It is a warm evening as the strange man walks up to the small town of Frellan. Despite the heat, the man is wearing long, black pants and a grey shirt. He spies the tavern and heads straight there, passing several people who stare at him with an odd look. After looking around, he finally deems the tavern safe to enter. He wanders over to the bar, and has a seat. The bartender walks over to the man and asks him what he'd like to drink.
"I'll have the finest ale you've got," the man says in a rough voice. He slaps down the money as the drink is brought to him. "Haven't seen you around here before," the Bartender says. "Where ya from?" The man looks the bartender in the eye and says, "You don't wanna know." With this, he gets up and goes to a table, where several young maidens are sitting. They giggle as he sits down with them, but they don't ask him to move.
"Hi, I'm Jennifer. What's your name?" one of the girls asks.
"Chris."
"Well, Chris, if you want somewhere to stay tonight, I work at the inn. I could get you a room."
Without answering, Chris just nods. He appears to be lost in thought, staring at a bug on the wall. He grabs a knife off of the table and throws it. It hits the bug perfectly, but doesn't stick in the wall. It just kind of falls to the ground with the bug still on it, and lands with a clattering sound. Chris calls over to the bartender to bring him another ale.
"Wow! How did you do that?" Jennifer asks. "I've never seen someone with such great aim!"
"Lots and lots of practice. And the beer doesn't hurt either." Chris chuckles at his little joke, more of a snicker than a laugh. The ale is brought to him and he pays the bartender a little extra, telling him to keep the change. Chris walks out of the bar, followed by Jennifer. He walks over to the inn and suddenly turns around on Jennifer.
"Why are you following me?" He asks, slightly frowning.
"Just to see where you go. This town may be small, but it's easy to get lost here. I've been here all my life. Want me to show you around?"
"Maybe later. I've been walking for days, so I'd like to get a room and sleep til morning. Is that all right?"
"Sure," she says, and walks over to the old lady sitting behind the desk. Jennifer whispers something in her ear, and the old lady whispers back into Jennifer's ear. Jennifer then walks back over to Chris. "My grandmother runs this inn. She has only one vacant room, but she said you could have it for the night. She said tonight's free, since you look so tired. But, tomorrow you'll have to pay."
Chris goes up to his room, and starts to get ready for bed. As he is undressing, he hears something in his closet crash. He grabs his dagger and flings open the door. Sitting on the floor of the closet is a raccoon, and looking scared out of its wits. Chris picks up the raccoon and throws it out the window, where it lands on the roof of another house. Stupid animals, he thinks. He re-sheathes his dagger and sets it on his night stand. After completely undressing, he lies in bed and tries to go to sleep. Despite his weary body, his mind is wide awake. His thoughts drift between Jennifer and his wife, who died a little more than four month ago. They had only been married for about six months, but he had loved her for all of those six months, and found that he still did. Since his wife had died, he had just started walking, letting the road take him to where ever it would go. He wondered if it would be an insult to his wife's memory if he hooked up with Jennifer. She obviously liked him, or at least thought she liked him. He thought she was kind of cute, but did he like her? He didn't know the answer. Tomorrow, she was going to show him the town. Then, he could decide whether or not he liked her. She looked only a year or two younger than him, maybe less than that. While still thinking these thoughts, he slid off into a deep, dreamless slumber. The next morning, Chris wakes up just as the sun is rising. Jennifer is standing next to his bed, peering over him. He opens his eyes and is startled by Jennifer. "Woah!" he says. "You scared me!" He looks at her and she is giggling, just like she was when he first got here. "Well, get dressed, 'cause I gotta show you the town today!" She says. "Don't worry, I won't look!" He silently gets dressed, and then asks her, "Why are you up so early? I hardly ever wake up so soon. The sun is barely rising."
