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Now that there were only nine of us left, the plane felt a lot emptier when we got back to it after spending the day enjoying some of the Chinese New Year festivities. Hearing a groan from behind me as I walked towards my seat, I turned to see Astrenose struggling to get through the narrow doorway of the plane; being a proper gentleman, he had offered to carry our shopping for us. I guess he didn’t take into account that he was the only man amongst eight women; who had all shopped till just about dropping at the numerous market areas dotted around the city. “Here let me help you.” I said as I made my way towards him but all he did was pause long enough to tell me: “No need to inconvenience yourself my dear; I have it all under control.” Furrowing my brow, I stepped back but kept an eye on him just in case he needed any help. “Lurky, why are just standing there instead of helping poor Astrenose?” Ensia said disapprovingly as she came up behind me but before I could answer, Astrenose finally got through the door: “Ta da! I told you I could do it!” he said proudly, peeking through the gaps of the boxes he carried. “Finally!” Sunny exclaimed as she rushed towards the burdened man and started pulling out the third box with one hand while tugging at a shopping bag with the other. “Miss Serenade, could you please hold on for a moment? I’m losing my grip on-“his last words lost as Kitcat ran into him and knocked both Astrenose and Sunny to the ground with her while the shopping took to the air. Ensia and I had tried to grab people or presents but only managed to make things worse. I even stubbed my toe on something hard despite being in the middle of the aisle. “Uhh . . . what are you guys doing?” Andromeche asked from where she leaned out of her seat into the aisle. When all of us were on our feet again, we looked towards Kitcat awaiting some kind of explanation. “Well, the thing is . . . uhm . . .” she mumbled as she wrung her hands, “What I’m trying to say is that . . . I was uhh trying to catch a rabbit!” the four of us exchanged perplexed looks as she started rambling. “You see, as I was coming out of the bathroom I thought I saw something move and so went to investigate and there, sitting in the corner of the kitchen area was a little rabbit, a shiny rabbit and so I thought It’d make a cute pet and that is why I dove at it only to have the little thing take off down the aisle and so I ran after it, knocking into Astrenose in the process as I tried to figure out why it was shiny.” Taking a deep breath, she looked up at us with huge innocent eyes and asked earnestly: “Why is the rabbit shiny?” Sunny threw her hands in the air, “Who cares about some shining rabbit that only you can see Kitcat! Look at this, you’ve ruined all of the new things I bought today!” she hastily began picking up her things which lay strewn around the interior of the ship. “Kitcat,” I said as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “I thought we agreed not to eat any weird stuff especially if it’s offered by one of the locals? Come, let’s get-“ “AAAAAHHHH!!!” was heard throughout the plane as Ember screamed, jumping up onto her seat, staring and pointing with a shaking hand at the place her feet had been. “There . . . there’s a . . . a . . . a RAT! SOMEBODY KILL IT!” Astrenose immediately grabbed his cane and made his way towards her as quickly as he could but as he cut in between the seats, he tripped over something and ended up on the floor again. Ember was still clinging to her seat but was no longer staring at the ‘rat’ but looked worriedly at him. At that very moment, a metal rabbit hopped into the middle of the aisle and then continued towards the rear of the plane. “Was that?” Ensia asked in wonder. “Yes, I think it was.” I replied, just as caught up. “So, now that you’ve seen it for yourselves, why is the rabbit shiny?” Kitcat asked, her brow furrowed. As Andromeche helped Astrenose to his feet and Ensia went to help Ember, I turned to her and answered: “It’s a metallic rabbit Kitcat, which is why it’s shiny.” “But how do you get a metal rabbit?” she asked in reply. “The same way you get a rat made up of . . . earth? Definitely looks like it’s made out of ground, soil, stuff!” Ensia answered from where she stood. “GUYS! Guys, there’s something you have got to see!” BDP exclaimed excitedly from the door leading into the back of the plane. Curious to know what it was, I followed her as she led us into cargo hold, which was filled with the strangest of creatures. All I could do was stand and gape stupidly at each of them. “It’s the Chinese Zodiac animals.” Michi whispered, “I came back here, looking for my rock collection and they were just . . . here!” Sunny chose that moment to burst into the room, holding several pieces of broken glass in her hands which she immediately dropped due to the shock of the creatures before her. All of us froze as the metal dragon scampered across the ceiling of the hold and settled itself between us and the door. The nine of us huddled together while the twelve animals of different elements watched us warily. “What are we going to do?” Ensia whispered as Sunny poked Astrenose in the ribs. “You’re the gentleman! Sacrifice yourself to save us!” “If we just stay calm, I’m sure nothing will happen.” Andromeche stated as Ember took a deep breath before screaming “STEW HEL-” I clamped my hand over her mouth as I watched the earthen ox flinch. Everyone stood as still as they could and tried not to breath in the hopes of not antagonizing the animals. “What is this?” Stew! I was never happier to hear her stern voice. “We have weight restrictions, so this statue,” she prodded the dragon with her baseball bat, “will have to go!” “Stew, you shouldn’t be doing that." BDP called out softly but it was already too late because the dragon had already turned to glare at the stewardess. “Holy mackerel!” she yelled as she attacked the creature, clubbing it repeatedly with her bat and creating the most awful noise. After two minutes of this, with none of us interfering, the dragon sluggishly backed away before collapsing. Once the initial shock wore off, everyone rushed towards Stew.
"What are the Chinese Zodiac animals doing on the plane Stew?" Michi asked as we backed out of the room and returned to the seating area. "I have no idea but hopefully the Captain will." she said as she headed for the cabin. Several moments of raised voices and the three crew members emerged, Stew looking angrier and the Captain frightened. "So, I have good new and bad news," the Captain started, looking around nervously, "the bad news is that the Zodiac animals are dying but the good news is that we get to replace them." For a few moments nobody said anything but then everyone started speaking at once; all wanting to know what he meant. "It is quite simple Humans," the metallic Rabbit said as it pershed itself on the headrest of one of the seats. "Our bodies are deteriorating and we have to infuse our spirits into you lot. It is only until after the celebrations and then we will return, anew."
 Lurking Lady · Sat Feb 12, 2011 @ 08:50am · 0 Comments |
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