Blue Diamond didn't understand many things in this universe. There were always things unknown, that was just a given. Their empire's technology didn't exactly happen instantly after all. There were things she simply didn't get. Nothing to be ashamed about.
Among them were these… entities. They weren't gems, they weren't organic either. They were just… intangible, invisible. Lesser gems denoted their existence. Without lack of anything concrete, Blue would have thought she was losing her mind, that she was somehow flawed. A facet of her life to ignore.
What was strange was that none of the humans seemed to notice their existence. They would occasionally express some expression of fear, but otherwise believed it to be nothing. The creatures, who she surmised were not humans going by their non-bipedal way of movement, seemed to spot them rather easily though.
She often had her Pearl go into the human village nearby to scope out any information she could. Not that Blue was overly curious about the phenomenon, it just seemed like something to do in idle while observing Pi-herformer colony.
Her Pearl clearly thought it was strange, but complied regardless. They were forged with loyalty after all. She was in no particular rush, the cycle known as 'months' would often pass without even seeing her Pearl. Blue didn't mind though—she was in no hurry to complete anything anymore… not even the anger of Yellow Diamond or disappointment of White Diamond seemed to phase her anymore.
When her Pearl came back, the information she retrieved could not had been more uncanny or ludicrous. "The humans…they believe in life…after shattering?" Blue Diamond questioned what her Pearl had reported to her superior.
"It does hold some merit, in a sense." The pearl mused. "Gem shards can function after being shattered, if only in segmented parts. It is only when melted down into nothing do they truly cease all activity." The Pearl idly looked upward. "The information I was able to gleam from their simplistic text tells that humans, beyond their fleshy exterior, have something known as a 'soul', which in simplistic terms, is their life energy. When the physical vessel is broken, the 'soul,' as it is referred to, breaks free and wanders aimlessly, without purpose other than obsession. They refer to this phenomenon as 'ghosts.'"
"...Aimless creatures filled with nothing but obsession." Blue muttered. "Perhaps that is what I have become in the last five thousand years." She certainly didn't feel like she had any direction in her life.
"My Diamond, you are far too grand to ever be compared to such a lowly state." Her Pearl instantly pleaded with niceties and platitudes, as was her purpose in life.
"And yet it seems all too fitting." Blue pondered. "I roam a land doomed to fall in not even fifty years, I carry the burden of grief I have yet to let go of, and I do so without purpose or meaning, other than to grieve and mourn." She looked out into the palanquin. "What is the purpose of a Diamond when she can't even muster the strength to let go?"
"You are stronger and more radiant than any gem could compare to be." Her Pearl stated.
"…" She glanced down. "What are your thoughts on… 'ghosts'?" Blue questioned. "No punishment, I need an objective second opinion." She clarified for honesty.
"Irrelevant." They noted. "If it can not be measured by data, it does not exist."
"You can witness the phenomena yourself, can't you?" She asked curiously.
"I cannot." The Pearl denied. "I followed your orders, but… neither I nor the organics are capable of witnessing this phenomenon. The logical conclusion is that either only diamonds can see it… or it… is an auditory glitch of sorts." They looked pained to consider such a possibility.
"...So… it's possible... I'm losing my sanity." She stated.
"My Diamond, such a notion-!"
"-Is completely possible… my grief has overwhelmed my being for so long I have begun seeing images that might not be there.." Blue felt herself chuckle… it was only slightly hollow. "I can only fall further and further down." And her pain expanded, just as it always did.
Pearl simply stood, withstanding the misery as always until it passed, the only change in expression being a single tear falling from their optics. "I truly am...an incapable Diamond…" Blue laughed bitterly as her tears fell from her face..a mixture of misery and relief overwhelming her body. "I am as useful as the pebbles that live in the cracks of Homeworld... I have no worth… no function…"
She gazed up at the so called 'ghosts' that might or might not exist, swirling and giggling above her head as if soaking in the world around her. How could she live in such a state? How could she go on?.. "This world is going to die, and… it's best I perish along WITH IT!" Her wave of despair spread out further…further than ever before, reaching spaces and nights she hadn't reached as she couldn't help but laugh.
