Conservatory 247, 314, 280, 210, 1900 story

    Cairo loved the conservatory. So many esks to talk to! So many puns to be made! So many cacti to be randomly placed! 

    On this particular visit, she ventured into the forest wing. The lush green rooms were a wide contrast to the dry shrubland of Cairo's boundary, but she easily felt at home almost anywhere, and enjoyed the varying and complex environments. The minutes quickly skipped by as she examined every detail around her, soaking up the inspiration and creativity that had built the ornate and wild structures. Soon Cairo was deep within the forest wing, and before she knew it she was standing within the cool and contemplative stillness of the Temple of Silence.

    Suddenly it seemed necessary, almost compulsory, to stand quite still. She felt that if she moved she would be breaking some unspoken rule and disturbing the overwhelming peace. So she stood there for a few minutes, not quite sure what to do with herself. 

    A small, slender, mostly dark-colored esk walked by and noticed the visibly uncomfortable Cairo.

    "The Temple of Silence has a peculiar effect on all esks," the esk said, "But there is no crime in moving, talking, even laughing. It is a place of peace, however you find peace."

    "Oh..." said Cairo, laughing off a hint of embarrassment . "That makes more sense. What's your name?"

    "Spindle," said the small, dark esk.

    "Wanna walk around?"

    "I see no reason why not."

    They followed the hall away from the Temple of Silence and headed back up through the forest wing, talking about caterpillars, past forms, and other such things, while Cairo grew cacti at random spots around the wing. They neared a shaded nook, and were about to cheerfully part ways when a brown, nervous looking esk, about the same size as Spindle, hurried up to them.

    "Maybe you guys can help more than I can. There's an esk who seems pretty upset and I don't know what to do." She said.

    "Oh." said Spindle.

    "We'd be glad to help!" said Cairo.

    "Thanks. I'm Amelie."

    They followed her to a leafy corner, where a medium-sized sad lump could be seen curled around itself. The plants around the esk were visibly wilted, and the energy pulsing from the esk was strong, dark, bitter, and remorseful. Spindle stayed back.

    "Perhaps it is better if we leave this sadness untouched," she said, "sometimes we must heal alone."

    "Too late." laughed Amelie. Cairo had already bounded forward and was trying to talk to the sad esk. After a few unsuccessful attempts to coax speech out of the esk, she returned, looking a tad droopier.

    "That's alright," said Amelie. "Maybe I can try again. It feels easier with others around." They followed her as she stepped towards the motionless esk.

    "What is bothering you? We would like to help if we can!"

    "You can't help me." said the esk. "I don't even know why I bothered to come to the conservatory." The esk looked up slightly.

    "What is your name?" asked Spindle.

    "Belle." the esk muttered. "and I have no family anymore. I thought I did for an instant, but I was wrong. I don't usually come here. But I thought..." she sighed and fell silent for a moment. "I thought I saw my mother." she continued, "It was ridiculous, but I barely ever see other esks in my boundary. When I saw one today, a wild hope flared. I thought my mother had tried to find me, became lost herself, and was transformed into another esk. Irrational, but I followed the esk. I don't think she saw me. Right as I was about to catch up with her, she dissipated into thin air. I knew she might have gone to the conservatory, but I was frightened. I don't normally enjoy being around other esks. But I thought she might be my mother, so I came. 

    "Crazily, I was right about where the esk had gone! She was here, and I confronted her, asked who she was, and if she remembered who she was before becoming an esk..." Belle's head lowered and she stared at the ground, "She was mute. She could only stare at me and try to communicate with peculiar mental sounds... it became clear through her strange communication that she was an abnormal, and had not been a human before becoming an esk. I am truly alone."

    The three other esks were visibly droopy from this story, and it took them a moment to respond. Amelie thought of her own failed quest to find her perhaps deceased boyfriend.

    "Many creatures, not just esks, have gone searching for something that isn't there." she said.

    Spindle looked on gently, and brought back life to the wilted plants around Belle.

    Cairo couldn't think of a pun that fit the moment, so instead she focused her energy and started to grow something. A cactus of course. A huge cactus.

    "Wow." said Amelie.

    There was now a glorious, massive cactus in the shape of an elegant, feminine esk, bending down to touch noses with a smaller cactus in the shape of a childlike esk. Spindle grew a latticework of ivy to weave over them. Amelie sprouted flowers.

    "Well," said Cairo, "It might not be a real mother, but at least it's adorable."

    Belle looked up at it for a long moment. 

    "Wanna come walk with us, Belle?" asked Cairo.

THE END