On a bright sunshiny morning, a young woman and a black bull strolled up the street and stopped at the edge of the Mansion Square.

"Promise you will behave this time?" The young woman said, brushing nonexistent wrinkles from her skirt.

"Promise you won't gush about how wonderful it is to meet everyone this time?"

Moira glared at the bull. "I didn't 'GUSH'; I was just happy and it really was wonderful to meet everyone. And don't try to dodge the question - we are VERY fortunate to have been allowed back after your conduct at the winter party."

The bull huffed. "I'll do my best."

Moira held her glare.

"I promise I'll do my best to behave. That's all I can promise - take it or leave it." The bull stared back.

"I guess it will do," she conceded after a minute. "I can't just let you wander off on your own - who knows what sort of trouble you'd get into."

"How ever did the world survive before you met me?" the bull muttered.

"What was that?" the young woman asked, tucking a few stray wisps of hair behind her ears.

"Oh, ah, good - glad you accept those terms," the bull said, trotting forward into the Square. "Now, I wonder what snacks they will have this time."

Moira darted after him, excited to see what this festival would entail.

Mel, a large St. Bernard dog, trotted down the street toward the Ditto Town Blossom Festival. She'd found a large sun hat--a fancy one, with ribbons and flowers--and it rode her head at a jaunty angle. Her fur was freshly brushed, to get most of the winter coat out, and her tail waved back and forth with pleasure. She was so looking forward to the excursion and meeting old friends and new!

Already, on the road ahead of her, Mel could see a black bull and a young woman entering the festival. 

There were supposed to be games (and snacks) and she couldn't decide what she wanted to do first. Should she do a quick tour of the booths to see what there was, or should she just start at the first booth and try them all in order? Would there be an egg hunt? Would there be a flower show? Would there be some sort of gardening competition, or a treasure hunt--something that might showcase her specialized digging skills?

"We're gonna be late!"

That was a bit premature, but Ian was so excited at being able to be the one to say that -- for once -- that he couldn't help it. 

"We are not," Lauren replied tartly. She checked her hair once last time. Her long dark hair always seemed to have a mind of its own, but it was holding the curls she'd put in this morning, and no wisps of hair were falling in her face or sticking out in wild directions. Satisfied that there was nothing she could do to make it look any better, Lauren carefully put on her earrings, white gold with tiny blue flower charms. She smoothed out her white satin skirt, tucked in the hem of her white floral blouse, and put on her pale pink cardigan.

Ian was waiting at the door. Lauren took in his blue fuzzy bunny ears headband, his turtleneck decorated with multicolored Easter eggs, and sighed. She would never ask Ian to change, even if she thought he'd listen, but she hoped that maybe, just once, they could go somewhere together without him dressed like her five-year-old nephew.

Well, that was unfair. Nicky's mother usually dressed him better.

"What kind of booths do you think there'll be?" Ian asked conversationally as they walked. "I used to kill at that beanbag toss booth, remember? Oh, and the ring toss? Man, I miss grade school."

Lauren rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me. I know you wish you could still go on pony rides."

She ignored him. "Didn't you see any of the other booths when you were setting up yours?"

Ian made an indignant noise. "Peek? Spy?! What kind of dirty, no-good, dishonest, flimflamming individual do you take me for? Besides, it would take away the surprise!"

Lauren rolled her eyes again, but it was forced this time. "Which idea did you go with, then?"

Ian grinned at her. "You'll just have to wait and see," he said, sing-song. "And here we are!"

Kaelin was practically beside herself with excitement. While snow itself was cool, the winter season was less so, whereas spring had growing things and dirt and fun. She had been so excited, in fact, that she had managed to convince her sister to spend two nights in town, assuring that she did not miss a drop of festivities. Thus, she has spent the morning scampering around the Square, helping various booth-makers set up, taking full advantage of her canvas overalls, and generally being in the way. Maeve, on the other hand, had enjoyed a good book and coffee, and had only recently been wrested away from them and coaxed to arrive early at the festivities, where Kaelin had given her the full tour. 

“...and best of all,” Kaelin said, concluding her tour, “is, back there, is a booth for mud wrestling. There is even a prize.”

Moira came to a stop shortly after entering the Square. She turned around slowly, staring at all the stalls set up for the festivities. It's so much bigger than the market at home. Everything was decorated brightly and cheerily, with flags and streamers.

"Where should we visit first?" she asked, turning to the Bull, only to find him already halfway across the square. She didn't fancy running after him, especially when she realised there was someone in the booth five feet to her right. Someone who caught her eye and gave her a welcoming smile. She smiled back and started towards the man. It's as good a place as anywhere to start.

"Good morning, sir. What do you have?" Moira asked, glancing down at the pieces of paper spread out on the table in front of the man.

