Explore for the rest of the day
“I suppose I am, yes,” you reply awkwardly, unsure of how to respond, especially since you are unaware of any local etiquette.
“I hope you enjoy the village!” She says loudly after dipping in a curtsey and hurrying off. You feel that she must be on some errand for her family and you hope everyone is as friendly.
You watch the girl go until she disappears around the corner then resume your task. Time to explore, you think to yourself. You take a deep breath and begin walking along the path, slowly making your way down the longest route through the town. Along the way you note some clothing shops and decide you must look at them at a later date. Further along you note several small vegetables shops and catch the delicious smell of baking goodies wafting along on the wind.
You follow the scent, passing through a sort of square, its edges lined here and there with a few empty market stalls. In the centre is a stone fountain, its statue an anthropomorphic tiger couple frozen in the middle of a dance. You hardly notice the fountain in your pursuit of the scent of baking and follow it through the square and out the far side before taking a fork in the path and winding up in front of the bakery. The building has a set of double doors opened wide to be inviting, a table inside arrayed with various loaves of bread and other baked goods.
You reach for a pocket in your dress but realise mid-reach that you brought nothing with you as you were only going out to explore. At least, you think to yourself, you know where it is when you decide to come back for bread.
With one last sniff of the delicious smells wafting out the open doors you turn back up the path and finish your exploration. At the bottom of the town you look back up and recall everything you saw. You found two other bakeries, some other veggies shops and clothing stores and multiple small carpenters. All in all not a bad collection, though you found no butcheries to speak of and yet there was smoked meat in your kitchen. Puzzled by the absence of a butchery you decide it’ll be best to ask around, but on another day, for your walk was long and you are tired and now must walk back uphill.
You begin walking back up the hill and sigh after a mere three steps before you realise you need to relocate your house. The walk back takes longer than you’d hoped and it’s almost dark by the time you find your little house, its windows dark. Inside you walk into the kitchen and make a sandwich of thinly sliced smoked meat and cheese, sliced just as thinly. After eating you drag yourself to your bed and fall asleep almost immediately, your dress still on you.
Written by green-eyedtiger on 18 July 2017