Chapter 13:

City Hall

My Sweet Porcelain


The next morning, Lucy found herself back at the city hall on her way to the top of the building with Camie, unable to calm her nerves. At the office, there was a quick greeting with Percy, who was delighted to see her again, but also questioning at the back of his mind why she carried a doll around.

“Going back up again?” Mr. Percy leaned back in his chair. “What about your parent’s business?”

“My parents decided to give me a week off,” replied Lucy as she adjusted her hold on the doll in her arms. “They thought I needed a break.”

Mr. Percy stared at Camie, like he was suddenly reminded of a memory. An image of a space, somewhere in a poorly-lit and cramped place, flashed through his head. After racking his head for answers, he came to a conclusion, but before he had the chance to ask, Lucy hurriedly said her temporary farewells and made haste towards the top of the building.

Lucy sat at the wooden bench, located at the end of the system of paths passing through and around the garden. The lush leaves filling the trees and bushes swayed along with the blooming tulips in the center of the garden as the gentle wind, stronger on the roof, tickled their tips. The heat was still bearable for Lucy, but she accepted the cool contrast against the late spring sun.

The clouds seemed to have cleared the way in preparation for summer, but Lucy would have preferred the sky to be darker to fit her mood. Camie, however, seemed to think otherwise. A brand new start with a brand new day at a garden. Yesterday, she couldn’t look around because her focus was too much on Lucy. She wandered through the planters, with most of them towering over her, as she admired the garden.

Camie hiked up the mini terraces, carefully to prevent dirt blotches, to see further. Butterflies flitted around her, unperturbed by her appearance. Ferns gradually began to fill the steps around Camie on her way up. The leaves furled as Camie walked by, creating a path for her to follow, as if they were inviting her to explore what the small garden had to offer. From Lucy’s view, her tiny figure blended into the bushes.

“Camie!” Lucy called out to the doll after realizing that she had lost sight of her. “Where are you? Where did you go?”

“Over here, Lucy!” Camie shouted in reply. A pair of stubby hands poked out from the foliage so that Lucy could find her location. “Over here!” her tiny voice squeaked again.

Lucy walked over to the high pitched sound among the bushes and plants. Brushing aside the fronds and whatnot, she found Camie sitting in the middle of a circle of plants, as if she had found her own private hideout, hidden from the rest of the world. The butterflies dodged in and out of the sunlight dappling through the gaps in the leaves.

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked.

Camie signalled for silence, as she dropped to her knees and slowly crawled towards a fluffy, tortie tail poking out from behind a barrel. She pointed at it. “It’s a weird rope,” she whispered with unknown confidence. Camie reached between the potted plants, grasping nothing but air, unable to touch the so-called rope.

“I don’t—”

“I can’t reach it from here, so I have to go around.” Camie circled the barrel in a scurry before Lucy could finish. A moment later from behind the barrel, Camie let out a scream as a meow yelped out in surprise.

Camie scuttled out into Lucy’s arms. “It was a cat,” she said conclusively. She didn’t move for a while, staying by Lucy and shaking in surprise.

Light padded steps followed. A cat emerged from where it was hiding. Yellow eyes, muddy patterns and, frankly, quite old. It saw Lucy and let out a meow before rubbing itself along Lucy as it purred.

The cat stayed intimidating for Camie, despite it’s display of affection towards Lucy. She squeezed Lucy tight in an attempt to bury herself deeper in her arms, farther away from the cat.

“Oh! Chester!” exclaimed Lucy. The cat gave a mew in response to the name. “It’s okay, Camie,” she assured Camie. “It’s Mr. Percy’s cat. He’s harmless.” Lucy petted the tortoiseshell on the head to show Camie that it was a friendly cat.

From the confines of Lucy’s embrace, Camie peeked out to see the cat. It was docile and well kept. The purrs sounded round and soft, showing no signs of attacking. The only thing it wanted was Lucy’s headpats, which were expressed through it rubbing its head along her hand.

“See? Perfectly harmless.”

Camie, unconvinced, stuck to Lucy’s side.

“Chester? Chester!” Mr. Percy’s voice called out from the door. “Chester! Lunch!”