Laughing at the absurdity..at the meaninglessness,laughing at herself… the useless, worthless,Blue Diamond. There was nothing to her existence now..except laughter… and sadness.
Let Yellow stew in anger. Let White mock her existence. she didn't care anymore. The mournful and depraved didn't care. She was but a distant husk of what she used to be…a hollow rock of a diamond now… nothing more than a ghost.
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Lucretia looked over the reports. "Mmm… America as a whole is starting to improve. We need to throw another tragedy in the mix."
"What if we made another 9/11?" Sir Alister suggested.
"Too soon, people would just brush it off too quickly and make tasteless jokes about it." Grimbella shut down. "We could cause another plague…"
"Unfortunately, we won't be able to replicate that level of mass devastation until sometime in 2019." Batholomew grumbled. "Vaccines and healthy habits have made it increasingly more difficult to produce a suitable virus."
"Blah, I blame the invention of soap." Grimbella gagged. "Suddenly EVERYONE needs to have 'standards' for their health. Those standards certainly didn't exist when I was alive, why should anyone else have the privilege?"
"Because science is inherently neutral." Bartholomew groaned. "People are just as likely to invent clean energy as they are global warming."
Such was the life of the Ghost Council. Would it be much easier to just cause a mass epidemic of hauntings all over the planet? Yes, yes it would. But there in laid a specific issue when it came to being a ghost... overexposure.
They needed to scare people, that was their duty, but over-satuation of ghost sightings reduced the scare-value. Thus, when the new chairman stepped in, a new system was decreed. The council would focus on the overall gains of the world as a whole, while lesser specters kept tabs on individual towns, causing misery either invisibly, or via the occasional small spook.
Hence why the council existed to begin with. Misery couldn't be chaotic. It needed to be monitored, sanctioned, and most of all… organized.
"Mmmmm." The chairman raised their head at the line of several scare meters floating in the air, looking almost curious.
"Is something the matter sir?" Lucretia questioned.
Raising a skeletal hand, he pulled a scare meter towards him and showed it to Sir Alister. "The scare meter for Seoul?"
"Korea?" Bartholomew asked. "I could have sworn they were miserable enough with that dictatorship thing."
"…They are." Sir Alister almost looked… terrified. "The scare meter… is off the charts!"
"Impossible, it can't-" Lucretia looked it over, freezing at the sight of the needle… going past the aquamarine area. "A hundred… and FIFTY percent!?"
"A hundred and fifty!?" Grimbella looked startled. "Are you sure it isn't busted? We DID banish the repair ghost to the Flow of Failed Phantoms for having a pleasant dream about a puppy."
"I'm… sorry… about… my smile…" Said ghost moaned from the flow above them.
"Hmmm." The Chairman raised his hand… and gave a thumbs up.
"…He can feel the misery… it's real." Bartholomew gasped. "Quick, which ghost is in charge of Seoul?"
"I don't believe we have one there. As you pointed out, the fear of war and dictatorship was more than enough to keep the misery levels in check." Lucretia went through the paperwork. "This... this a naturally occurring misery!"
"This is a hundred and fifty!" Grimbella argued. "Such a thing can't occur naturally! It's… unnatural!"
"Or maybe humans got scarier than we realized." Sir Alister mumbled. "Some of them WILLINGLY choose to fall off Niagara Falls in a barrel! And the things I've heard about what they do on the Internet. It's enough to bring ME nightmares about these so called... furries."
"But the highest that misery has ever gotten was in the thirties." Bartholomew said. "When we caused the stock market crash, it was at a hundred and thirty. This. THIS is… this would indicate an entire town was about to commit mass suicide."
Lucretia snapped her fingers. "Maybe it's Sob Goblins? They do have a tendency to gather in one place for a long while. It's how we got away with killing all those people in Jonestown." Cults were especially good at instilling misery and hopelessness into the depths of the human soul.
"It doesn't much matter what's causing the misery. What matters is how we can keep it running." Bartholomew brought it up. "We need to locate the source and make sure it NEVER stops."
