"Come on Clem. You don’t want to be late." Markus urged as he went over his hastily written list of things he still needed to pack. Clementine, who was at the other side of the room, quickly stuffed the last of her blankets as she climbed on top of the suitcase, hoping her weight will be enough to flatten everything. She was about to zip up the bag before a sudden pause came over her.
"…do we really have to go?" She asked quietly, mostly to herself and hoping Markus didn’t hear her.
Unfortunately for her, he did. The Gremlin glanced over at her with a sad smile. “Having second thoughts already? I knew they would come eventually.” His smile slowly fell as he tried to think of what to say next. This morning she seemed excited to go with him, but he knew she would at some point realize what was really happening. He looked at her again in an almost apologizing way. “I’m sorry Clem. I didn’t exactly plan this. I got the message from my brother just this morning, and he wants me to be there by noon. I just couldn’t find someone to look after you in such a short notice of time.”
The girl knew this. She didn’t want to trouble anyone, so she willing agreed to go with Markus when he offered her. But now that they were almost ready to leave, a sudden feeling of regret came over her. She’s never been far away from home for such a long period of time. “I know but…what if I miss everyone?”
"You can send them letters if you like. Or drawings! I’m sure a wonderful artist like you is going to make some beautiful artwork while we’re there. When an artist is taken out of their usual environment, it gives them the opportunity to see new things and get inspired." The engineer explained as he placed a small book into his bag.
"Ok…can I say goodbye to them at least? At least to Mr. Gyro?" The child asked as she finished zipping up the suitcase.
Again, Markus looked at her in the same apologizing manner. “There’s just isn’t enough time luv. The only departure I can get is at 11:15. And it’s already 10:50.” He explained as he checked one of his pocket watches to make sure he was correct, before tossing it into the suitcase as well. “Besides, I already have a letter written for Gyro telling him not to worry about you or me. I explained what happened and told him to go tell your other friends in case they ask. If you want, you can write a little message to him at the bottom. It has to be quick though. I need to put it in an envelope. You got everything packed right? Do you need to get anything else?” The Gremlin took out the letter from one of his notebooks and carelessly placed in on the desk beside the doll, accompanied with a pencil.
"Yeah…I’m pretty sure I got everything." Taking the pencil in her fingers, Clementine looked over the quickly written work, trying to make sense of Markus’ rushed, cursive writing. Giving up, she began to write her first sentence before a sudden thought came over her.
"The Muffin Cats! What about the Muffin Cats?! They’ll get hungry and cold if I’m not there to take care of them!"
Markus, who dropped one of his rulers out of surprise from her outburst, answered with no hesitation. “That I already took care of. I managed to ask Jamface to check in on them from time to time. Make sure they’re fed and sheltered. He’s quite the cat person himself to be honest. He’ll never let anything bad happen to them.”
A sigh of relief left the doll’s mouth as she finished with her writing, folding the paper neatly and placing it in an envelope that was in Markus’ drawers. She understood that he was very pressed for time, and decided that this was the best she could do to ease his stress for now. “I’m done.”
Markus flew over and plucked it from her hands with a thank you, before tossing her her sweater and a simple grey jacket. “Put this on. It’s kind of chilly today.”
Clementine obeyed as she slipped the fabric over her head before putting on the coat, buttoning it up. Twiddling with her fingers as she waited for Markus to finish his last minute packing, she asked softly, “What about Christmas?”
The Gremlin zipped up his suitcase before nervously biting the inside of his cheek. Of course. How could he forget about Christmas?! In his rush to get things organized in such little time, he completely forgot about one of Clementine’s favourite holidays. If he didn’t feel guilty about dragging her along with him before, he defiantly felt the worst of it now.
"Clementine, I…I promise you, I’ll try to bring you back home for the holidays. Then you can celebrate it with friends and everyone you love. Maybe we can even get something nice for each of them. The place we’re going to has some nice shops. And I’m sure my brother Harry will be more than happy to take you on a tour. You can get some souvenirs, and when you come back, you can tell everyone about your adventure!" He reached out to pat her head affectionately. "I’ll try my best to bring you back in time for Christmas."
The little doll gave a small smile as she hung her messenger bag over her shoulder, cradling Cream Puffs in one arm while she attempted to pick up the suite case with the other. “Okie dokie.”
This blog will be on hiatus for a while, and will hopefully come back during the holidays. If not, than the blog is on an indefinite hiatus until the mun feels like she can come back to the character.
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