The ride was smooth. That was obvious since it levitated a few feet above the ground. Doll and Eeyore enjoyed the scenery flash by creating blurred lines of hard to distinguish colours. The children sang songs prompted by the volunteers and make a ruckus. They were as excited as popped corn and didn"t quiet down until they were berated by a Nun who was interrupted from her nap. Even then, the mood was still joyful and antic.i.p.atory.The smooth, self-driving bus sped along the well maintained roads -since the vehicles never really touched them- and soon reached their destination: Goodairy Dairy Farms.
The children trickled out of the bus and looked around curiously. It was a wide and open s.p.a.ce with a lot of gra.s.s. In front of them was a huge building with a wide berth. Doll was the last child to alight. He hovered behind the group of curious children, not sure of what he should be doing.
"All right, everybody, find your partner and hold hands. Do not leave your buddy"s hand until we tell you to, okay? I want everyone to stand in two straight lines. Hurry, Hurry!"
The children scrambled to find their preferred partners and hurriedly stood in lines. They squabbled a bit to stand near the front of the line. Even Finn found himself a partner but he was somewhat subdued.
"Ah, it seems that you do not have a partner, boy. The total number is odd," remarked Rik from behind Doll. He saw the distress on Doll"s face as he was unable to ask someone to be his partner.
Doll gazed at him for a bit before answering meekly, " That is alright..... I have a partner.... Eeyore is here..."
Rik was a bit taken aback. "Well then, why don"t you go make a group of three with someone?" he tried to change the topic.
Doll shook his head. He looked very uncomfortable with the suggestion.
Rik thought for a bit. Suddenly, he saw a system prompt in front of him. There were three options that he could choose from to carry out.
"A) "Let me ask some of your friends if they would let you in their group."
(Proceed to force a group to accept him.)
B) "I guess I should pair you up with one of the Sister"s then." (Make him walk around separately from the other children and hand him over to one of the Nuns.)
C)"Oh? Then why don"t you and your little friend form a group with me? I don"t have a partner either. Pretty please?" (Make group of three and follow children"s group away from adults)"
Rik immediately eliminated the second option. He recalled his own field trip where he had to temporarily partner up with his cla.s.s teacher because his friend had fallen sick was sent to the medical room. That was one memory that he didn"t really like since the teacher put a damper on all the fun things he wanted to do then.
The first one also, for some reason, felt a bit irritating to him.
Third option it was.
He selected it mentally and spoke.
"Oh? Then why don"t you and your little friend form a group with me? I don"t have a partner either. Pretty please?"
Doll grinned widely at that. He looked happy and much more spirited. "Really? Eeyore too?"
"Why not?"
"Hehe."
Rik extended his hand waiting for Doll to take it. A small, cold hand rested itself in his large one. Doll smiled the whole way to the Diary entrance.
...
The petting farm was one of the unusual attractions of the dairy. Despite being purely a factory for dairy products, they also kept other animals like chickens, fish, bobrabbits, goose, Swiftfoot ponies, ginreiw pigs (rodent), et cetera for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the visitors.
The children had all gone bonkers with the new sights and sounds. The small girls swooned over the bobrabbits and ginrew pigs squealing about their softness and fought each other over which of them was the cutest. The boys mostly had fun with the chickens chasing them around and feeding them. Two boys accidently provoked a goose and regretted it immensely as they ran hollering for their lives from a berserk goose monster that was on their tails.
Goose were fierce birds and somehow managed to propagate its species even during the dark ages. They were dubbed, Bandits for their fierceness and very few daredevils would provoke a gaggle of them.
They got to ride the ponies and feed the Dranegoats who strutted around showing off their dominance to the females. Finn had opened up a bit, forgetting his worries and almost clashed heads with one of them, both tring to puff out their chests in arrogance and manly masculanity. He had to be held back by some boys before the Dranegoat decided to b.u.t.t heads with him. Martyn, one of the boys, had a little staredown with a crocogator by the little pond. He lost, of course, when the crocogator decided to show its teeth.
"Look there, Eeyore! Those look just like you. The only difference is that they have much more spirit," pointed out Doll to the small, sloppy, grey donkey.
"They do? Well they certainly do look much better than I," commented Eeyore," That just proves how pathetic I am as compared to those even of the same ilk as mine."
His self depreciating tone did not faze Doll much. Rik had left along with the other adults for a while and watched the children from afar. There was no partner system at the moment so that the children could enjoy the small enclosure.
The noisy petting area was the last stop after they viewed the internal workings of the dairy farm and saw how the products were processed and packed. It was quite interesting with how most of it was automated with little human labour. Most of the human work needed was in simply taking care of the animals and showering them with love and care.
They got to enjoy ice cream and taste tested some products for a survey. Their opinions would help the producers which ones would appeal more to the populace.
Doll had a lot of fun by himself and Eeyore. The animals were very friendly overly friendly in some cases- and mostly chose Doll over any other kid. They would congregate around him when he got near and some would follow him around in their areas. Even the Dranegoats were docile in his presence. Doll was thrilled and he recalled an Old era term: Disney Princess.
It was a joke term that somehow got included in the dictionaries to refer to a person who was good with animals. He remembered it well as it was also distantly related to the residents of the Hundred Acre Woods.
...
The party they had at later, at a diner was a blast. It had cakes and sparkly, floating lights and dancing automations that did a lot of tricks. The music was danced to and party tricks were cheered to. The food erupted on their tastebuds with flavours of delightful sweetness and spiciness. Toys were given as gifts and the play area was filled with laughter.
Eeyore gorged on a few sweet carrot dishes and then criticised himself as a glutton before gorging on them again.
Doll piled up his plate with treats and stuffed himself full.
Rik chuckled as he wiped Doll"s mouth that was covered with sauce and sprinkles. "A rather messy eater, aren"t you?"
Doll just giggled. He was already comfortable with Rik and they had become a bit closer.
The ride home was comparatively quieter and the children were drowsy. The bus descended to silence as they were lulled off to the land of nod. Doll also fell asleep on Rik"s arm and snored softly. He scrunched up his nose a bit when a drowsy Eeyore flicked his tail, tickling his face.
Soon, they reached the orphanage after a long ride and the younger children were carried off to bed. The ones that were still awake sent off the volunteers after thanking them for the trip. Rik decided to stay at the orphanage for the night in a guest room and helped Doll to his bed. Doll was half asleep on his feet and wobbled all the way.
When he was properly tucked in, he sleepily mumbled a small,"Good night."
"Good night, Doll," said Eeyore and laid down by his feet.
"Good night," said Rik and turned and walked away.