"But are these levels safe?" Grimbella asked, prompting the Chairman to turn to her. The ghost in question shrank back in fear. "It's just that… if the readings stay too high, we'll lose the town as a source of misery. You know, since they'll all… join us here in the afterlife."
"But wouldn't that mean we have more ghosts to order around to permit more scaring?" Sir Alister pointed out. "It feels like a, as the humans would put it, 'win-win.'."
"One or two dead towns is fine and dandy." Lucretia argued. "But the reason we keep SobGoblins locked up in the afterlife is because they could cause an extinction. Imagine what would happen if this got out of-"
And the Chairman… raised his hand, ceasing all arguing. "Keep... the... misery... coming." And all was silent.
"...Has... Has he EVER spoken before?" Grimbella gasped after a full two minutes of stunned silence.
"Not in the last 927 years of his existence… if ever…" Sir Alister noted. "Alright, top priority. I'll send out an APB. Any ghost that can find the source of misery in Korea gets a year off. That'll motivate the slackers."
"Oooh, and we can punish those that fail to find it within a year by DOUBLING their workload!" Bartholomew cackled. "Which means more scare reports to read…"
"Which will mean more paperwork for us to notarize and organize!" Grimbella cheered. "Excellenet idea! I'll organize the paperwork for this authorization right now!"
"Hey, it was my idea, I should organize it!" Sir Alister called out indignantly.
And thus, the council went to one of their favorite activities… debate.
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Greg tried to idly strum a melody on his guitar as he walked through an old gate. "'Do not enter' signs are for chumps. The universe soars wherever… universe soars… meh." It seemed his lyrical slump joined him on his trip to the other side of the world.
Greg… was not exactly having the best time. He wasn't having the WORST time either, but it certainly wasn't the life he was dreaming of when he decided to pack his bags and live life on the road. His life was certainly nothing special. Heck, it was practically something straight out of an underdog movie. Boy raised in a strict house, boy has dreams, boy pursues dreams on the road, boy struggles at first, but boy wins at the end!
Well... he was currently stuck in the 'boy struggles' part of the story. His manager, Marty, wasn't exactly the inspirational type. He was more of the 'we better make money soon or I'm breaking your legs' type... or at least that was how Marty tried to present himself as. Greg could probably beat him up, but he wasn't a violent person.
Still, maybe he should try getting a new manager., Marty seemed… slightly unstable these days. What he did to Vidalia was not something he would wish on anyone. One week into her pregnancy, Marty deleted her phone number. Maybe he should have stuck around with Rose. It was fun to hang out with her, she was actually interested in his stuff… then again she was pretty flirty with that tall Pearl lady, so she was probably just a flirty person in general.
Greg sighed, trying another tune. "Stuck with no path, walkin' on anyway, to a road I don't know, anyday… hey, that one wasn't that bad!" He beamed. "Maybe this trip to the other side of the world won't be too bad."
After a few months of living on the road, Marty had a 'surefire' way of finally hitting the jackpot: Pandering to the foreign market. Well, Marty's words were 'expanding his potential fanbase,' but the way he worded it certainly felt like pandering. So, using pretty much what money they both had left, Marty paid for a one way trip to Seoul, Korea... And now placed the responsibility of getting an audience squarely on Greg's shoulders. Come on, brain, come up with something- "Are you blind?"
"Gah!" He jumped back, dropping his guitar in the process as he tripped on a log, landing on his back. Groaning from the pain, he raised his head and looked at what spooked him: a blue girl in a ballerina costume, a pointy, familiar-looking nose, pale blue skin, and long blue hair covering her face. "I… what?"
"The sign said no entry, are you incapable of reading?" Somehow the question didn't feel derogatory, but rather genuine. She also looked... vaguely familiar with her rather lanky figure. But her hair was covering her eyes, so Greg couldn't exactly place who this reminded him of.
"Uh... well, I don't speak Korean, so... No, I actually can't." He tried his best to come up with a believable excuse as he got up from the ground and dusted himself, placing the guitar on his back.
