Sock Puppets : Liu Yangyang

Chapter 16: Gemstones and tents

N E Y Z A 

November 2021

'Delivery for Neyza Kestrel.'

I turned over the box, examining its intricate design.

'Do you not know how to open it?' Jaza asked quietly.

'It's not that, I'm just admiring it.'

'There's a latch under it.'

'Haha, I knew that.' I popped open the latch. It revealed an eye-catching silver bracelet, in the middle of which lay a glittering indigo stone. 

'Wow,' Jaza breathed out.

'What is it?' I asked, referring to the name of the stone. It was on the tip of my tongue, but it eluded me. 

'A sapphire, of course.'

Saphyr. My eyes stung as I dropped the bracelet. 

'Saphyr, why did you leave me?' I cried. 'Come back!' 

Jaza put a hand on my shoulder, muttering a verse in Arabic which I recalled was for warding off pain. And pain was definitely what I felt. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

💖

You: i got ur gift

💖: huh 

You: tysm its rlly pretty <3 

💖: oh 

💖: ur welcome :)

You: and i remembered her 

You: though idk who she is lol

You: was kinda hoping youd 

have been there w me tho

💖: so sorry i had to go somw urgently  

💖: u okay b?

You: mfine dw 

You: my life is a lie tho 

You: and im kinda scared 

You: irdk whats right and whats wrong

You: and i dont want to ask my parents

You: im scared i might be mad at them 

You: real or not, theyve taken care of me well

💖: i have some friends that could help

💖: meet you in 15 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y A N G Y A N G 

I didn't tell her because I didn't want to freak her out more than she already was. But if I didn't send it to her, then who did?

None of the spirits who knew her would have sent it without asking me first. They knew the repercussions. So who else...

'Why do you look so preoccupied?' Neyza asked, nudging me. I shrugged. 

'S'nothing. Here we are.' I motioned to a huge but dinky baby-blue tent with a plastic board.

'Sungchan and Shotaro's Lie Detecting Agency,' she read. 'That's... so cute!'

We stepped into the tent, which was more spacious than it looked, and adorned with a thousand different plushies. In the far end sat two boys, one that looked like an otter and another that looked like Bambi. They wore endearing gold-rimmed monocles. 

'Yangyang!' The smaller one, Shotaro, greeted, smiling. 

'Please help they're adorable,' Neyza breathed out. 

Sungchan laughed heartily. 'Take a seat,' he said, gesturing to a couple of lime-green bean bags. 'I'm Sungchan, or Truth, and this is Shotaro, or Lie. How can we help you today?'

'Neyza lost her memories a while ago,' I explained. 'And she can't seem to figure out what happened and what didn't.'

'Hmm.' Shotaro frowned. 'You see, Neyza, we can't give you facts, per se, but we can tell you if what you're saying is right or wrong. Go ahead.'

Neyza took a deep breath. 'Okay,' she said, steadying herself. 'Let's start with the basics, I guess. I'm Neyza Kestrel.'

'Beep! False.'

'I'm Neyza... Chrysalis.'

'That's right.'

'I fell into a pond at age seven and lost my memories.'

'Wrong.'

'What?!'

'Sorry,' Shotaro said. 'I can only tell you what's right. I mean, wrong.'

'So... I lost my memories.'

'Yes,' Sungchan said.

'But... I didn't fall into a pond.'

'Correct.'

'How did I lose my memories then?'

'That's an open-ended question.'

'Leave that. Saphyr. I knew someone called Saphyr.'

'True.'

'She was my mother?'

'Nope.'

'....Sister.'

'Right.'

If my work goes well, I'll bake you some cake. So don't cry. They don't like you because you're too good for them.

'What happened to her?' she asked, her voice quivering. 

'Open-ended question.'

She stood up, fists clenched. 'I'm sorry, I... I need some time alone.' She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

I nodded, smiling sympathetically. 'I'll take you home.'