I pick myself up from my bed, swinging my feet in the air beside the bed happily. I hum to myself, taking in the fresh air. The sound of bird song just outside my window brings a smile to my face. I skip towards the window, throwing it open wide. I lean against the windowsill, leaning outside and looking out at the nearby meadow by my house.

After a few more seconds of basking in the morning sun, I pull away carefully. I’m refreshed and ready to tackle the day. Somewhere in the back of my brain, I feel a memory surfacing slowly. The thought surges forwards unbidden, “have I always been such a morning person?” I shake the thought away after a moment, I must have, it wouldn’t make sense to not normally be.

I wander towards the closet, pulling it open. I feel a moment of confusion as I look across the various dresses inside my closet. I shake my head gently, throwing the confusion away. I sift through the dresses, eventually landing on the perfect dress. I continue through my morning routine, pushing away the recurring confusion at basic tasks. I tsk slightly as my hand shakes gently while I’m doing my makeup. I correct it easily, steadying my mind and continuing more carefully.

With my face made in very simple makeup, I blow myself a kiss. Looking good as always. I make my way out to my kitchen, taking stock of what I have available. I feel the confusion coming back as I reach for a drawer that doesn’t exist. I stare at my hand idly, eventually sauntering across the kitchen and towards the proper cupboard.

“What a strange morning…” muttering to myself, I continue focusing on making my breakfast. Despite the strange stutters here and there, it’s a good morning.

As I finish off making breakfast (nothing fancy, just some sausage, eggs, and potatoes), I try to arrange the day in my head. It's my off day, so there's no need to open the shop today. Instead, I need to do some shopping for groceries and a few supplies. Maybe I can catch a bite to eat at Bonnie's restaurant down the road while I'm out.

I finish making my simple breakfast, taking a mental note of all the things that I'm out of in my cupboards. Eventually, I finish up making breakfast and make sure to dig into the food before it can get cold. The breakfast is simple, but delicious, and perfectly filling for the day ahead.

I return to my room to grab both of my bags. One for the market, the other my normal bag for my day to day. I flick through that bag, checking to see if I'm out of any of my normal herbs I carry around. Satisfied, I swing by the front of my shop on the way out, completing my mental checklist for shopping.

I slip my key out of my pocket on the way out, quickly locking the door to my shop. I wonder for a moment what use it is, locking the door. We're a small town, nobody would steal anything. Not to mention, who would steal from a florist?

I shrug the question off, humming to myself as I make my way down the road to the market. I wave at my neighbor's as I pass by, those few shops that aren't as worried about being situated near the forest. Your tailors, shoemakers, and even candlestick makers. Well, candlestick maker. There's only one in this quaint town.

The deeper into town I get, though, the farther away from the woods I end up. The sparse trees clear out to stretches of farmland on the opposing end of town. The two, or three, depending on who you ask, different farms that keep this small town running. Nearly half the town is either a part of the farms family, or one of the families of farmhands that make a living helping the farms.

With a town full of farmers and farm workers, everyone gets an early start to the day. The streets are already bustling by the time I get to the market. Farmhands moseying their merry ways to another day of honest work in the fields.

"Mornin' Daisy!" A local farmhand, Dale is his name, waves to me. Daisy? Is that… my name? Of course it is! My, what's gotten over me today?

"Good morning, Dale. Off to work in the fields?" I greet him happily, and he falls into step beside me politely.

He gives me a thumbs up and a bright smile, "every day 'cept the weekend."

"Is this lunk botherin' you, Dais'?" Another cheerful farmhand falls into line on the other side of me, sporting a similar grin.

I chuckle lightly, looking over to the man on my right. "Not at all, Wyatt. We're just having a lovely chat, that's all."

He nods, "good, I know that sometimes Dale can really run his mouth."

Dale gives Wyatt a sour expression, "hey!" He says indignantly.

Wyatt weaves around me, throwing his arm over Dale's shoulder. "C'mon then you, work is this way. Or did you forget?" Wyatt looks at Dale expectantly, but Dale just mumbles something while looking abashed. Wyatt turns to look over his shoulder at me as the two walk away, "have a nice day, Dais'!" Dale and him both wave and I return the gesture, continuing in the same direction as I have been.

On the walk to the market I manage a couple more greetings, a few folks following me for a moment to thank me or just catch up. I'm happy to talk to every one of them, the local baker even handing me a loaf of bread which I graciously place inside my shopping bag.

