The Post Office

Mom made her way up to the Post Office the same way they went to the library: Out the front door, up and around the tree, then over to the uppee. It was such a simple path that Maizy didn't even need her tail to recall it.

As they descended gracefully through the branches, Maizy looked longingly at the library as they glided past.  I want to go! she thought, intentionally leaning just enough for Mom to feel it.

"Not today, sweetgum. We have too much to do." Mom just knew what Maizy wanted—and the quickest, most efficient way to disappoint her. It's a skill all parents have.

The Post Office sat across from the library, separated by a wide courtyard atop an absurdly thick branch. Like the library, it had been shaped directly from the tree—like someone had treated the wood as clay and simply gotten really carried away.

Compared to the library, the Post Office looked fancy. Its walls were carved with kads in the middle of dramatic delivery missions. Twin spiral ramps curled upward like a proud mustache, and above the door, Maizy could now read the words: "POST OFFICE."

Inside, she immediately spotted an elaborate wall carving—kads riding wizards, catching bugs, and battling giant flying snakes with suspiciously thick scales. One scene even showed them gathered before a massive, rune-covered gate.

It's the star gate!  Maizy nearly activated spontaneous uppee mode.

The building was bustling. Kads were coming and going in every direction. Toward the back, the ceiling opened up to the sky, and Maizy watched as several kads shot straight up into the air.

Must be an uppee over there.

This place is neat, Maizy thought, nearly bouncing with excitement. She had a sudden, powerful urge to run around and explore every corner of the building.  I bet there's all sorts of cool stuff in here!

Mom made her way up to the counter and was greeted by a tall male kad wearing the Post Office's emerald green poncho. Maizy could now see that the poncho had "KAD POST" embroidered in several places.

"Hello, Proscribrarian. What can we do for you today?" the tall kad asked.

"I have a red letter for Miss Floor, and a meeting with the Postmaster." She emphasized the word red for some reason, then pulled a tiny crimson scroll from one of her pockets. Mom untied the string, and the scroll expanded rapidly to its full size.

"A red letter for Miss Floor, you say?" The kad behind the counter took the scroll, saluted, and proclaimed, "I know red letter missions can be exceptionally dangerous—especially deliveries to Miss Floor—but I shall personally accept this mission and ensure it is delivered successfully!"

Mom rolled her eyes. "She's here, isn't she."

"Yes, she is!" He smiled, shrank the scroll with his glove, tied it very dramatically, and tucked it into his poncho. Then, marching zealously on all fours, he approached a side door, knocked, saluted Mom, and went in.

A moment later, he returned, saluted again, and announced, "Your letter has been delivered!" Then, to Maizy’s surprise, he pulled a red card from under the counter and punched a hole in it with his index claw.

"Only one more red letter delivery and I get a vacation!" He grinned. "Thank you, Proscribrarian!"

"Glad I could assist you in your eternal quest to be lazy, Bay." She rolled her eyes again.

A moment later, the door opened and a large, all-white female kad stepped out—nearly twice Mom’s height and built like a furry battering ram. A chunk was missing from her left ear, and streaks of gray fur marked her like old battle scars. She wore the same maroon poncho as Mom, but with a gold hood.

She glared at Mom. "Bloom Debugger! What frickish is this?" she demanded, waving the unfurled scroll. "It just says, 'Come home'!"

Then she spotted Maizy.

"Oh! If it isn’t my new granddaughter that my own daughter never told me about." She threw up her hands. "The Birdo flying me home was going on and on about a two-tailed kaydee, and I’m thinking, 'Huh, wonder whose kad that is!'"

This kad is Grandma? She looks...  tough.

"Then I find out this kaydee isn’t just my granddaughter—she killed a giant snake! Not just any snake, either—an ARMED SERPENT!" Floor practically screamed.

Bay—and every other kad in the Post Office—froze mid-task to watch the drama. Bay scrambled around for a better view. "This little kaydee killed an ARMED SERPENT!?" His eyes bulged. "She looks like she just emerged!"

Maizy looked around with wide, darting eyes—too intrigued to duck into the pouch and too nervous to climb out.

Bloom sighed. "Welcome home, Mom. Nice to see you too."

Having a lifetime of experience, Grandma knew exactly what to do in this situation: She ran up to Bloom, pointed dramatically, and shouted, "Look!" As the whole Post Office turned, she swooped down, yoinked Maizy, and stuffed her into her pouch mid-sprint.

"Ki ki ki ki!" Maizy laughed.  I'm being kidnapped by Grandma!  She thought the whole situation was hilarious.  Ick, her pouch smells funny. Though it is quite roomy.  Then, a surprise:  Wow! There's stuff in here! A whole book! And a tiny frog? Hello!

"Hello, Maizy! I'm Grandma, and we're going to make a run for it!" she laughed, then cackled like a madkad as she sprinted past the Postmaster, who was just coming out of the same room where the red letter had been delivered.

