Nostalgia

Odd Jobs:

Ariel sighed as he tilted his head back. How nostalgic it was, doing this errand. He used to perform a similar task often for one of his old masters. Since he had basically travelled the world, that master had ordered him to compare the flowers of the region with flowers from other places. Of course, there was always a guard or two that followed Ariel when he went into the woods to take notes about those flowers. He had enjoyed those times. It had always been so peaceful and the guards were much more friendly and talkative when they were away from the master. He wanted to laugh at the ire of it. At the humor of fate. Such interesting things resulted for fate's amusement.

Ariel sighed longingly. Why couldn't his childhood always have been like that? How unfair it all was. But it was also reality. Tch, how tiresome and exhausting: reality. Why couldn't they all just live in a world full of peace? A world without wars, without fighting, and without all the other evils which plagued his current world? But such a world... could it ever exist? In his timeline? It should be able to in theory. But the nature of people, no matter how perfect and good a world might be, would always pollute it with evil. It wasn't fair, but, life was never fair. No matter how much one wished it was, reality would always deny such a thought. Reality wasn't fair and nor was the world, unfortunately.

During the warm afternoon, Ariel walked outside the gates of the city. He examined many plants closely and noted may things about them. For one, he noticed that all the plants shared one common trait in the area which he was scrutinizing. How peculiar it was but Ariel didn't mind it much. He was too interested in some of the plants.

He noted that a few were a bit new to the area. He didn't recall seeing them when he had been younger. He supposed they had been introduced to Heliohapt after he it. However, he assumed they were from Balbaad's tropical region. He recognized some of the plants from it. He found it strange that they were able to adapt to Heliohapt. Though the tropical area and Heliohapt shared the same high temperatures, the Tropics rained far more than Heliohapt did! To be fair, it seemed the plants had somewhat adapted to the little rain. The plants did seem slightly wilted so that probably meant they hadn't adapted all the way to it. Still, it was strange that a plant of the Tropics could survive long enough to be able to adapt to Heliohapt. Unless someone intentionally planted them there and nurtured them so that they could survive. How strange...

He had more things to record. He needed to focus. After writing about the Tropical plants in his notepad, he moved on to examine a plant which he happened to be very familiar with. The plant had a long stem. The flower in bloom was pink and drooped down. There were also some unfinished blooming flowers that scaled the stems. There were multiple of these flowers all grouped together. He stroked the flowers with a soft smile on his face. "Oh, there I go again, getting distracted. Stupid me," Ariel suddenly mumbled remorsefully.

Regretfully, Ariel parted with the lovely flowers. He had other things to do besides petting flowers, after all.

"Well, I've basically done what they asked so I think I can return now!" Ariel said. He flipped through the pages of his notepad. He had used up half of it writing notes about plants. He was eager to go back to the city. After all, the only reason he was recording the plants was because somehow or another the had gotten roped into it by the local academy. And, well, because he was getting paid. The world revolved around money... His actions revolved around money. He was starting to worry that he was getting a bit money obsessed. Though, to be fair, it wasn't like he had much money currently. He did want to eat, thank you very much!

Ariel pushed open a door. A man was hunching over some papers. Ariel waved towards him and yelled, "Hey, old man! I got those notes you wanted! Can I have my pay now?"

The man sighed and grumbled something about 'impatient youngsters'. Ariel wanted to retort but he kept his mouth shut. Why? For the money, of course! He didn't want to ruin his chances of getting paid by smart mouthing the other. Ariel handed the notes to the man, who quickly flipped through them.  Much to his relief, the man produced the agreed money which he had promised Ariel, albeit reluctantly. Then Ariel was promptly shoved out the door.

---

Word Count: 825/500