Missy was rolling up to the other side of the fence when Stew carried out her clothes proudly. She dragged the hems of them through the dirt as she did.
I heard the coo of Missy's voice, followed by laughter when I rounded the gate to see Stew leaning up on the scooter to hold up her offering.
Missy noticed me dragging the towel through the dirt behind me and snorted out at it.
"You two are too much!" she giggled as she unhooked her full box "I knew I'd be better when I came home. It's been a long day."
Missy's gentle hand took the clothes from Stew and rubbed her head on the way to pick up my towel to throw over her shoulder, scratching my lifted chin.
"She didn't bring home anything" Stew muttered to me.
"She didn't sell anything" I replied softly.
We followed her through the gate and to the door where she struggled to slide out the key again.
The door eventually was shouldered open so that Missy could breathe deeply and let out an exhausted sigh.
The box was lowered beside the couch that she slumped into. Missy kicked off her shoes and unclipped her helmet to drop it onto the floor.
Stew pushed her snout into the box to sort through the untouched packages.
Missy's eyes slid to the curiosity before closing in defeat.
"Things were horrible" Missy spoke glumly "I got there and all set up with these pretty designs. Look...."
She leant over to ruffle through and pull out a package she tore open the front of.
The bright yellow fabric peeked through, adorned with stark black flowers.
"The shop down the street had the same one!"
She dumped it aside and pulled out another she checked, tearing open.
A sky blue with swirls of pink and white.
"The one across the road had this on the bags there. But, here's the best part...."
She wasn't even checking her writing across the packages anymore. She tore one after the other to reveal a peek of each colour and intricate design inside. They were dumped onto the floor in a haphazardous arch.
"There was a shop who had them all on rolls in the window!"
Missy flopped back and stared at the hard work strewn around her. I saw the tears already glistening in her eyes before she wiped them.
"I need something new" she sniffled "something none of them have. Something they want to look at..."
"I like these" Stew nudged the packages on the floor, peeling the paper from one "they're new."
Missy got to her feet, wiping her eyes again when she disappeared down the hall to drop the dirty clothing and towel into the bathroom. Wandering out, she was still deep in thought when she rummaged through the fridge for leftovers.
"What would you want to look at?" Missy called out as she poured soup into a bowl.
Stew grabbed the yellow and black dress to hold in her teeth.
"This one!"
I glanced back at her, hearing Missy sigh back.
She didn't even heat up the bowl she cradled when she returned to the couch. Her spoon circled the food, only dipping in so Missy could suck on it as she thought.
"What's.....different?"
I sat beside her on the side that wasn't currently swamped in dresses.
Stew still rummaged through the ones on the floor to peek into the holes torn into the paper.
Her tail flicked in interest that Missy watched.
Slowly pulling the spoon out of her mouth, her face turned to me to study mine.
I saw the thought form and light up her eyes. Her body moved to put it into action, leaping up from the couch to place the cold bowl down and rush into her bedroom.
Both of us watched in curiosity as Missy dragged out her dressmaking mannequin to plant beside the mess she had made.
"What if...." she began breathlessly in excitement "...one dress is actually two?"
Stew tilted her head to the side, turning to me when Missy snatched up two to tear out of the package.
"Things aren't what they seem..." she grinned when she held a light blue plain dress to the mannequin "...they change."
Hoisting the dress over it, she tore out a second one; a dark green with splashes of white spots, to throw over the top.
She peeled the corner of the green one up to flash the blue underneath with an excited look and nod to us both.
"I don't get it" Stew whispered to me.
My ears raised as I saw what she was trying to show us.
"I think I do."
Missy grinned at my realization and quickly pulled off the green dress so she could slide on the blue one to her lifeless volunteer. With the green one over the top, she gathered the hem of the blue one to fold it over the top and hold it below the bust.
"If I can get this bottom bit to clip here, then I can turn it into a big reveal when it comes off!" Missy gushed as she released the dress to have the green one fall effortlessly over it.
