Technique

The screen flashed "Tara Tate, Storage Tech," and played the generic doorbell chime. The door was set to open automatically for all scheduled visitors. She hauled in a weighty bag.

"Heh," greeted Kri as Tara walked in. "I was spelling it with an ’h’ at the end."

"Eh, well I used to spell your name with a ’C’ and I put a ’t’ at the end, like ’critical.’"

Kri sighed and said, "I could add it all to Lac’s list."

"Oh, dear. He’s apologized so much already. He’s a real champ." Tara set down the bag carefully on the table.

Kri smiled weakly, growing weary of even doing that. Reaching into the bag, Tara brought out polished green stone, saying, "This is the newest one." In the stone was carved, "Alain."

Kri took a sudden breath and stuttered, "It’s beautiful." 

The screen flashed, "Beeb."

"I’d better get to the storage," said Tara, reaching back awkwardly to pat her backpack. It clinked of tools inside. She strode down the hall. 

Job Training

"I have an appointment," she was trying to say, but her lips and tongue were too heavy and the light was fading again.

High above was a the pointiest face she had every seen, even as it blurred into nothing. She heard his voice, pronouncing her name completely wrongly as he read it from the timetable.

"Yeah, I’m Aonone Marzsjeuy...or Annie for short."

"Have a seat, please," he barked every syllable as though she’d done something awful. 

She turned toward a blob of color that seemed likely to be a chair. The light came back and her focused, revealing it was a weird shelf. Her gut clenched in shame at the realization. She quickly turned and moved toward the real chairs. As she did, his angular arm twitched into a spear jerking in the direction of the chairs.

"Over there," he said so impatiently, she thought he might smack her, or jab her like the groper in the sleep room.

He laughed cruelly as she struggled to sit.

"...for the copy-editing...internship," she made the mistake of saying.

"Oh, I don’t know, but I can find out for you," he non-answered dismissively. Annie struggled not to cry even as she struggled to move her exhausted arms and legs. She collapsed much too loudly into the seat.

"Be careful," he scolded. 

He tsked as he stared at info sheet for way too long.

"Oh..." he said. "You applied for the copy-editing internship." He paused for a long time without looking at her.

"But, it clearly says you’re supposed to transfer a deposit for the application fee and training tuition. You gave your bank information but you didn’t have adequate funds. You were supposed to link an account that had enough to cover the fee." He spoke very slowly.

She sat patiently and waited for him to stop talking, but he repeated himself instead.

"There was an option to take a special loan for training. Maybe next time you can try that."

Annie ran out of energy to hold back the tears. They burned her eyes and the room got blurry again.

There was a distant sound like an explosion, and sounds like muffled screams. She thought she heard a scraping sound, then more screams.

She longed to explain, but her dry throat collapsed under the weight of her tiredness and she could barely breathe. 

"Oh," he added, still never having looked at her. "You may be in luck, though."

As he came into focus, the noise seemed clearer and closer, like it was in the next room. The screaming continued and the pointy tall man didn’t react to it at all.

"Oh, yes. I have a need here." He jerked an elbow aggressively in the direction of the screaming noise. "The daycare."Job Training (3)

Annie

"I have an appointment..." she was saying, blinking and trying to make the world stay in focus.

She was in a painfully bright office facing a tall guy with the sharpest face she had every seen. He looked outraged that she had come.

"My name is Aonone Marzsjeuy...or Annie for short."

"What the heck kind of name is that? What a lot of letters,” sneered the tall guy as his face blurred. Her vision and hearing were fading for the first time that day.

“I’m applying for the copy-editing job. I have an appointment—”

The spindly form was leaning against a desk. The squeaky but condescending voice cut her off with, “—oh, I don’t know, but I can find out for you. You can have a seat, please.” He had the kind of tone of voice that made “please” sound insulting.

What is he trying to find out? I didn’t ask him any questions, thought Annie, angrily.

There was a sudden loud crash nearby, as though it was down the hall. She heard very high-pitched screams that seems to morph into laughter and then back into screaming. The sound and the light faded further.

