Amelia nods. There are a few smaller scraps on the ground. She picks them up for demonstration's sake. Some are almost curved and would make for convincing fins or leaves. "You could make any kind of monster," she says. "When we carve this there will be lots of leftover scraps."

Amelia spends her time searching for hidden goodies and speaking with the owner, who wants to talk about the festival, and the cooling temperatures that make it good for business. Eventually, she's happy with what little she's found, and checks on Venlana. "Ready?"

Amelia nods. She finds her paint brush and lays out a tin of white paint. "We paint a base coat and let it sit." Luckily, the base coat is one of the most forgiving. Amelia flips the brush around in offering. Only after the base coat is set can they add other colors and details.

It's simple work. Amelia hangs her coat by the door and walks Venlana through preparing the paint and applying it. It's a matter of patience. She's content to watch Venlana work, although at some point she decides to rummage through the korchen for snacks.

Amelia helps a tad with painting the other chips of wood and whatever else should be coated white. As they watch paint dry she eats from a snack bag. "What color next?" she asks, as she reaches around for more paint jars.

unhand me

I am not food

and you look like a grub

like a squishy little grub > pinches their sides

so it's fine when you eat me but when I pinch you it's bad

It's mean to eat me

This is true, but I could bake you real bread.

Yes. I'll make you braided bread.

you'll like challah. do you want to help

ok. we need eggs and flour and honey

⠀ ⠀Three, two, one ⠀Ruby's holding a gun ⠀Four, five, six ⠀Ruby look what you did .ᐟ ⠀