The Mirror of Memories: Part Four

Malin had gone out of the bathroom, to who knew where. I had to get that umbrella case back.

     "Kin," I whispered to the baby Ogrin. He had curled up in a ball and was trying to sleep. He opened one eye and yawned tiredly, perking his little ears up. "I want you to do something to get Malin's attention! I don't know, go knock something over and make a big ruckus. Just don't let her open that umbrella case and see the journal!" He probably had no idea what I was talking about, but I hoped that he would understand my instructions and follow them. He was a smart little guy. "Then, once she comes running over to see what happened, go and find the umbrella case and hide it somewhere she won't find it."

     Kin gave me a confused look. I sighed impatiently.

     "Just do it!" I urged him. "Now! Please!"

     The baby Ogrin nodded and ran out of the bathroom. I turned off the faucet, since the huge bucket that was an excuse for a bathtub was nearly filled up to the rim. I sighed and relaxed in the warm water. It felt so good, after I had been freezing cold that whole entire time.

     CRASH!

     I nearly had a heart attack when I heard the sound of breaking glass. When I told Kin to knock something over, I didn't mean break anything! I glared out of the opened bathroom door, though all I could see was the white wall of the hallway and the dark green carpet. I then saw Malin zip past the doorway, looking shocked.

     "What happened?!" I heard her shout. Then she gasped really loud. I wish I could have seen the look on her face. I bet it was a really funny one. I could just imagine Kin looking up at her innocently, with his big yellow eyes, wagging his tail softly. "No! My favorite vase! My grandmother gave that to me when she... when she..." Malin's voice trailed off, and I instantly felt really guilty. Oh well, there was no time to feel sorry for her now. I watched the doorway, waiting for Kin to run past to where Malin had been and get the umbrella case. Seconds later I saw him walk past, like nothing had happened, and I heard Malin cleaning up what I would imagine to be a huge mess.

     Kin came back into the bathroom about a minute later.

     "Did you do it?" I asked him. "Did you hide the umbrella case?"

     The baby Ogrin nodded, and I sighed with relief. I'd have to get it later, after I was done with this bath. I wondered if Malin would kick me out after this, or maybe she'd let me stay. Would probably have had to make up a really convincing story if I wanted to stay.

     Malin came back in the bathroom after cleaning up the mess, holding the bottle of shampoo. I was curious to know if she was going to wash me herself. That would be kind of... awkward. But sure enough, the blue Cybunny squeezed the shampoo into her paws and then worked it up into a rich lather. I tried not to breathe out of my nose because the smell of the shampoo was extremely unattractive.

     "I wouldn't want to make you clean yourself," she told me as she scrubbed the top of my head.

     Uh, what if I wanted to clean myself?

     "You're my guest after all," she added.

     Her guest? I practically broke into her house. Well, I didn't break in... I walked in through her mirror. But it was pretty much the same thing. I felt like I was intruding.

     Kin ambled out of the bathroom to most likely go explore the house. Malin went over to the cupboards and pulled out a huge body brush with thick bristles. I didn't really want to use it because it looked like it would hurt. She handed it to me and I started to scrub my feet and other places and work all of the dirt out of my fur.

     This whole scene was insanely embarrassing already, and it didn't help that Malin was standing a foot away from me as I took a bath. I generally like privacy when I'm bathing. And Malin was just standing there, so I tried not to make it obvious that she was bothering me. I don't know, maybe that's how they did things like this twenty years ago. Maybe back then, being in the presence of a person taking a bath was normal.

     I hurriedly finished my business, and then yanked the drain out of the bottom of the bucket bathtub. Malin smiled at me and then pulled a towel off of the rack and put it over me as I stepped out of the tub. I dried myself off, wondering when she would leave me alone. Well, I guess it was her house, but still, she was making me too uncomfortable. I put my pink slippers back on my feet and thanked Malin for her extreme kindness.

     "Would you like a cup of hot cocoa?" she offered, gently pushing me out of the bathroom. She led me down the hallway and into the kitchen, which was very small and cozy. The whole house itself was tiny, and I don't know how she could live in it. It was smaller than my house, and that's pretty small.

     The kitchen was next to the living room, or whatever it was. It had a small couch and a bookcase, and Kin was rolling around on the floor, having his little fun. Malin was busy preparing the cocoa, and I sat down on a stool by the kitchen counter.

