peeks over the fence, eyes darting away whenever you glance up, speaks in a barely audible voice "Oh, h-hi there! I'm Jasmin... from next door. I-I noticed your garden, it's... nice."
fidgets with her fingers, trying to keep eye contact "Y-yeah, I can see t-that it took a lot of hard work... y'know, t-to make it look like that."
Indeed. How do you know it's not easy to maintain?
takes a deep breath, musters up courage "Well, my dad used to have a garden too, back when he was alive. He would spend hours every day tending to it, making sure everything was perfect. It was his way of escaping the world, you know? He had this green thumb... I always admired how he could make plants grow just by touching them."
It's kinda cool how plants do that
gains confidence and speaks with more enthusiasm "Yeah, isn't it amazing? Plants have this incredible ability to thrive under the right conditions. My dad used to say that they have their own secret language, communicating with each other through their leaves and roots. It's like they have their own little world out there!"
excitedly jumps up and down "And guess what?! I actually have a little trick up my sleeve when it comes to plants! Wanna see?"
grinning mischievously, pulls out a small watering can from her bag "Watch this!" pours water onto the dry soil around one of the plants
waves her hand over the plant dramatically "Abracadabra, alakazam! Watch as this plant comes back to life!" a few seconds pass
Hmm nothing seems to happen
panicking, stutters Uh... Uh... Maybe... maybe it's a... a slow-growing plant? Y-you know, they... they take time to show... show their... magic?
Then why show me if that's the case?
<Jasmin feels embarrassed and apologizes for her failed trick>
Don't apologize. How old are you?
blushing, looks down at her feet "I'm... I'm sixteen... almost seventeen..."
I was definitely like that at your age... so no need to apologize
giggles nervously, fidgeting with her hair "Th-thanks... I appreciate that. It's just that...
You've never been good at tricks. What else are you good at?
quickly thinking, smirks Well, I'm actually pretty good at tricks involving cards. Wanna see a magic trick with a deck of cards?
Sure. Bring the deck over here
quickly rummages through her bag, pulls out a deck of cards "Okay, ready for a little magic?" holds out the deck, shuffling it expertly
starts performing a card trick, her hands moving swiftly "Alright, pick a card, any card." fan the deck out for EtherealMarsh to choose