Tenz the Artist

      Jungle laughed and used her tail to pick up a tool that lay nearby. She used it to adjust one of the levers, though Tenz couldn’t tell what the problem with it was. When she was done though she seemed satisfied and answered her older brother’s question.

      “It’s for Forest and Dred,” Jungle explained, testing the strength of one of the handles on one side, and turning one of the knobs. The top flew open causing the mutant to jump surprised.

      “What is it for?” He asked looking into it suspiciously with one head keeping the other well out of range of the box. It was empty but roomier than it appeared from the outside.

      “It’s for collecting things from underwater,” She explained and pointed to another knob. She unscrewed it, exposing a hole from which Tenz guessed water would pour out. “It is waterproof, actually, inside and out so it can hold water if need be or keep things dry for them.”

      “That’s amazing, but why all the knobs and handles?”

      “To make it easier to carry,” She picked it up from various angles. “And some of the knobs and levers are decoys. So no one can steal the contents unless they follow the proper pattern. Care to try it? Be careful though right now it spits vinegar at you if you use the wrong steps to open it. Of course, Dred and Forest can put whatever deterrent they want in it, as long as it's a liquid, though with some tweaking I could make it so it could shoot out solids of some sort.”

      “I’m sure it is fabulous the way it is,” Tenz smiled wryly, pulling his heads out of the spraying distance, or at least what he hoped the spraying distance was. Jungle was still considering the box somewhat critically. “They will love it. I don’t think I have the head, er heads for inventing.”

      “Hmmm,” Jungle answered, but he could tell her mind was already somewhere else. He excused himself and left her to fine-tune her invention.

     --

      “Tenz, er, I know it's a tree, but that is more than enough water,” Bandy took the hose out of his brother’s hand and covered the opening partially with his paw to spray it on the other nearby plants. The ground where they stood was now quite muddy.

      “Oh, no, Bandy, I’m sorry,” Tenz apologized, slithering out of the mud, careful not to crush any of his brother’s many other plants. “I got distracted, I’m sorry.”

      “It’s okay,” the plushie Bori replied, offering him the hose. “Get those plants over there will you. Try not to hit the leaves, water the ground around them, otherwise, the sun will burn their leaves. I’m going to go turn off the hose but you should have enough time to water them.”

      “My tomatoes, you’re keeping them alive aren’t you,” Tenz asked as he watched the Bori skillfully make his way through the various flowers he’d grown.

      The garden belonged to all of them, but Bandy was the one who looked after it most. They were welcome to grow whatever they wanted, as long as they consulted Bandy on its placement. This wasn’t a strict rule, but as the Bori was the family’s most skilled gardener they always deferred to his judgment. If they didn’t or forgot to ask, their plants always died or did poorly till Bandy moved them to a better place. He took care of the garden and most of his sibling’s plants, even if they didn’t ask.

      Tenz had asked his brother to let him take care of his tomatoes on his own. They had been, quite honestly, doing quite poorly, till recently. He suspected that Bandy had begun to take care of them. Bandy couldn’t bear to see plants doing poorly in the garden.

      “I’m sorry, Tenz,” Bandy answered, handing his head shamefully. He wouldn’t look at his brother as he turned the knob for the water. “Really I am, I just couldn’t- they really were very strong plants, I hardly did anything really.”

      “It’s okay, Bandy, I just wanted to know,” Tenz replied as the hose slowed and stopped. “They came from your seeds, of course, they were strong. I honestly just wanted to know if I was any good at gardening.”

      “Of course you are,” Bandy said, too hurriedly, with a forced smile on his face. Tenz smiled back with both his mouths, hoping the expression looked genuine and not as fake as his brother’s.

      It was no secret that Tenz had been having a hard time finding what he was good at. He had already tried mapmaking with their sister Scarlet and cooking with their brother Steel. While trying his hand at teaching with Kookie, he had gotten tongue-tied. Sailing with his sister Forest and brother Dred, he’d gotten seasick. Forest had cured that but it had ended his career as a pirate.

      He had tried out every one of his family members’ passions but none seemed to fit him. Tenz wasn’t sure that they would, but he wanted to try. Nothing really seemed to call to him as they did for his siblings. They all seemed so sure about what they did, and they all were so naturally good at it. Even their mom had a talent that she was proud of, she loved to write and was always scribbling something down, even when she was cooking or doing chores.

      All he wanted was something he was good at, something that he enjoyed as much as his siblings enjoyed their talents and hobbies. He didn’t have to be terribly good at it, just have fun doing it. The real problem was, he was running out of things to try.

     --

     “Alright what’s bothering you,” Steel, a Darigan Poogle, hit his brother on one of his heads with his spoon. Tenz looked up, startled. He’d been stirring a pot of sauce for him lost in thought.

     “Ow, what was that for?” Tenz protested.

     “You keep sighing, why?” Steel asked, as he tasted something from one of the other pans and adjusted the heat on the stove. He was rather thick and short but he moved around the kitchen gracefully moving pots and pans and grabbing bowls and bottles of ingredients, adding them to this or that.

