\u300cIt\u2019s cold.\u300d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I woke up in my room while it was still dark. The sun hadn\u2019t risen yet and I could feel sleep weighing on my eyes to close again. I had the urge to dive under my covers, but instead I threw them off in one motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u300cIt\u2019s cold!\u300d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sudden blast of cold air helped me wake up completely. I got out of bed and grabbed a coat before turning back and making my bed. I\u2019m sure I would have seen my breath in the air if there was enough light in my room. After finishing up with my bed I went to my window and could see the light of the early morning sun starting to show in the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fighting the urge to dive back into the bed that still remained, I changed into my work clothes. They were well-worn and recently they no longer seemed to fit. In the chill of the morning I could feel the cold air nipping at my ankles where the pants were too short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u300cShould I double up my socks?\u300d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d be working out in the cold on my Uncle\u2019s farm today so I was tempted to layer my socks, but I decided against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grabbing my coat again I decided to head to the kitchen. Even my coat was looking a little small. The sleeves no longer went down to my fingers like they had when I\u2019d first gotten it. Now they barely made it to my wrists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u300cI\u2019ll have to ask Mom or Dad if they can alter these a bit. If it was the time of blooming already I wouldn\u2019t bother, but it\u2019s just too cold!\u300d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once I opened the door to my room I could smell breakfast coming from the kitchen. I\u2019d thought that I had woken up early, but somehow my Mom always beat me to the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cHey Mom, whatchya cookin\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cOh, Charo. Here, can you taste this? I have to go wake someone up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cYeah, I got it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mom left the kitchen and headed towards my parents\u2019 bedroom. There was a pot of stew simmering, so I had a taste and added a little bit of salt, making sure to stir it occasionally to keep it from burning. It was just a stew made from leftovers, but it was a great way to start your day off on a cold morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stopped stirring to look out the window. We lived on the second story of my parents\u2019 tailor shop. I could see smoke rising from the nearby houses and could hear the crowing of a rooster in a few different directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u300c\u2019Least the weather looks good today. No clouds that I can see.\u300d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom came back into the kitchen while I was staring out the window and returned to tending to the pot on the stove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cHow\u2019d it taste?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cOh, it was good. I added some salt though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cOkay, it\u2019s pretty much done then. Go ahead and take a seat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I moved over to the table and took a seat. Shortly after, my mom brought over a bowl of the stew and a loaf of bread that she\u2019d had in the oven and took a seat at the table as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cHey Mom, I\u2019ve noticed my sleeves and pants are a little too short. Can you or Dad fix \u2018em up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom put down her spoon and got up from the table. She came around to my seat and took a look at my sleeves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cHmm\u2026 There\u2019s not much material to work with on these clothes anymore. We\u2019ve already altered them in the past. How much more are you going to grow? You\u2019re already 17.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She took a look at pants as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cNo, we\u2019ll have to make some new clothes for you. These won\u2019t work much longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always felt bad mentioning needing new clothes to my parents. Even though they ran a tailor shop, any time that I needed new clothes I felt bad asking them. They\u2019d have to end up using materials from the store\u2019s stock on me. While I had learned basic tailoring from them over the years, I hadn\u2019t quite reached their level of skill. I could mend a garment without a problem, but making a full set of clothes was too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I\u2019d stopped moving while thinking, because Mom stood up and put her hand on my head. Her eyes radiated a warmth that I could feel over the chill of the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cIt\u2019s okay. You\u2019re our son. Besides, it\u2019s been a while since we gave you some new clothes so it\u2019s about time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She wasn\u2019t wrong. The pants I was wearing had been mended and patched multiple times. While my parents were tailors, I tended to help out at my Uncle\u2019s sheep farm more often. Farm work was hard, and I had to mend my pants regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Mom was patting my head Dad walked into the kitchen. With a final pat my Mom went over to the stove to dish out a bowl of stew for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cMorning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My dad is not a morning person, and you could see that he was still half asleep sitting down at the table. With his eyes and his mouth half open he looked incredibly dumb. Mom came over and sat the bowl of stew down in front of him before taking a seat again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My dad was about a half a foot taller than my mom, not quite at my height. His hair was a light brown, while my mom\u2019s was slightly darker. They both had tired faces with bronze eyes that shone with the happiness of a peaceful life. I guess that I\u2019ll probably look pretty close to my dad when I get older. My hair\u2019s about the same color as his, but my eyes are more like gold than bronze and I\u2019m still about a half foot taller than him. If anything, I look more like my Uncle Falkr. He was taller than my dad, but had the same color hair and eyes. Though, he was definitely thicker. That was probably due to his time in the Wylds Regiment before working on the farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cDear, Charo needs some new clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cUh huh\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cWe should use some of the adventurer equipment materials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cUh huh\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cOh and while we\u2019re at it, why don\u2019t we make him some nice clothes for his trip. We can spoil him a little.