It had been only a week since Rosey was reborn into the world but in that time she had found peace and love like nothing she could have imagined. Every moment was spent with her lover, Parsnips, down at a cozy cottage on the edge of her dream town. They were passionate, hungry for each other and insatiable with only the most basic of physical needs getting in the way of the time they wanted to spend together. When this eventually slowed and they found a romantic calm instead, partly out of fatigue, they found an even deeper connection in the platonic moments they shared. Baking, drawing, reading and watching the unseen stars that lay between the shining ones.
Rosey had woken up a little earlier than normal and after very carefully slipping out of their large bed she took a brief and extra quiet shower before getting ready for the morning ahead of her. After slipping on a cute black dress and a fresh baret she took hold of a vase and plucked out a wallet from inside before sneaking down to the front door. Stepping outside she took a left around the side of the house and to the back garden. Softly skipping through the many fragrant flowers she went to the shed at the bottom of the garden, before turning around, and putting her back to it.
Closing her eyes she focused keenly, picturing a very specific location in mind, before raising her arms slowly and taking a step forward. As she did so her hands touched the cool brick of a wall and as she opened her eyes she found that she was now standing in an alleyway in the middle of town. Rosey giggled proudly even though her eyes stung. Unable to see clearly she took a minute to let them clear and cool, the scent of the alleyway mostly clean but it still brought back memories of one very passionate night they had spent here a few days ago.
Once her eyes had cleared Rosey left the alleyway with her head high.
“Morning, lass.”
A sheep fisherman said in passing, his face friendly and welcoming.
“Morning.”
Rosey replied with a cute wave before continuing on down towards the mainstreet. Despite how early in the morning it was, the town was still a bustle of activity. Dozens of sheepy townsfolk could be seen all around the river and bridges. Some sat with fishing poles, sleepy expressions worn peacefully as they soaked up the low hanging sunlight. Others had a place or goal in mind and were not wasting a minute of the day.
As Rosey headed over one of the bridges she noticed someone else also standing in the middle of the bridge, unlike the sheepy natives, this one was a deer. His horns were short and small, his face quite young despite his tall and slender body. He was writing, or maybe sketching, in a notebook while occasionally looking over to the other bridge in the distance. She thought for a moment that he could be one of the ever increasing number of tourists that had been appearing recently but the purpose in his eyes, and the clean suit, instead gave the impression of a professional. She was curious but Rosey did not want to pry and instead shrugged him off as a possible business owner who was scoping out something for the future.
Once she reached the end of the bridge she took a path between the buildings that headed uphill. Climbing up some large stone stairs she took a right and started to climb up many more. Soon the buildings below vanished from sight and Rosey found herself sweating as the stairs carried on and on up the valley’s slope. By the time she reached the top she had to stop and take some breaths, although the view of the town stretching on below her was already worth the effort.
Up near this side of the valley were several buildings that used to be part of the old town, while they used to be dedicated to mining and blacksmithing it was more common to see various artistic craftsmen in the modern times. Most of these places were closed, the craftsmen and artists sleeping away as they had little concern for what time of day it was. One a few were open and it was one small building nestled between the forges that Rosey had her eye on. She stopped at the front door for only a moment to check around her for followers before quickly heading inside.
It was a curious little shop, full of curious little things. Some were just cutely colored knick knacks while others were old dusty antiques with such strange shapes you could hardly tell what they were supposed to represent. Further back in the shop were jars and pots so dusty that you could not tell what was in them anymore but the slight smell escaping them ranged from exotic and spicy, to sour and pungent. At the back, past tall shelves filled with more history than even Rosey would like to know, was an old shopkeeper. A small gerbil-like creature who stood watching her from behind thickly cut glasses.
“Have you got it?”
Rosey asked in a hushed voice as she leaned over the counter.
“Mmm, yes yes, hard to mine, hard to find, harder still to bind but is beautifully devine.”
The old curio seller said as he took a black, box from under the counter and placed it down gently. Rosey pulled it closer. Slipping her nails under the edge she pulled it open to reveal the shining metal inside. Tracing a finger along the pink tinged alloy, she let out a coy smile.
“It’s at least 90% pure?
“Mmm, 92, I hope that is good for you?”
“It’s perfect, Parsnips won’t see this one coming.”
After closing the box up tight she gave the shop owner a respectful nod. With the box tucked securely under her arm she quietly left the dusty shop but instead of going down the same way she had come from, she took a sharp right towards the valley’s edge. Heading further up she stepped out onto a dirt path that ran around the edge of the town. The ground here was hard, the grass long and the nettles within many but the warm sun and lovely view made it a pleasant place to be all the same.
While she walked along the valley’s edge she found herself gazing down to the town below her. More people had woken up now and were starting to leave their homes. Some others stood around the mainstreet gossiping or planning the day ahead. Just as she reached a part of the path that had a metal fence running along the side something caught her eye, a glint of something shiny from far in the distance. Stopping her walk she turned towards the fence and leaned on it to look for what had caught her eye. Peering across the town she found that there was something walking across one of the rooftops. It was too far to see but the sun was reflecting off it as if the person was made of silver, or wearing armor. Curious Rosey leaned even more forward, her eyes squinting. Suddenly a loud creak rang out and the old fence she was leaning on snapped.
Her vision was thrown upside down and back around again as she fell through the air and down the steep cliff, before it all went black. It took a minute but once she realized she was not in pain her eyes snapped back open, the sunlight above burning her vision as she did so. Sitting up she looked over herself and patted her body to find nothing out of place. Pulling herself out of the bed of black flowers she brushed the petals and thorns from her fur before picking up her box. Inspecting it she found that it had not been damaged at all, and the precious objects inside were also unharmed.
