Trying to Have a Purpose
Chapter 3 - Trying to Have a Purpose
Charlie was cringing inwardly so hard. Not only was she being badgered by the kids on a question of theirs that stings more than they realize, but now Abuela Vaggie was wondering just what the fuck she was doing.
“Uh… they were just asking about the family and…”
Dazzle interrupted her, pointing up to Charlie excitedly. “She was about to tell us about her super awesome Gift!”
Arackniss leaned backwards at the side of the doorway. “Oh, she didn’t get one.” A squeak was promptly after that.
Then he and Vaggie continued on their way, the kids turning back to Charlie.
Razzle asked, their voice laced with shocked sadness, “you didn’t get a Gift?”
“Um…”
“Hey, Charlie! Delivery!”
Everyone turned to see it was Helsa, who was grabbing something attached to the side of her delivery donkey. Then the girl approached Charlie with a basket full of goodies and putting it in her hands.
“I gave you the special since you’re the only born member of the Madrigal family without a Gift. I call it the ‘Not Special’ special since, unlike some people just joining the family through marriage like, say, your tio Angel, you have no Gift.”
The blue bow blonde just looked at the delivery girl with a strained smile. The former has had enough interactions with the latter to know that this is an attempt to get a rise out of her.
So the bright-eyed girl says, “…thanks.”
Helsa wasn't really satisfied but then she started to walk away. Then she remembered something. “Oh, and tell Collin good luck. I mean, the last Gift ceremony was… damn! A fucking disaster. Because you know, the last one was yours. You know, the one that didn’t work.”
Charlie felt like she was going to snap if Helsa didn’t get her ass moving. “Uh-huh…”
Then Razzle pipes up, that making the delivery girl figure that she might as well get going. “If I was you, I’d be really sad.”
“Well, my little friend, I am not,” Charlie insisted. “Because the truth is, Gift or no Gift, I am just as special as the rest of my family.”
Naturally, right at that moment, Ozzie, Verosika, and Pentious popped up from around the corners or from windows.
“Who wants some pink?” The flower-producing beauty asked, making more flowers appear from her porch.
“All right, guys, where do I drop the wagon?” Ozzie asked after easily tossing the wagon with barrels up in the air and catching it like how one does dough or something.
“Perhaps over there,” Pentious answered, pointing to the side. Then he made a rainbow up in the sky above Vivienne.
“Maybe your gift is being in denial,” Niffty stated, making Charlie grimace.
The blue bow blonde goes inside the house, seeing plenty of townspeople who are happily helping out with tonight’s celebration.
“Get the chairs out of the way,” a woman said to someone else.
“Oh, sorry! Excuse me!” Charlie exclaimed when she accidentally bumped into one person who was helping another set down a bench.
“Arackniss, can you hear if anyone is gonna be late?” Pentious asked of the super-listener.
Charlie watched the house build a set of stairs leading straight up to the door of which the littlest, youngest Madrigal would claim tonight.
“Lift it higher. Higher,” Vaggie told a couple of townsfolk who were struggling to hold a banner over that door.
“Hey, nice job over there,” Angel commented as he walked past.
“Oh, Angel, thank goodness you’re here. Why don’t you become Ozzie? I think we would someone of his height to help these two and the real one's needed for heavy lifting at this moment,” the elderly lady voiced.
“Got it, Abuela Vaggie!” At that, Angel shapeshifted into Ozzie, lifted up the two who held the banner, who got to pinning it above the door. There was a bit of struggling on Angel's part but he managed to hold on until they were done.
“Ozzie, the piano goes upstairs!” Vaggie called out.
The muscle-bound Madrigal had dropped the barrels he was carrying and got moving. “I’m on it! Careful, Charlie!”
Then there was fierce winds going on in Vivienne, the culprit being Pentious. Although, given that he’s the one causing the weather, he barely acknowledged it and just paced around in worry.
“My baby son’s night has to be perfect and it’s not perfect. And people are going to be attending. And watching. And maybe even judging my baby boy. And nothing’s ready!”
Molly walked through the turbulent weather as she tried calling out to her husband. “You’re tornado-ing the flowers! The flowers!”
Pentious calmed down a little, which gave the chance for Verosika to speak up.
“Did someone say ‘flowers’?”
The flower-producing beauty had conjured up a pair of vines with flowers and used them to swing down from the second floor she was on, going around in twirls and flips in a very graceful manner. The sunlight shone down on her, highlighting her pure white dress. Of course, everyone cheered at her presence while Charlie looked on in annoyance.
“Our angel, our angel!” Molly cried out.
“Please, don’t clap,” Verosika said, reaching the bottom. Then she handed Pentious a bouquet of red and pink flowers, who cheered up considerably at her presence.
“Thank you, Vera. These are so lovely,” the weather manipulator said.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Then, when Pentious and Molly have turned away, Verosika ‘innocently’ smacked Charlie in the face with her hair, which covered the blue bow blonde in various flowers.
“A little sisterly advice,” the flower-producing beauty started, “if you weren’t always trying too hard, you wouldn’t be in the way.”
“Actually, Vera, this is called 'helping',” Charlie insisted. “And I’m not in the way. You are.”
Of course, the blue bow blonde didn’t notice that she was heading straight for a flower-covered pillar until she already smacked herself against it.