Chapter Five – Tom (Tuesday, September 27, 1994)
Tom hammers the last nail for the newly finished tavern in the Dorter Trade City. For the past several months he has been helping the local city to rebuild their once beautiful port city.
Many of these people have found home on the planet of Crystaltina in hopes to find a better future and to bring life to a once deserted planet since around the 1300’s. Only a small handful of people were actually born here.
Tom wasn’t interested in going back to earth and feels more at home helping these citizens. Even a few of them have the gift of magic, making Tom feel a little less like an outcast.
He doesn’t want to seem rude to Celestria but reading up on history and magic isn’t Tom’s thing. He’s happy learning from the villagers via word of mouth. Some of the older villagers have extremely interesting tales to share that were passed along the years from generation to generation.
Many of those stories end with the city being partly or completely burned to the ground and then rescued and for Tom’s sake, he hopes that doesn’t happen again. If it does, however, he’ll be here to help.
Tom wipes the sweat from his forehead and looks up to see Celestria walking into town and towards him.
“This place looks better and different each week,” she says.
“Thanks. Next project is the library. Thought maybe you would like to help with that?” Tom asks, slightly out of breath from working all morning and into the early afternoon.
“How? I’m not handy with tools,” Celestria blushes slightly.
“I mean with the books. There’s several of the older villagers who are willing to write their history and stories but maybe we can help them and donate some of the books from the castle’s storage.”
“I can see what we have but I hope you understand that a lot of those books hold powerful magic, information and personal writings that we need to make sure they stay safe.”
“I know and they already understand,” Tom says, with a smile.
Tom’s hair has gotten longer over the months and is able to put it into a small ponytail which helps it to keep out of eyes while he’s working. He’s even allowed his facial hair to grown in, creating a small beard. This makes the sixteen year old older than he appears to be.
“How long until everything is finished?” Celestria asks.
“The library is the last thing but as more people settle here, we’re going to help build houses for them.” Tom smiles and then adds, “I love how they don’t depend on money here. It’s people helping each other out and trading. It’s really amazing when you step back and take it all in.”
“Do you think it will stay like that?” Celestria asks.
“I hope so, it’s a nice change. Oh and once we’re done with the library, we’re going to have a celebration. Hopefully you, Kyle and Anya will be here. Should be a lot of fun.”
“Sounds nice. I know Anya could use a change from all the training and school. And speaking of that, I need to head back for her studies for today,” Celestria says, getting ready to walk back.
“Hey,” Tom calls out.
“Yes?”
“Why did you come over here, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Just wanted to see how things were going. You’re not around much so I didn’t want you thinking that we forgot about you.”
“Thanks. I understand with everything going on and hopefully this party will be good for everyone.”
