I'm Wooden & I'm Unique
Growth Prompt: Poor Willow, such a hard headed little babe! She's really discovering the world and has finally discovered something major to differ her from her siblings - something that helps her realize what kind of artificial she is. Solo Willow.
Prompt Summary: Stuff.
Prompt Response: Willow finished breakfast and set out to explore the house, it was just another average day. This house was huge and at times, she found it wondrous and strange. Every day she found something new, this house held many secrets. Just the other day she found out that if you pulled a certain book in the library, it opened up a door to a passage. The passage led to one of the sitting rooms. She was almost positive there were more of these passages but as fascinating as all that was that was not what she was out to find. What she enjoyed most was checking out the different surfaces and the way certain things felt.
----
Victoria with a basket of dirty laundry bumped the door open with her hip. She pushed it the rest of the way open with her shoe. While she refused most of the modern ways, there were certain things she refused to do without like the washing machine and dryer. She took a couple steps forward towards the washer so that she could set the basket down but found herself tripping over what she assumed was the rug.
Willow popped her head out from the clean laundry she had dumped on the floor. Mildly shocked she squeaked, "Sorry." She was currently busy rubbing a piece of lace something or other against her face.
Victoria hearing the voice peeked over her basket of laundry before taking another step forward. She was mildly miffed to find the clean laundry strewn across the floor. "What are you doing Willow?"
"I tried climbing in the dryer but it was too cramped so I dumped them on the floor." Willow sifted through the laundry and pulled out a pair of Alex's denim overalls. After feeling it she frowned, it was rough.
"You do realize that now we'll have to wash them again."
"Are you mad?" Willow asked as she felt up one of Alison's cotton skirts.
"No," Victoria, who had finally sat the basket down, knelt and sat next to Willow. "There are worse things you could do. Like come running into the house covered in mud and track it all way to the bathroom."
"That's Alex," Willow grinned.
Victoria winked.
"How come Auden hates clothes?" Willow felt her own outfit she was wearing. It was a mixture of textures.
"I wish I could give you an answer," Victoria laughed. She put an arm around Willow and pulled her closer to her. "Just don't you start running around naked and I'll be just fine with you pulling the clean laundry out of the dryer anytime."
Willow leaned against her mom and enjoyed the closeness. This was one of the best feelings there was. "So what is your favorite feeling?"
"I really like a nice fuzzy blanket. There is nothing better that snuggling up in one. How about tonight I tuck you in with one of my favorites."
"I'd like that."
Before standing, Victoria kissed Willow on the forehead. "I really should get a load going. Alex is a pretty messy girl."
Willow scooped up an arm full of clothes, "I can help."
"Thank you."
----
Mid afternoon found Willow in the garden. She was sitting amongst the flowers with her hands in the dirt. Since she had come to live here she had taken up the task of taking care of the garden. Currently she was busy ridding the area of weeds.
Alex leaned over the fence and watched Willow. "Whatcha doing?" The tip of her tail flicked back and forth showing off her mild curiosity.
"Clearing the weeds from around the flowers. Weeds are greedy." Willow mentally laughed. Now that she thought about it Alex was a lot like a weed. The only difference was that she loved her sister.
"Want help?" Alex asked as she climbed the fence. The cuff of her overalls caught on the point of the fence. She jerked her leg to get herself free. There was nothing graceful about her as she fell forward and landed on her face. "I'm okay." She used the back of her hand to wipe her face off but only succeeded in adding more dirt.
Willow tried her best not to outright laugh. While half of what her sister did was not flattering it was stuff that made her, her. She untied the apron and pulled it from around her waist. After making sure there was nothing in the pockets, she handed it to her sister, "here."
"Thanks." Alex used the apron to clean her face off the rest of the way.
"You really dinged yourself up on that fall."
"Nah I'm just fine." She gave a thumbs up and wore a wide grin.