Letting out a sigh of relief she left the cliff’s bottom and scrambled through some bushes to find that she was getting near to the back of her house. After passing by some patches of trees and through some long grass it only took a few fence hops to make it back to her garden.
Before she went back inside she stopped by the shed to look herself over in the window. Her fur was short enough that even a tumble would not ruin it and her clothes had thankfully not been torn in the adventure either. Patting herself down a few times just to be certain she swallowed the spit in her mouth and held the box tight to her chest. It was time.
Sneaking up to the backdoor she took hold of the cold handle and slowly pulled it down. Peeking her head into the kitchen she found freshly baked and toasted bread slathered in melted butter on the table, next to some tea, but no Parsnips. Heading inside she put the box on the table and sat down. Grabbing a piece of the fluffy toast she took a sizable bite as she waited for Parsnips to appear. Sure enough, he came waltzing out of the pantry with a bag of rice in hand and a perplexed expression on his otherwise cute face.
“Rosey! Rosey. Do you know what this stuff is for?”
“Cooking, weddings… Even at funerals I think, but besides that, can you sit for a moment?”
“Sure, what do you neeeeeed?”
Parsnips asked as he threw the large bag of rice onto the table with a hefty thud. Rosey took a breath to focus as Parsnips sat down across from the table.
“I know we never had a proper wedding, and at this point are in the middle of a honeymoon, but I like a bit of tradition so I got us a pair of these.”
Rosey lifted the lid of the box to reveal two high quality, pink tinged, gold rings. They shined brightly even in the dim lights of the kitchen and Parsnips eyes lit up like stars upon seeing them.
“I got a bit of tradition too!”
He said as he hopped down from the table and ran back into the pantry. Rosey raised an eyebrow at his behavior but watched curiously all the same as he took up two tall wine glasses, and a bottle of odd colored liquid that was hiding in the back of the pantry. She had never even seen it before. Returning to her he placed the glasses down and gripped the bottle tightly, the cork refusing to come out even as he put his actual strength into it. Suddenly, it came loose. With a bang that sounded like a gunshot, Parsnips arm was flung around and around like a windhill before coming to a stop, a smoking cork still gripped in his fingers. He poured two glasses of yellow wine before putting the cork back in. Now that was done he reached over to the box but stopped.
“Which is yours?”
“This one is mine, to give to you, and this one is yours to give to me.”
Parsnips took the rings and plopped them into the wine with a little splash. The heavy gold sinking to the bottom. He traced his finger around each glass and the liquid started to glow just slightly, it was so faint that Rosey at first did not even notice. Picking up both glasses, he handed one to her.
“To forever!”
Parsnips said before clinking the glass and putting it to his lips.
“To forever.”
Rosey repeated as she began to do the same. She watched Parsnips from the corner of her eye and as he swallowed the ring, she did so as well, not wanting to get whatever odd ritual this was wrong. Parsnips smacked his lips once done, his eyes rolling a little from the strong wine while Rosey herself felt her entire sense of balance do several 180s before returning to normal.
“That was interesting, but why did we drink them?”
“Look!”
Parsnips pointed to the ring finger on her hand and as Rosey looked closely she noticed that a strip had turned black. Not just black, the closer she looked the more she realized it was just a shadow. A shadow of a ring that will always, and never, exist.
“Forever and ever huh? That’s a nice tradition.”
Reaching over Rosey pulled him in closer before leaning down to give him a lingering kiss. The warmth shared between them was sweet but as Rosey’s stomach rumbled she broke away from him.
“Hmm you know, I would love to go to that bistro upstream again.”
“Can we take the boat? I really like the boat!”
“We have a boat? Since when did we have a boat?”
“We always had a boat. We do live near a biiiig river. Why wouldn't we have a boat!”
Rosey could not argue with such logic. After eating the last slice of toast they locked up the house and left down the lane towards the river. Through a little gate and down some stone stairs was a small quay for small canal boats although there was only one such boat to be found. It looked like a long rowboat in shape but the inside was covered with soft purple fabric and cushions, making it look like a cozy floating bed.
As she was looking at it Parsnips happily skipped over and jumped into it. The boat rocked slightly, softly, but was surprisingly more stable than she had expected. Stepping over the watery gap she stood on the boat and found that it barely rocked at all. Sitting down she put her sandals next to Parsnip’s boots before looking over his way. She found him laying down and looking quite comfortable. Joining him they cuddled up close, eyes gazing at each other for a moment before they turned upwards to the sky. Parsnips reached up and tapped the side of the boat twice. Suddenly the boat lurched and it began to move, at first to the middle of the river, before turning and heading upstream slowly.
Rosey took in a breath of the clear air. The rocking of the boat was so soft that she felt like she was laying on a cloud, and oddly enough, the pillows had a slight warmth to them that mingled perfectly with the sunshine pouring down above.
“This is a nice boat.”
Rosey said out loud as she watched the clouds pass by. Looking to the side she could see some of the townsfolk sitting by the river. Some fishing. But none of them were paying any attention to the boat at all. Looking to the otherside she found the same story, many different faces but not a single pair of eyes looked her way for even a second. Turning her eyes to Parsnips she found him looking at her already.
“I love you, silly bunner.”
“Love you tooo!”
Rosey could not help but smirk at how cute he was. She pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around him as she settled down for the long and peaceful boat ride ahead. She hoped this summer never ended.