Eventually, I make it to the market. Some of the people are still setting up their stalls and tables, but a few have already got a few early birds browsing their wares.

I walk up to the closest stand, giving the woman running the booth a kind smile. "Morning, Lottie."

She yawns, waving gently. "Morn' Daisy. You're cheery as always."

I shrug, picking up an apple to look at it. "It's a good day. Besides, I get to see my favorite apple vendor." I give her a conspiratorial wink.

She giggles a little while rolling her eyes at my comment. "That mighta worked on me the first time, Lass, but I'm your only apple vendor."

I raise a finger to my cheek, looking up as if in thought. "Huh… you don't say."

"Oh, you. You gonna buy some apples or what?" She smiles at me and I return it.

"Hmm… yes… there's just so many to choose from!" I raise my arms in mock exaggeration. To top it off I close my eyes and put the back of my hand against my forehead, slumping against her stall dramatically. I slowly open one eye, glancing at her. She raises an eyebrow at the display. Content with my dramaticism, I stand up and brush myself off. "I'll take 5 please."

Lottie shakes her head, taking my money as I fish it out of my bag and hand it to her. "You'd think that you're some sort of performer with how you can get sometimes."

I chuckle lightly. "I do have a flair for the dramatic. The boys in town seem to find it endearing." I pause, thinking. "The girls too. Actually, I'm pretty sure everyone finds me endearing."

She rolls her eyes at that. "The boys find it intimidating. The ones with enough brains do, at least. We both know that you don't care what the boys in this town think, though."

I shrug, putting some apples into my bag. "Intimidating, endearing, either works. It makes me mysterious."

"You know, I'm pretty sure that this is how you become a kooky old lady living alone with twenty cats." Lottie comments.

"You're just jealous of the twenty cats I'm going to have." I tease, sticking my tongue out at her.

She stares at me evenly, considering me carefully. "Daisy… aren't you ever going to get tired of living alone? Are you ever going to start taking some of the guys around here seriously and maybe settle down with one?"

I frown lightly, considering her words evenly. "I don't know." I said, honestly. I've never really fancied any boy I've seen. "I wouldn't bet on it, that's for sure." I chuckle lightly, but Lottie just continues staring. I sigh, "it's not like I don't think about it either, Lottie. I just don't think a lot about romance. I've got my plants to keep me busy and that's enough for me right now."

She continues staring at me, her eyes locked with mine seriously. After a few seconds, she deflates. She waves her hand, “well, if you say so. I’m just worried about you is all.”

I smile earnestly, reaching over and patting her shoulder. “I appreciate it, Lottie. I’m fine, though, really.” I pull back, making sure that I have my apples. “I’ll see you around Lottie. Have a good day. Don’t work too hard now.” She waves me off as I continue towards the next booth.

I get half way through my list, chit chatting idly with the vendors I know better as I go down the street. I’m finishing up my shopping just as the sun is hitting the middle of the sky. Longer than I probably needed to take, strictly speaking, but I know a lot of people!

I back up from the last booth, making sure I have everything on my mental checklist and not entirely looking where I’m going when I run into somebody. I fall backwards and try to hold my shopping bag in a way that hopefully none of my produce will get bruised.

“Oh, shoot, I’m so sorry!” A voice exclaims. I look up, seeing a woman that I’ve never seen before. That’s very rare for a town as small as this one. She extends a hand out to me, offering to help me up.

I accept her hand graciously and she heaves me up easily. Wow, she’s strong. “It’s alright. I wasn’t looking where I was going well enough.” I shoot her a reassuring smile, dusting off my dress.

She shakes her head, looking abashed. “No, I wasn’t either.” She points at my bag. “Is your stuff okay?”

I look through my bag briefly, but thankfully it seems that nothing is too badly bruised. “They’ll live.” I look her up and down. The thing that stands out to me the most is her hair, which is a rich and fiery orange. Her eyes are a cool icy blue to contrast it. After an innumerable amount of minutes staring, I shake myself to attention and remind myself that I was just having a conversation. “...Um, I don’t think I’ve seen you around town before. My name’s Daisy.” I extend a hand for her to shake.

She looks nervously at my bag, sighing with relief after a moment and shaking my hand. “Marisa. That's one s. Marisa Williams. And, yeah, I arrived in town sometime last week. I’m still slowly making my way around the town."

