Even though the sun has set, the light of the moon reflecting off the lake makes your path easy to mark. You choose to walk along the shoreline, your footsteps crunching on the wet gravel beneath your feet, loud over the quiet but steady slap of the waves as they roll in towards the bank then out again. Ahead you see several flickering lights and soon find yourself in a small fishing village of perhaps a dozen buildings. Tattered nets hang from every house and several boats have been pulled onto the beach.
You approach the first house and knock on the door. An apple cheeked old woman answers. Realizing you have no money, you explain that you are a traveler in the area and ask if you can sleep in one of the nearby sheds or even on her porch. The old woman laughs a hearty laugh and pulls you into her home. It is a small, one room shack with a bed in one corner and a table in the other, but she offers you a blanket and woven mat before the roaring fire. Comforted by her kindness, you quickly fall into a deep sleep.
You awaken the next morning to the smell of frying fish. The old lady is standing right next to you, holding a pan over the fire as if you weren't even there. When she sees you looking up at her, however, she smiles.
"First catch of the morning!" she chimes. "You slept late, sleepy head. The first boats have already returned with their catch. I told them about you and everyone is curious. We don't get a lot of travelers in these parts."
You stride outside and find the fishermen drying their nets on the shore and sorting their catch into seaweed lined boxes.
Do you approach them and ask for passage to the island?
or
Do you continue on in search of your own way across?
You approach the first house and knock on the door. An apple cheeked old woman answers. Realizing you have no money, you explain that you are a traveler in the area and ask if you can sleep in one of the nearby sheds or even on her porch. The old woman laughs a hearty laugh and pulls you into her home. It is a small, one room shack with a bed in one corner and a table in the other, but she offers you a blanket and woven mat before the roaring fire. Comforted by her kindness, you quickly fall into a deep sleep.
You awaken the next morning to the smell of frying fish. The old lady is standing right next to you, holding a pan over the fire as if you weren't even there. When she sees you looking up at her, however, she smiles.
"First catch of the morning!" she chimes. "You slept late, sleepy head. The first boats have already returned with their catch. I told them about you and everyone is curious. We don't get a lot of travelers in these parts."
You stride outside and find the fishermen drying their nets on the shore and sorting their catch into seaweed lined boxes.
Do you approach them and ask for passage to the island?
or
Do you continue on in search of your own way across?
No comments:
Post a Comment