“Wait here, Camie,” Lucy instructed her as she picked up Chester. Camie stood still, as she had been drilled to do so in the presence of others. Eyes motionless enough to be mistaken as lifeless. A natural pose that allowed her to maintain proper balance. Seeing that Camie understood, Lucy stood up with Chester in her arms.

“Chester’s right here!” she stated. “I’m bringing him over, Mr. Percy.”

“Thank you, Lucy.” There was a clatter as he set down a bowl meant for Chester. The cat meowed and jumped down from Lucy’s arms to feast on his meal. “Do you have your lunch with you, Lucy?”

“No, I’m planning on buying bread from the bakery on the corner of the street.”

“There’s no need for that, I have extra prepared downstairs. I’m about to take my lunch break, so we can eat right now.”

“I couldn’t,” Lucy began to protest. “I’m an adult now, Mr. Percy, I can take care of my own meals.”

“Hohoho,” Mr. Percy chuckled. “I’ve known you since you were a child. There’s no need to be polite and refuse. It’s an offer from an old family friend. Keep me company.”

Lucy paused to consider for a moment. “Sure…”

“That’s more like it. I’ll tell the workers downstairs to prepare an extra set of silverware.” Mr. Percy headed downstairs first. Chester, having quickly finished his meal already, followed closely after him.

A moment later, Lucy’s head popped out over the leaves in front of Camie. “He’s gone now, Camie.”

Camie relaxed her body and reached towards Lucy, asking for a hug plus a carry, which Lucy indulged Camie in without a fuss. “Are we leaving?” Camie asked as Lucy headed towards the rooftop door of the city hall.

“I’m going to eat lunch with Mr. Percy, okay Camie?” explained Lucy. “We can go back here if you want after, but for now, I’ll hold you, so stay still for a little longer.”

“Okay.” Camie hugged herself closer to Lucy.

At the office, Mr. Percy had stationed himself at his desk, cutting small bite size pieces that he would occasionally take as he read the documents on his desk. He offered Lucy the sofa seat located with the coffee table in the center of the room.

Lucy poked at her thin pork cutlets with a fork. “Um, Mr. Percy? By ‘keep me company’ for lunch… Did you mean that as in staying in the same room? Shouldn’t we be eating at the same table?”

“My apologies, Lucy.” Mr. Percy patted his mouth dry with a napkin. “Force of habit. I’ll come right over.”

“It’s clear who Albert got the habit of overworking from,” Lucy said dryly.

Mr. Percy chuckled at her snide comment as he sat down with his plate. “Oh come on now. Don’t be like that, Lucy. We both know why Albert works so hard.”

Lucy continued fiddling her food with her fork. “Yes,” she answered quietly.

“By the way, Lucy,” Percy said after staring at her dining setup. Camie was on her lap, balancing on Lucy’s lap. “How are you going to eat with that doll in the way?”

“Very slowly,” curtly replied Lucy as she nibbled on the piece on her fork. She clearly did not think things through before telling Camie to stay on her lap. Unsure of how to eat without dirtying Camie, Lucy had cut her piece of cutlet into extremely small bite size pieces. It was to the point that the pieces were almost classified as shreds. At least no crumbs had fallen onto Camie so far. A considerable success.

“Hahaha,” Mr. Percy’s laugh boomed in the office. “Speaking of which.” He leaned forward to take a closer look at Camie. “I feel like I have seen this fine lady somewhere. You said you got her from Albert?”

“Yes, he gave her to me. Her name’s Camie.”

“Quite interesting,” commented Mr. Percy. “The one I remember called herself Dolly and was owned by a madam named Ficus.”

At the sudden mention of Ficus, Camie’s eyes glimmered a bit. Lucy was also surprised that Mr. Percy knew Camie’s old owner. “You know Ficus?”

“Know her? Of course I do,” chuckled Mr. Percy. “She and her shop go way back in the history of the town. As the leading city official, I of course know her.” Mr. Percy leaned back in remembrance of when he was young and could easily move around. “I met her a few times.”