"I see." The lady seemed to buy his excuse, although her motionless expression made it hard to figure out whether she was disappointed or satisfied. "This area is restricted, please leave before I am required to use force." She warned.
"Right, right, I'm on-"
"Pearl, where are you?" a new voice asked.
"I'm over here, my Diamond. I found a trespassing human." …Human? What the heck was she talking about? Was she smoking something? Wait, was that why her skin was blue? "I am attempting to remove it from the premises as we speak."
"...Bring it over here." The voice… a soft one, full of melancholy, ordered. "I wish to see it."
"Are you certain about this plan of action, my Diamond?"
"Does it pose any threat?"
"Hmm." The blue lady, Pearl apparently (why did that detail sound so familiar too?), hummed, doing a once-over of his body and turning to the log he'd tripped over a couple of moments ago. "...No." The lanky figure grabbed his arm. "Come with me." And now she began pulling him towards where the voice came from.
"Hey, watch it." Greg tried to pull back... only to quickly realize this Pearl lady had a rather tight hold on him. He was pulled into a more open area, where he spotted a giant blue palanquin fancy people used to ride in sticking out from visible behind the bushes, along with a… "Giant woman." He whispered in wonder.
And giant she was, about fifty, maybe sixty feet tall. Wrapped in a navy robe that covered most of her body. The giant woman turned to him with tear filled eyes… diamond-shaped pupils staring into his soul. She was,without a doubt, the most stunning figure he had ever laid his eyes on.
"How peculiar… a human of all things making its way over to her place." The giant woman sniffed, before letting out a light laugh, but the laugh didn't contain any joy, just... sorrow. "Can a human even comprehend the significance of what happened here?"
Given the size of the woman, it was clear why she and the lanky lady were referring to him as human. Most people would probably try to run by now… Maybe it was just his love of taller ladies, or maybe he was just dumb, but Greg didn't feel like running away. "I... guess not." He answered, even though he was pretty sure the woman was being rhetorical. "Hey there… my name's Greg." He waved timidly. "What's yours?"
"This is Blue Diamond, one of the three leaders of the Gem Homeworld." The smaller lady explained.
"Gem… oh, that's why you look so familiar." He snapped his fingers. They must be the same type of people as Rose and those other two.
"So… you're intelligent enough to know what we are." The bigger lady didn't question as much as she stated. "Are you intelligent enough to acknowledge what sorrow is?"
"Yeah… yeah, I know a little bit about it." He nodded. "It hurt when I left my family behind."
"…You… left them?" She questioned, tilting her head in confusion. "Were they… not needed?"
"It's not like that." He clarified. "They just… didn't understand me." Greg sighed dejectedly. "They always pushed for things I didn't want, never acknowledged my feelings, always rejected my dreams because they went against their own ideas for what I should do with my life. I know I just said it hurt leaving them behind, but it… hurt just as much being around them. Maybe even more."
"..." the tall blue lady blinked. "...Didn't you tell them how this made you feel?'
"Several times. I tried to get them to understand. But nothing worked. Not yelling. Not being patient. So I had three choices." He held up three fingers, lowering them with each choice he listed."One: follow in their footsteps. Two: do whatever they told me to do, and three: leave. So... I chose to leave." Greg sighed, a small part of him still wondering if he did the right thing.
"Didn't they care about your disappearance?"
"I sent them letters- er, messages." He clarified. He wasn't quite sure if aliens had the same means of communication as humans did. "They never responded. Not after ten years."
"...They gave up on you?" The tall woman leaned down, allowing Greg to get a better look at her mournful, yet beautiful face. "Did they not make you? Weren't you one of their own? What… what sense is there in giving up on you?"
"It's… complicated." He rubbed the back of his head. "They told me my dreams would never amount to anything and get me nowhere in the real world… but I had to follow them anyway." Even if he was currently broke and stranded in Korea at the moment. "I couldn't take the… stagnation of everything. They never compromised or listened to what I had to say, so I… left. They never respected it."
The lady got closer to him as most of her tears seemed to disappear. She brought her giant finger close to his own face, and lightly pressed it against his cheek. "And yet… you are full of life… you do not despair?"