She tried speaking, but every word still felt like a bowl-full of water she was trying to hold in her mouth.

She could barely see anything now. She tried gripping the edge of the front desk thing. And feeling her way along. She couldn’t remember where the chairs had been.

There were stompy footsteps and a high-up voice said, “Do, have a seat, please,” also with the aggressive please. The force of it made her jump. She heard him laughing at her.

She turned toward the sound. A halo of light became visible and she saw a man with messy brown hair.

She turned to look for the chairs, but it was still too dark to see clearly. He laughed again and pointed violently.

She moved slowly and painfully to a dark, blurry shape she hoped was a chair.

“Well, then,” he said. “Do hurry up, please.”

She had slipped clumsily into the chair and was sitting very uncomfortably.

“I made the appointment three months ago,” she said, trying to appease his impatience with conversation.

“You assume that’s a qualification, then,” he fired back coldly. She didn’t have the energy to try to explain.

“This was the only time slot open then,” she shrugged. “Um, I’m Annie Marzsjeuy. I’m applying for copy-editing."

“I know that,” he slammed. “Previous experience,” he stated forcefully, but he seemed to think that was the right way to ask a question.

"Copy-editing and proofreading…” she began, trying to organize the thoughts in her head. She started to form the sentence she had been practicing about her education background.

"It doesn’t say anything about that on your resume," he snapped, with a chortle on the end.

She was halfway through, "well," when he cut her off again.

"We’re not keen on lying here," he pontificated. The sound was getting even quieter. She tried to seem attentive, but it was a low rumbling in the dark. Her only sense was of his irritation at her.

There was another crashing sound, this time it was unmistakably glass shattering, and the plinks of glass shards hitting glass walls.

"...The company daycare..." the blurry guy was saying. Annie continued to try to hear. She seemed to nod.

"Well, have you?" He asked furiously. She ground her mind’s gears violently to try to catch up and speak in time. Daycare. He was saying something about the daycare. Probably still preoccupied her resume that he had read selectively. She guessed he must be asking if she’s worked in a daycare before.

"Only individuals," she hedged, in case he was asking about something else.

"What age?" He challenged. His face was illuminated somewhat, and uglier than she remembered.

"Well, in childcare, birth to about five.” She then remembered the oldest had been seven, but the guy was moving and she could vaguely see him move.

In fact, he was gesturing in the direction from which the screams were coming. Then he was on the move.

She moved very slowly to follow him, dragging her legs like they were filled with sand, moving through sand and it was sand all the way down.

She wished she could have gotten a round of real sleep first.

She swam through glue to go after him, while he jabbed his blurry hand at a slot on the wall.

“Close the door," he ordered. She realized then that there was a door, a very blurry one. She felt very bad about that, and reached through sand air to close it.

When she got her watch to the wall slot, it flashed a number that she couldn’t read, but it appeared to be the same.

"Let’s go," the blurry guy huffed unnecessarily and strode down the newly appeared hall. Annie looked around to make sure there weren’t any more doors to get scolded for not closing.

Kris and Lac

A very stripey tent was set up tautly in the middle of the yard. A handful of people brought candles from the house.

Lac hugged Kris and said, "Well, I’m sorry for any time you felt alone while I was away. Or for anything I could have done to help you, but didn’t."

Kris hugged him back and said, "apology accepted, but…but nothing" Then she was off to refill the melon drinks.

He went into the tent. It was the only place in the neighborhood that didn’t smell like delicious fried onions. He placed the candle he had lit for Li’l Spot on the well inside the tent. He sat on the meditation cushion and started the first meditation.

Annie

"I’m Berbamem!" The small, angry looking person said. She looked familiar to Annie, but it seemed wrong, as though this was a person from a dream and shouldn’t have appeared in real life. This would doubly wrong in that Annie hadn’t remembered a dream in a long time.

Annie tried to smile and struggled to speak, "Hi, Berbemem. Nice to-"

"Bermerbep!" Scolded the tiny person, with a scornful giggle. The sound of her laughter made her seem to grow smaller.

