{"id":2531,"date":"2023-07-22T15:14:20","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T22:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2531"},"modified":"2023-07-22T15:14:20","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T22:14:20","slug":"bricks-bridges-and-bonds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/22\/bricks-bridges-and-bonds\/","title":{"rendered":"Bricks, Bridges, and Bonds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write a story about a character who finds a childhood toy that brings back memories. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nita unpacked her belongings in the remarkably unremarkable room. Dorm rooms are the same even here<\/em>, she thought. Her name was affixed to the top bunk, a small chest of drawers, and the empty half of the closet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the strict weight limits on how much she could take with her, unpacking took almost no time. Nine hangers took care of her shirts and trousers, while her undergarments, socks, short trousers and tee shirts barely filled the top drawer. She decided to leave the middle drawer empty for the time being, and she could put the bag in the bottom drawer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she turned the bag over to roll it up, the sound of something hitting the floor got her attention. She looked down to see an interlocking plastic brick. Not of any use by itself except as a caltrop for bare feet, she picked it up and examined it. A common two-by-four brick, the blue plastic still looked new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nita remembered her first set. She\u2019d never been one to play with the other children in the neighborhood. Building things with her interlocking bricks even when shooed into the front garden to play, had caught the attention of some of the other children. Too shy to say \u201cno\u201d when they asked if they could join in, the other children began to hang out with her, building things in the garden. Over the course of that summer, she\u2019d made friends with half the neighborhood, and soon all of them had multiple sets as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How that brick wound up in her bag she didn\u2019t know, but she\u2019d ended up a gram overweight at check-in for the gate and had to discard a pair of socks. One would\u2019ve brought her to weight, but a single sock was of little use, so the pair was left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019d been assured that the campus gift store would be able to order in things she might need\u2026like socks. As she placed the blue brick on top of the dresser, she wondered if the store would be able to get a set \u2014 or sets \u2014 of the bricks that had made her locally popular and ignited her interest in engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The door creaked open. Her roommate, a tall taurid woman with polished black horns and hooves, came in by timid, slow measures. Given her bulk, Nita found the contrast hilarious, but did her best not to laugh, trying to keep her expression neutral and non-threatening. If she\u2019s that shy<\/em>, she thought, I should do my best to make her comfortable.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHello, my name is Zuna. You must be Nita. I will do my best not to frighten you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the breaking point. Nita broke down laughing. \u201cDamn, girl. You may be big, but you don\u2019t scare me. I thought you were just super shy. I was trying to be cool to let you get comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, cool.\u201d Zuna stepped into the room, her hooves clacking on the hardwood floor, which creaked in some spots as she walked toward the bunks. \u201cWell, still, if I come crashing in here sometimes, it\u2019s not your fault. I just get like that sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t we all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mostly elves around here, so I wouldn\u2019t know. Everyone seems scared of me, so I try to stay quiet and out of their way,\u201d she said, stopping to look at the plastic brick. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a plastic brick that ended up in my bag somehow. Just don\u2019t let it end up on the floor. They really hurt to step on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuna picked it up and examined it. \u201cI thought it might be a magical totem or something, since you spent the weight to bring it here, although it is<\/em> light.\u201d She put it gingerly back down on the dresser and flopped onto the bottom bunk with a thud that Nita felt through the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould you have time to show me around campus?\u201d Nita asked. \u201cI\u2019ve been through the VR walkthrough, but it\u2019s not the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure. What\u2019s your major?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEngineering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen you\u2019ll be spending a lot of time in the sciences building. We\u2019ll start from there and finish up at the cafeteria. Dinner starts in an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nita picked up the brick and put it in her pocket as she followed Zuna out of the room. As they walked through the campus, Nita saw what Zuna meant. Most of the students were elves, though a few dwarves, a halfling or two, a group of gnomes that stayed clumped together, and even a goblin passed them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was obvious to Nita that the other students gave Zuna a wide berth. Well, she won\u2019t have to stick out on her own<\/em>, Nita thought, I\u2019ll stick out with her<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver there is the library,\u201d Zuna said, pointing. \u201cBehind us is the campus store. Bookstore on one side, gift store on the other. And now the important stop, the cafeteria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait a minute,\u201d Nita said. \u201cI need to check on something in the store.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou already know which books you need?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, something else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nita left Zuna waiting outside the store while she went in and spoke with the gnome behind the counter. It took several minutes, and the exchange of a larger amount of cash than she\u2019d expected before she returned to the waiting taurid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They sat eating, others in the cafeteria avoiding their table and suddenly looking away whenever Nita turned their direction. \u201cWhat\u2019s up with\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIgnore them; I do.\u201d Zuna put down her fork after having cleared her third plate. \u201cWhy did you come here for engineering, when you could\u2019ve studied that at home for a lot less?