"You may say that but I'm sure that mom is going to notice the knot on your forehead and I'm almost certain you'll have a black eye the morning."
Alex shrugged her shoulder. "I've fallen enough that I don’t really feel a thing."
"Oh okay. I guess so." Willow reached for a week next to the roses and jerked her hand back when she felt the thorn graze her finger.
Alex went wide-eyed when she saw her sisters eyes go wide. "You okay?" She grabbed her hand and inspected it. "Just a scratch. You're not even bleeding!" Her tail waved excitedly. "That is totally cool. Even the smallest cut makes me bleed."
Willow was about to dismiss the not bleeding thing but found she could not. She could not remember bleeding or bruising at any one since she had hatched. She was not a klutz but she was not perfect either. She had bumped into her fair share of things, even stubbed her toe once. It has all hurt but there was no physical evidence that it had occurred.
"Something wrong?" Alex's tail wilted and she nudged her sister.
Willow shook her head as she came out of her musing. "Yes," she smiled, "a-okay!"
"Good," Alex no longer concerned swayed her tail happily once more. "So how can I help you out?"
Willow proceeded to instruct Alex on how to pull weeds without bothering the surrounding flowers.
----
Willow was still patting her hair dry when she knocked on Alison's door. It was nearly bedtime. Ever since that moment in the garden, she had been deep in thought. However, she had made sure no one knew this. She was waiting for when the house settled. She could have gone to mom but she wanted to go to someone more her age. "May I please come in?"
Alison closed her book as she looked towards the door. "Yes." She glanced at her bed and realized it was littered with books. She pushed them all off onto the floor so that Willow would have a place to sit.
"Thank you," Willow closed the door behind her and came to sit by her sister.
"Something the matter?" Alison questioned. She was almost curious enough to ask if Willow was having one of those growing pain moments. If that was the case she was not sure how she was going to handle that one.
"I don't know." Willow uncharastically shrugged her shoulders. "Do you bleed and bruise? Alex does."
"I wear long skirts for a reason," Alison gave her sister a small smile. "I'm not all that great on two legs and I often fall. The palms of my hands and my knees are really banged up. I thought about putting on some knee pads but decided against it when I realized how ugly it would make me look."
"Oh."
"Why do you ask?"
"I don't. I was just wondering why," she paused, "you know why I'm so different."
"Nothing in this world is the same. There is always something, even if miniscule, that makes us different." Alison wished she could say something more that would make her sister feel better. "I personally like that I am different."
"You do?"
"Yes. Can you just imagine with I had our brother's bottom half and my wings. Or if I somehow managed to grow a tail like Alex's." Alison crinkled her nose. "I'm the way I was meant to be."
Willow smiled. 'Hatched the way we are meant to be,' she told herself mentally. It made her feel better about her being different. "Why do you think it is that I don't bleed or bruise and that for the most part I'm pretty durable?"
"Because," Alison took her sisters hand and held them up, "you see our skin is different."
Willow had hugged her siblings and her mother frequently but had never taken up much thought in the difference to the way it felt. She squeezed her hand and felt how soft Alison felt.
"I am of skin, scales, and feathers," Alison grinned. "Auden is of skin, scales, and on occasion hair. Horses have hair. I don't know why they call it hair. And, Alex is of fur and fluff. You are of-" she was about to say it when Willow said it for her.
"Wood."
"Yes."
"But trees bleed. They bleed sap. I don't bleed or bruise."
"You aren't a tree, you are a person. A person made of wood. More importantly you are unique."
Willow nodded her head. "Thank you."
"You know there is a fairytale about a wooden boy. The book title is Pinocchio. Tomorrow I can help you find it in the library and we can read it together."
"Okay. I would like that."
Alison grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked her sister playfully. It was time to lighten things up.
"Hey," Willow laughed and grabbed the other pillow off the bed. With both hands gripping the pillow she smacked her sister.
It was on!
Quote:
Point Tallies
* Willow Prompted Writing - 4 points
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