"Oh, okay," said Ahelissa, shoving her hand into her pocket. Not put off, she answered Maeve's question. "I haven't been playing long. Maybe only twenty minutes or so." Ahelissa tapped her foot to the music still playing in her head. Then she looked up and scanned the colorful assortment of entertainment stalls surrounding them and smiled even more broadly. "Have you visited any of the booths yet?"

Maeve chuckled slightly.

”Oh, my little sister helped set up this morning, so once it officially opened, I was hauled past a half dozen or so stalls in quick succession. I’ve only been able to spend quality time at Molly’s confectionery booth and Hugh’s hot drinks stand. I was going to head over to the intergalactic bits and baubles stand, though—I heard there were some rare titles set to surface today. What about yourself?”

Ahelissa's eyes widened. "I've only bought a few things- a flower necklace and some candy. I haven't explored everything yet.  I really wanted to check out the game booths later- especially the mud pits." She wondered about the booth that Maeve referred to. "The intergalactic booth sounds amazing! I've never visited one. Would you mind if I tagged along?"

Posted by: @valiantarcher

Moira replied. "Actually, would you like this one? Or I can make you a new one, if you would like?"

Mel wagged her tail. "Yes, please! It's so bright and cheerful!"

Her ears pricked up as the sound of music came from nearby. A musician had pulled out a set of pipes and started a set of tunes that was perfect for the day and occasion. 

"That's a song that make you want to stand up and do something," Mel observed, her lips peeling back in a doggy grin. "I feel like I could play frisbee all day long or some such nonsense. Maybe go another round with those bean bags..."

"Sure, we can head that way now, if you're wanting to take a break from playing," Maeve said. "I've been eying the mud pits. Sounds like loads of fun, but I'm pretty sure that's going to be an end-of-day activity for me."

She watched Ahelissa maneuver her pipes. 

"So, I take it this is your first time here? Anything special bring you to Ditto Town?"

Posted by: @mel

Yes, please! It's so bright and cheerful!

Moira handed over the wreath to Mel, happy that someone appreciated it.

That's a song that make you want to stand up and do something

"That it does," she replied. "I haven't had a chance to finish seeing all the stalls yet, so perhaps I should continue on." And perhaps find my companion - who knows what trouble he's gotten into? she added silently to herself.

---

The Bull meanwhile, had been moseying through the festival when he heard the pipes start up. After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he had detoured around to an alley between rows of booths and pranced down it in accompaniment the music. With another careful glance around, he exited the alley and resumed his wandering; within a few minutes, he found himself outside a booth with what appeared to be an image of a ship decorating it - either that or a chicken.

In the center of Ian's booth was a very large wooden box, three-quarters filled with sand. Bits of colorful plastic could just be seen, buried in the sand: plastic toys, fuzzy bunny ears in plastic bags (to keep out the sand), and plastic colorful eggs with candy inside. Ian was nitpicking exactly how much of the "treasure" showed through the sand, and in what areas, when he heard the sound of someone approaching.

"Argh, matey!" he shouted, standing up and brushing the sand off his hands; well, as much of it as would come off. He had put on a pirate cap and a black eyepatch over his left eye. Then he had put the bunny ears on top of the pirate hat. It was the Spring Festival, after all.

"Can I interest you in, uh, searching for me buried treasure?" Ian peered at the bull. "Argh, not that I want to be discouraging me first potential visitor of the day, but I'm not sure exactly how much it would, er, appeal to a fine bull like yourself. But, if ye wants to take a stab at it, I'll be pleased to help however I can!"

The Bull had just decided the sign looked more like a chicken than anything else and was wondering just what this booth's purpose was when a man popped into view. He looked vaguely familiar, but the Bull didn't remember meeting anyone with an eye patch at the winter party.

Posted by: @Arin
"Can I interest you in, uh, searching for me buried treasure? Argh, not that I want to be discouraging me first potential visitor of the day, but I'm not sure exactly how much it would, er, appeal to a fine bull like yourself. But, if ye wants to take a stab at it, I'll be pleased to help however I can!"

"Treasure?" The Bull was intrigued by the idea and trotted into the booth. In the center of the booth, there was a large wooden box filled with sand; sticking out of the sand in various places were some small, bright objects. That's treasure? No gold or jewels or even a bag of apples? the Bull thought. Still, a challenge is a challenge, regardless of the prize.

"I think I can manage to dig something up," he said, and started to root around with his front hooves in the sand by a green object.

Posted by: @wren

"Sure, we can head that way now, if you're wanting to take a break from playing," Maeve said. "I've been eying the mud pits. Sounds like loads of fun, but I'm pretty sure that's going to be an end-of-day activity for me."

 

Ahelissa laughed. "Of course. You couldn't expect to stay clean anywhere near those." She carefully positioned her Uilleann pipes inside her instrument case and shut the box tight.

Posted by: @wren

"So, I take it this is your first time here? Anything special bring you to Ditto Town?"

