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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:37:42 GMT -6
Seeing her there gave him an idea. He motioned to the pile, and saw Thistle's gaze slowly follow his pointed finger. When it returned back to him, he mimed the motion of picking up an armful of leaves. At first, Thistle didn't seem to register, or at least didn't seem to understand. But he repeated the motion a few times, and then, gradually, he saw hen bend to the leaf pile to pick some up.
Once she had some, Aubrey had to figure out a way to coax her over. He didn't have any treats or the like on him, and he didn't know it there was necessarily something she liked to eat enough to work for… But even if there was, he certainly didn't have it on him He would have to make do with something else.
"Come over here, Thistle, he said, beckoning her over with more hand gestures.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:37:57 GMT -6
Maybe the gestures conveyed his meaning, or maybe she had just managed to connect the dots about why he had asked her to do what he had with the leaves. Either way. Thistle began to shuffle over to him.
When she arrived, she dropped the pile of leaves at his feet. Smiling up at her, Aubrey said, "Thank you. That was very helpful." The words themselves might not be understood, but Aubrey was hopeful that the sentiment behind them, at least, would reach her somehow. She did seem to understand tone and intent, in his limited experience.
Now that he had more leaves at hand, he could continue with the work that he had started as well. He picked up a handful at a time and spread them over more of the still bare grass. Thistle stood by him a while to watch him work, then went back to the leaf pile for more.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:38:18 GMT -6
In the end, she had managed to lend him a helping hand after all, even if not in quite the way that he had initially anticipated. But this was just as well. Any help was good and welcome, especially this close to the end of the task.
They worked in this fashion for some time, with Aubrey doing the spreading of the leaves, and Thistle bringing them over. At first, she did so too often, so that he hadn't finished with what he had before she brought in more, but after a little mare observation, she seemed to pick up the pacing issue all on her own, and made her trips less frequent as a result. Aubrey was glad for it, for this made things easier on him.
With her helping him out, the task went more quickly than it would have if he had been attempting it on his own.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:39:13 GMT -6
Which wasn't to say that it passed quickly, of course, but he still finished earlier than he otherwise would have. You had to be grateful for the little things--- or at least life was happier if you managed to be. When the last leaves were placed, Aubrey righted himself, wiping at his brow again, though this time the gesture was more an indication of how tired he felt than an attempt to actually wipe away the accumulated sweat. For better or for worse, the job itself had gone so slowly that there was no occasion for him to have worked one up.
He admired their work together for a moment, a small smile on his face, even though it wasn't really much to look at. Or at least, it wasn't much that anyone would have found beautiful, the whole yard now pretty much covered with dead leaves in layers of varying thickness.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:39:31 GMT -6
He could still spot where his planted plots were by the fact that the fruit trees were there, and from the way they stood out slightly raised from the rest of the ground. On the lawn, too, there were places where the grass poked through between the leaves, as the cover they provided was sparser on the grass.
It wasn't pretty, especially since most of the leaves had browned and some were already starting to decompose. The process would be hastened if he could hose them down, but nights being what they were this time of year, they'd just freeze, which wouldn't do much good for anyone. If he sprayed down the yard, it might even become dangerous for him and for Thistle. The threat of slipping on ice would become a very real nuisance very quickly, and one that wouldn't abate until spring brought the warmth to melt the stuff.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:40:33 GMT -6
Aubrey dusted off his hands, and congratulated himself tor completing the task that he had set himself. He certainly hadn't expected it to take as much time oi as much effort as it had done, but then, he had never done anything like it himself before. Maybe he'd just been overconfident, or overly optimistic in his initial estimates, but at least he would know better for next time.
Not that he was looking forward to doing this again next year. If anything, he felt that it would be harder to force himself to start, now that he had better knowledge of what he was in for when he took up the rake again. He was already considering the idea of just picking up some leaves every day, by hand, to save himself the trouble. But no, if he thought about it, approaching it that way would take more time rather than less.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:40:59 GMT -6
He blew a long sigh and, turning to Thistle, he said, There really isn't a substitute for a proper rake, is there...?" He stared at the thing ruefully. "Well, maybe we will have enough money to buy a better one next year." A lighter one, and a shorter one, much better suited to Aubrey's size and strength.
In the meantime, he supposed he could always saw this one a bit shorter than he had it at the moment. For now though, he was done with it, and all he had to do was put it back into the shed. And that didn’t take long at all.
With nothing else to separate him any longer from his dream of going back inside to warm up, he bid a farewell to Thistle, then headed back into the house. It was time for his well deserved rest, as far as he was concerned.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:41:15 GMT -6
Aubrey didn’t return to the garden for quite some time, excepting the short excursions he made on a daily basis to see how Thistle was doing, and to refill the bird feeder, if it needed refilling. The birds made short work of the seeds, the season being what it was, so he had to refill it pretty often. It was worth it, to see them come by in the mornings, though Aubrey generally watched them from the warmth of the indoors, where a window offered ample space from which to observe. It had the added benefit of letting the birds do as they pleased without minding him. They were brave little things, but even they had to take note of a big potential danger like Aubrey lurking nearby.
