(Untitled)

[hear_the_voices]

A long, long, long time ago -- months and months and months -- Anna met The Man Who Likes Cake and Pie. And he gave her a present -- a little vial of something that would make any paint she added it to the right kind of paint for painting flowers

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[changeinasnap]

And hey, look, there's the guy now!

"Oh, nice," he says approvingly from a few paces behind, a half-eaten lollipop in hand. "Very nice. I like the shading there."

He gestures with the candy.

[changeinasnap]

"Yeah, I pretty much make my own fun," he agrees, cheerily. "It's awesome."

To punctuate, he brushes a wide spiral of red over the grass.

It, too, sprouts legs -- and great big googly eyes -- and blinks up at Anna curiously.

[hear_the_voices]

Anna drops her own paintbrush in surprise, and blinks back at the . . .

The . . .

Um.

"Hello," she tells it, to be polite, and then turns back to the Man Who Likes Cake and Pie. "What is it?" she asks, in a whisper.

[changeinasnap]

"...You know, I've got no idea," he whispers back. "You wanna name it?"

The creature doesn't seem at all perturbed at the fact that it doesn't have a name. Hopefully, it coils its way a little closer to Anna.

[hear_the_voices]

"Okay."

It should have a name. Everyone should have a name.

Anna looks at the swirl creature.

The swirl creature looks at Anna.

Hmmmmmmm.

"Harvey," she says, decidedly.

[changeinasnap]

The newly named Harvey the Swirl Creature blinks again, then lets out a happy noise like a slide whistle (...from where, no one knows) and skitters a couple steps closer to Anna.

"Ah, looks like you made an excellent choice," he declares.

[hear_the_voices]

Anna beams at him, and then looks back down Harvey.

"Hello, Harvey," Anna tells the Swirl Creature. "I'm Anna.

"It's very nice to meet you."

[changeinasnap]

Harvey whistles again, and, with as much formality as a critter like him can muster, extends one of its front legs for Anna to shake.

[hear_the_voices]

Anna, with as much formality as a ten-year old can muster, shakes the extended leg.

He's a very polite paint swirl, really.

[changeinasnap]

How he managed to come from the mind of this guy is an unfathomable mystery for the ages.

...Okay, maybe not so much, considering he's around Anna, but nonetheless.

"Here." He offers his own brush to Anna. "Wanna make him a sibling?"

[hear_the_voices]

"That's a really good idea. So he won't get lonely."

Anna considers for a moment, and then paints a blue paint swirl that is roughly the same size as Harvey.

[changeinasnap]

Nothing happens right away. (It's more dramatic like that.)

Then, sloooowly, the swirl peels itself up off of the grass, legs poppoppop!ing into existence, and blinks open two huge googly eyes of its own. Harvey returns the blink, startled, and tiptoes closer.

Swirl Creature #2 seems to be much more outgoing than Harvey, if the loud whistle and the way it launches itself into Anna's arms are any indication.

[hear_the_voices]

"Hello," she tells it, laughing. "I'm Anna.

"You're going to need a name, too.

"What do you think of Janine?"

She's asking both the Swirl Creature in her arms and The Man Who Likes Cake and Pie.

[changeinasnap]

"Ooooh," he says, clearly impressed by the choice.

Janine tries to imitate him to get her approval on the record, too: the whistling rises and falls at nearly the exact same pitch.

[hear_the_voices]

And Harvey -- who may not be as outgoing as his new blue sister but who has already begun to figure out how sibling rivalry works and is anxious not to be forgotten about -- adds his opinion, too, in another immitation of the ooooh of approval.

Anna beams.

"That's all settled, then," she says. "Harvey and Janine."