Little Sparrow
“Come on, Shio,” Lyra called, tugging the other woman along with her through the snow. Shio was bigger and taller than her, but reluctantly she indulged Lyra for the moment.
“I just hate how quiet we have to be in the library and it’s so boring in there,” she scoffed and looked down at Lyra who was giving Shio her best pleading look. “Okay, okay, fine, but just for a little while!”
“Yay!” Lyra grinned, feeling accomplished after coercing her friend into this. She could’ve come alone for this research, but she didn’t want to be lonely. They walked into the church’s library together, Lyra was still holding onto Shio’s arm with both of hers just to be sure she didn’t rush off the minute they walked in.
Thankfully, Lyra knew exactly where they were headed. They went all the way to the back of the library, past the more familiar sections Lyra had been in before. Finally they settled down at a table together and Lyra pulled down books upon books from the shelves, stacking them neatly in Shio’s arms. She carried them over to the table and set them down with an audible thud that had Lyra giving her a look of exasperation.
Shio gave her her own look in response before rolling her eyes and dropping down into one of the chairs. Lyra joined her and leaned across her to grab one of the books from the pile; she was pleasantly surprised when Shio grabbed a book to help her too. Even if she was leaning so far back in her chair it was threatening to topple over.
But for now, Lyra turned her attention away from Shio and opened the book in her hands. After looking through page after page after page, she finally found something towards the end. It was little more than a fairy tale, but it described a winged creature that they called a sparrow, a little bird!
Lyra was enraptured in this fairy tale about a little sparrow. The lost little sparrow wandered too close to a snake’s nest. Never having seen a snake before, the sparrow was naive to their conniving ways. The snake invited the sparrow into her home, fed her, and fattened her up. The sparrow never saw the strike coming. The snake’s fangs sunk deep into her neck, paralyzing her as the venom slowly killed her. And that night, the snake had a filling meal.
“Shio, Shio,” Lyra whispered excitedly. “I found something, a story about a bird called a Sparrow!” But Lyra had been so absorbed in her reading, she hadn’t even noticed Shio’s weight on her ear and shoulder. She was using Lyra’s plush ear as a pillow to nap in the library. Lyra rolled her eyes and looked down at Shio with a fond little smile. She set her own book aside before carefully grabbing the book slipping out of Shio’s lax grip to set it on the table.
“Asleep on the job huh?” Lyra narrowed her eyes down at Shio, but she couldn’t really be mad at her. Lyra did drag her out here after all. But Shio was heavy and she couldn’t let her sleep the entire afternoon away. “Come on, wake up,” Lyra said softly. She brought her other fluffy ear to tickle over Shio’s nose and face. She grimaced in her sleep before she blew out roughly, making Lyra’s ear flop up before falling back down onto her face.
Her eyes opened and she glared up at Lyra who just gave her a mischievous smile. “Good morning sleepyhead,” she said teasingly. “Come on, we can get out of here for now, I found what I was looking for.”
Shio stood up and stretched out her shoulders and arms before Lyra joined her. Together they set out for the Rabbit Hole, hoping to grab a few drinks to warm them up from the chilly day.
