Featuring Wisp

June Minievent Prompt 2 
By: Penpause47
— One-shot —

    Today was Juniper’s first day out of the candy shop, and he was beyond excited. As he surveyed the small building with his triumphant beady black eyes, he could feel himself vibrating from the sheer waves of emotion. He sat on a shelf, waiting for the shopkeeper to open the store for the day. 

    Today was special because Juniper never, and I mean NEVER leaves his candy shop. The cruel world is not a place for the frail I, Juniper had told himself. I will be safe here, with nothing to worry about. But he had been wrong and, as they say, “curiosity killed the cat”. Of course, Juniper had ventured from the small little building before, but he never strayed farther than the street that interconnected with the highway, as the humans called it.

    Even though the big city was just a fifteen-minute trip away, Juniper’s home was in quite a rural area. It could be described as a farmland, if there were farmers or crops to farm. It was quite dry out here; the grasses were burnt to a crisp brown by the sun’s piercing glare, and water, natural water anyway, was scarce. There was, however, a watering hole, not far from the little shop. 

    Juniper didn’t mind that his shop seemed to be the only one left in business, or the harsh climate that surrounded it. He didn’t mind how the clouds darkened on what would be a rainy day, but no storm came. He enjoyed the diversity of his home. My home.

    Juniper found his eyes on the door of the little place as it swung open, simultaneously ringing a small bell that hung above. He was an old man; his hair was snowy white, and he wore old circular glasses. His clothes were old, too, Juniper guessed. They were usually an assortment of plaid shirts and plain old jeans, and sometimes an unusual hat. The shopkeeper turned the sign around in the window (from “closed”, it now read “open”), brushed the dust from his desk in the front, and sat down in his little wooden chair. 

    “The Candy Collector” (that’s what the shopkeeper had named it; a strange name, Juniper had thought.) didn’t get visitors often. Since it was literally on the side of the road, they usually only attracted the travelers from far away, taking a pit stop before returning to whatever destination they had in mind. Customers never came all this way for the candy shop alone, no, it was only a pit stop, something on the way.

    Lost in his thoughts, Juniper realized he’d missed his chance to get out. Juniper was a small esk, incapable of moving large objects that would give any other small creature the same trouble. He instead relied on the shopkeeper to move the things for him. This time it had been the door, but alas, it was closed, and wouldn’t open until a customer arrived. Then he remembered the window, the small window that sat right next to the shopkeeper’s chair. The shopkeeper liked to open the window, to keep the air moving in the shop, and prevent it from becoming “stuffy”. With renewed determination, Juniper climbed down from the shelf and landed lightly onto the shopkeeper’s desk.

    Juniper did not wish to spook the poor old man, so he tried his best to keep his movements from disturbing any nearby objects. He hoped that way, the shopkeeper would not bear witness to ruffled papers in the absence of wind, or a floating colored bead (they tended to get in his way). Juniper carefully trotted across the desk and climbed through the window.

    The outside was beautiful, just as Juniper had imagined. The grasses moved in sync with the wind, and the birds roamed the skies diligently as ever. Today Juniper wanted to take his time to explore the watering hole; he had until sundown, when the shopkeeper would close the Candy Collector for the night. 

    As he moved away from the candy shop, he felt his nature features disappear. Such was the result of his journey from the developed biome to the plains—and the exit of his boundary. 

    Juniper gasped as he drifted right into another esk. They were quite peculiar; their face was white, but as the color travelled down to their neck and body it changed to a cyan color. Darker cyan stripes covered almost their entire body. The thing that caught Juniper’s eye, though, was the beautiful arrangement of purple-tinted clouds, resting above their shoulders. The esk had a wistful expression at first, but it quickly changed to profound amusement upon Juniper’s collision.

    Juniper hurriedly pulled himself out from beneath her soft fur and landed onto the ground; he cast his eyes downward in embarrassment. I should be more careful next time.

    The esk was his size, but she was still on her feet despite the force of the impact. ”S-Sorry,” Juniper told her. If he was a human, his cheeks would resemble a bright red tomato.