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEver since the gates opened, and magic started seeping into the world \u2014 my<\/em> version of the world \u2014 I\u2019ve wanted to know how it could be used in materials for engineering. Here, I can get that information, and get my hands on magical materials.\u201d Nita shook her fork, made of a magical alloy that would hold food when desired, but cleaned and sterilized itself when placed down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your major?\u201d Nita asked. \u201cI know there\u2019s lots of elf, dwarf, human, and halfling mages and even some goblin, but I didn\u2019t know there were taurid mages too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are,\u201d Zuna said, \u201cmostly raw shamanistic types, but I\u2019m not one. I\u2019m here because I switched from theoretical physics to theoretical magics. Very similar, but the maths are lot more complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They walked back to their room, without detours, and Zuna asked, \u201cWhat were you ordering from the store?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA surprise,\u201d she said. \u201cSomething that helped me make friends when I was a shy kid. I think you might enjoy it, and I suspect I already got at least one other group of students interested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not one to stress over surprises,\u201d Zuna said, bending down to bring her eye-to-eye with Nita, \u201cbut it better not be a surprise party. I hate those.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not. I promise.\u201d Nita began to snicker. \u201cBut\u2026now I know what to do for your birthday!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuna snorted and began to laugh as well. \u201cYou really aren\u2019t the least scared of me, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy should I be? You can\u2019t even keep a straight face when you\u2019re trying to be intimidating. Your little smirk gave you away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the following week, classes started and Nita and Zuna found themselves busy, but always made time to meet for dinner in the cafeteria. It was there that the gnome Nita had spoken to in the store came rushing in with a large box on a pushcart. Behind him followed the group of gnomes she\u2019d seen traveling together her first day on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gnome pushing the cart was out of breath. \u201cYour box just came, and your neighbors in the dorm said you were here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could\u2019ve left it there,\u201d Nita said with a wink. She noticed that the group of gnomes still hung back, but all eyes in the cafeteria were on her and Zuna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, but I\u2026we<\/em> wanted to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nita cleared a space on the table and began removing the contents of the large box. Two sets of standard bricks, a set of motors, actuators, gears, belts, axles, wheels, hinges, and assorted parts for building working machines, and beneath that an architectural set of blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome on, Zuna. Let\u2019s build something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, Zuna just watched as Nita began putting together a working drawbridge spanning the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuna began fiddling with the pieces, opening the architectural set after Nita gave her the go-ahead, and started adding design elements to the structure. The gnomes gathered in closer and with a nod from Nita began chiming in and helping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you use an actuator to move this section like that\u2026\u201d \u201cWe could increase clearance by putting the swing-arm\u2026\u201d \u201cIf we cantilever this section of the span, we can\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the build, Arrold, the gnome from the shop, wrote down orders for dozens of kits \u2014 including two for himself \u2014 as they all played with the bricks. When the lights dimmed, letting them know the cafeteria was closing, a collective groan went around the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone that had been playing with the bricks, and even a few of the elves and others that had stood around watching, began to put all of them back into their respective boxes. Nita stood and raised a hand to stop everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know people who like to keep their kits in the original box and separate, but I\u2019m not one of those.\u201d With that, she swept all the bricks on the table into the large shipping box. She noticed winces from some of those watching and thought, Yep, those are the ones that\u2019ll keep them in the original boxes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she picked up the large box and Zuna picked up and smashed the kit boxes for recycling, Nita smiled and watched Zuna saying her goodbyes to the same students who had been too scared of her to even walk on the same side of the hallway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBye, Arrold, Rin, Leelee, Violet, Tansy\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the rest!\u201d Tansy interrupted. \u201cCan we do this again?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, these are Nita\u2019s blocks, you\u2019d have to ask\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI already did. I just meant, will you be there too?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, I think I\u2019d like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little gnome leaned forward and grabbed Zuna\u2019s leg in a hug, her face barely reaching the taurid\u2019s hip. Zuna gave Tansy an awkward pat on the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tansy let go and stepped back. \u201cI\u2019m sorry we were afraid of you. You\u2019re a lot of fun!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuna smiled. \u201cThank you, Tansy. See you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nita winked. \u201cSee you later, Short Stuff. Let\u2019s go, Zuna. We\u2019ve got to figure out what you\u2019re going to wear when we go clubbing with the girls this weekend, and what kind of makeup to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuna\u2019s smiled dropped as confusion crossed her face. \u201cWhich girls?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTansy, Violet, Leelee, April, and Yen and Tan, the twin elf girls that were watching. They said they all want to hang out with you, and I said I\u2019d make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuna looked at the boxes she was about to drop into the recycler. \u201cTo think, all that from some children\u2019s blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBricks<\/em>,\u201d Nita corrected her, \u201cand not just for children. It says, \u2018Ages 4 to 3999\u2019 right on the box.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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