"Alright," Annie painfully urged out the words in a very apologetic tone. Bermerbep-or-whoever grunted indignantly. Annie continued apologetically, "It’s nice to meet you."

"Bummapet!" Scolded that person with that name and giggled some more. She seemed to grow even smaller and as she snickered and her face seemed to crumple up like a paper bag.

Annie tried to think about how to atone for her first impression, but the tiny angry person spun dramatically and ordered, "Let’s go!"

Annie dragged herself heavily after her, and they continued toward the screaming room.

When the frosted glass door opened, some of the screaming stopped and several rotund baby faces turned toward them. Then there was a fierce array of scuffling sounds as a tiny army descended on them.

Little and very little hands were everywhere, mostly squeezing her legs or patting.

There was sudden pressure on her butt and she realized with horror it was some tiny weirdo’s little face.

She struggled against the tiredness and the attack, to try to get to the center of the room.

"Uh, settle down, settle down," she breathed with every last bit of energy she had, and it was effectively inaudible.

"Why don’t you tell them to be quiet?" B-something condescended.

She tried repeating what she had already said as loudly as she could, and it was also inaudible.

"They don’t listen you," B-somebody loudly stated, and barely concealed her laughter. Her face seemed to distort with mocking laughter. Her nose spread to cover the whole bottom of her face and the top wadded up like a pile of socks.

All around, screaming laughter roared in agreement. She felt the tiny hands tugging at her clothes and patting her legs. Someone was rubbing her thighs and that felt especially creepy.

Something was flashing into her memory, but she couldn’t quite place what it was. It came close, but the crinkly face was berating her again, and the world seemed to disappear again

Lac

"I’m sorry I left you high and dry in the rain, man. Well, I guess not high and dry," Lac stuttered, bringing his hand down a little too heavily on the other man’s shoulder.

"I guess low and wet, eh man?" replied the guy, shifting a little under the weight. He turned and went inside the tent with a green candle. He stopped, turned back and said, "Water under the bridge?"

"Uh, yeah," agreed Lac with a weak, single syllable laugh and the guy disappeared under a stripey flap.

Kris hurried carrying a square dish to where Lac was standing.

"Hey, I made onion rings," she said, handing him one. He laughed for real and ate it.

A bald little man was quick behind her.

“Hey, Kris, and Lac. Power to you both," the little man said. He Stammered and held out a vase full of roses.

"Oh, sorry, man," returned Lac, taking the vase as Kris stepped behind him and ate a handful of onion rings.

"Mmm, thamps," she said. "Oh, yeah they’re spicy," she added, speaking mostly to the onion rings, themselves.

"Yeah, thanks," Lac told the guy. "Uh, you remembered my favorite color," he noted, gesturing to the lilac vase. "Sorry, though, I’ve got to, uh." and Lac very awkwardly turned to the next person queued by the entrance to the tent.

"Oh, hi." Lac said to her, "I remember now. I’m so sorry I didn’t go to your barbecue. That was a couple of months ago, wasn’t it."

"Yeah," she said, un-judgementally, "Almost exactly three, in fact."

"Wow. Well, I’m so glad you’re still here."

She smiled with genuine kindness and stepped into the tent saying, "If there’s anything you need, we’re all here to help however we can."

"She’s really good," Kris noted, hugging Lac from behind again.

Annie

"Ones and twos," Annie wheezed at the top of her voice, still nearly inaudible. "Ones with me over here. Twos over there."

She placed the largest stuffed animal in the middle of the room.

She took a cautious step towards bummer-whatever to try and explain the plan, but the angry little ball turned aggressively toward Annie and barked, "You’re supposed to be over there!" pointing low with her whole stiff arm.

Annie stumbled backwards as though punched in the face, stood slumped.

"Alrighty, then. Ready, set, get the arms! Like so!" Annie stepped toward the creepy doll, crouched down and gently touched its lumpy arm.

As she bent, everything in her pocket dropped out and clattered all over the floor. She watched them fall with quickly growing frustration. Every available tiny hand immediately pointed.

She scrambled to get everything back before the carefully arranged lines fully disintegrated into a wild search party. She sighed with disappointment and placed the pocket items on a shelf near the door.

