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Green eyes stared blankly into nothingness, hands meticulously folding and unfolding the same blanket that had been in her grasp for the past twenty minutes. While she was there physically, standing in the comfy den of the wooden cabin, she was mentally in another place outside of her home and the safe haven of the surrounding woodlands. Of course she was blissfully unaware of this, perfectly content to dwell on her thoughts from earlier that day while her hands set up the pretense that she was doing her chores.
Her mother, however, was not fooled. She laughed quietly to herself as she watched her daughter fold the blanket for a sixth time, that all-too-familiar glazed and dreamy look on her face. Ireth was used to this by now; Trudy was always off in her own little world and loved to tell her mother about them later on, with much gusto and great embellishment. Something was different about this one though, and the elf wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
Ireth cleared her throat and added a tunic to the neat little pile on top of the table, thumping Trudy on the back as she grabbed the next article to be folded. “Creators, girl, that blanket shall be able to fold itself when you’re done with it!”
Trudy snapped to attention, rubbing her back absentmindedly as she brought herself back to the present. “Huh? Oh, right.” she hastily folded the blanket and set it to the side, grinning sheepishly. “I was at that strange tavern, on the other side of the woods.”
“Aha.” Ireth said as she continued with her task, amusement laced in her voice. “And what be so strange about this place?”
“Everything!” Trudy said incredulously, her eyes wide as she once again returned to the place. “There are so many……things there that I’ve never seen before! Including the people! There are these elves there of all different shapes and sizes!”
“Oh no….”
“Like….” she continued excitedly, trying to find the words to explain this to her mother. “There are really short ones, and some like you, and….really tall ones, with ears like mine!” She missed the sound of Ireth snorting into the pair of trousers she had in her hands, the woman shaking with mirth. Trudy still could not grasp the fact that elves weren’t the only beings around. Everything was an elf. “And there was this……this…..one elven woman….”
Ireth wiped her leaking eyes onto the leg of the pants, cocking an eyebrow at the change of tone in her daughter’s voice. She turned slightly to look behind her, that same dreamy look on Trudy’s face, her green eyes misty. “Oh? What about her?”
“She had hair unlike any I have ever seen.” Trudy stared off into nothingness once more, sighing wistfully. “It was the color of a candle flame shining brightly in the darkness; like a beacon to weary travelers at night, welcoming them home after a long day’s journey. She was the most beautiful sight I have ever witnessed.”
Ireth giggled quietly to herself, coughing shortly to regain control. “Sounds to me you fancy her! “
Trudy snorted and arched an eyebrow, once again snapping back to the present as her cheeks flushed slightly. “Fancy her? What utter nonsense! I have never even heard of such an expression.” She carefully folded another article of clothing, ignoring the *smack!* that came from behind her. “How can someone be fancy? Don’t fancy things break? That sounds dangerous. And painful.”
“You have no idea how right you are about that, my child.” Ireth muttered quietly, her hand still on her forehead. She sighed and rubbed the spot ruefully, regretting the smack from moments before.
The two continued to fold the clean laundry in silence, until a light bulb finally went off in Trudy’s brain. “OOOOOOOOH! You mean how you feel about that travelling merchant from the Dalish clan on the other side of the forest?” She felt her mother stiffen behind her and grinned mischievously. “He is quite fetching mother, I approve.”
Ireth felt the heat radiate from her face as she sniffed derisively and gathered the folded laundry in her arms. “Do you not have something you should be doing?!”
Trudy grinned to herself in triumph as her mother stalked away, knowing that she was not really sore at her for making such a claim. Trudy skipped off towards the front door, nabbing the long bow standing next to the frame and pulling the well-stocked quiver over her shoulder. The door closed behind her as she bounded off of the front porch, Jinx appearing next to her as they disappeared into the woodlands, Trudy’s mind once again drifting to the elven woman with the flame red hair, a small smile on her face.