Light saber
Eight years before, little Gerald had pulled a worn chair over to a shredded table and climbed up on it so he could reach better. He tugged at the straps on his overalls to make them fit better, then pulled together the ingredients he would need.
"Geri! Geri!" came a voice from outside. He tried to ignore it.
The kitchen window shattered as a little girl broke through it and landed on the tattered kitchen floor.
"Geri, Geri," Zurra said, looking like she was about to burst.
"Gerald, what the crap did you break this time?" Mary yelled from upstairs.
"It wasn't me mom!" Gerald yelled back. "It was Zuri!"
"STOP LYING!" Mary yelled back, stomping her foot on the floor. "I just started fighting a world-boss!"
Gerald sighed.
"Geri, look!" Zurra said, tugging at the pink overalls she was now wearing. "See, now you and I match!"
"It's just clothes," he groused, grabbing a broom and dustpan. "And how did you not get cut from all this glass?"
Her countenance fell. "I practiced all night to make overalls."
"Practiced?" he asked as he swept up the glass. "You don't practice clothes, silly."
Zurra saw the ingredients on the table. "Ohh! Geri, can I make the cookies?" She began bouncing up and down excitedly.
"Whatever," he said, sweeping the broken glass into the dustpan.
Zurra bounced up to the table and grabbed the well-worn mixing bowl. "Okay, first I'm going to add in some sugar," she said, dumping in the bag she had grabbed.
"That's salt."
"Then some flour..."
"That's baking soda!"
"Then some white wine to make it fancy."
"That's vinegar! And, you don't put white wine in cookies!"
Zurra stuck out her tongue. "Shut up! I'm not used to earth ingredients!"
Little Gerald threw his head back. "Mom, she's yelling again and making a mess."
"Gerald, stop making her yell!" Mary hollered back.
Little Gerald dropped his head. "Ugh."
Zurra stood up on the table, knocking the bowl over. "Just you watch Geri, I'm going to practice real hard, and when I get good at cooking, I'll make you lunch every day!"
"Whatever."
* * *
Little Gerald sat on the threadbare floor, flipping through the burnt remains of a comic book he had found in the rubble of the City Creek Center.
"So, if a man ties Wonder Woman's hands together, she loses all her powers and free will?" He shook his head in disbelief. "That is so messed up."
"Geri, Geri!" Zurra hollered, running into the room and stepping on the comic. "Let's play hide and seek."
"Whatever."
* * *
Little Gerald sat on the steps of the abandoned Salt Palace, kicking his feet as he watched off to the west as another spaceship full of people took off into the sky, never to return.
"Geri, Geri!" Zurra yelled, running up to him. "Let's go look for squirrels in the park!"
"Whatever."
* * *
Little Gerald sat on the floor, carefully drawing out a treasure map with a couple of crayons he had found inside an abandoned Crown Burger.
"Geri, Geri," Zurra said as she ran up behind him. "When we grow up, let's get married."
"Whatever."
"Yay!"
* * *
Zurra clung happily to Gerald's arm as they entered the circle of tents. Colors and patterns played over the fabric, depicting great battles from ancient times, great heroes and heroines of the old Confederacy, and the occasional advertisement for Daterum, the sonic deodorizer of champions.
Vendors from a dozen different worlds peddled their wares to the locals, most of whom had little use for things like holographic social media chandeliers, crystal-powered head massagers, and foot tanning cream, guaranteed to remove all sandal tan lines or your money back. There was a discount crystronic booth where people could upgrade their implants. That seemed really reckless to Gerald. There were a few things in his opinion that should never be done with a coupon, and brain implants definitely topped that list, along with eye surgery and pet adoption.
"So, are you gonna buy something for me, Geri?" Zurra asked, intentionally pressing her bosom into his elbow.
"I don't really have any money," he admitted, trying to yank his arm away from her iron-clad grip. "I donate all the extra money I receive from my scholarship to the mission back home."
Zurra brightened up. "Okay, then I'll buy you something. What do you want?"
"Pfftt, good luck with that one," Ilrica teased.
Gerald looked around doubtfully. "I'm training to be a priest of Soeck. It is my job to separate myself from the desire for worldly things and..."
He stopped in his tracks. "Holy crap, is that a light saber?"
He ran over and grabbed the little utensil and turned it on, unsheathing a blade made of blue energy.
"It is! It's a miniature light saber! Does it make the noise?" He waved it around like a happy five-year old. "It does! It even makes the noise!"
As Gerald waved the little thing around like a swordfighter, fencing and dueling against some invisible foe, Ilrica leaned in close to Zurra. "Hey Immestria, just what is he doing with that butter knife?"
"It's a human thing, you wouldn't understand." Zurra pulled some credit chips out of her butt and handed them to the surprised vendor. "Looks like he likes my gift quite a bit. This round goes to me," she gloated.
Ilrica frowned.
There was a snap and a spark, and Gerald's new butter knife stopped working.
"Ahh," he pouted.
Not to be outdone, Ilrica ran over and put her arm around him. "Hey Gerald, you ever win one of these physical challenge games?"
"Sometimes it feels like I never win anything," he pouted, looking at his broken utensil.
"Well, that's about to change. Come on."
She dragged him over to a brightly-colored booth manned by a shady-looking gypsy.
"Oh come on, these games are a rip-off," Zurra complained. "They never let me win."
Gerald was handed a trio of cigar-shaped pieces of metal. Before him was an array of narrow-necked spinning cylinders, floating around in the air in seemingly random patterns amid a mist of sherbet-colored red and orange clouds.
"Land all three, and win one of these beautiful Jintorian hand-stitched Ixriss dolls," the barker cried enthusiastically.
"So, it's basically like trying to throw a hot dog into a wine bottle," Gerald surmised. "There's no way I can do this."
Ilrica leaned up against the side of the booth. "Hey, now, where's the spirit I saw back on Chanterelle? The human who managed to return a volley against someone like me?"
A grin grew on Gerald's face. "He's still here."
"Well then, go on and win this thing!"
Gerald widened his stance and tested the weight of the bar. Sticking his tongue out for concentration, he tossed the first bar, and it slipped right into a spinning bottle.
The barker cheered. Ilrica clapped approvingly. Zurra was shocked.
"I... I did it!"
"Now, do it two more times."
Gerald gained confidence and tossed again, the second one bounced off a rim, then landed in a bottle beneath it.
"Well done!" the barker called out, a flashing siren coming out of his hat and spinning around.
"Holy cow, I got two!" Gerald said, getting very excited.
Zurra couldn't believe what she was seeing. "How is he...?"
Ilrica crouched down. "All right Dyson, one more. You can do this, I believe in you."
"Uh... okay," Gerald said, astonished at himself.
Zurra watched closely as the final bar flew through the air. Gerald missed it, but her eyes caught it. A microsecond before it ricocheted off the side of the bottle, the bar leapt instantly half an inch to the left and slipped straight in.
A siren went off and holographic confetti was sprayed into the air.
"I did it!" Gerald said, throwing his arms up like a little kid, his face a portrait of pure joy. Without thinking, he ran over and hugged Ilrica, jumping up and down in place with her.
Zurra's mouth dropped open. "Wait, were you...?"
"Like I said, I'm his good luck charm." She gloated over Zurra as Gerald hugged her. Zurra turned into a pink dog and growled at her.