"Good mortereve!" Hugh said brightly. "Unfortunately, minding the bar is not on my list of duties for today, so I'm overseeing Bingo. Are you familiar with the game?"

"Bingo? No, sir, I'm not. How does one play?"

All Moira could see were the pieces of paper on the table and a glance at the back of his booth revealed no balls or hoops or sticks. What sort of game was played just on paper?

"It's quite simple, really! Please, take a paper--any color will do--and a pencil. Now, that is your bingo card. As you enjoy the Festival, keep an eye or ear out for the things listed on it. When you find one of the items, mark it off and have the person responsible sign on top of it. If you get a row or column completed, or you get a line from one corner to the other, you come back here and show me. The first five people to finish get a prize."

"Oh, I see," Moira said, picking up a pencil and a green piece of paper. "Thank you, sir!"

With a smile, she left the stall and walked past a few others before stopping to read the items listed on the paper.

A mud monster?

A wreath of flowers?

Someone wearing rabbit ears?

"This is a game you're supposed to be able to play? How on earth could you expect to find any of this, much less all of these items?" Moira asked herself. Still, the man at the booth had been kind enough to give it to her, so the least she could do was try to play. She carefully placed the pencil and the paper in her pocket and went to investigate some of the other booths.

"Excuse me, friends," Mel barked. "Beautiful day, isn't it?" Her attention had been caught by Ian's and Lauren's outfits, which were festive in different ways--she was sure they'd met at the holiday party but she didn't want to get their names wrong-- "May I ask where you got the bunny ears? I have a friend who might like a pair, as a souvenir of the occasion." 

Technically, she intended to put them over the mirror she had at home, to decorate the mirror and to enjoy the sight of her own face adorned with tall, upright ears instead of the droopy triangles she'd been born with. 

Anxiously, Molly surveyed her wares.  She gave a final polish to the row of glass jars, each with their colourful contents enticingly displayed.  Butterscotch drops, candy corn, cherry balls--there were even horehound pastilles, for people with a sore throat.  Clouds of cotton candy hung from the ceiling--pink and blue and green--and there were rows of striped stick candy in a multitude of flavours.

She twitched at her braid of bright red hair.  First thing this morning, she had tied it back: customers weren't likely to enjoy random hairs in their selections.  Never mind the customers; she herself didn't want to have to deal with a sticky mess like that ever again. Once was enough.

Hopping down, she looked up at the row of elaborate trim.  The booth was dressed as a gingerbread house, and looked not too bad.  She had been up bright and early, giving it some last touches, and now it was as ready as it was going to be.  It wasn't that she thought that nobody would come to visit an old-fashioned candy shop.  On the contrary; she knew that there were a lot of other interesting things to see as well, and hoped that she would get the chance to get out and see them.

"Hi Mel," she called to the St Bernard.  "And it's Ian and Lauren, if I remember correctly."

Moira paused in front of a stall filled with flowers - buckets of them were sitting on a table at the front, on the ground in front of the table, and hanging from the sides of the stall. The labels proclaimed roses, daffodils, lilies, lilacs, carnations, and more were on display.

"Hello?" she called, trying to see around the flowers for the stall's owner.

No one called back, but she got her answer in the form of a piece of paper half-hidden behind a sheaf of sunflowers.

"Took a break. Will be back later. Have fun making daisy chains, flower crowns, etc.!"

Well, it does sound like fun. 

Moira selected a few buttercups and began working on her wreath.

Posted by: @mel

"Excuse me, friends," Mel barked. "Beautiful day, isn't it?" Her attention had been caught by Ian's and Lauren's outfits, which were festive in different ways--she was sure they'd met at the holiday party but she didn't want to get their names wrong-- "May I ask where you got the bunny ears? I have a friend who might like a pair, as a souvenir of the occasion." 

Ian beamed at being addressed. "Mel! It is Mel, right?" He reached up to pet the soft fuzz of his bunny ears. "Always glad to do a favor for a fellow admirer of rabbit headgear! Did you know these things come in packs of six? I've got enough for all your friends! Provided you have no more than five friends who want one."

Posted by: @aileth

"Hi Mel," she called to the St Bernard.  "And it's Ian and Lauren, if I remember correctly."

Lauren smiled and offered a hand. "You do. Though I don't think I caught your name."

A tall high elf arrived in the square and looked around, she brought out her map and notes that the human girl had given her. "This is the right place." Sylverele Moonshadow said to herself, she adjusted her bow again and brushed back a strand of her long red hair. She noticed there were people and decided to approach, after a long journey alone she could use the company of others to fill the void of silence. 

If anything this gathering looked...what is the word...fun? She thought and felt the tug of a smile on her lips that soon reached her blue eyes. Perhaps someone would explain what was going on, her human friend, while thorough on the directions had failed to explain just what was going on. She saw people gathering and decided to walk towards them, surely a leather clad elven ranger wouldn't seem so out of place.