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The Gift

Daniel's Storyline, Chapter 2.5

copyright comidacomida 2018

The Hound finally went past us and sat down in the seat vacated by the punk. He reached back and encircled the man with his arm as if they were old friends. Only once things had calmed down did Herne bother speaking and then it was only his reflection in the window; I somehow heard his voice in my mind. "The old man is a Seer."

The statement caught me by surprise. I remained frozen in place for several stops and only snapped out of it because the park was coming up. I reached up to pull the cord to signal my desire to get off the bus but, surprisingly, before I could, someone else had. Although I didn't recognize the word Kon spoke in Japanese I could tell it was a curse word, especially when he huffed it under his breath. "Kuso."

Once again, I could tell what was going on without really knowing: the old man was also getting off at the park. Realizing that, I kept with the original plan of going into the park for lunch. After all, it was a big park and we could easily avoid the old guy and his Dog. As the bus came to a complete stop I waited until the old man was up and moving toward the door before I even stood and then I made my way slowly to the exit, giving the Hound a lot of extra space. It wasn't that I was intimidated or worried but the extra spirit was an unexpected part of my day and I didn't need the extra chaos.

As I got off the bus I looked around; the parking lot across the street gave way to the green space that was one of Cherry City's many parks. Personally, I always liked Pear Orchard Park because it had a small lake. I'm still not sure why it's called Pear Orchard since there aren't any pears around and the only trees are pine trees and a willow which is hardly what I'd call an orchard. Either way, it had lots of walking trails, a small bark chip play area for kids and, my personal favorite, a paved area where buskers and street performers gathered to do their thing.

On any normal day if I was headed to Pear Orchard Park I'd normally aim for that last area but, considering I was hoping for somewhere quiet, that meant I'd be heading down one of the gravel walking paths that wandered through the parkland. I didn't spend a lot of time walking the paths but I'd been down most of them during my short stay in Cherry City and I remembered there was a great spot off to the side in a secluded part of the park.

It was a nice day and, if I actually liked the outdoors I'm sure it would have been even better. The good thing about most parks in Cherry City is that they had plenty of benches so anyone who isn't exactly in the best shape can choose where they want to sit down and relax without getting grass stains on their butt. In my case, the leisurely pace I chose while wandering around meant that I didn't run out of breath so the benches weren't really useful for more than counting the distance I'd gone from the street.

As I walked the discussion started up behind me as the spirits conversed about this-and-that. Aiden was a surprisingly informed encyclopedia of information about Pear Grove Park and I think he even explained how it got its name but I wasn't really paying attention. Kon occasionally had a few words to say about different topics and managed to get the discussion away from the park and onto Talapus and the Coyote's experience with hamburgers. Unlike previous arguments and vocal clashes the talk was relaxed, more like I'd expect out of a group of friends hanging out at-- well... at the park.

Eleven benches into the green space the path I'd chosen curved off to the right and passed behind a small hill. I waited until I was on the far side of the hill before choosing the bench that I'd had in mind; as expected it was a quiet area and the rest of the park-goers had chosen elsewhere to spend their time. Only once I was alone did I finally sit down and begin sifting through the large bag I'd brought. I had my sandwich and chips separated from what I'd made for the spirits and the five cans of pop I'd put on the bottom of the bag that helped keep everything cold.

I hadn't even managed to get my own sandwich out before the arguments started up again; there were room for three on the bench-- or four if they were REALLY squished together but I had four spirit companions, which meant that at least one of them was going to be left out. Herne, as usual, was the voice of reason. "Or, we can leave the bench to Daniel and sit on the path. Not everything must be a contest."

Kon let out a huff. "Says the spirit with plenty of Spirit Energy."

Talapus was apparently more in the same frame of mind as the Fox, and he chose to address me rather than Herne. "You know, Daniel, you can give spirit energy to us just by having us sit with you. That doesn't really cost you anything, right?"

I shrugged, and was just about to agree with the Coyote when I saw Herne's stern gaze and disapproving scowl. Aiden, in the meantime, took a seat where the Elk had indicated on the path. He grinned, addressing the rest of the spirits. "It's not that big a deal, guys-- after all, we have sammiches! Why season the meal with disagreements?"

Kon glanced at the Bat. "Are you sure you're from THIS decade? You sound more like you'd fit into the 60s or 70s."

Talapus snickered, but, rather than contributing to the discussion simply collapsed back onto the bench next to me and spoke up in a language I'd only ever heard him use when talking to himself. "Klahowya sikhs."

"What is that?"

He smiled, running a paw through the fur atop his head. "A greeting. I figured at least ONE of us should be paying you some attention."

Although I appreciated the humor of the statement I couldn't help but focus on something else. "Any reason why you're the only one sitting on the bench?"

Talapus leaned back and stretched an arm out across the back of the bench, which also put it around my shoulders. "Honestly?"

I felt just a little uncomfortable at the situation, especially since the other spirits' eyes were on me. "Yeah... honestly."

The Coyote slumped down in the seat, spreading his legs apart as if he were oozing into a sofa to binge watch some TV. "Well, I don't want to be a part of everyone's stupid fight over every last little scrap of spirit energy, so I'm being an active objector."

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye as I set my sacked lunch off to the side and began pulling sandwiches out of the larger bag. "So you're just gonna steal the seat and to heck with everyone else?"

Talapus smirked, his tail swishing behind him as it poked through the backing of the bench. "No... it's only worth something if you offer it to me. By sitting here I'm actually losing out cuz you can't invite me to sit with you... but at the same time I'm screwing with everyone else's plans to use this as a chance to get spirit energy."

Glancing to the other three I saw that Kon was scowling, Aiden looked confused, and Herne-- was actually smiling. Perplexed, I held out the sandwiches to everyone. "Well... uh... okay then... I guess. These are all the same so can we maybe not fight over them?"

Kon snatched his out of the bag immediately, so quickly in fact I almost thought I felt the bag move in my hands. Aiden took his out next and then Herne took his. I turned the bag to Talapus and paused: there were still four sandwiches in it. "So... um... how does--?"

The Coyote reached right in and took his from the collection. I took the bag back and noticed that there were still four sandwiches. "Alright... so everyone's got their... uh... thingie... but they're still here?"

Kon, who was already munching on his, spoke with a full muzzle. "We don't take the physical stuff... just the spirit. Remember?"

Aiden almost fell over after taking a bite. "Oh... so THIS is bologna!"

I smiled at his childlike reaction. "Yep. Do you like it?"

He looked to me with a huge smile on his muzzle. "It's... it's...." the smile faded and he flicked one of his large ears, shrugging. "...it's alright."

Kon and Talapus fell right into laughter and I fought to keep from doing so myself. "Well... that's bologna for you."

The Fox, once he'd finished laughing agreed. "Yeah... it's the hotdog of lunch meat."

The Bat's ears perked even more. "Oh? I wanna try a hot dog some day too!"

Herne, who had surprisingly finished his sandwich by that point spoke calmly "One thing at a time. Daniel must pay for these meals and he does not have limitless funds."

The discussion continued from there and, as I ate, I also handed out the chips to all of my companions, careful to offer them to the spirits in reverse order that I gave out the sandwiches. I didn't know if it made a difference but I liked the idea of keepings things even. It was a pleasant day at the park and it felt good. It was the first step toward getting things back to normal, assuming having two Trickster Spirits, a Naturae Spirit, and a Glamour Spirit living with you could be considered normal. For me, at least, it became something close to that, and it was good.