"Life doesn't always go the way you want." He responded with a shrug. "I even came up with a saying for it. 'If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs'." Greg smiled.
"...I do not know what either of them is." She lightly chuckled, very melodiously, he might add.
"Ah, here's another metaphor for ya." He smirked, looking around the area… "We wouldn't have the rainbow if everything was green?" He pointed to the sunrise coming over the hill, lighting up the flowers. "If everything was the same… then nothing would be unique. If everyone was special… then no one would be."
"...So you find joy... in not being perfect?" The woman asked in awe, scrunching her face in a cute way.
"One of the things that brings me joy." He nodded. " The other one is my passion. Music!"
"Oh, you perform harmonious sounds yourself?" She asked curiously.
"I do." He grinned as he pulled the guitar from his back. "I can come up with good melodies, but I'm having trouble with the lyrics so far. I actually came here to get some inspiration."
Her eyes twinkled. "And have you found it?"
Greg strummed. "All I wanna do, is sit back and listen to, a giant woman, a giant woman." He sang playfully. "All I wanna be, is a guy who's next to the, giant woman."
The woman… laughed… a happy laughter… a beautiful laughter. "You're singing about the joy of being around someone bigger than yourself?" She chuckled as the few tears left on her face seemed to completely disappear.
Greg answered by continuing to play. "All I want to do, is sing right next to, a giant woman, this blue giant woman, her eyes and smile make me feel so grand." He kept on strumming. "Oh, I know it feels great, and I just can't wait, to see that pretty blue smile. If she gives me a chance, I could do a little dance, and it'll make it all worthwhile."
"And he dances too." They chuckled some more. "Amusing, isn't it, Pearl?" The smaller girl gave a slight nod, and not much else.
"I could imagine life, the two of us together, it's not you aren't a fan it won't be forever." He strummed. "But if it were me, I'd want to sit next to the, giant woman, giant woman!" Greg held back laughter as he sang. "AllI want to do, is sit back and listen to, a giant woman…"
Next thing he knew, the giant woman picked him up. "Do you mean it? Would your life be that much more joyful if you spent time with me?"
"You seem pretty interesting." He smiled goofily. "How about I show you around the world?"
"... Shall I prepare the Zoo for its arrival, my Diamond?" The hairy Pearl girl asked. The what now?
"...No. I… believe we should stick around for a little while longer." The lady smiled. "I am in your care, little Greg." What do you know, going to Korea WAS a good idea, Marty.
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Pearl gently held the crying infant to her chest… the infant… the one that Blue sacrificed herself-no, don't let the bad thoughts take hold. Don't let them take hold. Just relax, stay calm. You've dealt with the tears before. These are the infant's tears, not hers.
"Okay, okay!" Greg Universe burst in, covered in sweat and carrying bags. "I've got seventeen diapers, a gallon of formula milk, and a little night light crib for him."
"I see." Greg Universe. the human that her Diamond… fell for. An honor that Blue's Pearl would never have. Not that she would ever even entertain such a thought. She was a Pearl, nothing more and nothing less. If her Diamond was happy, then she was happy.
…Which, sadly, only made her feelings towards Greg Universe making her Diamond happy all the more… complicated. A human, a creature lower than herself, managing to make her Diamond feel joy she hadn't felt in millenia… it should bring her joy to see her Diamond smile…
"He's still crying?" Universe snapped her out of her introspective.
"Yes, very much so." Pearl looked them over and handed him over to Greg. "Allow me to check the books again to see what methods we may have to calm him down." Just focus on your diamond first, that's how you got through life.
"There, there, Stu Ball, everything's alright." The human cradled the infant gently, rocking them back and forth in a soothing manner. The infant began getting quieter… it looked like even a mere child didn't require her when Greg Universe was around… "There we go, everything-"
"WAAAH!!" They cried, trying to bury themselves into Greg's stomach as the tears began anew.
"Everything is not okay." He groaned. "Got anything?"
Pearl picked up one of the books and flipped through the pages. "Is his diaper in need of changing?"