The image that Mr. Percy gave off for Ficus made her seem like an elderly lady as old as, if not older than, Mr. Percy. It was completely different from how Camie had described her in terms of age. Maybe their names and dolls were a coincidence.

“Maybe I could see her at the upcoming Shy Moon Festival,” rambled on Mr. Percy. “She loved going to that particular festival.”

As Mr. Percy continued on with his stories about Ficus, Camie began to miss her more and more. It was quiet back in the shop, but it was more peaceful. She wondered why she had wanted to be sold in the first place. The main memories she had from the shop weren’t of the boring times, but of the times with Ficus. Her conversations in the mornings and evenings. The comforting aura she always exuded. All of those traits that Camie used to define Ficus were all positive and yet, she had decided that her heart lied outside the shop.

“Ah! Look at the time!” Mr. Percy’s voice that had faded into the background of Camie’s mind as she reminisced over her past snapped her back to the present. “I need to get back to work, so I’ll see you later, Lucy. Maybe sometime during the festival as well.”

“Later, Mr. Percy.” Lucy bid her farewells and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. It was empty, spare for the few errand boys running around, as many of the people had returned to their office, already back to work.

“Lucy,” Camie mumbled with her face embedded in Lucy’s blouse so as to not show any passerby that she could move.

“Hmm? What is it, Camie? Do you want to go back to the garden?”

Camie shook her head slightly and whispered gently, “I want to go home.”

“That’s alright,” said Lucy as she patted Camie’s head. “We can go back to my room.”

Lucy’s room was not what Camie had meant when she said home. Camie wanted to go back to the shop and wait for Ficus to come home. However, she kept her mouth shut, and accepted Lucy’s room as an alternative.

Outside in the streets, the preparations for the festival had already begun. There were lights hanging around the poles, and some wooden stalls had already been set up. Lucy passed by people setting everything up on her way back. They all seemed to have a good time, working together to make sure everything went smoothly when the time came.

As she neared her home, Lucy noticed the hustle and bustle around Sweet Ale. Apparently, her lunch with Mr. Percy was held at a time more befitting for it to be considered a brunch. The lunch rush was still at a high for the shop, and raucous laughter and shouts could be heard from the building.

Remembering how Albert had pushed her away on almost every attempt she made to help him, Lucy sighed and turned to her house. She headed up to her room and remembered the last thing Mr. Percy said to her. ‘See you later, maybe sometime during the festival.’’

The Shy Moon Festival. An event celebrating the lunar eclipse that occurs at least once a year and is predicted by astronomers and mathematicians many years in advance. During the festival, the wooden stall houses once more line up along the streets leading to the city’s central plaza. The plaza itself hosts an array of seats for the people to sit around and watch the moon turn a blush shade of red. Many specials are available at the festival, ranging from red moon cookies to colorful sparklers to raffle prizes supporting local businesses.

Lucy plopped herself onto her bed back in her small room. Should she go? The lunar eclipse might only last for a few hours of a single night, but the festival extended to a couple days before and after the eclipse for a total duration of a week. Without a doubt, Camie would be delighted to be able to see it for herself. However, if Camie were to attend, there would be a high probability that she would be seen as a moving doll. Lucy would probably have to help out her family’s business anyways, selling multi-colored glass candies in the shape of moon frolics and four o’ clocks along with other flowers.

There was Albert to worry about as well. It wasn't very likely that he would go and see the festival, but there had been times where he went on his own volition. With that in mind, Lucy would have to be careful because she didn’t want to see him.

“Lucy, Lucy,” Camie called out as she tumbled around the bed towards her. “What are you thinking about?”

Great timing. Lucy should listen to Camie’s opinion. “About the festival Mr. Percy mentioned. It’s coming up in a week. Do you want to go?”

“Festival!” Camie was excited, and it showed as she bounced up and down on the bed. It was quite refreshing for Lucy, having someone who would lift their spirits at the sound of something they like. “I want to go!”

As expected. Camie probably had too much going on in her mind over the past week to enjoy her life as it was. Going to the festival would take her mind off the burden she had felt from the atmosphere.

Lucy smiled and patted Camie’s head. “Then I guess it’s set. We’ll go!”

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Taylor Victoria
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