Chasing Stars

Interlude: September 26

Six years ago

"Hey, miss!" Jordan called as loudly as he could, trying to get the attention of the store-clerk - a difficult task, considering he could barely see over the counter, even when standing on his tip-toes. "Miss!"

Eventually, the store clerk took notice of his presence. Seeing his predicament, she moved around the counter, kneeling down so she could be on eye-level with him. He couldn't wait until he grew taller - being tiny was annoying!

"What is it, little guy?" She said, not unkindly, but the moniker still made him grumble. He'd better be lots taller the next time his birthday rolled around!

Still, he gave the lady a big smile. Even being small would not hamper his excitement. "I wanna buy a plant!" he exclaimed, miming a small pot with his hands. "But I don't want a big plant, just a tiny baby plant."

The woman cooed lowly. "Okay, let's see. Did you already have something in mind?"

"Uhm," he stumbled. He wasn't quite sure what would happen with the plant - it was supposed to be a birthday present! It took a while, but eventually he decided on something: "I want something that's yummy."

Flowers were nice and pretty, after all, but he'd rather give Jeanne a gift that'd hold a little longer. And if they made food, then that was even better.

The store clerk laughed softly. "Alright. Did you want a fruit or a vegetable?"

Again, he scrunched up his nose, trying to figure it out. Vegetables were yummy of course, but if they were going to use the plant for food, he'd rather have something sweet. And fruit was in more deserts. "Fruit?"

"And where do you want to grow it?"

He lit up. Finally, an easy question! "On our balcony!" he beamed. "It's really sunny there! Plants like that, right?"

The woman hummed thoughtfully. "They sure do," she agreed, slowly standing up. "Wait here, I think I have just the one."

A few minutes later, she came back with a tiny tree in her hands. If it stood on the ground, it would barely reach his knees - really, it was barely more than a tiny twig. "It's a Yuzu plant," the clerk explained, putting the pot into his hands. "It'll grow into a tree with fruit on it. Might take a few years though, but you seem like a patient kid, so I'm sure you can do it."

Then, she started rattling off things he should do in order to take care of the tree. Most of it went completely over his head. "Uhm..." he interrupted the clerk. "Can you... write that down, please?"

*~*~*~*~*

It took her hours, but Jeanne had finally found the perfect Birthday present. Which meant she spent the next hour trying to wrap it to... middling success.

With a critical eye, she inspected her handiwork - the book's edges were still peaking out from the paper, and the wrapping itself made weird bulges, even though the content inside was smooth. After looking at it for another minute, she shrugged. Tearing off the paper would still be fun, even if it looked kind of wonky.

Now that the present was ready, she went home, a spring in her step. Jeanne was positively giddy - Jordan would love it, she just knew it.

When she arrived, she nearly bumped into the person occupying her thoughts. Her brother's grin was just as wide as hers, and he had his hands behind his back too, probably hiding her present. They both looked at each other before they chorused, "Three... two... one..."

"Happy Birthday!"

They each held out their present in front of them - she with her horribly wrapped book, and Jordan with a potted plant. It had a red bow hastily tied around it.