Stew's ears perked up now that she saw the magic for herself.
"I've got work to do!" Missy gushed now that she saw we were on the same wavelength as her vision "and lots of things to figure out."
Missy dipped for her bowl she carried to her sewing room. Stew glanced up at the mannequin then followed after her.
I sat there, looking at the dress with newfound interest. Pulling up the green, I stared at the blue before looking back to the open door of the sewing room.
Things aren't what they seem...
Was this Missy's way of telling us that it was OK to change?
Shaking my head at the thought, I curled up on the couch beside the other abandoned dresses while Missy hummed away over her new project.
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Missy was transfixed entirely on her new purpose.
She groaned over the failure of her test dresses, smiled at how they came together so seamlessly, cried when she pricked her fingers or saw the fabric catch too many times, and laughed when her first prototype revealed the image she had been playing over in her head.
When she ran out of her room squealing, grinning from ear to ear, it was well into the night of her eighth day trying to get her vision to work.
Now that it did, she spun around the dimly lit room with the dress crushed against her; as if she were ballroom dancing.
Was she imagining herself in a fairytale; dancing with a handsome prince in a flowing gown that glittered like the moonlight itself? The ballroom would be filled with exquisite dresses, but all eyes would be on hers.
I know mine were.
Stew leapt and chased after her in excitement. I watched on from the floor with my own smile as I tried to go back to sleep now that I knew nothing was wrong.
"Dance with me, Soup!"
The dress was draped over the kitchen counter so that my hands could be pulled up.
I yawned and struggled to keep up with her enthusiastic swirling as we twisted back down the hallway and to the fireplace.
Hunched and still trying to shake the fog from my head as we made another loop to the front door with Stew chasing after us, I managed to snap myself from my bleary state and gain control of my dragging feet to stand properly.
Missy's laughter and smile grew serious when I now became aware of how much I dwarfed her. Our dance pattered out so that we were just standing there with each other. Missy still held my hands, but I fixed my grip so that mine smothered hers.
Her hands were cold and overworked. I could feel the roughness of her love for her craft across her knuckles when my thumb stroked over them.
Stew grinned as her eyes flipped between us just staring at each other. I was suddenly nervous at how this might have looked to Missy and stopped exploring her hands.
She didn't pull away or recoil. She just stood there, peering up at me while I gazed down on her.
My breath caught in my throat that I swallowed down.
Was she really that much smaller than me when I was standing like her?
Maybe she was picturing me as the prince in her ballroom fantasy? Or was that purely only mine that I was dreaming?
She didn't move. Was it fear or wonder?
"Go on...." Stew nudged my leg.
I broke eye contact to glance down.
"Go on with what?"
Stew giggled and nudged me again with the back of her hand.
"Aren't you going to kiss her?"
I gently slid my hands out of Missy's so I could drop back down and return to my warm patch on the floor by the door.
"Soup!" Stew moaned, throwing herself against me now to try and shove me back towards Missy with her butting head.
I saw disheartenment wash over Missy as she picked back up her dress to gaze at it.
Crushing it back against her chest, she forced a smile as she turned to us.
I tucked my head and kept my sight out of line of hers.
"It's late" she spoke softly "sorry for waking you up."
Stew saw how hurt Missy was while I could only hear it.
Guilt and shame chewed at my burning gut.
Should I have done something? Is that what she was expecting when she looked at me so seriously?
"I'll eat you until you say sorry to Ma!" Stew slammed into me again and turned her sharp teeth to the side of my ear that she gnawed with growls.
I heard Missy chuckle at Stew's antics before she was lifted up out of sight.
Glancing up, Missy's small smile returned when she cradled Stew against her and bent down again to rub the top of my head.
"Goodnight, Soup."
Stew poked her tongue out at me over Missy's shoulder when she was carried into the bedroom. The door was left open so I could see the little light flood it briefly. When it snapped off, I laid my head back down on the floor to try and force myself to sleep again.
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