One Complete Heart

Chapter 4

Just a few inches of snow covered the ground as Dimentio made his journey to town, so thin that his footprints revealed the paved road beneath him. 

He decided to dress more casually, adorning a purple scarf and yellow sweater instead of the cloak he had been wearing for the past few days. The houses he passed each had a very old, homey appearance. They were very charming and quaint, with melting icicles hanging from the eaves, occasionally dropping and shattering against the ground like glass. Frosting-like powder covered each rooftop. The way the houses were decorated reminded Dimentio of gingerbread houses. They were each unique, yet had the same base and shape. The overall style matched that of old Bavarian villages.

A few kids were running about. One boy was ringing a bell and trying to sell a stack of newspapers, likely a local. Another group of kids was singing together, walking from door to door with a list of winter songs. School must have been out for them, although it seemed a little early for that.

Did the town even have a school? Now that he thought about it, he never saw one. 

Along Main Street, there were various sweet shops with open signs perched in the windows. He could hear the bells sing from doors opening and closing. 

Initially, Dimentio had been worried that his rather unusual appearance would be frightening to the locals. He feared that his completion and eye colors would draw unwanted attention to him. However, everyone in town seemed unique. It's true what they say; when everyone's special, no one is. There were people from all across the dimensions visiting. Humans, ancients, toads, koopas, Bob-Ombs, and more. 

It was like the town was some kind of peaceful paradise where all these varied groups of people could meet and coexist in peace. 

It reminded him of a place he had been before.

The library was quite massive inside, far bigger than he expected. He couldn't recall the last time he saw so many books in one place. The novels were each sectioned by genre and sorted in alphabetical order by author. Dimentio didn't have a specific story he was searching for, so he strolled over to the closest section and did what he liked to call "book tasting." It was like wine tasting in the sense that he took a small look at a variety of different books to see which ones would catch his interest. 

"Mister, are you looking for the Christmas books?" a small blue toad asked from beside him, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "Because you're in the wrong section."

"I'm not sure what I'm looking for yet," