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Description
All seats in the train were taken. At least in Ororo's eyes, as there was not a single free seat that would be adjacent to another free seat. In order to sit somewhere, Ororo would have to compromise somebody's (and her own) personal bubble. But eighty seven minutes was a bit too long to stand through, and as much as she preferred to have some space for herself, she had to admit that half of the seats were, after all, empty. Besides, she had some work to do and doing it while standing would be rather tricky.

She sighed through the nose and moved along, discreetly selecting her neighbor for the next one and a half an hour. A young guy in a pricey suit. An elderly lady. Another one. A red-faced guy in his fifties. A seat for the staff... One more elderly lady... A nun? Maybe next time...

She stopped by a girl around her age, assumably a weasel, sitting by the window. She had dreadlocks (which Ororo always found cool), earphones and was busy checking something on her phone. Ororo swiftly scanned for something she called snob signs: heavy make-up, fake eyelashes and fake claws exceeding the normal lenght by more than 1.5 times. None of those were present.

" 'Scuse me, may I?" Ororo asked, making eye contact with the stranger and motioning to the free seat.

The weasel girl perked up and took out the earphones.

"Hm? Ah, sure." She made a minor movement, not really moving away, but clearly preparing her own personal bubble to squish a little, giving space to the cat. With that verbal and non-verbal consent, Ororo made herself comfortable on the seat and took a sketchbook and a pencil case out of her bag. But she wasn't going to draw.

The sketchbook was opened, revealing about two dozens of long white paper strips, all of them sharing the same dimensions. Ororo picked up one of them and tied it into a loose knot. She tightened it, slowly and carefully so that the thin paper wouldn't rip in the process, and when it was tight enough, she begun flattening it, still gently pulling on the uneven loose ends. The knot soon took a pentagonal shape. Ororo flattened the shorter end together with the knot and folded the remaining strip around it. And then again. And again.

When the last fold was done, the cat reached into her pencil case and picked out a pair of scissors to cut off the tip of the strip. Finally she pushed the end of it into a pocket that formed in the previous fold and flattened the resulting form once more. The long paper strip had turned into a tiny white pentagon with three visible layers of paper on each side.

Ororo smiled to herself and unsheathed the claws of her right hand. It was time for the magic trick that would turn this flat knot into a 3D object.

She held it in one hand and, using her claws, carefully pressed one of the edges exactly in the middle, pushing it towards the center of the shape. Then she rotated it and repeated the same step on the remaining four edges, until she was holding a round little paper star. She fixed the folds once more on both sides and nodded with content. It was almost perfect - two of the points were a bit too close to each other, but it was a minor flaw. Ororo opened her bag again and grabbed a small jar that she would usually use for keeping caught bugs. This time, instead of an insect, the jar contained a handful of tiny paper stars she had made earlier, identical to the one that just came to be in her hands. She placed the new star together with the other ones, put the jar back in the bag and proceeded to create more stars from the strips she was keeping on her lap.

"How long did it take you to learn this?" the weasel girl spoke after the fourth or fifth star was complete. Ororo looked at her to see that she was staring at the jar of stars with a curious smile. The black cat shrugged.

"Five minutes," she replied and chuckled. "From a MyTube video. It's super easy."

The weasel raised an eyebrow, still smiling, and observed Ororo tie the next strip into a knot.

By the time she reached Loverock, she was done with half of the strips. One of the stars bent in the wrong way during the pressing phase, but Ororo didn't have the heart to throw it away. She shaped it as best as she could and put it in the jar.

When the train arrived on time at Loverock Central, she shot her fellow passenger a goodbye smile and walked out onto the familiar station that she had left many months ago. The train to Cinder Town was due in twenty four minutes, which she spent wandering around the station and observing the life in her home city.

Unlike Lilypad, Loverock wasn't so focused on Halloween that time of the year. Instead it was preparing for All Hallows' Day, which occured one day after Halloween. There were some pumpkins and bats here and there, sure, but nothing could overshadow the ever-present hearts, which on that occasion switched from their usual pinks and reds to white. That was the very first time when she felt relieved seeing the Loverock hearts. They were nothing like the sight of the decorations covering the entire town of Lilypad - the annoying pumpkins and skeletons and animals that 5-year-old children would consider ugly or creepy. When she was going through the town in the direction of the train station that morning, tons of Halloween decorations were surrounding her from all sides. She felt almost attacked, just like on Valentine's Day in Loverock, and was glad that she would spend most of that day in a place where the craze wasn't so high. She didn't mind the kids running around in costumes, but she didn't feel like answering the door every ten minutes either.

As the train to Cinder Town arrived at the station, Ororo saw through its windows that it was even less crowded than the train she had arrived in. Visiting the cemetery today was a good idea after all - she knew that all trains departing from Loverock would be full tomorrow. She quickly found a free seat (free in her standards) and carried on with folding paper stars for the next two hours, finishing the last one just as the train was one station away from her destination. Soon enough she was in Cinder Town.

She knew the way from the train station to the cemetery like the back of her hand. She had walked the entire town with Granny so many times.

When she arrived at the main gate no more than fifteen minutes later, it was clear that she wasn't the only one to visit graves one day in advance. Both Loverock and Cinder Town, much like other towns and villages in the region, shared the tradition of All Hallows' Day. The flower sellers were already preparing for tomorrow, restocking their supplies of candles, lanterns and decorations. Ororo bought a single candle and a matchbox before entering the cemetery. A lantern wasn't necessary - she knew she would find more than one on the grave. Granny had many friends. She wouldn't be forgotten quickly.

She prayed all the way to the grave that no one would spot the granddaughter of dear old Vixen on the moderately busy cemetery today. Not that she didn't like Granny's friends, they were all kind women and they always enjoyed "little Roro's" company, but if she were to meet one of those familiar faces right now, without Granny by her side, she would break down like a lost child. She did keep a painkiller on herself for that situation, but she hoped she wasn't going to cry her brain out.

Finally she stood before the twin grave belonging to Granny Vixen and her husband, a grandfather Ororo never had a chance to meet since he passed away before her birth. Artificial flowers and multiple lanterns were covering the grave, and one of them even had a still burning candle inside - a clear sign that someone had payed a visit recently. Ororo kneeled down and grabbed a medium-sized white lantern with a burned out candle. She opened the hood, replaced the candle with a new one and picked the jar with paper stars out of her bag.

She actually had to remove the candle to place the stars inside the lantern and then light the candle horizontally, but after a moment she set it back on the grave and closed it with the hood. The candle was burning steadily and the layer of stars reached up to about one third of the lantern's height. If there were any more of them, she doubted she would be able to fit the candle inside at all.

Ororo stood up. She had a few more relatives buried at this cemetery, but only this one meant enough to her to bother doing something personal. She wanted to offer Granny a bit of her effort and creativity. Her fingers were sore from folding tens of paper stars, but it made her feel that she did well. Her mother had probably visited the place a week in advance like she always did, so the other graves most likely had new flowers and lanterns as well.

One last glance at Granny's grave. For a moment she remembered how it looked like in the summer two years ago, at the funeral. Her eyes begun to burn.

She turned away and started moving towards the gate. She was thankful that she didn't stumble upon any of Granny's still living friends, yet at the same time she felt miserable and lonely because of that. Now that she was staying away from home, she had nobody. She was gonna go back to an empty house in Lilypad and continue living alone because she was apparently too awkward to make friends.

Heck, maybe she should buy some candies today after all. Even answering the door is some sort of interaction, right?

Before Ororo passed through the gate, she turned around once more, to gaze at all the graves illuminated with lanterns. She knew that the whole place would look beautiful at night. More beautiful than any Halloween decorations.

