A Story Inside the Story!

Mrah! I said I wasn’t going to write anything but I’m at the library with a friend and we’re practicing writing stories! So I’m going to write about the story of a cat named Sri, her human friend Ellie, and their mutual acquaintance Tobes that they’ve known forever but don’t remember how they met. They live in a semi-magical world, a bit of magic and a bit of technology, and all we know about them so far is that they have this dream of opening their own shops next to each other overlooking the sea. So I’ll write about them starting to find that spot.

Sri, Ellie, and Tobes had been hiking quite a while along the unclaimed wilderness, using the sea coast and the stars to roughly guide them away from their former life. Tobes had turned out to be a capable forager and hunter to keep them supplied, and Ellie’s intuitive cooking skills had kept them fed. Sri wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she tried to be helpful by pointing out interesting things and forming elaborate theories about them. Sometimes this gave Tobes and Ellie ideas of their own, and something interesting would happen afterwards. Ellie would say, with chiding affection, that was Sri’s special magic. Sri decided to think of it as a compliment because of the affectionate tone, and also thought the world of Ellie because she was a cool and capable human.

It was getting quite late, with the sun starting to dip below the distant horizon comprised of tall pines and (as Sri had excitedly pointed out) many kinds of nut-bearing trees. Tobes, silent as always, had unslung his backpack and began assembling the tents around a circle of stones that he had placed for the cooking fire. Ellie had already started prepping her cooking utensils alongside the ingredients that were available: some salted pork, a number of foraged root vegetables, and spices. Sri busied herself with gathering firewood with great enthusiasm, gleefully looking for the most aesthetically-pleasing logs with the best smell and level of dryness. Sri loved making campfires, especially because she liked it when they died down into a heap of glowing ashes that were perfect for roasting potatoes. This was her self-assigned job as the team’s Potato Cat, purveyor of slow roasted tubers of all kinds. Potatoes were her favorite vegetable, though Ellie said that eating a balanced meal of greens and protein was also important so one did not have inconsistent stools. Ellie was practical like that, seeing future consequences as the direct result of current choices. She also loved potatoes almost as much as Sri, but kept firm control of her appetites. Sri found this admirable.

Oops, the library is already closing, so that’s all the story for today!