Kurt & Doreen

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Another day in the trees sees Doreen visited by Kurt.

The summer air was hot, but it wasn’t so bad as to chase her indoors yet. Despite her reddish hair and pale skin, Doreen had never really suffered a sunburn in her life. And right now she was sporting a pretty decent tan. It didn’t matter though, like those summers back before high school where whoever had the darkest tan was sort of a contest. It was just a result of not going indoors.

She was in the branches right now, taking a bit of a break from all the running around she was doing to almost sleep on a branch, Monkey Joe on her stomach. She felt like a wild thing out here. She could even sleep in the trees easily. Doreen was now only going inside for food and to use the bathroom and shower. She wasn’t that wild.

One of her bare, clawed feet dangled off the branch and she took a big, deep, breath. This was great. And she didn’t have to deal with anything that was going on inside. Not Johnny being all upset, or Yvette smelling all different or the girl drama that seemed exploding around Julian (though that was hardly a new occurrence!). Out here, she was a wild little girl in the trees.

A twig cracked under her tree, and Kurt paused and looked straight up at her. "Doreen?"

Doreen had smelled him, but hadn’t thought that he was really that close, she rolled over and looked down, Monkey Joe managing to move off of her to the side quick enough to avoid getting squished, “Hello, Mister Sefton,” she said, waving with a clawed hand. The claws were longer than usual but she hadn’t taken any time to even try to file them down recently. The climbing kept them from getting too bad, she thought. “Isn’t it nice out?”

"For the moment, yes, it is." He smiled amicably. "And perhaps the storms will pass over. May I come up with you?"

Doreen considered that for a moment, “Okay,” she said, “Would you like some peanut brittle? I have some. I think I’m going to have to buy more though.”

"Perhaps a little." He began the climb to join her. "I would not like to have too much if you are in short supply."

“I don’t mind sharing. It’s really good after all, Monkey Joe likes it too,” she said, the squirrel scratching at her and giving her his best ‘feed me, I’m starving!’ looks and clicks, “Oh you are not,” she said, looking down at him, “So knock it off.”

"Still, I will just take a small piece. What did he say?"

She broke off a piece and held it out for Mister Sefton, “That he’s starving and I should feed him. But he’s not. He’s actually still pretty chunky.”

He accepted it, pulling himself securely up onto the branch. "Ah, that is something all pets would have us believe. You should see the way my dog looks at me sometimes, when I know he cannot be that hungry. Usually when I am preparing my own food."

Monkey Joe went through the elaborate processes of dying slowly to get attention in a way that was so theatrical it didn’t seem right coming from a squirrel, “Yeah. But he knows I know and he’s not getting anymore until later,” Doreen looked down at Monkey Joe who made a loud, pained noises, [You ate most of this batch already!] she clicked down at him, [We’re not going back inside until later.]

“So I think he’s just being a twit, but I still love him.”

"Of course you do." There was a brief comfortable silence, then, "I have not seen much of you, lately. How have you been?"

“I’ve been okay. I’ve been outside a lot. I don’t get to spend time like this outside back home, well, I didn’t… or I could, but it wasn’t always the best idea, you know?” Doreen said, swallowing some of the candy.

"I understand that", he agreed. "I grew up in a similar way... not exactly kept indoors, but certainly within the confines of the camp and sometimes to my caravan, and I think for the same reason."

“I missed being able to go outside, so I really like it here,” even when she missed her parents and her brother. “But the beaches back home are really awesome. We should all go sometime. I mean, a lot of them aren’t too bad about how they treat you. Beverly Hills was different, because I think the people there are different a lot of times.”

"If you would be happy to go home, perhaps you should put a public invitation on the journals", he suggested. "And I have never been to Beverly Hills."

Doreen shook her head, “It’s not really that important, I just miss some of the beaches. I really don’t have the money for a trip home right now and it wouldn’t be fair to make Mom spend it either. I’d ask Dad, but I don’t think he’ll answer.”

"If money is all that is stopping you", Kurt told her firmly, "you should not worry. You would be helped in that direction." By him, if no one else, but he didn't think it would come to even that.

“But I wouldn’t be able to pay it back, and it doesn’t seem right not to,” Doreen said, thinking about it, “I don’t want to have to inconvenience anyone. I can talk to Mom every day, after all.”

"As you like. Do let me know if you change your mind, as the offer will still be open."

“I will,” Doreen said, looking up at the sky through the shifting leaves, “There are so many more trees out here than there are back home.”

"You came from a city", he pointed out. "It stands to reason... as it does that you would like trees. One day, perhaps I will show you the forests I knew growing up."

“Really? I’d like t hat!” Doreen said brightly, “I mean, there really aren’t that many REAL forests left here, you know? I mean, there are a few, but not really all that many. I remember going to the redwood forest once when I was little. The trees were so tall it was magical. You know, I think they filmed parts of Return of the Jedi in that forest – the ewok parts anyway.”

"We do not have redwoods in Germany", Kurt said with a smile, "but there are many old trees of other species. Older than the United States, in some cases."

“Really? I mean, that makes sense, since it’s not that old of a country. They must be really amazing though. No one will get mad if you climb on them, will they?” Doreen asked.

"I doubt it, or at least not very much. Some of them are protected, but the wardens' real job is to make sure no one goes cutting them down or lighting fires. If you are careful not to break them, it may even never be noticed."

“Oh, that would be so awesome! I didn’t get to climb many trees… I mean, they’re weren’t really that many when we went to… you know,” Doreen said, trailing off.

"No, there would not have been", he said quietly. "Not fully grown, in any case. Whenever you would like, then, we will go to visit my brother and the family and you can climb to your heart's content."

“I’d like that a lot – oh, but I don’t speak German, do they speak English? I want to at least be able to say t hank you,” Doreen said simply.

"Most of them do, at least some", he assured her. "My brother speaks it as fluently as I do, and he or I can always translate if necessary."

“Okay! I suppose I could learn some too, I hope it’s not too hard. A teacher once told me I was hopeless with French, so it has to be easier than French or I won’t have a chance,” Doreen mused.

"I do not know if it is easier than French", was the apologetic response. "It is very different, not from the same family at all. If you would like to learn either German or Romany, I could help."

“I’d love to! Dad – he does a lot of business – always said that people should know at least two languages, I don’t remember what the other one he speaks is, so I figured I should learn at least one, so I tried French and I didn’t do very well at it at all,” she explained, “I tried a bit of Spanish too, but I don’t know if that was just the teachers or what, because I did a lot better here with just about everything.”

"Then we shall see if we cannot do better. I am willing to bet that we can."

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, I’m doing better in anything else and what’s the worst that can happen if I try, right?” Doreen asked, smiling.

"Nothing harmful at all", he returned cheerfully.

“How do you say ‘squirrel’ then,” Doreen asked, smiling eagerly.