Description
All seats in the train were taken. At least in Ororo's eyes, as there was not a single free seat that would be adjacent to another free seat. In order to sit somewhere, Ororo would have to compromise somebody's (and her own) personal bubble. But eighty seven minutes was a bit too long to stand through, and as much as she preferred to have some space for herself, she had to admit that half of the seats were, after all, empty. Besides, she had some work to do and doing it while standing would be rather tricky.

She sighed through the nose and moved along, discreetly selecting her neighbor for the next one and a half an hour. A young guy in a pricey suit. An elderly lady. Another one. A red-faced guy in his fifties. A seat for the staff... One more elderly lady... A nun? Maybe next time...

She stopped by a girl around her age, assumably a weasel, sitting by the window. She had dreadlocks (which Ororo always found cool), earphones and was busy checking something on her phone. Ororo swiftly scanned for something she called snob signs: heavy make-up, fake eyelashes and fake claws exceeding the normal lenght by more than 1.5 times. None of those were present.

" 'Scuse me, may I?" Ororo asked, making eye contact with the stranger and motioning to the free seat.

The weasel girl perked up and took out the earphones.

"Hm? Ah, sure." She made a minor movement, not really moving away, but clearly preparing her own personal bubble to squish a little, giving space to the cat. With that verbal and non-verbal consent, Ororo made herself comfortable on the seat and took a sketchbook and a pencil case out of her bag. But she wasn't going to draw.

The sketchbook was opened, revealing about two dozens of long white paper strips, all of them sharing the same dimensions. Ororo picked up one of them and tied it into a loose knot. She tightened it, slowly and carefully so that the thin paper wouldn't rip in the process, and when it was tight enough, she begun flattening it, still gently pulling on the uneven loose ends. The knot soon took a pentagonal shape. Ororo flattened the shorter end together with the knot and folded the remaining strip around it. And then again. And again.

When the last fold was done, the cat reached into her pencil case and picked out a pair of scissors to cut off the tip of the strip. Finally she pushed the end of it into a pocket that formed in the previous fold and flattened the resulting form once more. The long paper strip had turned into a tiny white pentagon with three visible layers of paper on each side.

Ororo smiled to herself and unsheathed the claws of her right hand. It was time for the magic trick that would turn this flat knot into a 3D object.

She held it in one hand and, using her claws, carefully pressed one of the edges exactly in the middle, pushing it towards the center of the shape. Then she rotated it and repeated the same step on the remaining four edges, until she was holding a round little paper star. She fixed the folds once more on both sides and nodded with content. It was almost perfect - two of the points were a bit too close to each other, but it was a minor flaw. Ororo opened her bag again and grabbed a small jar that she would usually use for keeping caught bugs. This time, instead of an insect, the jar contained a handful of tiny paper stars she had made earlier, identical to the one that just came to be in her hands. She placed the new star together with the other ones, put the jar back in the bag and proceeded to create more stars from the strips she was keeping on her lap.

"How long did it take you to learn this?" the weasel girl spoke after the fourth or fifth star was complete. Ororo looked at her to see that she was staring at the jar of stars with a curious smile. The black cat shrugged.

"Five minutes," she replied and chuckled. "From a MyTube video. It's super easy."

The weasel raised an eyebrow, still smiling, and observed Ororo tie the next strip into a knot.

By the time she reached Loverock, she was done with half of the strips. One of the stars bent in the wrong way during the pressing phase, but Ororo didn't have the heart to throw it away. She shaped it as best as she could and put it in the jar.

When the train arrived on time at Loverock Central, she shot her fellow passenger a goodbye smile and walked out onto the familiar station that she had left many months ago. The train to Cinder Town was due in twenty four minutes, which she spent wandering around the station and observing the life in her home city.

