Chapter 78: Shops and Dreams (3)
The morning bell rang gently across the village. It wasn't loud, but it was enough. It told the people: a new day had begun.
Lirae stood beside the job board, sipping warm tea. Her eyes scanned the names on the wooden planks. Most jobs were claimed already—chicken coops, field work, fish smoking, iron shaping.
She nodded in approval. "They're getting faster," she muttered.
Beside her, Tikka skipped over, notebook in hand.
"Today's busy," Tikka said.
"They all are now," Lirae replied. "But it's a good kind of busy."
Down near the riverbank, Kellen was brushing dust off her tiny shop's sign: Kellen & Co. – Warm Things.
Her brother organized their cloth scraps by color.
"We should start making gloves," he said.
"Good idea," Kellen replied. "Cold days are coming."
As the morning crowd passed, one woman stopped to check the scarves.