Kris

She was walking quickly back to the house and looking around at the arrangements. There were plenty of drinks and there was a moderate queue for the tent.

As she stepped in she saw that the screen was flashing "Tarah" with an h, and looking to the front she saw it was the storage tank tech.

"Oh, hi. I had your name misspelled. Oops."

"Me, too. I mean, I had you spelled with a C."

Kris saw that Tarah was holding a huge metal tub.

"Oh, uh, is that for checking the...storage?"

"Oh, uh, no. It’s Stone Soup Pot." She carefully turned so her backpack was visible. "They’re in here," she gestured with her neck and chin.

On cue a couple of guys swooped into the room to roll the tub to the back. Tarah shrugged off her back and pulled out an embroidered sack. She lifted it with effort and carefully set it down on the table. The stones inside clicked lightly, finding their places.

By the time she had turned back to her bag, a pair of beautifully manicured hands had gracefully scooped up the bag and gone to wash the stones.

Tarah eased a little tool kit out of her backpack. Together, she and Kris strode to the storage room.

Annie

"Ready, set, get the legs! Like so." Annie smoothly lunged and patted the stumpy legs of the stuffed animals.

"Ready, set, backwards!" Annie said and returned to a starting position.

"Now, let’s try for real," Annie labored to say. "Here we go. Ready, set, get the arms!"

Several little and extra little bodies lurched forward and little fists furiously beat on the stuffed animal’s arms. Squeals of enthusiasm reverberated throughout the room.

Astounded by the near-success, Annie said, "Ok, read, set, backwards!"

Most of them even complied.

Annie took a deep breath and prepared for the next round, but she felt a sudden dizzy spell. The whole room went dark for half a second and the sound faded to less than deafening.

She recovered and said, "Ready, set---"

"That’s not how you’re supposed to do it," Something-like-Bumpit cut in. "I’ll go get the manual." And she turned and strutted out the door, leaving it to swing open as she marched out of sight.

Annie coughed and stood up straight. The little ones seemed to be paying attention.

"Well, ready, set, get the legs!" she said with utmost hope.

They sprung to attack the hideous toy’s legs, except one. One little body was racing to the door to close it. It slammed a little too lough and disturbed the shelf where she had left her pocket contents.

One thick marker spun and rolled off, bounced and flew into the middle of the room, smacking the stuffed animal’s side and continuing to spin.

With an air of panic, Annie stepped forward to get the marker before anyone had a chance to point again. As she tried to place her foot, a little hand shot out where she wanted to step. She redirected and stumbled.

She stumbled a lot, starting to feel dizzy again, and stepped on the stuffed animal’s goofy little legs, which were in the midst of being battered.

She continued to stumble and lots of noises came from all around. She felt a blow from a soft little fist on her ankle, and her legs completely collapsed under her. The squeals and the laughter expanded and got higher.

The crowd tightened and fists were raining down on her legs. She flattened the freaky stuffed animal and tried to move her arms to get back up. Excited screeches blasted her ears even as the light faded. Immediately little weights were landing on her legs and side. A pile of very light weights was forming and she was getting hit everywhere. There was one heavy weight pressing on her back. A tiny point of pain pressed her spine even as she tried to maneuver away from it. The little feet pressed hard into her back and she realized the kid was jumping. There was an extra explosion of pain as one little foot hit her lumbar vertebrae from the side.

The pain faded with the sound and the light. She knew it hurt, but she could only feel pressure. She could tell they were hitting harder. She felt the stab of little toes slamming into her ribs and legs. She felt one intense strike in her cheekbone as a meaty little fist slammed into her face.

The last thing she saw before everything went black was a little face twisted with glee and a little foot swinging to kick her in the forehead.

She didn’t lose consciousness right away. She continued trying to move away from the blows as her arms seemed to get heavier and further away from her.

For some time, she couldn’t see, hear or feel anything, but she didn’t feel like she was dreaming. She didn’t know if time was passing. She didn’t know if she was still alive. Maybe they broke her back.

Next Chapter: Stone Onion