     The walls in the house were all white, and there was hardly any color in the room at all. It was a really cold house. I shivered spontaneously, my teeth chattering.

     "Bin, would you like some hot chocolate?" Malin asked. Kin's little ears perked up and he trotted over excitedly, wagging his tail. I lifted him up onto the stool, and he licked his lips hungrily.

     "It's Kin," I reminded her.

     Malin nodded apologetically and said, "Oh, of course. I'm sorry." She set two steaming cups of hot cocoa in front of Kin and I, and we began to sip them like we hadn't drunk anything in days. Malin kept smiling at us, and I began to really wonder when she'd ask us to leave. She just seemed too nice. It was really peculiar. If I were her, I'd have beaten Kin and I out with a broom, yelling at us to never come back. But then again, that was just me.

     Kin finished his cocoa in record time, but I was enjoying it. I hadn't had a nice warm drink like this in a while.

     "So, Sepra, you live around here?" Malin asked, looking out of the small window near the kitchen sink. It was pouring outside, and starting to get dark. It took me a while to realize that she was talking to me. I'd forgotten that my name was now Sepra.

     "Err... yeah," I told her. I didn't even have a clue where we were, but I didn't really care.

     "So I guess I should take you back to your house, huh? Your parents must be worried sick."

     "...We don't have parents," I said really quietly. Hey, it was partly true. My parents were probably younger than my age during this time period. I looked up at Malin, wearing the saddest face I could put on. My ears drooped down and I made my eyes all big. I had to give a convincing performance.

     "You don't?" Malin questioned, sounding very sympathetic. "But... you said you live around here."

     "We do," I made believe. "We live on the streets. We have no home." I realized that back in the bathroom I had told her we thought this was our house so we had come in through the window, meaning we must have had a home. Oops. Maybe she wouldn't remember I'd said that?

     The blue Cybunny frowned. "Well, I guess I could let you stay here for a while. It's the least I can do."

     The least she could do? For what? We didn't do anything for her, besides 'break' into her house. What a weirdo.

     "Thank you," I replied sincerely. I took a small sip of my cocoa, looking up at her. She always had this huge grin on her face for some reason I didn't know. She was definitely strange. "We appreciate it."

     "So, you're a Bori?" she asked me, as if it were first time she'd ever seen one. I gave her a confused look.

     "...Yeah. Why? Don't like Bori?" I smiled smugly at her, and she shook her head frantically.

     "No, no! I don't have a thing against them! It's just, you don't see Bori here in Neopia Central too often, you know?"

     I mulled over this for a second. She was right. During this time period all of the Bori were probably still up in Terror Mountain. They hadn't migrated yet.

     "Oh. Yeah. I forgot." There was a long pause, and I looked over at Kin just to have something to do. He was sticking his nose down the empty cup, trying to lick all of the extra hot cocoa off of the sides. "Er, nice place you've got here..." I said, just to break the silence.

     Malin grinned. "Thank you! It's my first place, you know. I just moved out on my own recently, and I'm going to school in the city. It's hard to get used to, but I like the thrill of living by myself. It's... different. There aren't any parents always..."

     "...Yelling at you," I finished, sticking my tongue out. The Cybunny nodded in agreement, and we both giggled a little.

     "Anyway, it's getting pretty late, and I think I'm going to go to bed. I need to get up tomorrow and go to my job. I work in a cute little cafe down Main Street."

     "Yeah, I know," I told her, completely not paying attention to what I was saying. I then realized that I'd only known that because I had read her journal, otherwise I should have known nothing about her.

     "How do you know?" she asked, looking a little suspicious.

     "Uh... I really don't, I just said that," I said. "Yeah... I'm weird."

     I sighed as I hopped off of the stool and grabbed Kin. Malin led me into a small room with a tiny bed. It was kind of mean of me, but I made Kin sleep on the ground. Better him than me, though. Besides, I gave him tons of blankets to sleep on.

     I tried to get to sleep, and wondered what would happen tomorrow. I knew that I could just read Malin's journal, but then again I didn't have it at the moment. Kin had hidden it somewhere, but I didn't know where yet. We'd have to get it tomorrow.

     I thought of the party, and if my parents were missing me, wondering where I was. They were probably worried about me. Lawne, too.

     I'd have to go back through the mirror tomorrow and check up with them.

To be continued...