(hey everyone I am hoping to return to my normal style of writing as it does a better job of detail, please let me know what you think of the series with any ideas or critics)
Chapter 3
It had been a few days, and securing a loan from the bank was no small feat.
Forty thousand euros, with a repayment interest of 6%, paid monthly for the next Seven years.
Now, Ruth was riding the bus with a text conversation open with her sister to pass the time.
“Can’t believe Dad wouldn’t let you get a grant,” a message from Reily popped up on her phone screen.
Ruth quickly replied:
“He said I could, but that would be the ‘easy way out.’ Then he told me a story about when he was younger.”
“Which one was that, or was it the ‘greatest hits’?” Reily responded.
Before Ruth could reply, another message came through, imitating their father:
“Before I met your mother, I didn’t have a shilling to my name. Growing up rough shows you a world you girls would never understand… blah blah.”
“LOL,” Ruth typed and hit send.
Reily quickly followed up:
“If we grew up so comfy, where were you then? We thought the Polish babysitter was our dad, lol.”
“You DID NOT say that to him,” Ruth replied, adding an exploding head emoji.
“In so many words. It’s why we don’t talk much and why you haven’t seen me home for, like, six months.”
“Well…”
Ruth paused, unsure how to respond. Her face twisted as she typed, deleted, and decided to save her reply for later.
A few more minutes passed before Reily changed the subject:
“How much research have you done?”
The message popped onto her screen.
Her lips curled slightly in irritation as she shot off a polite but firm affirmation of her skill set. Then she muttered aloud:
“Fluffies are just toddlers… small… smelly… dirty… annoying… toddlers…”
She sighed.
“Well, shit.”
She opened her phone’s browser on roaming Wi-Fi and started doing some research. She reviewed her small shopping list:
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Carpet – cut to size, measured
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Tiles – enough to fill all exposed floor areas
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Office – supplies
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Computer – just replace the power supply and grab a few sticks of memory . This is for TAXES AND BUSINESS, not GAMES!!!
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Bathroom – all essentials, and hire a company to replace the windows that let that little freeloader in
“Hmm… the toilet was kept running by the puffball at least, so no need for replacement parts. And he was like a 3 on the 1–10 scale of ferals I’ve seen online. Maybe Fluffies aren’t that bad, haha.”
The bus stopped, and Ruth knew her stop was next.
Her dad had given her a list of suggestions on where and how to get things refunded. While the purpose of the purchases was close to what it would be used for, Ruth still ran it all by Reily—no hidden tags or fees.
Checking her “business” account, Ruth knew she couldn’t just bulk-order from the FluffMart warehouse. She could smell overpriced “organic/fluffy-safe” crap from a mile away.
Something caught her eye—a flickering bus light. It was the only light on, and it was 1 PM. It shouldn’t even be on. She watched it flicker for a second before it dawned on her:
“I need to stress-test the lights when I get the chance. Can’t have flickering on day one.”
She checked the screenshots Reily had sent of the old floor plan, and the companies that used to own the place. All of them had been bought, sold, or rebranded—none of the names were the same.
Before she could send a follow-up text about light fixtures, the bus pulled into the business park. She stepped off and walked into what looked like a bunch of warehouses.
“I guess this is what business owners expect,” she muttered, looking for a sale or entry sign.
First stop: Des Kelly—she had checked on Google Maps.
Just then, she heard rustling coming from bins around the side of the building. Staying at a healthy distance, Ruth peeked around and saw a pink creature wiggling. She quickly realized what it was.
“Hello, Miss Fluffy,” she called out.
The wiggling and tugging stopped. The creature turned to the voice, then climbed to the lip of the bin to meet Ruth’s eyes.
Ruth stared at a pink Fluffy with yellow hair, caked in muck and flies. It didn’t seem to notice it had become a host to several species of parasites. Her smile faded when she saw its eyes and the flaring nostrils.
After a second of silence, the Fluffy spoke:
“Wut yu want?”
It sounded as if Ruth had walked in on the middle of its dinner.
“Well, I, um… just wanted to say hi.”
She was still a bit taken aback by the creature’s bluntness.
“Hwllo.”
It turned around and resumed dragging a bin bag behind a half-crushed wheely bin.
Ruth snapped a picture and sent it to Reily.
“Found this rude little shit. He’s a boy and pink—probably why he was thrown out.”
She turned away from her unexpected entertainment and looked at the fleet of units with doors and no real signage.
“I better ask Jeeves,” she sighed, opening the Maps app.
Fifteen minutes and forty-five feet west…
Ruth entered a flooring store.
“Okay, so carpet for the play area and the office,” she said to herself, scanning several colors and textures before a voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Hello miss, do you need any help?”
She turned to see an older woman, softened by years and experience, smiling warmly.
“Oh, yes,” Ruth smiled, reassured. “You can. I’m hoping to outfit an office and a daycare with new carpet.”
The woman’s eyes sparkled.
“Ohh, I love children. All mine flew the nest. Are you looking for two different carpets, or one that suits both spaces?”
“Both, please,” Ruth replied, feeling comforted by the woman’s warmth.
“No need to inform her about the Fluffy part,” she thought to herself.
They browsed carpets and tiles for the bathroom and storage areas.
“When did you know you wanted to work with children?” the woman asked while taking measurements of a rolled-out section of carpet.
She suggested a deep yellow, wood-toned option.
“Oh, it’s so homey—like the backrooms,” Ruth said, letting more of herself slip out. The woman looked puzzled for a second before smiling again.
“Surprised you remember the carpets we used in our office spaces. You must have work experience.”
Ruth nodded—twice now, she’d lucked out with conversation.
The woman made helpful observations Ruth hadn’t considered:
The carpet needed to be easily shampooable for accidents. Different textures were important for sensory play, so they added two washable rugs to the cart.
Soon the cart included much more—cabinets, cubby spaces, little plastic seats and tables (Fluffy-sized, of course), a dozen glow-in-the-dark stars, blackout blinds for nap time, eight small bedrolls, and more.
What started as carpet had grown to nearly a third of her overall shopping list.
Ruth took photos of the items and followed the kind woman to the till.
Realizing the woman had no name tag, Ruth asked:
“Thank you so much for your help—I didn’t catch your name, miss?”
“Mary,” she said, scanning tags. “Mary O’Malley.” Her smile beamed as she finished the tally.
“Over thirty listed purchases comes to… €2,145.73.”
Ruth paid, her stomach lurching at the total. The loan covered it easily—it was just the size of the number that made her sweat.
Trying to move on, she asked:
“So, um… do you have any grandkids of your own?”
Mary’s smile faltered.
“My children—all three of them—aren’t going to bring me grandkids. Just multi-colored horse-dogs,” she said, her tone sharp as a whip.
“Fluffies?” Ruth asked gently, trying to sound consoling.
“Yeah. You know, the birth rate’s dropped because of those… things. You’re doing the Lord’s work, I’ll tell you. Taking the burden off parents like that for a while.”
“Yep. Absolutely,” Ruth nodded, already planning her exit.
The “birth rate” conversation could only go two ways—and Mary had found a disturbing third. Ruth wasn’t sticking around to explore it.
She made her excuses, got the delivery and installation date, and left.
Out on the tarmac, she checked the date.
“Shit. Three days from now. They really do have a quick turnaround.”
As she headed for the next store, she heard rustling again.
… 42,400 Euro left to pay back…