Novels2Search
Everdell: A Critters Tale
Chapter 15: New Friend

Chapter 15: New Friend

Florence and his mentor headed toward the cafeteria, they had stayed and watched the rest of the first years get chosen but no one was interesting. Only other bump was that a mouse that he had yesterday was almost chosen by who he assumed would be a rotten Mentor. Not that he knew the Gerbil question of course, but some things can just be assumed.

He ignored that had he been a second year and able to volunteer as a mentor he would have definitely chosen the prince…And would have done his hardest to make the Everguard seem like living in the Pits.

He was a first-year though and he could just ignore the actions that he may or may not have done had he been in a different situation.

As he was walking he started talking to his mentor, “so, your parents knew mine? They knew the Overseer as well?”

“Yup! They knew them alright like I said they were in the same squad as my parents.”

Florence thought about this, “Did your parents ever talk about mine?”

She looked at him, “Yeah. Why?” She looked a bit uncomfortable, sensing where the conversation was going.

“What did they say about them?” Florence looked up at her hopefully, always eager to learn about the parents he never knew. “Did they like them? Hate them?” He wanted to learn more.

She sighed, “Your parents were interesting. At least that’s what they told me. They were also a very good match. They balanced each other out but also shared a lot of the same interests.”

“What do you mean by that?” Florence asked, interested.

“Well, this is only what my parents told me mind. They said that your father was often very hot-headed and prone to holding very long grudges for seemingly small reasons. Sometimes for no reason at all.”

Florence opened his mouth to protest but was quickly shut down. “Do you want me to keep on going or not?”

His mouth closed. And she continued. “Your mother was quick to anger, but also quick to laugh. It helped to temper your father, his was buried anger that came out rarely. When his anger did come out though it often led to vicious fights and arguments, especially if your mother got angry. Yet, they loved each other, and your mother was more often than not kind, caring, and was a balancing influence.” She took a breath.

“Your father also tempered your mother. My parents say that it is a shame that they never got to raise you.” With that, she sighed. “That’s all I know. Don’t ask any more questions.” She knew that he was most likely going to keep on asking questions until they all dropped dead, so she forstalled the questions before they came on.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Florence for his part was disappointed but understanding, he had a lot to think about now. The Overseer wasn’t one for emotion and like most ants had trouble understanding the concept and recognizing it, because of this he didn’t often get explanations like the one his mentor gave him.

They headed to the cafeteria and stopped. “I am going to leave you here. I’ve got other stuff do. If you have any questions just look for me, okay?”

Florence nodded and headed onto the cafeteria. It was semi-full, a bunch of critters were still talking to their mentors about one thing or another. He looked around for anyone that he knew. The only person he found was a mouse that he met yesterday. He couldn’t remember her name, but she was distinctive. Longer teeth than normal, a thicker tail, she probably had some rats blood in her family.

Florence walked over and said, “Hi, I can’t remember your name sorry. Would you tell me?” He thought he might as well see what the mouse was like.

She looked up surprised, “Oh. Hey. Didn’t see you there, what was your question again?”

Florence repeated his question, she smiled, “My name’s Sar, what’s yours?”

“My names Florence, my friends call me Flor though.” He decided that he was not going by the nickname of Flo, no matter how nice-sounding the Overseer thought it was.

He stuck his hand out, and she looked at him oddly. “You're supposed to shake my hand,” Florence said, did she not know what a handshake was?

She grabbed his hand shook it, holding it for just a tad too long. It seemed like she really didn’t know what a handshake was. Weird, Florence decided to ask her, “Do you not know what a handshake is?”

She laughed, “Oh, yeah, I know what they are it's just been a while since I’ve had to shake someone's hand, everyone in my town knew each other and visitors didn’t really come by. Except for the peddler that is, otherwise though we all knew each other.”

Florence thought that that made sense, it was much the same in his own town, “What’s your town called? I come from Lefton.”

She looked a bit uncomfortable before saying, “My towns name is Lefton as well! What a coincidence! We must be from different towns though, because I haven’t seen you around, and my town is pretty small.”

Florence was confused, he knew that the Evertree was big and that sometimes multiple towns had the same name, but he thought that he would have heard about it if there was. He shrugged, obviously, there was, there was nothing to gain from her lying so she probably hadn’t.

“Weird huh? I never would have thought that there is more than one town by the name of Lefton.”

Sar laughed, “It is weird, isn’t it? It’s not like Lefton is that common a name. I thought you were lying at first!”

Florence chuckled, “That’s exactly what I thought about you!” She looked a bit alarmed, “then I thought to myself, why would she lie? What’s even the point?” Florence went from chuckling to laughter.

Sar kept on laughing, “Honestly Flor when I first saw you I had no idea…” She couldn’t finish because she was laughing. It sounded a bit fake but Florence was giggling and didn’t notice.

“Oh, Evertree, nice meeting you Sar! We should find another place to meet, maybe talk about the Leftons huh?”

Sar nodded, “Sounds good.”

Florence went and got some food, sat down, and invited his knew friend to sit with him.