(no subject)
Sep. 3rd, 2014 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
requaero"I think you're lying. I think you're making that up," 9 year old Layla Ober, skinny and in pig tails and wearing an over-large t-shirt that belonged to her mother, spoke from the back seat of their runner where she was supposed to be sleeping. She wasn't. She had her arms wrapped tight around the raggedy stuffed elephant they'd found in a dilapidated toy store and was lying under a quilt her mother had made her when she was tiny. And she was frowning.
Giada, meanwhile, was laughing at her daughter's stubbornness.
"Why would I lie about Earth Before?" Giada says between chuckles. "I was the one that grew up there. You were born after--"
"After the tefra...fera...terraforming." Her trouble with that word won't end until she's ten, but God help her she is trying. "And anyway, it sounds gross and no one'd make anything that gross. Who'd want something that sticky and sugary?"
"Crazy people," Giada says with a grin. "Bubble gum was my favorite when I was your age. I liked the sticky-sweet."
"You liked weird things. You liked...you liked vampires and movies with monsters." Layla's voice isn't sleepy yet, just stubborn.
"You know what else I liked?" Giada asked, peeking into the back seat of their runner. She's waiting at the gate of a town, waiting for the E-Rep to check their vehicle so they can pull in and find somewhere to sleep. Why it's taking so long, Giada does not know.
"What else did you like?" Layla asks as she climbs into the front seat. Her elephant comes with her, thumped firmly on the seat next to her.
"Seatbelt."
"You liked seat-belts to eat?"
"Put your seat-belt on."
"What else did you like?"
Giada is silent as she thinks of food from Before, smiling softly.
"Ice cream. I loved ice cream. Couldn't get enough of it." She turns to look at her daughter and Layla's watching her with interest. "It was made from cow milk, and it was made into a very cold and soft substance. It was flavored with things like chocolate and fruit. I could eat it all day." Another look at Layla who is blinking softly, finger drawing a circle around the elephants eye. She's tired. And this is fascinating. So Giada keeps going. She tells her about the different flavors and the different ways to eat it. How it's great on hot waffles (which she already explained). The different ways it was turned into shakes and things like that.
By the time they got to the E-Rep check in station, Layla was already asleep.
Giada, meanwhile, was laughing at her daughter's stubbornness.
"Why would I lie about Earth Before?" Giada says between chuckles. "I was the one that grew up there. You were born after--"
"After the tefra...fera...terraforming." Her trouble with that word won't end until she's ten, but God help her she is trying. "And anyway, it sounds gross and no one'd make anything that gross. Who'd want something that sticky and sugary?"
"Crazy people," Giada says with a grin. "Bubble gum was my favorite when I was your age. I liked the sticky-sweet."
"You liked weird things. You liked...you liked vampires and movies with monsters." Layla's voice isn't sleepy yet, just stubborn.
"You know what else I liked?" Giada asked, peeking into the back seat of their runner. She's waiting at the gate of a town, waiting for the E-Rep to check their vehicle so they can pull in and find somewhere to sleep. Why it's taking so long, Giada does not know.
"What else did you like?" Layla asks as she climbs into the front seat. Her elephant comes with her, thumped firmly on the seat next to her.
"Seatbelt."
"You liked seat-belts to eat?"
"Put your seat-belt on."
"What else did you like?"
Giada is silent as she thinks of food from Before, smiling softly.
"Ice cream. I loved ice cream. Couldn't get enough of it." She turns to look at her daughter and Layla's watching her with interest. "It was made from cow milk, and it was made into a very cold and soft substance. It was flavored with things like chocolate and fruit. I could eat it all day." Another look at Layla who is blinking softly, finger drawing a circle around the elephants eye. She's tired. And this is fascinating. So Giada keeps going. She tells her about the different flavors and the different ways to eat it. How it's great on hot waffles (which she already explained). The different ways it was turned into shakes and things like that.
By the time they got to the E-Rep check in station, Layla was already asleep.
