Merlina
patreon
Blueberry Discovery
🕑 Added 2021-12-20 04:43:24 +0000 UTCThis will be a part of an upcoming short story collection on Amazon related to the Sizaran world I am slowly crafting.
Blueberry Discovery
Nora scratched at her head as she looked over the contract. “We are hereby ordered to start producing weapons for the Lulvix Alliance? If the people of Terrondale do not produce the product in two months, they will be subject to military service in the Lulvix Alliance.” She sighed and dropped the parchment to the ground. “Why would you accept such a deal, Rensin?”
He turned around. “Look, I did what I had to, ok. He walked to the edge of the field. “It will all work out. Don’t worry.”
She rushed in front of him. “This is a town full of farmers. What do you expect us to do?”
Rensin shrugged as he began to slowly walk away. “Hey, we will figure something out.”
She reached out and grabbed his scrawny arms, and turned him around. “What are you talking about?” He turned his amber eyes towards the ground. “People came here to avoid dealing with the tragedies that Lulvix is inflicting upon others. They won’t want any part of this.
I don’t want any part of this.”
“What did you want me to do? Say no, and have that crazy man come here and do something to our home? I did this to help us. Now let go of me.” He pulled away from her, straightened his leather vest, and walked away.
Nora sighed. “This is a serious problem.” She blinked her green eyes. “What are we going to do?”
“Hey, Nora, can you come and help us out down here?”
She turned her head. “Sorry, Orthis. I have some other matters to deal with right now.”
The young lady emerged from the field.
“Please, this is serious. We need your help right away.” She reached out and grabbed Nora’s hand. “Come on.”
Nora’s eyes widened. “What is going on?”
“You have to see it. I couldn’t explain it to you if I tried.” Orthis shook her tan head. “I think even after I show you what is going on, you won’t understand.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “Just tell me.”
She dragged Nora through dense brush and into a part of the woodland that she hadn’t been to yet. “Here.” Orthis pointed at one of the Benthil cows from the northland, which were usually very large and brown. These specimens though were bright blue and purple. Nora’s eyes went wide. “What happened here?”
Orthis shrugged her shoulders. “We don’t know. Yenthis set up this place so the cattle could rest and not eat the land that we were planning to use to grow cabbage this year. He came back and found them this way. But that isn’t even the crazy part.”
Nora laughed. “Blue cows isn’t the crazy part?”
Orthis walked over to the nearest bovine. “When we discovered them, we did some measurements. These things are much more massive than before.” She crossed her arms. “I don’t get it. Maybe the meat inside them compounded? Or something else, but we are sitting on top of a gold mine.” She turned her head and smiled at Nora. “Terrondale will be rich.”
“I think we need more than beefy blue cows to be rich.”
Orthis laughed. “Yes, but still. This is amazing, right.”
Nora cracked a smile. “Of course, darling.” She reached out and grabbed Orthis’s cheek. “But first, you need to head back to the village and cut a path here.”
“Why?”
“So we can move the cattle easier. Why else?” Nora looked around. “If we are going into this business, don’t you think we should invest in such things?”
Orthis nodded. “Of course.” She dashed off. “Be right back.”
Nora sighed. “Now to look around and find out just what is going on.” She walked up to the nearest blue bovine. “Why, hello there.” She put her hand on the cow. “How are you doing? Enjoying your new blue coat?”
She pulled her hand away and noticed a sticky blue substance dripping from her fingers. “Ugh.” Nora looked the cow in the eyes. “What is all over your fur?”
“Moooo!”
“Well, moo to you too.” She crossed her arms. “How did you get coved in this stuff?” She sniffed her hands. “Ugh, it smells like blueberries. I didn’t even know blueberries grew in this part of the world.”
“Mooo!”
“I get it. Mooo.” Nora threw up her arms. “You are the one thing I don’t like about this place. I can’t stand cows. Huh?” She ran her hand along the side of the animal. “Are you thicker?” She pushed on the cow. “And why are you making a sloshing noise.”
“Nora!” She turned her head to see Orthis rushing back through the brush. “Rensin wants to talk to you.” She put her hands on her hips. “He said it is urgent.”
