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“You do,” I assured him quite calmly. “That is why I am here.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibtEUv5vNP
“How are you acquainted with any of them?” He asked quite seriously, and only384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroHGsALRpn
then did his eyes seem to notice my hair, which was blue all over except for its still384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDYjDEbOm8
black tips. “You’re quite the odd one.” He admitted, while he was far from what anyone384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5C0vDa5Ta
would deem as ´normal´. “And I do not need my bigger glasses to see that.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5oHoZb1AT
“Here. This is for you,” I tried to hand him my big notebook, the one that had been384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZ4apYrkf1
resting safely beside me. Almost falling out of it was a whole compendium of drawings384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnBMRyrB8h
and other poorly attached notes. “Father wanted you to have it.” I nudged it towards384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsO2gRXvdMn
him. “He also wanted me to go with you.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFI4uZPpdOr
“Father, you say?” He cautiously asked as he refused the offer, “I am afraid I will have384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6Xo4dSxTJ
to doubt that. You see little one, I am not one with many friends, let alone associates.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4jzbk2e3W
He then took a few steps back “No, you must be mistaken. But fret not, you may384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdloP3jtUNu
accompany me back to my place, if you so wish of course. After all, it is not proper to384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKWDGsaBDt
leave one so small and meek behind, especially in a place like this. Old Gorliochi over384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1iDPWvRmX
there,” His eyes went straight towards that beast; this one was completely relaxed even384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQcVQXZzDY
if its jaws kept finding one thing or another to chew on, “he can easily carry the both384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHz3TOGsn2
of us for as long as necessary. He has been with me for many seasons now, lending a384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVDYF9KXef
hand in the carrying of all sorts of things.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSr2x8eXxgM
He smiled, but it was a ruse that could not hope to work on the likes of one such as384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUrCgdXF01
me. “Like all sorts of flowers and fungi that I so often like to come and find in these384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5GppFqanVg
parts... Or even -”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo5zRSjgYn
“You are no mere flower picker or mushroom gatherer.” I said as I kept forcing that384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVV6NwUpemO
notebook onto him. “Go on, take it. You are the Thinker-Tinker, and you are meant384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImYLcQrVGN
to read it.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrR06q5nVm3
A short silence stood between the two of us ...384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5eqmWahgw
“Your father, who is he then?” He eventually asked, even if his interests appeared384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4MIngRDt5
to be dwindling the more he was going through those notes and drawings, “I know384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0H3fGBQXUY
many of the names inscribed here.” He kept confessing, as he tipped his glasses just384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4axv32ze9
in time to prevent them from falling off his curved nose; and then he looked at me384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0USGcf78d
with refulgent eyes: “Some of these people, they are in these drawings of yours as well!384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fIIvVtdGC
And this man here; a Kharn. He is my friend. A dear one.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7s2uRWTO1T
“That is Father,” I said to his amazement ...384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvu4HSXvpZp
A long pause took over his person.384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEm2MYqNNn
Many of his past fears but also promises came to haunt him, and without a384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Esp74SMwL
moment’s notice, his head became occupied with all sorts of questions and possibilities.384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZklxUxRp3
There were so many ´If ’s´ and ´Buts´ and ´What’s´ swirling in his mind - and in384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC38QWxLtUJ
the end all I heard him think to himself was: “This is likely to bring me quite the384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLTohOjBDG
unwanted trouble, but if there is any chance of truth to it, at all; of a real connection384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgklnO1sLK
between this little one and that ol’ fool... What choice do I have?”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnO1wmr0RZ
“Who are you girl?” his eyes swelled up as he confronted me again, “and how did384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3WXWxO9fR
you get your hands on all this?”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdIoAgOtnq
“As I said, all of it was wrought by my hand.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5BiNz0Dzs
“You wrote...” His eyes travelled between note and drawing alike “all this?384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvC2v2CDAhZ
What made you do such a thing?” He asked with his eyes now trembling with384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0J5M6nEy0E
restlessness.384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrCvvcca6A
“And then you will read it?”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaKe7osnKT
“Oh, I most definitely will. The spark of curiosity has already been lit inside me.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUijMsbTQK
He then reassured me further, “My interest has already peaked way past the point of384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6UujdFUS0
arousal, don’t you worry.” And after he weighed all of it with both hands; “But I will384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22idgYul4J
have to do so back at my place. You understand that this is quite a lot to go through?”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbceKDXK7nE
“Quite,” I replied after I added a few extra notes I had on my person.384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCEwKNdnQj
“Besides, I don’t have my reading glasses on me.” He added somewhat flippantly384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LCjgv8j6D
“I mean why would I bring them; you know? It’s not like I get to meet little girls384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kiPzMIWmS
carrying tomes for me regularly.”384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSg5FC31dW
I nodded in concordance, and then he suggested we should make haste. Insisting, as384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfk3j09O7W
we made our way to that beast, that I should tell him, or rather prepare him, for what384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyLA0yXCUs
could be in store inside that notebook.384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvDdXJ1roE
