(Untitled)

[ofmyderriere]

...hi! I'm Donna, I thiiiiink I'm kinda lost? I'm supposed to be in NYC right now? I was definitely in Bed-Stuy like, five minutes ago.

I have this tiny, itty-bitty emergency - the kind that needs a changing table as of approx. that five minutes ago - so if somebody could clue my ass in, that'd be great! And I would be grateful.

...anybody?

Comments

[morethanasuit]

The urgency of a diaper change waits for nothing, not even being transported into another reality.

[ofmyderriere]

You know it. Babies prioritize like you would not believe, starting with "ME ME ME".

[morethanasuit]

I know some adults like that. Maybe if they weren't potty trained people would actually pay attention to them, but for all the wrong reasons.

[ofmyderriere]

You just took me to a place I can never come back from that I'm not sure I wanted to go to :(

[bloodygoodluck]

You have a child with you? Do you need anything?

[ofmyderriere]

One (1) one-year-old, name of Sirja Tabitha.

Actually, um - a baby monitor? Do you know where I could pick one of those up? I've got diapers and stuff that'll get me through for a while (go NO WHERE without a baby bag, no lie) but I can't...have her strapped to me 24/7. Apparently.

[bloodygoodluck]

I can get that for you. Has someone given you a place to stay where I can drop these off?

[ofmyderriere]

That's really really nice of you, thank you! I'm still getting myself organized but I'm with Wanda right now, I think I could give you her address and you could drop it off to me here?

[caf_pow_girl]

Woah...A kid? Here?

Um...Do you have a place to stay?

[ofmyderriere]

A one year old, yep.

Working on that! We should be okay, it looks like 'baby' is the magic word to get half a dozen people leaping to take care of you. Hi!

[caf_pow_girl]

We don't have a lot of babies around here. For some of us it's exciting.

I'm Abby Sciuto. Do you need anything?

[ofmyderriere]

Parenthood is pretty exciting itself. I mean, crazy. But exciting.

I think I'm okay for now. Everybody's been really friendly to me! Like, damn, smalltown feel or what?

[runaway_drow]

Welcome to your new home, Miss. My name is Drizzt. If I may be of assistance in any way, please let me know.

[ofmyderriere]

Mrs. Thank you! I'll be sure.

action ][

[ofmyderriere]

There's actually something kind of exhausting about living the way Donna does - 150% technicolour dishonesty - and when you're starting from a baseline of tired and grieving anyway...well, a walk never hurt anybody. Clearing her head. Clearing Sirja's head, apparently, because her bright-yellow bundled-up baby is still on her hip, reaching for Mommy's hair and being prevented, because for such a tiny child she's got a hell of a grip.

...there is a lion. Looking at her.

Donna counts backwards from ten in her head. (Running makes you prey, she thinks.)

action ][

[ofmyderriere]

Donna is not sure what to make of this, because...the lion is talking to her and she is neither watching a movie nor drunk off her ass. There were no illegal drugs involved in today. She's pretty sure. And yet: the lion is talking to her. In a voice that sounds vaguely familiar, actually, but there is enough crazy going on without trying to figure out what that means, anyway.

"Y'know people hurt each other all the time without...eating...each other." The lion is talking and she is talking back to it. What is her life. "Because that's fucking gross, mainly," she adds, as an afterthought, because not even fear can effectively leash this woman.

Sirja is much, much too young to be afraid of lions - she performs a baby manoeuvre known as the abrupt violent lean towards Scar and burbles something that in a future life will probably mean 'kitty!'