Bookworm

The sun rolled over the hills, shining bright and giving life to the village below. The most natural alarm clock sprinkled light over the eyes of men, women and children alike. While some individuals were just waking up, others felt the relief of finally being able to go to sleep. This little village's dynamic was much like all the others surrounding it. When the sun began the set, the men of the town sat up guarding their families from the creatures that lurked in the dark.

In a small hut in the east side of Grestlin, a family of three lived in solidarity. Their home was distanced from the rest, as if they were outcasts. A father who hunted and sold his meat in the market for any income, a mother who laid sick in bed at all times, and a daughter who tended to the mother; lived in this little house. As the only other woman in the home, the daughter was forced to do everything from cooking and cleaning to growing produce. On top of that, she made time to study hard, learning as much as possible. Her mother had fallen ill several months ago, progressively getting worse and worse. It started with a small cough here and there transitioning into a harsh dry hacking every few minutes.

When the light poured in through the window, Celia squeezed her eye lids tighter as an attempt to keep the sun out. Her arms stretched out above her, releasing the tightness in her muscles. The candle on the night stand beside her was completely burned; the wax had melted all down the sides and the floor. Opening her eyes slowly and letting them adjust to the night, she noticed the mess. A sigh escaped her lips, while sitting up. A brown paper book book titled 'Medicinal Plants' fell off the bed creating a slap sound against the wooden floor.

"Celia June!"

A deep, hoarse voice filled with annoyance shouted from outside the house. The girls bare feet smacked against the floor, pushing her body up. The sound of the bedroom door creaking, when she flung it open echoed through the hall. It took her less the eight seconds to jerk open the front door, to see her father, holding a large sack of some sort of raw meat. Next to his side was a short, long bodied dog with long floppy ears and a sad face.

"Did I not ask you pull those potatoes before I came back?"

He pointed off to the side of the house at the patch of camote tops sticking up from the soil. The girls bright auburn eyes flicked back and forth from her dad to the field. Before she could speak he lifted a hand up and shuffled it around in her thick messy hair. His tired deep blue eyes peered down at her, as a smile crept on to his face.

"My beautiful daughter. Do you get prettier every time I leave? Just like your..."

His voice trailed off, not finishing his sentence. She still did not at anything, but instead peered up at him. Her eyes pulled away from his on contact. It was hard to look at her father sometimes. She knew her father was becoming more and more exhausted every time he came back from one of his hunting trips. He was only getting older, but since he had no son to pass his work off to he had to push through. The weary expression he gave her, made her feel as though someone was trying to pull her heart out. The two of them in unison embraced the other. Celia fought back the tears that tried to escape her eyes. Changing the mood, hound next to them yawned loudly giving them an excuse to not speak on the matter anymore. "Let's get inside." He pulled away from his daughter and walked inside first.

After a few hours of spending time with her father: cleaning his clothes, feeding his dog, cutting and storing the meat, and tending to her mother, Celia was already tired. The sun was not even at it's highest yet.

"Father, do you want me to go and sell your meat in town?"

She felt like she needed to get out the house in order to wake herself up. It was odd for her to be so fatigued already. He simply nodded at his daughter, who took after her mother in almost every way. Celia was a short and slender girl. She did not starve, but did not eat much; which kept her figure much easier to maintain. Her hips were wider than average, which was considered attractive to most men. However, the clothing she wore often hid her little pear shaped body well. Her dark syrup colored hair flowed down to her waist in bundles of waves and loose curls, just like her mother's. When the sun shined bright, a red-orange undertone came out creating cinnamon colored spirals. It was unique color especially, in a village full of people with bright eyes and bright hair just like her father. The only physical characteristics, she had inherited from him was her full, pink, cupid bow shaped lips.

The most efficient way of preserving the meat while she traveled to the market was to submerge chunks into salt with the little bit of water. The box they used to keep the meat in was way to heavy for her to carry alone, but she took out five slabs and moved it to a smaller wooden box full of just salt. It would not bring in much income but it was better then no one going at all.

The walk took an hour to reach the village's center, where the market resided. In colder weather, it would definitely taken longer, but with the cool autumn temperatures; the walk was an easy trip. Her fathers usual spot was next to a large family that sold bread; she figured she should also try the same set up. Before she could make it the destination, a familiar elderly woman came up to the young girl with excitement.

