Rain awoke to Leptep lightly slapping her face with his wet webbed feet. She didn't remember when she had arrived home, but she doubted she'd been out for more than a few minutes. A throbbing pain filled her head. Nausea sat in her stomach, like an iron ball. An acrid odour filled the air. Blearily, she batted Leptep away and rolled over onto her stomach, retching. She realised she hadn't eaten in a while – so much had been happening – it had completely slipped her mind.
Clambering to her feet, she looked up. In the centre of the room lay a conical pile of fused... junk was the only word for it. The head of what appeared to be a fossilised salamander morphed into a gigantic sandwich at the other end. Bizarre glassy plants with frog legs and spiny wings were joined to metallic cans. Stony globes stuck out the sides, and crystals bunched up in groups around it. What looked like sewage had been frozen in strange patterns throughout the heap. Wisps of light floated from gaps in the pile. Irregular shapes vanished from the pile in flashes of vibrant colour, which swirled upwards like steam or smoke.
Struggling, Rain realised that she was still holding that wound in reality open. She pulled back out and a thunderclap shook the building as the rubbish was replaced by fire.
The fire vanished, and she looked around her apartment.
Everything seemed normal, though Leptep's pride seemed a little wounded.
“Thank you Leptep.”
He seemed pleased with that and raised his head before climbing back up into the sink, which he seemed quite fond of. She wondered just how intelligent the lizard was.
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