"I've always been an early riser. It started when I was young. I used to always get up before sun rise to go watch it with my dad. Occasionally, we'd go fishing. It was so much fun! But, now he and mom are away all the time. He became a merchant, and travels everywhere. Mom hates to be left alone, so she goes too. I stay here with grandma. Grandma runs this inn, so I get free room and board. The inn serves breakfast too, and it's free, so go get some! You'll get hungry if you don't."
Chris grabs his dagger and heads down to the breakfast bar. He picks up a muffin and starts to eat it. Jennifer comes down and gets a few muffins, and sticks them in her purse. She holds her finger up to her lips, signalling for him not to tell her grandmother. They sit down at one of the tables and start to eat their breakfasts. About halfway through their muffins, Jennifer sets down her muffin.
"I must have left my jacket up in your room. I'll go get it." Jennifer says. Chris thinks nothing of this and finishes his muffin. Some time passes and he starts to think she is up to something. He goes up to his room and see her going through his drawers. "Good luck with that," he says. "There's nothing in there." Jennifer is startled and laughs weakly. "Why were you going through my drawers?" "To see if I could find anything about you in them," she replies. "You could have just asked me. I would've told you if I thought you needed to know." She sits on his bed and he sits next to her.
"So, what would you like to know?"
"Why did you come here?" she asked.
"Well, my wife died about four months ago, maybe a little more, and I just let the road carry me where ever. It just happened to bring me here."
"Where did you come from?"
"I came from Bastell. It's a large town about 50 miles from here."
"Was she pretty?"
"Who?"
"Your wife."
"She was the most beautiful woman I ever met. She was about your height, but her eyes were blue instead of brown. Her hair was a flowing river of brown, like yours, but it was longer. But that's outside. Inside, she had the most caring, delicate soul. It was that soul that I loved, not her appearance."
"I'm 19. How old are you?"
"21. My wife was about 20, but she acted much more mature than that. If you could just talk to her, you'd swear she was about 40."
"Well, that's all I wanted to know. We better get started on the town. It'll get hot before too long."
With that, the two started on their tour of the town. Chris barely heard anything Jennifer was saying, he was too lost in thought. She's not too much younger than me. He thinks. Jennifer's not as beautiful as my wife, may she rest in peace, but no one will ever be as beautiful as her. Chris is debating whether or not to ask her out on a date when his thoughts are broken.
"Hello-ooo, Chris! Are you listening to me?"
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking of how beautiful you, uhh, I mean this town is." Jennifer blushes at this, but doesn't press him farther. She finishes showing him the town, and then they return to the inn. Chris goes to the marketplace to buy some new clothes, and comes back to the hotel with a bag. He starts to put his new clothes away, and then Jennifer comes into his room.
"Ooooo, you got new clothes! Does that mean you're gonna stay here? That would be so cool! No one ever stays here long. Usually, they just stay a few nights and then leave."
"Well, I'm gonna stay here for a little while at least. I may leave later, but not yet. I like it here. It's a quaint little town. The people are all friendly now that I'm friends with you. I swear they didn't trust me at first."
"You know, if you wanna stay for a long while, I know where you can get a house. It's actually a guest house, but it's just like a small house. It's on my parent's property. They wouldn't mind if you stayed there."
She grabs him by the arm and leads him to the guest house. It actually is the size of a regular house, and has everything a normal house would have.
"Sure, I'll stay here. But what about your parents? Will they mind my staying here?"
"Of course not. When they come home, they'll love you."
Chris goes back to the inn, and get his stuff. He takes it over to the house and starts to make it his. Everything was already in the house. All he has to do is put his stuff away. The house was similar to the inn, but it's free every night, not just the first one. Chris decides he's hungry and starts to make breakfast for him and Jennifer. They each have another muffin and some bacon. While Chris is cleaning up, he decides to ask Jennifer out on a real date, not one of these breakfast and go things. "Hey, Jennifer, come here for a second. I was wondering, do you wanna go out with me tomorrow?" "Oh, I'm sorry, Chris, but I have to work at the inn for grandma tomorrow. But I'm free the next night, if that's ok." "Yeah, sure, that works for me. I'll come to the inn at around, oh, say seven thirty. Is that good for you?" "Sure, it's a date!"
Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. I hope I don't screw this up. It's been a long time since I went on a date. I'm probably a little rusty. Chris was thinking again. He noticed that he thought more in this town than he ever had before. It was just a thought inspiring town.
Chris spent the better part of the next two days preparing for his date, until seven o'clock finally rolled around. He got dressed in his better looking attire, although he didn't have any really fancy looking clothes. He went over to the inn to pick Jennifer up. He got there a little early, and Jennifer wasn't ready yet, so he decided to talk to Jennifer's grandmother. They were in the middle of a "facinating" conversation about her younger days, when she was a little girl and her daddy took he fishing or something, but Chris wasn't really listening. Jennifer walked out into the inn lobby, looking more beautiful than ever.
They decided to go to a restaurant around the corner, with steaks and the like. Chris wanted to start up conversation, so he complimented her on her dress. It was a red dress, with slits in the side. She had her hair down as usual, and she had on very pretty diamond earrings. They looked expensive. "I got this dress from my mother a while back. Back then, it didn't fit me, but now I've grown into it. Mom's got another dress like this one, but I'll save it for the next date." Wow, I must be doing good. Chris thought. She wants another date! Soon, after they finished their dinners and a lengthy conversation,the two left the restaraunt, heading back toward the inn. At the inn door, he leaned over to her to say good night, and she kissed on the cheek. He looked dazed, and she blushed, and quickly retreated to the inn. He just stood there for a second, trying to figure out what just happened, when it started to rain. He ran back to his house, and laid down in bed, not even undressing. So, she likes me too. I thought so, but I think this proves it. That date must have gone better than I ever could have hoped for. Once again, he was thinking. It really shouldn't surprise him by now, he had been doing it for so long, almost the entire time he had been here. It had been, what, maybe four days, but he felt like he had lived here his entire live. Eventually, after Chris was all thought out, he started to undress. He got into bed and found that he was unusually tired. I wonder why. I haven't done anything today. Except the date. It's probably the mental fatigue from the date. And still thinking these thoughts, Chris fell into a deep slumber.
The next day, Chris awoke to the face of Jennifer again, and Chris was once again startled. "How'd you get in here?" he asked. Jennifer giggled and smiled. "This is my parents guest house. So, naturally, I would have a key. And here's yours. I forgot to give it to you yesterday." Chris took the key from her and put it on his night stand. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll take a shower. Be back soon." And so Chris went into the bathroom and got a shower. When he came out of the shower, he was surprised to find Jennifer still sitting on his bed. Chris looked down and realized he only had on his towel. "I-I'll be right back." Chris retreated back into the bathroon as Jennifer laughed. Chris got dressed and went back out to his room. "So, what's up for today? Got anything planned?" "Not really. I was hoping we could just go and watch some plays. They've got a couple showing. It won't be a date unless you want it to be." "Sure, it can be a date. Plays aren't really my thing, but I'll go anyway." So, with that, the two left for the theatre. The play was boring, at least Chris thought so, but he somehow managed to stay awake for it all. Jennifer apparently loved it, because she talked about it for so long afterward. "At the end there, when the two kissed, it was just so romantic, wasn't it?" "Uh-huh." And so the day went on. There was a storm in the midday, and so they retreated into the tavern. They sat at one of the tables, and decided to order some food. They each order, and start the long wait until their food comes. While waiting, Chris decides to pass the time by talking. "So, if the house I'm staying at is on your parent's property, how come you don't stay there?" "I dunno. I guess it's because I don't like to cook. If I stay at the inn, I get free food. If I stay at the guest house, I have to cook my own meals. It's a lot cheaper the way I do it." Their food finally comes, and they start to eat.
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