Challenge #00234: Intricate details

The black fellow and Scott’s riveting discussion about felt.

“I knew you were lying about something,” the fellow in tweed grinned from ear to ear. “You said you only work in artificial plants and things that aren’t alive.”

“Yeah, I did. So?”

“That’s clearly moss on Echoes of Summertime.”

“No, that’s felt.”

“Seriously? Felt?”

“Yeah. I wanted a moss look and none of the substitutes were right until Sara told me about back-brushing felt. Then it was just a problem of finding a thick enough felt.”

Most people started to zone out at this stage. Not his speciesist friend. “Really? I thought felt was felt.”

You really want to go down this road? Okay… “Most felt on the market these days is the minimum thickness you can get without the stuff falling apart. You hold it up to the light, you can see the fibres. Which is great for lamps, but rotten for back-brushing. I ended up having to go around to places that made the stuff themselves. If you want a really great moss you need a minimum of three millimeters, the right kind of dye, and five different brushes. There’s the horsehair, the straw, the nylon soft-bristle, the nylon hard bristle, and the super-soft baby toy brush I found in this yard sale, but it’s perfect for getting just the right amount of counter-fluff going.”

Amazingly, he was not nodding and nearly nodding off. “What’s counter-fluff?”

“Sara warned me about this. You get into something deep enough, and you start developing your own lingo. Counter-fluff is the fibres that end up going in different directions, which is hard to do when you’re using natural fibres. I’m picky about my moss, so I’ve ended up making my own. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make the right gauge of felt out of alpaca fleece?”

“Alpaca? I’d have thought wool was the way to go.”

“Sheep’s nice, but unless you treat it with all sorts of chemicals, it doesn’t behave properly… and I’m already on one terrorist watch list, I didn’t need any more visits from the FBI.” A negligent wave to Agent Pertwee, who was supposed to be undercover. “I did experiment with rabbit, but the staple isn’t quite right. Dog’s too rough, and nobody nearby has llamas, so I went with Alpaca.”

“I’d love to see your experiments, I’m into textiles, myself…”

That evening, Scott made a friend out of an enemy with artificial moss.

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