"No." Greg held the crying infant above his face and sniffed the baby's bottom. "No, the diaper's dry."
She flipped through it again. "Is it possible he's hungry once more?" From what she observed of Greg, humans had a tendency to eat more than what they required.
"I was out, when was the last time you fed him?" He asked.
"Uhh… five minutes ago?"
"Then he should be fine. oh, maybe burping." He gently, but firmly patted him on the back. "...Nothing."
She went through more pages. "Suckling…" Pearl mused. "Given Blue is… incapacitated…" For lack of more pleasant words. "Maybe I can substitute with my own chest?"
"...Are you sure?" Greg looked uncomfortable for some reason. "I know Blue could shapeshift, but I've never seen you do it before."
"It'll be unpleasant, but if it's for the child, I can-" Pearl paused, letting Greg's words sink in. "...Why would shapeshifting be necessary for this task?" She sent him a look.
"...well…you know... because… there's..." Greg muttered.
"There's what?" She persisted.
"There's… nothing there." Greg blushed.
"...Nothing there?" She felt a twinge of annoyance. "I have a chest, it's not an intangible substance of some kind." She poked him on his chest. "And my studies have shown that it is the female form of chest that is preferable to the action of suction among mammalian creatures."
"It's a nursing thing." He argued. "You know, because that's where…" He blushed again. "The milk comes from."
"This is an act of comfort, nutrition is what the formula's for." She pointed out. "The objective is to stop his crying… their powers are too unstable at this stage." She gestured to the infant causing both of them fear and trauma.
"I know, the neighbors are starting to question why they cry all the time." Universe groaned. "…You think it's the environment?" He asked. "We can try somewhere more serene."
"From what I understand, Seoul is supposed to be very serene compared to most places on this planet." She rebutted.
"I know, but maybe someplace… more isolated." Greg slowly suggested. "Blue was in an empty field for years before we met… maybe Steven here inherited her tastes in scenery."
Inheritance… a concept Pearl had to quickly learn in relation to the infant. Everything that ever was and would be Blue Diamond now applied to the infant. Everything Blue Diamond owned now belonged to the infant. The handship, the court, the colonies… herself… all of it belonged to the infant… an infant she wasn't sure even knew she existed,let alone needed her. "Blue sought isolation due to the proximity of Pink Diamond's palanquin. I doubt the infant would be aware of such information."
Greg looked at her as he sat down. "I know what I'm about to say can sound insensitive given… honestly everything you've been through just trying to help me … but Steven's been born for one month now and… you haven't said his name once."
She pondered that. "Human names are… strange." She noted. "It's difficult to grasp every member of your species having a separate name not based on your attributes."
"You still gotta say it." He argued.
"It does not matter if he can not recognize said designation."
"It does matter, Pearl. He needs to trust that you're going to take care of him… as much as I trust you." He stated. "Steven is going to look up to you his whole life. He needs to know that you're going to be there for him."
They looked down at the child… the scared… trembling child… and gave it a shot. "Greetings, Steven Diamond." She bowed. "I am happy to be at your service, even if you do not understand it as such?"
The baby looked at her with his… eyes that didn't know her history or what was going on around him- "bah…" The baby… smiled… as it clapped lightly. "Bah…"
"See, he knows you're calling out to him, so now he's calling out to you." Greg pointed out.
"But those words mean nothing." Pearl tried to insist.
"They mean he likes you." Greg grinned as he presented the infant to herer. "Come on Pearl, hold him. I'm sure he won't cry this time."
She did so as before, holding him tightly. "Hello, My Diamond."
The child giggled… before seemingly staring at a wall… "WAAAAAHHHH!!!" And the tears began flowing once more, along with a sense of… comfort as he buried himself into her for… safety she could provide… a lovely feeling.
In spite of the tears, Her Diamond... her ..Steven… they relied on her for comfort… they wanted her... Pearl… she was needed again… she was wanted… she was useful.
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Molly watched as her family packed away bags. "Soooo, we're going on a trip?" Moving, such a weird term. Very hard to understand.
"Something along those lines, sweetie." Her dad answered with a funny shaky smile.