    The other esk buzzed happily, a common way for an esk to express their laughter. ”It’s all right,” the esk replied kindly. ”My name is Akila.” Akila held his gaze for a moment, as if she was analyzing him. ”I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

    ”No, I’m new here. Well, not new, I’ve just never left my boundary, you see.” Juniper cocked his head to one side, ”Is this your ‘area’?”

    ”My area?” Akila glanced around her. ”Pretty much. It’s not MY prairie, but it’s definitely close.”

    ”Your prairie? Where’s that?”

    ”You haven’t given me your name,” Akila pointed out. 

    ”You changed the subject,” Juniper countered.

    ”It hardly matters, and it’s only polite, since I gave you mine,” Akila shot back.

    Juniper sighed. ”I suppose you’re right. I’m Juniper.”

    ”Nice to meet you, Juniper.”

    ”So, where’s YOUR prairie at?” Juniper pressed.

    ”Hey, there’s a watering hole near here. Want to go see it?” Akila slipped around his question. Geez.

    ”Sure, whatever floats your boat,” Juniper replied, exasperated. 

    Akila lifted herself into the air, and Juniper followed. They’d arrive faster that way. As they flew, using their levitational abilities to keep them airborne, Juniper noticed a V of migratory birds flying over their heads. Are those egrets? Juniper didn’t have time to contemplate the thought; the watering hole was just up ahead. 

    Despite the heat of the dry season, there was no sign of any animals at the watering hole. That’s odd, Juniper thought. He turned to Akila, ”Where are all the animals?”

    Akila shrugged. ”Beats me.”

    Juniper carefully approached the vast body of water, as if something would jump out and eat him. You won’t get eaten, silly. You’re an immortal nature spirit, Juniper reminded himself. He hesitantly touched the water with one stick paw to test the temperature of the water. It wasn’t exactly refreshing on a day like this, but it wasn’t hot, either.

    With a start, Juniper remembered his time restraint. He glanced up at the sun; it was just past noon. ”I have to go before sundown,” he told Akila, who was digging a hole in the dirt beside him. ”Wait, why are you digging a hole?”

    ”It’s fun, and I was bored,” Akila replied. ”Can you at least play in the water a bit before you leave?”

    ”Ooo someone’s getting attached to me,” Juniper said with a laugh. ”I guess I could stay for a while,” he added after catching a glimpse of Akila’s hard, stony glare.

    Juniper waded slowly into the water. He dipped his head under the water to look for anything interesting (plants, animals, micro-organisms), but he was met only with a murky brown abyss. Ugh, this is no fun. He pulled his head up out of the water and caught sight of Akila’s nature features: flowering spurge in the tufts of her neck fur.

    ”Hey, Akila,” Juniper called. ”What would happen if you came into the watering hole?”

    Akila gave him an odd look. ”I’d get wet.”

    ”But you’re a plains biome esk, right? Isn’t the watering hole part of the freshwater biome?”

    ”Ooo, you’re saying my nature features and elemental would disappear?” Akila came closer to the edge of the water. ”That’s a good question.”

    ”Only one way to find out,” Juniper said slyly, his eyes glittering with mischief.

    Akila laughed and leaped into the water, splashing everything nearby, including Juniper. ”Oh, geez!” Akila cried out in shock, her eyes wide. ”This is cold!”

    Juniper doubled over in laughter. ”Oh, it’s not THAT cold.”

    Akila swung around to face him. ”I’m coming for you, Juniper!” She announced, splashing towards him.

    ”Oh noooooo,” Juniper feigned fear, slowly moving away from Akila’s splashes. ”Oh great Akila, show mercy!”

    ”Hah!” Akila sent one last splash his way. She looked up at the sky abruptly, and Juniper realized that the sky had begun to darken.

    ”I’d better go,” Juniper said as he got out of the watering hole. He caught a glimpse of Akila’s neck fur—with the absence of her flowering spurge—on his way out. Hmph. I was right! He thought triumphantly.

    ”Come back sometime, will you?” Akila said, splashing out of the water behind him. 

    ”Only if I feel like it,” Juniper teased.

    Akila hummed happily. ”See you soon, Juniper!”

    ”See you.” Juniper glanced at her one last time before ascending into the air towards his small little candy shop. Maybe the world isn’t so dangerous after all.