Unlike Lilypad, Loverock wasn't so focused on Halloween that time of the year. Instead it was preparing for All Hallows' Day, which occured one day after Halloween. There were some pumpkins and bats here and there, sure, but nothing could overshadow the ever-present hearts, which on that occasion switched from their usual pinks and reds to white. That was the very first time when she felt relieved seeing the Loverock hearts. They were nothing like the sight of the decorations covering the entire town of Lilypad - the annoying pumpkins and skeletons and animals that 5-year-old children would consider ugly or creepy. When she was going through the town in the direction of the train station that morning, tons of Halloween decorations were surrounding her from all sides. She felt almost attacked, just like on Valentine's Day in Loverock, and was glad that she would spend most of that day in a place where the craze wasn't so high. She didn't mind the kids running around in costumes, but she didn't feel like answering the door every ten minutes either.

As the train to Cinder Town arrived at the station, Ororo saw through its windows that it was even less crowded than the train she had arrived in. Visiting the cemetery today was a good idea after all - she knew that all trains departing from Loverock would be full tomorrow. She quickly found a free seat (free in her standards) and carried on with folding paper stars for the next two hours, finishing the last one just as the train was one station away from her destination. Soon enough she was in Cinder Town.

She knew the way from the train station to the cemetery like the back of her hand. She had walked the entire town with Granny so many times.

When she arrived at the main gate no more than fifteen minutes later, it was clear that she wasn't the only one to visit graves one day in advance. Both Loverock and Cinder Town, much like other towns and villages in the region, shared the tradition of All Hallows' Day. The flower sellers were already preparing for tomorrow, restocking their supplies of candles, lanterns and decorations. Ororo bought a single candle and a matchbox before entering the cemetery. A lantern wasn't necessary - she knew she would find more than one on the grave. Granny had many friends. She wouldn't be forgotten quickly.

She prayed all the way to the grave that no one would spot the granddaughter of dear old Vixen on the moderately busy cemetery today. Not that she didn't like Granny's friends, they were all kind women and they always enjoyed "little Roro's" company, but if she were to meet one of those familiar faces right now, without Granny by her side, she would break down like a lost child. She did keep a painkiller on herself for that situation, but she hoped she wasn't going to cry her brain out.

Finally she stood before the twin grave belonging to Granny Vixen and her husband, a grandfather Ororo never had a chance to meet since he passed away before her birth. Artificial flowers and multiple lanterns were covering the grave, and one of them even had a still burning candle inside - a clear sign that someone had payed a visit recently. Ororo kneeled down and grabbed a medium-sized white lantern with a burned out candle. She opened the hood, replaced the candle with a new one and picked the jar with paper stars out of her bag.

She actually had to remove the candle to place the stars inside the lantern and then light the candle horizontally, but after a moment she set it back on the grave and closed it with the hood. The candle was burning steadily and the layer of stars reached up to about one third of the lantern's height. If there were any more of them, she doubted she would be able to fit the candle inside at all.

Ororo stood up. She had a few more relatives buried at this cemetery, but only this one meant enough to her to bother doing something personal. She wanted to offer Granny a bit of her effort and creativity. Her fingers were sore from folding tens of paper stars, but it made her feel that she did well. Her mother had probably visited the place a week in advance like she always did, so the other graves most likely had new flowers and lanterns as well.

One last glance at Granny's grave. For a moment she remembered how it looked like in the summer two years ago, at the funeral. Her eyes begun to burn.

She turned away and started moving towards the gate. She was thankful that she didn't stumble upon any of Granny's still living friends, yet at the same time she felt miserable and lonely because of that. Now that she was staying away from home, she had nobody. She was gonna go back to an empty house in Lilypad and continue living alone because she was apparently too awkward to make friends.

Heck, maybe she should buy some candies today after all. Even answering the door is some sort of interaction, right?

Before Ororo passed through the gate, she turned around once more, to gaze at all the graves illuminated with lanterns. She knew that the whole place would look beautiful at night. More beautiful than any Halloween decorations.