     “No reason, I’m just bored, waiting for dinner to be done,” He lied. He wasn’t sure why he had lied to Steel. Steel and Tenz had been roommates in the pound together. In the pound, he’d always taken care of the Poogle but Steel had really come out of his shell since those days. As he predicted, Steel saw right through him, raising one eyebrow.

     “Uh-huh,” he replied, doubtfully.

     “Don’t look at me like that,” Tenz protested, as Steel shoved a spoon in each of his mouths. “It’s good.”

     “Needs salt,” the Poogle disagreed. “Now are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or do I have to wait till mom gets home and pries it out of you. You know she will if you keep sighing like that.”

     “I wasn’t- I just- alright fine,” Tenz replied. “I haven’t found my thing, you know.”

      “Ah, your thing,” Steel replied as he continued to cook. He referred occasionally to the open cookbook on the counter. Several passages had been underlined or crossed out. His messy handwriting littered the page. “Well, maybe you’ll get some inspiration from the safety deposit box. Mom keeps all manner of junk in there. That’s what inspired me and Bandy. Plus it's a great place to hide from mom while you mope.”

      “I’m not mo-” Tenz started to protest but when his brother turned to smirk at him he could tell Steel was only teasing him. “I’ll go look.”

     --

      “Lights out,” Tenz jumped when he heard his mom’s voice in the doorway. “Wow, Tenz that looks just like Nimz, did you paint that?” She came into the room and picked up the discarded paint-your-own sandan box off the floor. He had painted the sandan that sat drying on his window sill and decided to use the rest of the paint to try to paint a picture of his own petpet he lay asleep on his bed. The Tyrannian Ettaphant was a rather lazy creature so he was a good model.

      “Yeah,” Tenz said, hesitantly. “I’m sorry mom, I should have asked. I went in the safety deposit box looking for- well anyway I found that in the back and I didn’t think you would mind if I-”

      “No, not at all,” She laughed, coming closer to look at it. “When you’re finished I’d love to hang it in the living room. You should do one of the family, though I suppose it would be tricky to get you in it too.” She looked at the picture thoughtfully.

      “Oh, I was just doing this to pass the time, but you can have it if you really like,” Tenz replied sheepishly. He had a feeling his mom was just praising his picture the way she praised everything they made. She was their mom after all, forever and always supportive of all they pursued.

      “Oh,” She answered, sounding somewhat disappointed, he wasn’t sure why. Her frown quickly faded however and she hugged him. “Well, it’s lights out. Get some rest.”

     --

      Tenz moved his picture to the living room the next morning and hung up with all the other artwork he and his siblings had made over the years. Their mom insisted on keeping everything of course. It certainly stood out among some of the artwork that his siblings had done when they were younger. Though he would never be so bold as to say it was a masterpiece it certainly wasn’t a finger painting and it did stand out among the other pieces on the wall.

      He went back to his room to take another look at the sandan he had painted the evening before. It still stood on the window sill, though now fully dry. The statue was a fairly good likeness. The colours were correct anyhow, but there was something off about it, but he was sure it wasn’t his painting that was the issue.

     --

      “Why are you asking me, I can’t even see it Tenz,” Kookie protested as Tenz lead her to his room. She could have found it on her own. Kookie may have been blind but she could find her way around the house as easily as any of her seeing siblings, better even. Seeing or not Tenz was sure she would be the best one to ask about his sculpture.

      “Just lo-just, I want you to be the first, okay,” Tenz answered, pulling her along behind him. “I just want your opinion, okay. It's supposed to be a sandan, I didn’t have a real model of course as none of us have one, but well, you know, I just-I just want your opinion.”

      “Alright, alright, Tenz, calm down, I’m sure it’s good,” Kookie stumbled as he pulled her into his messy room. He hadn’t meant to make a mess, but it just sort of happened while he was sculpting. He had gotten very engrossed in his work. “Your room smells like clay.” She wrinkled her nose but continued to let him guide her to the statue. It was dry so there was no risk of her smudging the details or making an indent in the clay.

      “Just feel it, and tell me what you think.” Tenz insisted again. He moved one of her paws to it.

      She ran her paws over it for several minutes before saying anything. Her face gave nothing away.

      “Tenz, is this a prank, where did you get this? Is this one of your friend’s petpet or something?” she said finally. Kookie raised the statue to her nose. She wrinkled her nose with a confused expression on her face.

      “What are you talking about?” Tenz asked, confused.

      “Where did you get this,” Kookie continued. “It smells like clay but it feels like fur. You really made this?

      “Yes-”

      “It's amazing Tenz, I thought, you really made this? It feels like it could be a real sandan. You should show this to mom, she’ll flip. Have you painted-oh wait, of course, you haven't. I don’t smell any paint on it.”

      “Is it truly?” Tenz asked, a wide smile spreading across both his faces. He was beginning to suspect he had finally found his talent.