"...Awesomesause!" She exclaimed. "Where are we going? The Alps for infinite snow days? Hawaii for infinite beach days? France for its very big tower we can bungie jump off of!?" A vacation that went on forever and ever sounded fun!
"Slow down there, eager beaver, we're not having a French vacation…no matterhow much I wanted it for our honeymoon." Mom muttered. "That lottery ticket could have done the trick… and then the roaches won" She made her funny angry face.
"That was an eventful January." Dad laughed as he pulled her baby brother out of the garden, playing with the dirt and weeds. "Come on Darryl, let go of the worms, we already got you disinfected from them last week."
"Wrm Fadt." Darryl kept putting the gross things in his mouth.
"Yes, yes they are." He chuckled fondly.
"So, where are we going then?" Molly asked. "California? Mexico? Oh, are we going to visit Gram-Gram for a month?"
"No Gram-Gram!" Mom shook her head rapidly and spread out her arms. "We are… going to South Dakota."
"Oh… what's in South Dakota?" She asked.
"Well,uh... the original recipe for George Washington's favorite ice cream." Dad explained. "Mount Rushmore… Buffalo… Buffalo burgers… tall trees…" he paused. "...Did I mention Buffalo yet?"
"You did… sounds awesome!" She squealed. "Trees, burgers, MOUNT RUSHMORE!" The cool presidents of the world! "I can't wait to tell everyone about it when we come back!"
Her parents shared a weird look with each other. "Uhh… you mind watching Darryl? I think I should be the one to have this talk." Dad offered Mom her baby bro.
"Of course, honey. Come on, Darryl." Mom picked her brother up. "Let's do a run by all the neighbors that babysat you once last time. I think we can get one more funny scare out of them." She walked away from her and Dad with Darryl.
"They gave us so much candy just to stop Darryl from climbing on the roof." Molly laughed.
"Molly… you know how you've made a lot of friends here?" Her dad started. "And how much you love making new friends?"
"Uhuh." She nodded with a grin.
"Well… this trip… is going to be your chance to make new friends. New… permanent friends." Dad continued. "Friends you're going to see more often than... the friends you have here."
"...Why can't I stay with my old friends?" She asked.
"Because… Dad's job is… not paying so well." He winced. "I gotta go so we can make money for everyone… so we can have things like a house, food, a working car, water, electricity, bills… bills… bills…" He stared off into the distance.
"Dad?" She poked him.
"Ah! Sorry, I zoned out." He shook his head. "But I swear it's only a temporary setback, we won't have to move ever again!"
"...Okay…" She nodded slowly. She… wouldn't see her friends again…
"Cheer up, Mols." He rubbed her head. "Don't you know? As long as you keep a positive attitude, the world is positive right back to you."
"...Really?" Molly asked, ecstatic. "I can make the whole world smile with my own smile?!"
"Every person makes a difference." Dad grinned. "More than you'll ever know even."
"I can make a difference…" Molly grinned more than she'd ever grinned before, and that was saying a lot!. "I can make everyone happy! I... I can… I can hopify the world! Wait, no, that's not it, goodify! No, not that either…"
"Make the world happy?" He threw his two cents.
"Happy… happify… too small, I'll workshop it later." She shook her head. "Now then, to the car ride of funsies!" She jumped on the car. "Ownwads, to our new forever home!"
"Molly, you can't ride on top of the car." Mom told her sternly after quickly running back to them, her baby bro babbling happily and obliviously on her shirt. "We've had this conversation ten times before."
"With duct tape and a dream, anything is possible!" She shouted, undeterred. "Just like that hole in the wall Dad bribed me to never-" Molly quickly covered her mouth.
"...Pete… what hole is she talking about?" Mom glared at Dad. "It's not the hole above our bedroom that you said just formed from a water leak in the pipes, is it?"
"...I forgot to pack the cooler, I'll get right on that!" Dad ran back inside their soon-to-be old house.
"Just because I'm holding the baby doesn't mean I won't chase you! He's had two frozen yogurts this afternoon, and he's packing in a full diaper!"