She pushed herself away from the bovine. “I will be right there.” She rushed over to where Orthis was standing. “The ever blue cow back there was starting to freak me out a bit anyways.”
Orthis waved her hand in front of her face. “Ugh, why do you smell of blueberries?”
“Oh, come now, darling.” Nora laughed. “This whole thicket smells of blueberries and cows. It isn’t me that you are smelling.” She tapped Orthis on the nose. “Think about it.”
“Right. Look, just get to the town hall. Rensin said it was important.”
Nora pushed her way through the brush. “No more important than what he already did this morning?” She lowered her voice. “That slime.”
As she walked through the small village, she couldn’t help but twitch her nose. Not only did the smell of blueberries follow Nora everywhere she went, but it was slowly getting stronger. “Ugh.” She held her hand to her head as she passed down the rows of cabbage. “I hope I am not coming down with something.”
A few moments later, she arrived at the front door to Rensin’s office. It wasn’t so much an office as the town hall, but he liked to call it his office when it wasn’t used for village meetings. Nora pushed the door open and could see him sitting at a desk on the far side of the room as he rummaged through papers. He looked up after he heard the door creak open. “Ahh, Nora.” He squinted his blue eyes. “Ugh, why do you smell like blueberries?”
She walked into the building. “Never mind that.” She closed the door behind her. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes.” He stood up. “I have some ideas on what we could do to make good on our promise to Lulvix and wanted to talk to you about it.” Nora squinted her eyes as she felt her body tense up. “I think since we are a big farming village, we could work on maybe trying something alchemical based.”
“Hmm, interesting.”
“I know, right. Then we won’t have to do anything radically different.” He turned around and began to go through the books on the shelves behind him. “Look, there are volumes of the plants and such around here. I just need to find the right one.”
Nora wiped the sweat from her brow. Phew. I feel so quivery all of a sudden.
My belly feels like it has a mind of its own. Nora looked at her hand now covered in blue dots. What in the world?
“Ahh, here we are.” He turned around, and Nora hid her hand behind her back. “This book should have the info on some of the more toxic plants of the region.”
“Glorious.” She took a step towards the door. “Thank you for being so proactive on this. We can get right on this.”
He looked up and arched an eyebrow. “Hey, where are you going?”
She shook her head. “Oh, just to umm. . .” She looked at the chandelier above her head. “To look for some of the plants in that book. So we can start making some toxins.”
“But I haven’t even told you what to look for.” His eyes went wide. “Hey, what is wrong with your neck?”
Nora shook her head. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Rensin.”
He closed the book, which caused dust to fly in the air, and walked over to her. “I am serious.” He put his hand on her neck. “Your skin is turning blue.”
She pushed him away. “No, I am not.” Nora took in a few deep breaths. “I can’t be turning blue. This is nonsense.”
“Hey, calm down. It will be ok.”
She ran her hands through her hair. “You are right. Now can we get back to business?” She walked over to the leather-bound book Rensin had pulled out. “I don’t want my weird blue skin to take away from talking about ideas to save Terrondale.”
He nodded his head. “Right.” He ran his fingers along his nose as he opened the book back up. “Ugh, I can’t get over that blueberry stench.”
“I know.” Nora crossed her arms. “It has followed me ever since I left the thicket where those blue cows are.”
“Wait, what oww.” He shook his hand. “Damn paper cut.” Rensin turned his head back towards Nora. “What blue cows? What kind of bullshit are you talking about?”
She put her hands on the table and groaned. “Ugh, I don’t feel so good.” Nora rubbed her stomach. “My body feels so jittery.”
Rensin closed the book once more. “Hey, if stuff starts to come out, I want you to head out the door, you hear me.” He took a few steps back. “In fact, just get out. I don’t want what you have.”
She took turned around and gasped. “My waist.” She pressed on her belly. “It is growing.”
He put his hands on her back. “That is it. I want you out. Out I say.”
“But what about the toxins?” She pulled her leather pants up so her expanding waist would not be seen. “Don’t we need to figure that out?”
Rensin continued to usurer her towards the door. “I will. Just go home, or better yet, go to that mysterious thicket with the blue cows.”
