September Surprise Story Week: Sebastian continued: Random: 552 words

[k_a_webb]

 

See the beginning of this story here (LJ link).

Once the tea was made and the fish was ready Sebastian sat at the kitchen table to wait for his dad. It was the first time he'd seen a griffin in the flesh so he found himself unable to take his eyes off Ida. She was smaller than he'd expected her to be and more real. Until the moment he saw her he wasn't sure that she really was a griffin because logically it wasn't an animal that should exist. He'd seen photographs of them before but it really wasn't the same thing as having one sitting on his kitchen table. Ida's damaged wing was worrying him slightly. It looked so uncomfortable for her, so he was relieved when he heard the front door open.

'Is that your father?' Ida asked, startling Sebastian slightly.

“Yes,” he replied, “so you'll get your wing looked at very soon.”

Ida looked at him. 'That will be nice.'

“Good afternoon, Sebastian,” a male voice said from the door of this kitchen. “Good afternoon, Ida.”

“Hi, Dad. How was work?”

“Busy, but they didn't mind me coming home to look after an abandoned griffin. We see a lot of them in the surgery but usually they've been found too late for us to do anything for them. Ida was lucky that you found her when you did.”

'That's true,' Ida said.

“There are a couple of things you need to know about griffins,” Sebastian's dad continued as though Ida hadn't spoken. “Griffins are telepathic and they usually only choose one or two humans to ever be in contact with. Usually the first one is their breeder and the second one will be the human they choose as theirs for life.”

Sebastian looked between Ida and his dad. “Really? It seems like she's speaking to me.”

“Telling the different between speech and telepathy can be more difficult than most people realise, because they've never been contacted mind to mind.”

“I must have looked like a total prat when I walked home talking to myself.”

He smiled at Sebastian. “Griffins spend ten months in the womb. During the last month the mother griffin usually teaches their children how to speak in English as they often don't spend long together once the cub is born. Breeders usually try to sell on griffin cubs before they're even born.”

Sebastian shuddered. “How can breeders do that?”

“Most griffin breeders are just in it for the money. It's wrong but that's the way life is sometimes.”

“I really don't think money is that important.” He looked at Ida. “I think it would be better if the breeders took their time to find the griffin's human rather than just selling them to the highest bidder.”

“There are a few who do. I've met maybe two breeders in my life that have been what I would call proper breeders. The others are just money hungry morons.”

“Ida, what was your parent's breeder's name?”

'It was Stuart McManning. I would agree with your dad's description of money hungry moron.'

“Dad, do you know a Stuart McManning?”

His dad nodded. “He's not one of my favourite people. Is that Ida's breeder?”

“Yes, it is.”

“He's one of the men I'd like to get banned from breeding griffins but there's no way to yet.”

© K A Jones 2011

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

This story is developing nicely. It seems like griffins are valuable but not very well respected -- odd contrast, but could make for interesting tension.

>> to ever be in contact with. <<

That's a split infinitive with "ever" in the middle "to be" -- technically an error, but also a matter of taste.

>> The others are just money hungry morons.”
I would agree with your dad's description of money hungry moron.'<<

That should say "money-hungry" in both instances.