A Walk in the Woods - Part 2

          Seven in the morning, and some of the shops were beginning to open for the day. I saw Mr. Biggsby off to set up his apple bobbing stand. The Crumpetmonger was up and scribbling today's specials on a big chalk sign outside her store and getting set to open in the next half an hour. The Blueberry scones and muffins she made were my favourites! When I had enough saved up from my afterschool job, I always loved going and buying boxes of them to bring home.

          As I watched people beginning their day, I quietly spied the Haunted Woods Yooyuball team. It had been quite a year for them. Wan Dirx had come out of retirement briefly to play after Crade Talvos had been injured during the off-season. Despite being in retirement, a lot of the former players for the Haunted Woods team still enjoyed helping the team practice. It certainly was beneficial this year! It was nice to see Crade feeling better. I watched him walk eagerly beside Krell as Zo and Fanetti walked in front of them. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it must have been funny because they were all laughing.

          Krell and Wan are best friends and could always be seen hanging out together when they were not practising at the local stadium. Wan was with them today, he had the biggest grin ever. They were chatting happily, even Brains was smiling. The Zombie Usul was my favourite player on the team. He didn't talk much, but he is very friendly and sweet and super nice to his fans. He is actually very popular among Yooyu fans in my grade.

          Krell Vitor is also super popular, and my little brother wanted to be just like him. My brother and I both play on our afterschool sports teams, and one is the local Yooyuball league. The best of the best get chosen for training camp starting at Seventeen. I had one more year to go, and my brother had three years to go. It had been very challenging arranging my afterschool job schedule with my sports schedules, but thankfully I had a boss who was a diehard Yooyuball fan. I worked for the Neovian printing press a few times a week, and the lovely Petri woman who owns the store insisted on helping me arrange my schedule perfectly just so I could get out and practice. The truth was that I, too, wanted to be exactly like Krell Vitor.

          Krell is big and strong and handsome. He is the most well-liked Yooyuball captain in my grade and possibly in Neovia in general. Layton Vickles is also extremely popular here. Darigan won the cup this year. They were doing an amazing job for a team that had only ever had one roster change. It just went to show that changing rosters can be good or bad, but sometimes you just have to go with what works. Kiko Lake had a roster change this year and still couldn't get past everyone else. While Kreludor had also added a new player, and that had served them very well, even if they were already a top-tier team. Honestly, I liked the new guy. Motor was kinda cute, but entirely vicious. I don't think the reporter that interviewed him will be doing so again anytime too soon. Lilli Lever on Kiko Lake was adorable too. She was super tall and super shy. She played so hard in her premier year at the cup. It was amazing to see such dedication!

          As I continued my walk and left the team behind, I spotted another former player. Chelo Binay. This elderly Halloween Chia had taught Krell, Zo, Wan and Fanetti everything they knew about the sport. She had retired a long time ago and had been replaced by Autrey Fulsey, who was later replaced by Brains Mortigan. She was getting some watermelon from the local fruit vendor who opened early for seniors. Chelo, in her spare time, ran a workshop for aspiring Yooyuball players. My brother and I had been going to them for years. I wasn't too much older than Chelo's oldest grandchild.

          As I marched along through town, I came upon Balthazar the bounty hunter. He didn't have any captive faeries with him, and he didn't have his gear. Today must be a shopping day for him. He looked scary. He came across as scary and mean to a lot of people, but he does have a nice side. He likes to hang around with Magax every now and then. Magax was an interesting fellow who had taken up an assortment of hobbies since the passing of his long-time nemesis Hubrid Nox. One of those hobbies was attempting to be more sociable. He frequently gave talks at my high school about not upsetting faeries and going into professions that wouldn't end in a lifetime of villainy and repentance.

          When I was out walking some mornings, I'd sometimes see him and Balthazar walking around chatting with some coffee and a pastry from the Crumpetmonger. Balthazar was even nice enough to hold the door open for me on his way out one morning! He was very polite in recommending the fresh apple turnovers as well. Neovia might seem like a big place, but it's considerably small.

          As I continued down the street, I saw Sophie. The Green Ixi witch who had helped restore the town. She was chatting with her parents outside of her childhood home. She visited every now and then but had never moved back home like Bruno had done after the restoration. Not far beyond her, I spied Lani and Lillie. The creepy Wockey twins who liked to rile up the spirits, zombies and ghouls of the Haunted Woods. Brains was friends with them and a member of the Awakened. I doubt Brains had participated in the whole Obelisk adventure, he was too busy with sports. The twins, however, were all over it. Every few weeks, they and their army of the undead would go to Tyrannia and make mischief with everyone else who had bothered to show up. A lot of Neovians went out of their way to avoid the creepy little girls. Hubrid, who was an honorary member and a ghost now, even tried to avoid them when he could.

          As I continued to walk along the streets, I started smelling something. It was sweet and sugary. Someone somewhere was having apple tarts for breakfast. I started thinking about crisp apple tarts, which started turning into thoughts about the turnovers Balthazar had recommended one morning during one of his better moods. I stopped where I was and looked at my watch. It was a quarter to eight. The Crumpetmonger would be open by the time I turned around and walked back to the store. I love food. It's one of my favourite things.

          Turning around, I briskly walked back to the Crumpetmonger's bakery. On my way back to this part of town, I noticed more people out and about than there had been ten minutes ago. Old Mr. Yakobs was out watering his flowers. He has won the annual flower and gardening contest every year for the last five years. He had some rare coloured petunias and some of the brightest red roses you'd ever see in your life. Miss Vandyme was also out in her yard fetching the paper that had just been delivered. She was my favourite teacher in school. She taught Shenkuuvian language class and also doubled as the economics teacher. My other favourite teacher was Mr. Fanree, the cooking teacher. We called him Mr. Fancy instead of his name because he always enjoyed using the fanciest paper plates and plastic cutlery when we were doing cooking lessons. He also had a very bubbly, flamboyant and fun personality. He was the school party planning committee head.

          I had succeeded in my quest to return to the part of town that held the Crumpetmonger’s shop. As I made my way for the door, I saw it open and out walked Magax. He was carrying a very fresh lemon turnover. I could smell the warm powdered sugar from where I stood ten feet away. It smelled delightful. Making my way into the store, I could only stare at the fresh selections on display. Turnovers, muffins, crumpets and croissants. So many choices. I dug around in my pocket for my wallet and pulled out some Neopoints. I was having a hard time trying to decide what to buy.

          "Delilah," came the cheery voice of the Meerca who owned the shop. "What'll it be this mornin' m'dear?"

          I approached the counter and looked around. Fresh cinnamon and maple filled my nose with their delightful smells. I quickly told her I wanted an apple turnover and a blueberry muffin. I asked her if Balthazar had been in here yet as she was grabbing my treats. The turnover was still very hot and fresh.

          "Matter o' fact, dearie," she said as she came back to the counter. "He's just comin' up the walk now."

          I heard his heavy boots thudding outside the shop. He must have taken a break from shopping to get breakfast. I knew he always got apple turnovers, so I paid for my treats and gave the Crumpetmonger extra to pay for Balthazar. When he was in a good mood, he was a lot nicer. She smiled and accepted, and this time I held the door for him as I made my way out. He chuckled as he went in.

          It was rounding on ten after eight now. It was time to be heading home. My walks were usually boring and never made for good stories. I sometimes did, however, like to share them with friends. I see so many strange and wonderful things when I go out for walks! It's an enjoyable morning activity.

          I can't wait for tomorrow morning.

          The end.