She turned around and narrowed her eyes. “It is real, darling.” She grabbed Rensin’s arm, and he gulped. “I can show it to you if you want.” The button on her pants popped off as her body continued to swell.
He waved his arms. “Umm, no. I am good.”
Rensin showed her his yellow teeth in a horrible smile. “I will take your word at it.”
She put her hands on her round hips. “Hey, just because I am a little swollen doesn’t mean we can’t talk about this.”
Rensin laughed. “A little. Look at you. Your midsection is starting to look like some kind of cannonball.”
Nora looked down at her massive chest. “You are right. This is out of hand.” She sat down in one of the wooden chairs. The furniture groaned in agony from her weight. “What am I going to do?”
“Well, you are not going to stick around here.” He winced as a cracking sound erupted from the chair. “Just get up and out of my place of business, please.”
“Stop it, Rensin.” She slammed her hands down on her jelly-like chest. “This place is the town hall; you’re your personal place of business.” Nora grabbed her belly. “Hey, that felt weird.” She shook her body. “It feels like there is some kind of liquid in there. Almost as if I have juice filling up inside me.”
Rensin walked to the door. “And that is it for me. I will check back in on you in a few hours.”
She turned her head. “Excuse me? I need help here.” She tried to stand, but the weight of her body was too much for her. “I can’t even stand up now.” She put her hands on the tables around her as the chair beneath her wobbled. “Hold together, please.”
“I will send help.” He opened the door. “Tomorrow. I am sure you will be fine, though.” Rensin rushed out the door and laughed as she shut it behind him.
“Damit. Ahhhhh.” Nora flailed her arms about as the chair finally snapped beneath her, and she landed on her round rear end. Her stubby legs extended outward from her center mass and gently kicked the floor as she tried to stop herself from vibrating. “This is a bit frustrating.” She put her hands on her chest as the pressure which had been building in her body finally slowed down. “Phew. At least this isn’t going to get any worse.” She tried to pull herself forward. “Now, if I can only get moving.”
After a few minutes had passed, Nora was still stuck in the same place she had started, sitting like a beached ball in the center of the room with blueberry sweat dripping down her cheeks. “Ugh.” She wiped her forehead. “This is insane.”
“Nora? I wanted to check on you?” Orthis’s voice floated through the building as the door creaked open. “Those cows in the field are umm. Well, there is something seriously wrong with them. Oh my.” She rushed around in front of Nora. “Umm, hello, Nora.” She giggled. “Did you have too many of Gathros stew or something?”
Nora narrowed her eyes. “Does it look like this would happen just because I ate stew?”
She put her hands on her round body. “Look at me. I look like a human blue ball.”
“A blueberry?”
“Orthis darling, if I could stand, I would slap you.” She clenched her fist. “I am so angry about this.”
Orthis pointed at Nora. “Oh, my, your checks are even turning dark violet; this is so funny.”
Nora turned her head. “It is not funny. My insides feel like some kind of strange. . .” she shook her hands around, “form? Goo? I don’t know, something spongy, liquidly, and solid all at once.”
Orthis sat down next to Nora and pocked her round body. “Sounds rough. Well, at least you are not as big and round as the cattle.”
“What happened to . . .?” Nora put her hands on her blue chest. “No, I don’t want to know.” She sighed. “What did you want to talk to me about in the first place?”
“Oh, what was so important between you and Rensin?” She put her elbows onto Nora’s pudgy body.
Nora pushed Orthis away to no avail. “We are trying to find some kind of toxin to manufacture. The fool put us on a deadline to manufacture goods for the Lulvix alliance. We just don’t know what to do.” She sighed. “Or maybe we would have to find something besides toxins. I don’t know.”
“Why would we.” Orthis tapped on Nora. “When the answer is right in front of you.”
“What?” Orthis drummed on Nora some more. “Will you stop that?”
Orthis rolled her eyes. “Did this weird change cause you to think somewhat like a blueberry or whatever you are right now?” She tapped Nora on the forehead. “What happened to you and the cows we could do to others.”
Nora’s eyes widened. “Of course.” She smiled. “Maybe even those fools at Lulvix.”