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cUh huh. Wait, what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cNothing dear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a sweet innocent smile on her face, my mother acted like nothing happened and continued eating her breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that he\u2019d woken up a bit, Dad started to eat his breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cHow\u2019s Falkr doin\u2019 lately?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Falkr was my dad\u2019s brother. He used to be an adventurer, but now he lived on the outskirts of the town so that his sheep had plenty of grazing land. He rarely left his farm and my dad barely left his shop, so they didn’t see each other very often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cI guess he\u2019s alright? Same as he always is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cHe\u2019s taking you with him to the capital this year, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was still eating, so I had to wait to finish chewing before I answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cYeah, he said he needed a hand with the wool this year. He\u2019s planning to bring some extra from storage because of the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cThe festival, huh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My dad trailed off, so I took another bite of bread with a spoonful of stew. The festival happens every year, however this year was special. The story goes that every 100 years the festival is used to summon heroes from another world and apparently it\u2019s been exactly 100 years since the last summoning. No one I know was alive 100 years ago, so I couldn\u2019t really feel any sense of excitement over something that might not even happen. Besides, we lived on the outskirts of the country. It was peaceful and I liked that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cI don\u2019t see what the big deal is. Whatever happens in the capital doesn\u2019t really affect us out here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cCharo\u2026 you\u2019re young. You\u2019re supposed to be adventurous and rebellious. You bore me and I\u2019m an old man!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cIt\u2019s okay to be boring. I have everything I need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wasn\u2019t lying. I really felt that way. I didn\u2019t really have any sense of urgency for exploring or adventuring. In fact, most of the townspeople told me that I was like an old man, just wanting to take life easy. It\u2019s not that I lacked drive or motivation. I just really didn\u2019t see any point to putting my life in danger for something as silly as fame or fortune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t have anything special. I\u2019m just the son of some tailors who works on a sheep farm in a corner of the kingdom. The only thing waiting for me on an adventure is death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cThat\u2019s not good Charo, you need to think a little bigger or else you\u2019ll end up like your father. A no-name tailor in a small town in the countryside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mother covered her mouth with her hand while looking at my dad, but I could tell that she was still smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I finished my breakfast and moved the bowl aside. I pulled out a piece of wood I\u2019d been carving. Perhaps the one talent I did have was that I was good with my hands. Regardless, I had a lot of spare time while the sheep grazed, so I had started to carve wood as a hobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cCharo\u2026 even your hobby is a little too old for you\u2026 also don\u2019t do that while I\u2019m still eating. I don\u2019t want to eat wood in my stew, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cAh, sorry. I wasn\u2019t really thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I scraped up the few shavings I\u2019d made and brought them to a trash bin. When I turned around I noticed my dad was eyeing my clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u300cEh, I didn\u2019t think he was listening earlier.\u300d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cC\u2019mere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I walked over to my dad, who proceeded to examine my sleeves and pants like my mother had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cSorry, I hadn\u2019t noticed. You really do need some new clothes. We\u2019ll have \u2018em done by the time you have to leave for the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cThanks, sorry to be a bother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cDon\u2019t be sorry. It\u2019s our responsibility and pride as parents to care for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My dad was grinning cheesily while giving me a thumbs up. I threw back a thumbs up and couldn\u2019t help but grin as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cOkay, I\u2019ve gotta head out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom: \u201cTake care. Were you coming back tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cDepends how much we can get done today, if I\u2019m not back by sundown I\u2019ll be back tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad: \u201cTell that bastard to come over for once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cYea, yea. Alright, bye!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I headed down the stairs and left out the front door. I already had everything I needed with me. Pretty much just the clothes on my back, my knife, and my current carving project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u300cI probably don\u2019t need to lock the door since they\u2019ll be opening the shop soon.