Not that most people in his acquaintance, or even most creatures that knew him for that matter, thought that he was particularly dangerous.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:41:35 GMT -6
But when you were that small, pretty much anything could kill you with ease, so he didn’t begrudge them their wariness either.
And then the first snows came, and buried all the garden under a thin, cold blanket. It hadn’t been a big snowfall, just a sudden one, but even so, it meant the end for anything that was still alive in his garden, with the exception of the trees. He hadn’t had the chance to put down any perennials. He’d thought it would be best to plant them in the spring or very early summer, where they might have months of good growing weather ahead of them to get situated in their new environment. Planting them in the fall seemed cruel, and doing so in the winter was pretty much unthinkable.
As for the grass, it had already begun to wither under the cold snaps at night.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:42:20 GMT -6
He had no doubt it would come again in the spring, but for now, it was no more. Aubrey had traded a green lawn for a white one, though the white was still pretty enough, freshly fallen like this.
He was a bit worried about Thistle though, so he came out despite the cold. A cursory look out the window this morning didn’t turn up any sign of her. He didn’t think she was in any real trouble, as she was an evergreen--- it was even in the name of her species, King of Evergreen. Surely she would be able to cope with a little winter weather. But it was unusual for him not to see her, and that bore investigating, so he threw on all his winter clothes and went out to see where she had gone.
He didn’t have to look around for her very long.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:42:32 GMT -6
She wasn’t often out of the garden, and if he couldn’t see her anywhere, then there was only one place left to check that was still on the garden premises. It was possible, of course, that she had gone somewhere else, but he figured he’d check inside the shed first before he went anywhere else. He had gone to all the trouble of making that shelter for her, so maybe some of his willingness to look there was a bit of wishful thinking on his part. It would be nice if she did use it, even if she had never made very much use of it before now.
Fortunately for him, his luck was in today. She did turn up in the shed after all. Maybe it was just that it was winter, and she had nowhere else to go, but even so, it heartened him somewhat to find her there.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:43:08 GMT -6
Firstly, of course, because it meant that she hadn’t run off, which was always something to be glad for. If she had run off, she must have had a reason, and he was loath to think that he had been cruel or negligent enough to have given her one. And if she had run off, then he would have had to try and find her, which would have been quite the worrisome job, especially if she didn’t want to be found, and he had to question the wisdom of looking.
Secondly, and perhaps a little bizarrely, he was glad to see that she did seem to either want or need shelter at least occasionally. Maybe this was a little selfish of him too, but he had been thinking that maybe he had gone to all the trouble for nothing, when she didn’t even want a place like this built for herself.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:43:50 GMT -6
Seeing that she was willing to use it under the right circumstances, he felt more confident in his plans to improve this, or build a better one.
Smiling, he greeted her. “Thistle! There you are,” he said, not hiding the relief in his voice, nor his pleasure at finding her there. She regarded him with calm, unconcerned eyes, but even that was good to see. The fewer signs of distress, the better!
“When spring comes, we’ll make a nicer place for you to stay next winter,” he said to Thistle. “I know this place is a bit shabby, and I'm sorry that you have to share it with some of these boxes, but I hope you’ll be alright here for now. Though if it’s bad, I suppose we can always bring you into the house… But I don’t think you’d like that, even in the winter,” said Aubrey uncertainly.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:44:14 GMT -6
He remembered how little she had preferred to be indoors when he first brought her back, even though the fall chill had set in in earnest by that point, and it was no longer comfortable to be outside at all hours of the day.
In light of that, he somehow doubted she would let a little snow stop her either. Still, he resolved himself to check on her more often just in case. Maybe as the winter wore on, things would get worse, and he wouldn’t want to miss a sign that she might be getting sick.
For now, however, she looked well. “You wouldn’t want to go for a walk outside, would you?” he said, indicating the door. It had no knob or anything on it, and could simply be pushed open and closed, and even that was a concession to the necessity of blocking out the cold.
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Post by Briar on Dec 1, 2019 3:45:07 GMT -6
There was, too, the knowledge that Thistle would probably be smart enough to figure it out by herself after a few demonstrations. With a less intelligent creature, or one who was more impervious to chills, Aubrey might well have left no door at all for them, to avoid complications.
Thistle didn’t immediately reply, but Aubrey took a few steps outside, then looked back at her. Now Thistle seemed to be considering the idea, and after a moment, she did join him, walking out and looking up at the sky.
It was still grey, overcast with the remnants of the clouds that had showered them with this snowfall. Funnily enough, it was a little warmer for the cloud cover, though that wasn’t really saying much under the circumstances. The air was still, at least, which meant that there was no chill wind to exacerbate the cold, which Aubrey was heartily glad for.
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