I look her over once more, this time taking note of her clothes. She’s wearing trousers and a flannel shirt. Odd choice of clothes for a woman, but it actually seems to suit her well. “Whereabouts in town are you staying?” I ask casually.

She points over her shoulder and towards the forest. “Over that way. Past the flower shop at the edge of town and a little ways further into the woods. I’m a woodworker.” I perk up at the mention of the flower shop.

“Oh, well, we’re just about neighbors then! I own that flower shop. You must be talking about that small cabin down that dirt path into the forest. I didn’t realize anyone had decided to move into that place.” She looks at me in surprise, looking me up and down.

“No kidding? I suppose I’ll have to come by and say hi sometime then.” I give her a kind smile and she returns it rather nervously. “I was actually on my way to get some lunch at the Tavern on the other side of town. If you want to come with me, I can repay you for potentially harming your groceries?”

I chuckle, shaking my head. “My groceries are fine, but…” I pause, looking her up and down carefully once more, “I’m done with my shopping for the day. I could use a bite to eat.” I gesture behind her in the direction of the local Tavern. “Lead the way, Ms. Williams.”

She smiles, turning to walk towards the Tavern. I fall into step beside her. “You can just call me Marisa.”

“Well, then, Marisa, you can call me Daisy.”

I walk beside my companion for the day. My new friend, if I’m being so bold. I glance over to her and she has her arms behind her head comfortably, looking up at the darkening sky. She notices me looking, peering down at me. I turn my eyes away quickly, not wanting to be caught staring. She doesn’t say anything though and we continue on in a comfortable silence.

We got lunch at the tavern, followed by her walking me back to my flower shop so that I could drop off everything I had gotten while out shopping. Then I helped her finish some of her shopping, picking up some essentials for her new cabin. Now the sun is dipping lower into the evening sky and she’s walking me back to my house after I helped her with her groceries. We’re passing through the forest, along the dirt path that leads from her cabin to the road near my shop.

“Thank you, Daisy.” I look over at Marisa, but she’s still looking up at what small bit of the sky she can see through the tree canopy. “You’ve definitely helped me feel more at home here. I’ll admit that it was pretty intimidating moving out here by myself.”

I nod gently, considering her words. “The pleasure is all mine. You’re an interesting woman, Marisa. Feel free to stop by my shop sometime, I can try to make some tea for the two of us from time to time.”

“I’m sure I’ll take you up on that.” Marisa glances down at me, smiling. “Thanks for being so nice to me, even after I knocked you over and bruised your produce.”

I return the smile easily before looking back at the dirt road ahead of me. “Of course. What are friends for?”

She doesn’t respond for a moment and I glance over at her. I spot something complicated in the way that she’s staring up at the sky once more. Somewhat shakily, she responds in a near whisper. “Right… friends.” The trees around us stop abruptly and I realize that we’re at the end of the dirt path, right next to the road. Across the road I can see my shop. “Well, we’re here. I’ll see you around, Daisy. Have a good night.”

Before I can respond, she turns around, heading back to her cabin. I call after her as she walks away, “Have a good night, Marisa.” She raises a hand in goodbye, still not turning around. I frown gently at that, turning back to my house in thought. I hope I didn't scare her off by assuming anything.

I shake my head gently at the thought. It was a wonderful day, I'm sure she's just eager to rest up for an early morning. I walk myself into my house, climbing the stairs to my bedroom and making the few preparations I still need to before bed. After washing my face and slipping back into my pajamas, I'm ready to get back to sleep.

First though, I make my way to the closed window overlooking the woods and glance up towards the dark sky. I can't see the moon from this angle, but I know that she's up there shining bright tonight. Clasping my hands together, I offer a quick prayer to my goddess, thanking her for another beautiful night.

With my prayer said, I feel a small surge of comfort flow through me. Satisfied that I'm not forgetting anything, I snuggle into my blankets, letting my mind wander every which way as I slowly drift to sleep.

My mind is caught thinking about Marisa as I slowly succumb to sleep.

Wistful-Shiver

Just a little something I wanted to put out there. I don't have very much written, but I was sick of not having put anything out. I've been sitting on this one for a while and I figured it was better to have something up than nothing at all. More stuff is coming. Hopefully soon, but I have a lot of projects I'm working on.