A public fountain near Shaw's Shanks Brunnhold
on the 15th of Vortas, 2719 Early Evening
Cecelia sat down heavily on the edge of one of the fountains in the Stacks, setting her bags on the ground. "Let's rest for a bit, Lia", she said wearily. Lia burbled her baby equivalent of "okay, Mommy" and started splashing in the fountain with her hands.
It'd had been a long day, but an even longer week. Her boss had been working her to the bone, pushing her to work extended hours and forcing her to finish tasks for the gollies who didn't want to do all their work. She was exhausted and, by the time she was able to pick Lia up from where the toddler spent the day, she felt like she was sleep walking. Tonight's trip included a trip to the market to get food for the week, which meant she was even more exhausted than usual. "Gonna close my eyes for a few minutes, Lia," she murmured before closing her eyes.
The umber-skinned woman had no idea how long she had dozed off for, but a massive splash of water and hitting her back and shrill baby giggles woke her up. She swore and whipped her body around, swearing again when she saw that Galiya had decided to try to swim in the fountain. Lia hadn't been smart enough to take off her clothes, so when Cecelia pulled her out of the fountain, the woman got well-soaked.
"Dammit, Lia. I've told you not to play in the fountains," the frustrated, exhausted woman muttered as she put Lia on the ground. "Now you're going to freeze to death on our way home," she said as she bent down to retrieve the bags of groceries. But before Cecelia could finish picking up all the bags, Lia had grabbed one and tried to pick it up, leading to her falling over and the flimsy paper of the bag tearing as everything fell out of it.
It was the last straw. Cecelia sat down on the lip of the fountain, crying softly. Lia toddled over and wrapped her wet arms around her mother's leg, patting it gently as she tried to comfort Cecelia.
It'd had been a long day, but an even longer week. Her boss had been working her to the bone, pushing her to work extended hours and forcing her to finish tasks for the gollies who didn't want to do all their work. She was exhausted and, by the time she was able to pick Lia up from where the toddler spent the day, she felt like she was sleep walking. Tonight's trip included a trip to the market to get food for the week, which meant she was even more exhausted than usual. "Gonna close my eyes for a few minutes, Lia," she murmured before closing her eyes.
The umber-skinned woman had no idea how long she had dozed off for, but a massive splash of water and hitting her back and shrill baby giggles woke her up. She swore and whipped her body around, swearing again when she saw that Galiya had decided to try to swim in the fountain. Lia hadn't been smart enough to take off her clothes, so when Cecelia pulled her out of the fountain, the woman got well-soaked.
"Dammit, Lia. I've told you not to play in the fountains," the frustrated, exhausted woman muttered as she put Lia on the ground. "Now you're going to freeze to death on our way home," she said as she bent down to retrieve the bags of groceries. But before Cecelia could finish picking up all the bags, Lia had grabbed one and tried to pick it up, leading to her falling over and the flimsy paper of the bag tearing as everything fell out of it.
It was the last straw. Cecelia sat down on the lip of the fountain, crying softly. Lia toddled over and wrapped her wet arms around her mother's leg, patting it gently as she tried to comfort Cecelia.
