of things.”132Please respect copyright.PENANA8PflhXc5zL
He smiled, but it was a ruse that could not hope to work on the likes of one such as132Please respect copyright.PENANAeS30BDalDx
me. “Like all sorts of flowers and fungi that I so often like to come and find in these132Please respect copyright.PENANAgb2CkGMMWW
parts... Or even -”132Please respect copyright.PENANA5zkBDEiPpV
“You are no mere flower picker or mushroom gatherer.” I said as I kept forcing that132Please respect copyright.PENANAQZLdBSkSGC
notebook onto him. “Go on, take it. You are the Thinker-Tinker, and you are meant132Please respect copyright.PENANAnSxwKnZb0q
to read it.”132Please respect copyright.PENANAjqo78sEcLD
A short silence stood between the two of us ...132Please respect copyright.PENANA7xJM4cRnLS
“Your father, who is he then?” He eventually asked, even if his interests appeared132Please respect copyright.PENANAzDws3wSWAJ
to be dwindling the more he was going through those notes and drawings, “I know132Please respect copyright.PENANAFjWPUwlMtu
many of the names inscribed here.” He kept confessing, as he tipped his glasses just132Please respect copyright.PENANA3bKmP4QFMF
in time to prevent them from falling off his curved nose; and then he looked at me132Please respect copyright.PENANAG9iyCvTiJ6
with refulgent eyes: “Some of these people, they are in these drawings of yours as well!132Please respect copyright.PENANAxvDndbxChY
And this man here; a Kharn. He is my friend. A dear one.”132Please respect copyright.PENANACtCNVjGHBe
“That is Father,” I said to his amazement ...132Please respect copyright.PENANAqqNMwxpsSq
A long pause took over his person.132Please respect copyright.PENANAHIXnksDDOT
Many of his past fears but also promises came to haunt him, and without a132Please respect copyright.PENANAa9D39AdAyu
moment’s notice, his head became occupied with all sorts of questions and possibilities.132Please respect copyright.PENANAXRL0hdehV3
There were so many ´If ’s´ and ´Buts´ and ´What’s´ swirling in his mind - and in132Please respect copyright.PENANAYxC5HgRwc9
the end all I heard him think to himself was: “This is likely to bring me quite the132Please respect copyright.PENANAd4gkFVZd8I
unwanted trouble, but if there is any chance of truth to it, at all; of a real connection132Please respect copyright.PENANAmKaNZaBp4R
between this little one and that ol’ fool... What choice do I have?”132Please respect copyright.PENANAV3GH7s34f7
“Who are you girl?” his eyes swelled up as he confronted me again, “and how did132Please respect copyright.PENANAALDHOc64HP
you get your hands on all this?”132Please respect copyright.PENANArxy4glJ90u
“As I said, all of it was wrought by my hand.”132Please respect copyright.PENANAuvjGaglhNa
“You wrote...” His eyes travelled between note and drawing alike “all this?132Please respect copyright.PENANAgdRjmItpZw
What made you do such a thing?” He asked with his eyes now trembling with132Please respect copyright.PENANAgulBqfY2fb
restlessness.132Please respect copyright.PENANAPVMEvxncOx
“And then you will read it?”132Please respect copyright.PENANAAfp9ugBCy6
“Oh, I most definitely will. The spark of curiosity has already been lit inside me.”132Please respect copyright.PENANAJNx6y38f9k
He then reassured me further, “My interest has already peaked way past the point of132Please respect copyright.PENANA5wW62xemLj
arousal, don’t you worry.” And after he weighed all of it with both hands; “But I will132Please respect copyright.PENANAg2l1hM5Igu
have to do so back at my place. You understand that this is quite a lot to go through?”132Please respect copyright.PENANAF0EmGJb8Rv
“Quite,” I replied after I added a few extra notes I had on my person.132Please respect copyright.PENANA37Q6DGkyj3
“Besides, I don’t have my reading glasses on me.” He added somewhat flippantly132Please respect copyright.PENANAel1lukQhP4
“I mean why would I bring them; you know? It’s not like I get to meet little girls132Please respect copyright.PENANAss0hqEHgea
carrying tomes for me regularly.”132Please respect copyright.PENANAfBFpykx6fv
I nodded in concordance, and then he suggested we should make haste. Insisting, as132Please respect copyright.PENANANhE2vQ3tBu
we made our way to that beast, that I should tell him, or rather prepare him, for what132Please respect copyright.PENANAfs8s6lM3mv
could be in store inside that notebook.132Please respect copyright.PENANAnAGXCznn4N