The Coocows

Luca and Mabel somewhat conclude their banter and we take our mugs for the road. There's a crisp morning fog blowing in from the heart of the forest like a blanket, but the heat of the sun is quickly melting it away. They continue to jab at each other while showing me the sights and making small introductions here and there. 

I'm keeping my eyes and ears peeled in hopes that I'll learn any small snippets that could direct me to an exit strategy.

The first order of business, since Luca asked if anything had caught my attention, was to see the Strawberry Milk Cows that I'd spotted earlier. After a laugh that lasted several minutes more than it should have, my hosts obliged. 

"They don't have flavored milk, Noa. I'm very sorry to disappoint you." Mabel leans in apologetically as we walk over to the nearby field and hop the wooden pole fence. "Their natural habitat is in a part of the country that grows pink flowers in the spring and has purple-leafed shrubs in the fall. It is simply natural."

Damn. Even in a world where anything is possible, it isn't possible.

The Strawberry Milk Cows (or as they're actually called, coocows) are extremely personable and much to the farmer's delight one of them extended a thick purple tongue to "kiss" me. One thing nobody mentions about the coocow is how incredibly large they are. These ones have shoulders taller than the top of my head. This also means that their mouths are incredibly large. Another thing nobody mentions about them is that they need a lot of saliva to chew and digest their grasses properly. Combine those two facts together, and you get a very very damp Noa standing in the middle of a field holding a cup of defeat-flavored coocow milk.

"Why do you call them coocows? Why not just cow?" I ask the farmer.

He smiles and holds a small flute to his mouth, playing a little harmony on it. The coocows behind him all raise their noses to the sky and make a sound something between a sweet singing "awoo" and a classic "moo". 

"Every coocow farmer has a different coo that they teach their cows. They'll come running even from a distance if you call them with their special song."

*************

Like Elias told me, this is a farming village. Most people are out in their fields at the moment, and most of those fields are for livestock. However there are a few plots that are farming what appears to be wheat, corn, and unfamiliar veggies. Some of them look like jeweled fruits growing on cobs, others are just exceptionally large versions of classic veggies like asparagus or cabbage. The stalks are growing much thicker and taller than what I've ever seen. I'm also told that there's a rice field some distance away, near where Elias fishes, and that ducks and geese are also kept there for pest control. 

Since most folk are still out working, we head back into town. Throughout the cobblestone and earthen streets, various herbs and ornamental flowers grow along the sides of buildings for anyone to pick. While farmers are in charge of their own fields, the town belongs to everyone, making it everyone's job to look after the section of side-sectioned plants. You can see that some houses are simply doing their duty, supplying a hardy bush or a shade tree, while other stretches of side shrubbery have clearly seasonal fruits, berries, or delicately blossoming flowers. It is all but implied that folks should help themselves to whatever they need - either for purpose or pleasure.

I hear a tiny shout from behind us, and see Alice waving her arms and sprinting towards us. "Wait! I'm coming too!"

Out of breath, she finally catches up and doubles over panting. Mabel gives her a small giggle and pats her on the back. "You almost missed the flower path."

"I know! That's why I was running!" she pouts in exasperation. "Hold on, I need to sit for a second. Wait for meeee." Alice plops with an unceremonious puff of her (now-dusty) floor length brown cotton skirt onto the floor near our feet.

With as much as she's sweating, I'm actually a little worried for her. I summon my mouse and keyboard to check and see if there's anything I can do on the backend to help. Scanning through the human properties takes a long while longer than more simple objects. 

Mabel shushes Alice and Luca when they try to interject and ask questions. "Just wait" she directs them.

"And... let's see if that does the trick." I find a slider for Exhaustion, which was at 80% out of 100, and slide it back to 100. That should do it.

Alice collapses into a pile of mush on the ground and groans loudly, gasping for air. 

"Oops, I set you to 100% exhausted. Sorry!" I sheepishly slide the bar over to zero, and she instantly stops sweating, catches her breath, and straightens back up.

"WHAT? Was... that??" Alice peers at me in awe, her peaflower blue eyes curious and bright behind her black bangs. 

Mabel smugly puffs out her chest. "She's some sort of mage. Certainly the most interesting one I've seen. She can even heat things without firewood AND without fire magic."

Alice and Luca both stare at me for a moment, perplexed, and then they both barrage me with dozens and dozens of questions. Luca is exceptionally close to my face asking about what it feels like to cast magic like that and what part of my mind I activate to make it work, while Alice is examining the underside of the keyboard searching for anything that could be pried loose and studied.

"Alice be careful not to press any buttons. I'm... still not sure what a lot of these functions do and some of them are really dangerous. Actually maybe just put it down?" Although that wasn't entirely true, it wasn't totally false either. Someone without computer knowledge probably wouldn't actually be able to mess that much up, but I still wouldn't want her to accidentally delete or move something with unintended ramifications. Better to play it safe and have her not touch it at all.

"Sure thing, sorry Noa!" As she adjusts her grip to set down the keyboard, suddenly her clothes all change to a delicate pink. "Oh! What?! Without dye? But I... how?"

"Oh, looks like you accidentally pressed some numbers and adjusted the hue of your clothes. Here, just hand me the keyboard. I can set it back for you pretty quickly."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT." Alice snatches up her hem and holds it to her chest protectively. "I've never seen a color of dress like this all the way out here. You aren't allowed to change it back. EVER."

"Can you give me wings? Please?" Luca asks, ending his barrage of questions with this final pinnacle of impossible inquiry. His honey-colored eyes are huge and pleading, looking even more puppylike than ever before. If I look carefully... is his lip quivering?

"Actually..." I think back to all the things I've done so far, and they weren't actually all that hard to change. "I'm not sure what I can do. I could see if I could try? But it probably would take a long time." I trail off into a string of muttering to myself over language and access limitations and potential workarounds. 

"Maybe it would be more helpful to say what you can't do." Mabel nods.

Sheepishly I admit that I'm not really sure what I can't do either. "All I know is that I don't know how to exit yet."

"Exit? Oh everyone knows how to exit."