Sunday, July 8, 2007

Starting Anew


“What do you want it to be like this time?” Winterfresh asked again. They floated down now, fog gone, and Dithers pondered what he’d like to be equipped with. He requested several simple items and had Winterfresh secure him a decent plot of land in a mountain town. “It just seems like the most reasonable thing at this point. I don’t want to be the best player, I don’t want to be a GameMaster. I’d like to help people though. I think that’s why I liked being a Paladin. Having others depend on me still feels good. So I think this would be a way to do that without getting stuck with winning or losing. This just can be,” Dithers explained. Then he unplugged. He went back to work. He took the train ride home and watched the grey buildings go by, not bothering to plug in because there was no rush. At home he ate a protein bar, still unplugged, and discovered that he preferred the strawberry flavored ones over the chocolate. Weird. Kaylee sent him two different e-mails over this period and he simply replied that he was busy at the moment. Before long though, it was time. I walked up to the wood pile and checked the design Winterfresh had left. It was more like suggestions. I laid two planks across and began hammering a nail into the wood. The sound was crisp as the metal sank into the boards. It sounded real. The first joint was finished and I set it aside and began making another. From behind, I heard Kaylee call my name. “Dithers, what are you doing?” she asked. Second joint done, I laid it across the first and joined them with a third nail. “I’m building a house. I think I’ll start a taven or maybe a weapon shop,” I answered. “Are you serious? What for?” Kaylee exclaimed. “Hard to say until I’m done,” Dithers replied. “But at the very least, it will be something new.”

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