\u300d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The street was mostly empty, but there were a few shopkeepers starting to set up their storefront. I waved hello at the ones who noticed me as I walked by. I knew most of them by name, but I didn\u2019t feel like standing around and talking for too long. I wasn\u2019t in a hurry, I just didn\u2019t feel like being very social.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The road that I was walking on was lined with shops and went all the way out of the town. It was the main road of the simple town that I called home. We didn\u2019t get many visitors, but apparently having the shops on the road made the most sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I was passing by one of the last shops on the road, I was startled by a loud shattering sound. I looked over and saw a young boy nearly in tears on the ground with the remnants of what appeared to be a large pot in front of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I walked over and gave him a pat on his shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cYou okay? What\u2019re you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boy: \u201cUu, uu, I\u2019b fibe, uuu, uuuu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were a couple large pots in front of us, with a few more behind. It looked like he\u2019d been setting up the storefront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cWere you carrying these? They look heavy, no wonder you dropped it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boy: \u201cUuu\u2026 uu yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cCome on, let\u2019s clean this up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I walked into the store since the door had been propped open. Even if it wasn\u2019t open, they shouldn\u2019t really mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cHey Mr. Potter! You got a broom?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a little bit of rustling from the back, and the head of an older man popped out from the corner of a wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Potter: \u201cEhh? Charo? Whaddyu want? We ain\u2019t open yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cAh yeah, that\u2019s fine. There\u2019s just a bit of a mess out front and I was wondering if you had a broom I could borrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Potter: \u201cOh yeh, there\u2019s one under the front counter. Help yerself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that the old man disappeared back around the corner. I walked over to the counter and grabbed the broom. Although, it was less a broom and more of a brush. With that, I headed back out front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cAlright. Do you have a container we can put this mess in?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By now the boy looked like he was able to hold back his tears, though he was still sniffling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boy: \u201cYeah. I\u2019ll get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pieces of the broken pot were all over the ground. By some stroke of luck the boy hadn\u2019t been hurt by any of the shards. Sweeping them up into a pile didn\u2019t take much time, and by the time I finished the boy was back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cOkay, let\u2019s put this trash in there. Be careful with the pieces, don\u2019t cut your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boy: \u201cO-okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were almost done with cleaning up the mess when I heard a yelp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boy: \u201cU-u-u-u uuuu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I turned to look at him, he was holding his left hand and was in tears again. I rushed over to look at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cI told you to be careful! Here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took the boy\u2019s hand and looked at it closely. It was starting to bleed and looked painful. I grabbed the knife out of my pocket and cut the bottom of my shirt into a strip. Wrapping the cloth around the boy\u2019s hand tightly, I tied it off with a bow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cBear with it for now. Sit here while I finish up for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It didn\u2019t take much time to finish up cleaning. I brought the container inside and set it on the counter before returning to the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cLemme show you a trick so you don\u2019t have to carry those heavy pots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I walked over to one of the pots that was on display and turned around to face the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cIt\u2019s much easier to move these if you do this, see?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since all the pots were round, I just tilted the pot a little and held it so that it didn\u2019t fall over. While it was on its edge, I started spinning it so that it rolled on its edge on the ground. I moved it a few feet over to fill in the gap where the broken pot was most likely going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cSee? You have to use some strength to keep the pot from falling over, but no where near as much as carrying it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The boys eyes were still teary, but they were wide as if I\u2019d just shown him a magic trick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boy: \u201cWha\u2026 Do you work with pots too?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cNah, I just have to deal with heavy things pretty often over at my uncle\u2019s farm. I learned this trick a while back and it made my life much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back when I first started out at the farm, I\u2019d had to move heavy barrels full of who-knows-what for my uncle. I figured out this trick one day when I\u2019d caught a barrel that I\u2019d almost knocked over. I walked over to the boy and ruffled his hair and gave him a grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charo: \u201cTake care of that hand, and I\u2019ll leave you to take care of the container I left on the counter. By the way boy, what\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The boy got up, seemingly flustered from having his hair ruffled and ran over to the door before turning around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boy: \u201cMy name is Gerri. Gerri Potter. And I\u2019m a girl!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The girl disappeared into the store, so I turned towards my uncle\u2019s farm and started walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u300cOops.\u300d<\/p>\n