Grandma bolted to the back of the Post Office, pumped magic into an uppee, then shouted, "Maizy! Use your gift to make us light! We need to go really high if we want to escape your mom!"

How does she know about my gift?  Maizy wondered.  Actually, how does she know about the armed serpent? Auntie Blossom must've told her. Maybe?

Then another thought struck her.  Wait—my tail works on people too? Neat!

A bright pink light shined through Grandma's pouch as she hopped on the uppee, and the two shot skyward. They kept rising—not super fast like Maizy's first uppee trip—but their upward momentum wasn't slowing down.

Then came a loud BOOM! Maizy quickly spotted the cause: Mom was rocketing up at them from below.

"Here comes your mom! Haha!" Grandma cackled again. "It's been wobbles since I had a good chase!"

Mom shot past them, continuing upward into the sky. Maizy could just make out her shouting, "MOM!" as she zoomed by.

"OK, sweetgum, now make us heavy, hehe!" Maizy obliged, and the two stopped rising—then started dropping, fast. "Make us as light as you can when I say stop, OK?" Grandma said, and Maizy nodded, hoping she could feel the motion.

This is fun! Maizy was having a blast.

"STOP!" Grandma shouted, and Maizy switched to lightweight mode again. They began gliding gently, still well above the Post Office.

Then Maizy felt Grandma lurch—Mom had landed on her back. "Give me back my kaydee! She's too young for your... nonsense!" She sounded mad, but not that mad.

Wow, I think my tail is also affecting Mom now that she's touching Grandma. I wonder how far it could go if everyone joined hands?

"You haven't ridden on my back in forever!" Maizy could tell Grandma was smiling and having a great time. "It's just like old times!"

"Suuure... Are you about to randomly toss me off, like old times?"

"Say, that's not a bad idea!" Then Grandma performed a maneuver that Maizy found downright impressive: She tucked in all four limbs and spun her body like a drill, flinging Mom right off her back. Then, just as quickly, she spread her limbs, and they were gliding again.

I need to learn how to do that!  Maizy suddenly wanted to spend a lot more time with Grandma.

After a short glide, Grandma landed on a balcony and walked inside. She gently placed Maizy down in front of Mom—who had, somehow, been flung in the exact right direction.

"She really does have Patch's mass tail!" Grandma beamed. "Awesome. But what's the other tail?"

"Gods, Mom, it's so cool!" Bloom turned to her kaydee. "Maizy, what was the title of the first book you shrunk, your very first night in the Proscribrary?"

"She could shrink books on her emergence day!?" Grandma looked genuinely astounded.

Maizy's tail began to glow a gentle blue as she reached back through her memories to that first book. It glowed brighter as she zoomed in on the text in her mind and realized it was written in Labyrinthine. She began to translate, switching between her memory of the book and the Labyrinthine dictionary.

"Deep," she signed, then, "D U N G E O N S... Guide?" She wasn't 100% certain on that last word. She hated that awful sea creature emoji language.

"By the Gods! That book is written in Labyrinthine!" Grandma's eyes went glassy. She stared off into the distance like she was remembering something—then just stayed that way, frozen.

"What's she doing?" Maizy signed to Mom.

"She gets like that sometimes. She claims it's because the gods mucked with her memory, but Blossom and I think it's because she's old," Mom stated in all earnestness.

Then Maizy had an idea. She climbed up onto Grandma and tried to activate her memory tail—without focusing on any memory in particular. It seemed to work; her tail glowed blue, and then Grandma's eyes lit up blue as well.

It didn't seem to snap Grandma out of her trance, so Maizy deactivated her tail.

"GODS! Maizy, can you keep that going for a bit longer?" Grandma asked.

Maizy, still clinging to Grandma, turned her tail back on. She hung there on Grandma's chest when the Postmaster walked up.

"Hello again, Maizy, Proscribrarian. Wow, I've never seen a blue tail before," she said in her usual monotone.

"It's a memory tail. Maizy is trying to help Grandma remember things." She rolled her eyes. "The tail is so amazing that Grandma, here, is probably going to spend the rest of the day telling embarrassing stories about me and Blossom."

"You can stop now, sweetgum," Grandma stated, looking a bit flustered. Then she turned to Bloom. "Something did erase my memories!" She beamed, grabbed Maizy, and held her up in the air. "You're my new favorite granddaughter! Incredible!"

"I heard that!" came a voice from somewhere in the back of the room.

"Sorry, Brook. You're now second—no, third—best because you just complained! Hah!" Grandma cackled.

Apparently I have a cousin somewhere around here... Maybe one of Auntie Blossom's kids?

"I just remembered so many things. Wow," Grandma said, wearing a ponderous look. "The village might be in grave danger."

Her eyes went glassy again for a moment, then she said, "Let's have our meeting."