Chapter 18: Day 18

Day 18,

The nature sprite was hiding in my pantry waiting to jump out at me this morning.  I wonder if it read my journal entry yesterday.

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I went the other way down the dirt road today, heading toward Cass’s family’s farm.  It’s a strange feeling, simply going down a familiar road a little further than usual and suddenly everything seems new and foreign.

I passed by the field where James and a few of his older children (young adults, really) were working before I ever reached the house.  I called out to them, they returned the greeting, and James came over to the fence on the edge of the road.  I told him that I was going to be taking a trip to Siren Overlook in the next few days and that seemed like a safer “expedition” than more crumbling ruins for fulfilling my promise to Cassandra.  We’d even have the Village’s future doctor with us (not that there was any expectation of need of her skills, she just happened to be interested in coming along too).  And if James was still wanting to find an apprenticeship for Cassandra, I’d ask if she were interested while we were out (and be clear that the job is mostly reading and sorting old records, not going out on adventures all the time).

James said that he’d talked to Cassandra about the idea of apprenticeship and getting off the farm, but hadn’t mentioned the library specifically.  It sounded like she was interested but afraid of looking like she was walking out on responsibilities at the farm, but he’d assured her that it was normal, if not entirely common, for Village kids around her age to try out multiple things before settling into an occupation.

But, all in all, plans were made, goodbyes were said and I went on into the Village for the day.

It seems that “the Archivist not knowing the way to the library” has become enough of a running joke that villagers have started giving me directions when they recognize me passing by without me even saying anything.  I’m choosing to interpret this as acceptance into the community rather than mockery.  It made for a bemusing exchange then when I told one of them that it was the Village doctor I was looking for today, or at least his assistant.

Those directions obtained for future following I made my way to the library in truth to open up for the day.  Being a bit later than my usual arrival, someone had already come and gone, leaving a request to come by and record the first launch of their new fishing boat later today.  That account is now in a different book on a shelf in the archive.  Mostly a factual recording – date, time of day, name of the boat, people involved, etc.  – but I’ll confess to having gotten caught up in the excitement and included a few of my own emotive impressions of the scene and the atmosphere.  And the food and drink shared in celebration.

On my way back to the library I took a detour to find Lin and fill her in on plans and confirmed date for our heading out to Siren Overlook.  I actually caught her outside on her own way back to her father’s clinic after running errands all day.  I also let her know that another friend of mine would be joining us on the outing and she was of a “the more the merrier” sort of attitude.  We proceeded to get distracted by small talk and a nearby lizard until we realized that afternoon was starting to turn to evening.  She offered me to join her and her parents for dinner but I had to decline on account of still being full from the boat launching party (I really wasn’t expecting the celebratory part of that, but I suppose that’s what qualifies as big and exciting around here).

On that note, this seems as good a time as any to try out sleeping in that hidden archive room.  Thankfully, I’ve been told the old archivist passed away in a chair in the main archive room rather than in his bed.  And it looks like the sheets have been cleaned at least once since then.  Maybe Lin came in at some point after his death?  Or perhaps Theo?  I still need to meet this “other oldest man in town.”

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