The elder spoke, "It's so good to see your face, Lia. I was actually looking for your father. I couldn't have expected to see you, instead!"

The old woman seemed happy to see Celia and even called her by a nickname.

The younger woman smiled warmly, knowing that this lady often bought from her dad.

"Mrs.Wicker, nice to see you too. My father was very tired so I brought out the meat today. Are you looking to buy?" Her voice was naturally light and modulated, and her tone was very sweet as she spoke to the other woman.

"Yes please! I'll take six slabs if you have it." Mrs.Wicker hummed out.

Celia only had five pieces, but the deal still went unyielded. She had not expected to sell all her product that fast. It was not much, but she imagined it would be some time before anyone bought. Nevertheless, they exchanged note sweet words and then soon after; their goodbyes. With time to spare, the young woman headed to her most favorite place in the world; the library. It was actually hardly even able to be called a library. It was a small room in the local inn with old books that were either left from travelers or written by those in town. It was very rare for anything new to come in, but even to read the same books again made the girl content.

The inn was quite dinky and pathetic looking. It would sleep maybe eight people; that's if two slept in each little room. It was not an established nor successful business but was there when a lone traveler was passing through. To even less fortune, with the night creatures killing and taking people in the night more recently, the inn keeper never stayed past sunset. Actually, no one dared be out when the sun was down anymore. The windows were boarded up, which made the inside much darker than the bright world outside. Her heart fluttered at the thought that there might be a new novel to read.

A short red haired man inside greeted Celia with a crooked smile. She expressed her interest in going to the library and asked for a lamp. He happily obliged staring at her the entire time. Men like this almost always creeped her out and made her remember why she refused to get married yet. She wanted someone who was smart and cared more about what was in her head than under her dress.

'Men like that don't exist.' She told herself in thought.

Immediately her eyes went to a book that sat on top of a pile in the corner of the room. A book she has never seen before. A dark green hard cover, which read 'Memoir Of An Adventurer' on the front on gold lettering. Her thumbs rubbed the threading of the title on the front. It looked new, and felt as though it had never even been opened. Her mind pondered on how someone could leave something so wonderful in a town where no one would appreciate it. Celia checked to see how long the oil lamp would last her, before she even thought about opening the book. To her luck, it was full and could last up to 6 hours if she kept it on a low flame. A few moments went by, while she debated if it would be okay to stay a little while to read. Eventually, her interest got the best of her and she slid her back down the wall until her behind hit the floor. She pulled the lamp close in order to see the words clearly. It was very rare for men let alone women to know how to read, especially in Grestlin. It was odd, yet her mother actually taught her a very young age. It was never clear how her mother had learned to read herself but always assured little Celia reading brought wonders. Reading indeed brought a special joy to the girl's life that others missed out on.

The book told the story of a young boy who craved adventure instead of his wealthy family's traditional ways. He wanted to explore the world and live everyday like it was his last. Celia was intrigued by the book's complex vocabulary, and interesting plot. Minutes ticked by, then hours and before she knew it time had slipped away. She never thought sitting down for a quick read would take up four hours of her day. Now that it was fall, the sunset sooner than it would have in summer. Four hours a couple months ago would have been no big deal to make it home before dark. Unfortunately, that's was not the case this time. When the bookworm finally decided to pull her eyes from the pages, she panicked.

"Please let it not be too late." She pleaded with Mother Nature to give her that much needed time to get home before sundown. When she opened the doors of the inn, her heart fell into her stomach. The once bright shining sun only peaked over the mountain tops, while the moon stretched up to start the night shift. With the little bit of sun light left, she would never make it home in time. Before she could reach half way, she was sure something would snatch her up. The only choice was to stay in the inn tonight. No one was around so it was not like she'd actually have to pay. Tomorrow when the inn keeper arrived she would definitely give him a lecture about leaving young women alone, without so much as a warning or goodbye. These times were hard. Women especially were desired when it came to the night creatures and their stealing of people. The village elders believed it was a demon of some sort punishing the women who committed adultery or premarital sex, while the younger people felt the disappearances had to do with the growing slave trade. Either way it was dangerous for Celia to even step foot outside the doors that divided her and the night thieves.