14

You've been standing near the doors with a few others since early in the morning, but although your feet are getting tired by the early afternoon, the day is warm and the sun is shining. If nothing else, you're glad the developments started in the summer.

As more and more excited visitors file through the doors, however, it gets a little difficult to keep up the same energy you had when you arrived. After all, you're here to protest the fact that Clarence Industries still haven't announced what their decision will be about the resort they planned to build in the forest—but there's nobody here from the company to witness it. The only people here are customers and the new employees of the spa, who are busy handing out free smoothie samples to those still waiting in line. More than anything, you just start to feel bad for protesting on their first day at work. It's not their fault what the company's doing, after all.

But as the day goes on, you are a little encouraged by the reactions from some of the customers. Even though most people simply ignore you, there are a few who stop to talk to you, asking you a few questions about what's going on with the forest. When they hear what you have to say, some don't seem to see the problem—but others agree that it isn't right for the resort to go ahead after the company broke the town's trust the way it did. In the end, you get a few more names on the petition that one of the other protesters has set up, and you feel pretty good about that.

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