Chapter Three
Several weeks passed. Nothing interesting happened. I visited Bob in the mornings, and then moved onto working late into the night. And every lunchtime, I would go home and polish my ornaments, spending extra time on the four dragons. This probably sounds incredibly insane to you, but I named them. Yes, I named the ornaments. I was about ready to send myself to a funny farm. I don’t even know why I did it. I just did. I named the emerald dragon Viridus, meaning Green in Latin. The turquoise one was Callaina, meaning Turquoise. The red one was Ruber, meaning Red, and finally, the silver one was Argentum, meaning Silver. Whenever I was sad, or down, I would go and sit with them. Not talk, just sit.
But then one day, something happened. Something… Unusual.
I had just gotten back from work at the bookstore, and was relaxing on the couch, resting my eyes, as you do. When I heard something. A noise. It was a sort of buzzing noise. At first I thought it was a fly or a bee or something so I just ignored it but then it got louder. Sounding like a radio trying to tune into a station. And failing. I opened my eyes, confused. The buzz was getting louder and louder.
“What the...?” I muttered. I winced as the buzzing reached its peak, and then was gone. Everything was still and silent for several minutes. I sighed. It was times like these I seriously thought I was crazy. But crazy people never doubt that they are sane right? Right? Or is it the other way round- crazy people always think they’re sane? Ugh, I’m confusing myself here.
I walked over to my dragons. They always seemed to help clear my head.
“Viridus, Callaina, did you hear anything? Or you, Ruber? Argentum? Oh God I must really be going crazy if I’m talking to ornaments. And myself. Ugh!” I really needed to talk to someone. Anyone!
I decided to go visit Bob. “Maybe I could talk to him about me going crazy?” I mused. Then I shook my head, realizing I was talking to myself again. “Oh God.”
I walked out the door, grabbing my leather jacket on the way.
“Bob! Bob!” I called as I walked into Ancient Antiques. It seemed the layer of dust wasn’t as thick today as I only coughed slightly walking inside.
“Ah! Cyris my dear! I haven’t seen you for a while!” I heard his merry voice only a few seconds before he himself came into view. He was wearing a grey suit today, his round spectacles sitting on the end of his pointy nose.
“What can I do for you today?” He asked.
“I just needed someone to talk to. I’ve started talking to those dragons you gave me. I even named them!” I laughed. “You must be ready to send to a crazy institution.”
His eyes twinkled again. “What did you name them?”
I stared at him in disbelief. “What did I name them? I’ve gone insane possibly to the point of no repair and you want the names?”
Bob shrugged, still smiling.
I shook my head, but told him them anyway. “The emerald one is Viridus, the turquoise one, Callaina, the red is Ruber, and the silver one is Argentum.”
He nodded wearing the same smile. “Do they mean anything?”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “Sometimes I think you’re weirder than me…” I muttered. Then I sighed. “They’re in Latin. ‘Viridus’ is Latin for green, or emerald. ‘Callaina’, is turquoise. ‘Ruber’ is red. And finally ‘Argentum’ is silver.” I explained.
“Ah. Latin.” He said thoughtfully. Then he smiled. “I like it.”
Despite myself I grinned back it him. “Thanks.”
And then I ran forward and hugged him. He laughed, and soon we were both in hysterics, laughing so hard it hurt.
When we finally sobered up enough to be able to breathe, I gave him a small smile. “Thanks Bob. For, being another crazy person to turn to.”
He smiled back and shrugged. “No problem.”