Jumbus

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Short quick post. Will do rereads and edits tomorrow if need be but I am a bit strapped for time tonight sorry

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan Moore

---

Rowan took Stig's blank stare with a delayed nod as an affirmation. She took the toddler by the hand and looked around for where the concert stage would be. It didn't take her long to collect her bearings considering the stage was exactly where it was every year. She was about to see off before David grabbed her attention again.

"Well, uhh." David turned to Rowan. "I hope you don't mind. We can look for Freyja together."

The others who were playing the game looked to be heading off elsewhere and it didn't look like David was joining them. Rowan didn't mind him tagging along with her of course. What interactions she had with the guy were sparse, but he seemed nice and respectful company. That was a breath of fresh air when compared to some of the other kids in town. Rowan's only concern was that trying to reunite a lost toddler with his family wasn't a riveting task.

"I'm afraid I'm not doing anything exciting. But you can tag along if you want." Rowan replied back with a muted but welcoming smile. "I think Freyja should be somewhere around the stage. But I'm not sure, I don't really keep up with what happening at these things until I'm actually here." She joked as the two started heading toward the stage area.

As they were walking, Rowan noticed a buzz in her pocket. Then again. And again. Then twice more. Leaving her to wonder what exactly could be happening that her phone would be going berserk. Grabbing out her phone, Rowan checked her notifications to discover she had just received 5 texts from Ambrose. 5 texts from Ambrose during the festival when it couldn't possibly be about tutoring meant nothing good.

Luckily my phone just ran out of power so I couldn't have received those texts. Rowan thought to herself as she held down the power button to shut it off and place it back in her pocket. She didn't like to be bothered by her phone while she was at the festival anyway.

@Conscripts@Fading Memory@psych0pomp

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Hey all, I've been dragging a bit with getting my post out. But I will have it out by today or tomorrow, just took a small break for the weekend.

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan: God, why must you put me through your toughest situations?

God: It's just a few texts and a ball rolling toward you.

@Fading Memory I might wait for you to do a post first as I assume Rowan is waiting on an answer from Stig before anything else

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

quick reply post, I can make edits as need be tomorrow. I need to go to sleep haha

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan Moore

---

Rowan spent a bit of time wandering, before stumbling upon an impromptu crowd. It's not as if there was any stall in the middle, so the sight piqued her curiosity. She was surprised to see it was a group of teens around her age playing some ball game. It was not one familiar to the girl but it was an interesting display. She decided to stick on the sidelines and watch for a while.

Then the ball rolled right toward her feet.

"Hey Rowan!" He noticed her among the crowds. "How are you doing? Do you want to join us?"

Oh no. Rowan was not good at being put in the spot. Finding some response needed to be quick. She didn't want to join. This was nothing against David, she enjoyed the guy's enthusiasm, but she was bad at soccer and didn't enjoy ball sports in general. Still, she couldn't just say no, could she? That would be mean, and she didn't want to be mean to David. Plus everyone around was watching, there were far more eyes on her than just David. But she couldn't embarrass herself by failing at the game in a miserable faction.

"..." Through the absolute turmoil caused by the simple question, Rowan just stared blankly for a moment with a discerning brow. To an outsider, the signs of this life-or-death decision would be unreadable.

As she had her eyes on David, it took her a while to notice something bump against her leg. Looking down, she noticed Stig had been offering the ball to her. But there seemed to be no sign of his mother around. With a sigh and a smile, Rowan took a knee to get as close to eye level as she could to Stig. "Well, thank you for picking that up for me." As she let him pass the ball to her.

Rowan was quick to toss the ball back to David. "Sorry David, maybe next time. I think this one is a little lost. Plus, I'm sure you have plenty of players already."

She then turned her attention back to Stig. "Do you want me to help you back to your mum? I heard there is a big performance happening soon and I'm sure she would want you there." Rowan tried putting on a 'talking to kids' voice. She wasn't very good at it, but there was an honest attempt made.

@Conscripts@Fading Memory

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Alright, I moved David over to the festival.

@Jumbus It's a rather overly-elaborate transition to just say hi to Rowan, but I hope you don't mind me doing that lol. We can always do something else if she's not interested.

@Conscripts

All goods. Will respond with a post soon. Maybe wait and see if @Fading Memory wanted to weigh in soon. Although, Rowan will likely be saying hi and then shifting on. I don't see her joining the game unfortunately

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Damn, Audrey being ruthless to Damon. Kind of makes me want to put Rowan there in retrospect. But she does try to avoid Bilicas when she can

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Just got a quick post up now. Took me a bit to figure out what I wanted to write so it ended up being a little short

I'll give it a reread and make needed edits tomorrow after I get some sleep.

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan Moore

---

Hearing another person approach through the treeline, Rowan closed her notebook halfway through shading her sketch. It was just about done anyway and having another person there probably meant she wouldn't have the peace and quiet to finish. She was surprised to see her father addressing her. But perhaps she shouldn't have been. If anyone could find them out here, it was him. The smallest Bilica tailing behind him was more unexpected.

Ducklings? Why did her dad have to be so embarrassing? Rowan didn't see how her father spoke as much of an issue when it was just the two of them. But with Audrey around, she couldn't help but associate some of his words with a cartoon bear warning against forest fires she saw on TV as a kid. Still, Rowan gave a reluctant smile at her father's speech and went to join him on the trek back to New Hope.

As she passed, Rowan got a closer look of Isaias. He looked worse for wear, real worse for wear. She couldn't help but wonder if that bruise on his cheek as a result of getting lost or by some other means. She wasn't going to dwell on it though, and she only looked at the boy for an extended second before switching her attention back to her father.

There was a saying Rowan had and it was a rule she intended to follow. If it's Bilica business, then it's none of hers. It was a cold statement, particularly when she looked at how the younger Bilica's often wound up. But they were bad news, the less she has to do with them the better.

"I actually like the old rituals and stories, did you know there's almost nothing written down about them in the library? It's all oral history."

"Really? I always thought they were written down somewhere..."

"Maybe a certain library assistant could write them down sometime."

Rowan continued to make small talk with her dad and Audrey on the way back.

---

With the sun setting and temperatures dropping, Rowan showed up to the festival in her regular coat but few other clothing changes other than that. The festival looked great as always, the awe of the town's achievements year after year hardly faded as Rowan grew older. And yet her sense of dress on the day never seemed to match. Her choice of monochromatic and muted colours ironically made her stand out more.

Rowan quickly found herself slipping away from the company she arrived with. Audrey seemed to be wandering off with Isiais, likely to the other Bilica kids, and no doubt her dad would be looking for her mum to do the regular town politics. That left Rowan somewhere between the two opposite ends of town relations, just enjoying the festival.

Rowan went about trying out some of the various games. Most were the ones present last year, but she still found them enjoyable.