"Have a good one, Ruby. Tell your family I said….umm….sorry. Force of habit."
"It's ok, David. You tell your family I say hi. Reckon your little one is now full grown."
"Not yet, but he is growing like a weed."
"Seems like just yesterday you were holding him in your arms."
"Well, that was a loooong yesterday."
"Tell me about it. I'll see you.
*Phuuuuuunnnhppphh…..Haaaaaaaa*
"That's the night-time air I know and love."
"Gift Lady!!!! GIFT Lady!!!!"
"Huh?"
"Over here? Gift Lady."
"Ozon, how you been? How are your bees doing?"
"Hello Ruby. Should've known you were the Gift Lady. I had my suspicions. Wait there. Been a hella season but I do have a few tiny jars. Not much."
"No amount of giving….."
"Is too small. Your family says that every year. Come stand on the porch. Will be a little bit out of the wind."
"Thanks."
"Heard rumours you were born as some sort of PlantLady."
"Oh. Is that so?"
"Don't you worry, little girl. I don't care how you were born or where. Your family is the best thing to happen to this town, and you are the best light that has breached it. So what if you fight dragons and monsters. Knew Upfront was sketchy from the get go, but having that be the reason; and on top of that you were there....a camp for super-soldiers."
"I don't know about that, Ozon. I'm just your normal average teenage girl."
"Keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll believe it."
"Oz, I have to blend in somehow?"
"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"
"Oz, it's hard to stand out?"
"Not when others are sitting. Here's your jars. Hope they find nice homes."
"I'll take best care of them, sir. Have a blessed day, Ozon. See U in the Morning."
"NOT IF I SEE U FIRST."
"RUBY, RUBY, RUBY!!!!"
"What, what, what. Take a breath, slow down, and show me."
"We got some treats."
"Darius, what did your team grab?"
"Some more meat, bacon, hot sauce; Fresh Cantaloupe, and Avocados. Oh, and dried pork in bags? I think that's what it is."
"Probably why they gave it to us. That's ok. What about you, Apple?"
"A knife."
"Huh?"
"For the first minute, Apple didn't talk so one of the boys were making bread and mistook Apple for his apple he was about to cut up. Scared the snot right out of him when Apple talked. Thankfully the snot shot straight outwards and not down onto Apple."
"Yuck. Think I'm going to be sick. What uhh…did you bring, that won't make me sick?"
"My princess, we have all the way homemade from The Kitchen, chocolate chip cookies, Thumbprint cookies….and Scones!!"
"Mmm…mmm…Mmmmm."
"I took my revenge on the Apple bread and as a thank you, I got to take it home with me."
"The Snot bread?"
"No, no, don't worry. His mom had a few ready in the back. Snot free."
"Well gentlemen, it looks like we are ready. Let's divide these up real quick into baskets; and then we'll be off."
"I still have no idea exactly what I am doing, but I am all in."
"Oh, you'll love it when you see it. Follow me."