Ahelissa nodded. "Yup, it's my first time. I knew about some other festivals held here, but I missed them. I wanted to make sure I came to this one. And I'm glad I did! I love exploring, and I've always wanted to visit Ditto Town. It's such a nice place. "

"It is," Maeve agreed. "There's always some unexpected something popping up somewhere. It's almost as if adventures get attracted to it."

Delia wandered the booths, looking significantly more gleeful than usual, perhaps due to the precocious amount of flowers in her hair, dress, hand, and pockets. 

What, the festival closing just like that? Heed my warning, writers, when the bell tolls three, the festival shall depart to whence it came!!

...or we'll pack up our stuff around May 10th, so if you have story lines you wish to finish, I suggest you begin wrapping them up.

Poisoned kisses,

D. Death

While the Intergalactic Bits and Bobbles booth had a large collection of items from across the universe--ranging from ice fruit to children's toys, its book selection was rather meager. Still, after a winding polite conversation, along with some theatrics of haggling, Maeve had an old book in her hands. It was not the item she had been hoping for--she was still missing the third volume of Reichenau's codices--but instead a copy of Darlene Jashri's Tales of Other Worlds. She was pleased enough. 

About fifteen minutes after he had started rooting around in the sandbox, the Bull was happily trotting back through the square. He had eventually succeeded in retrieving the small green object and, as stalls were beginning to shut down, had left to find his companion. He encountered her just leaving a booth near where they had entered the festival.

"Yewwo, Mowa. Weddy ta lef?"

"I can't understand a word you're saying."

"I said, hello, are you ready to leave?" he repeated after setting the green item on the ground carefully.

"No, but I suppose we have to anyhow since the festival is closing down. What's that?" she said, eyeing the object on the ground.

"It's a boat - I won it!" he said proudly. "There was an one-eyed man - he had a chicken painted on his stall, though I can't think why because he didn't have any chickens - whose treasure was buried in a box of sand. He didn't think I could recover any of it, but I did, and then he had to let me have it."

"You're sure this was his treasure - a toy? And he just let you carry it off?" Moira asked dubiously.

"Yes," he replied indignantly. "Though, of course, I'm too old to play with it. And, now that I think about it, that stall was unusual - he didn't ask for any payment, like a regular festival game. Perhaps he was a player promoting something? Though he did a poor job of it, if so."

"Perhaps. Are you going to carry the boat all the way back in your mouth?"

"Not if you carry it in your pocket - please?" the Bull added, catching the start of a glare, and quickly carried on. "What did you do anyhow? And what's that delicious smell?" He nudged the paper package she was holding.

"It's an apple handpie - mine, so keep your nose out of it," she said, batting away the offending object before bending down to pick up the toy boat. She wrinkled her nose at the slobber it was covered in and rubbed it in the grass before putting it in her pocket. "I bought with with the 'voucher' I received for filling out my 'bingo card'."

"What's that?"

"Don't interrupt," Moira said, starting to walk towards the road, the Bull following. "I can explain after I finish answering your first question - I mostly wandered around the festival, looking at stalls and talking with people. There were so many things to see! One booth was full of flowers for wreaths; I made one for Mel - you remember her from the holiday festival, the dog?"

The pair continued down the road, Moira regaling the Bull with everything she had seen and the Bull at least occasionally listening.

---

Editorial note: Despite her earlier statement to the contrary, Moira did indeed share the handpie on the journey back. And, while he would have denied it, Moira was sure that she later saw the Bull nosing the boat around the water trough on multiple occasions.

Sorry I didn't get to interact more, but thanks for a fun time, everyone!

Glancing around at her decimated stocks, Molly rolled her tired shoulders back and forth.  The festival had been a lot of fun, but, boy, was she tired! 

There had been no sign of that pesky squirrel all day, which on one hand had been a relief.  On the other hand, she had almost missed the creature.  Funny how that was!

Well, it was time to load up the boxes and cart them away, back to the shop on Main Street.  Looked like she'd have to do more ordering right away.

"Hey, Kaelin, thanks so much for helping me today," she said to her faithful satellite.  "Would you care to have a bag of leftover candy?--you'd better promise to brush your teeth, though.  Good-bye!  See you all soon," she called, and waved to the other departing festival goers.  "Who knows? Maybe we'll be having another adventure before very long."

Ahelissa bought a small carved flower that was made up of some stony material she couldn't identify. She thought it was a beautiful souvenir of the Blossom Festival. She took her time wandering past all the closing shops and booths, remembering the fun she had had. As she passed the blooming tree she had played at, Ahelissa scooped up her instrument case and carried it toward the exit with all the rest of the exiting festival-goers. It had been a really fun time, and she couldn’t wait until the next Festival. Ahelissa decided to do one last thing at the Blossom Festival. Positioning herself at the exit gate, Ahelissa sat down and removed her pipes from her instrument case and played a beautiful, cheery song as something of a farewell to the Festival.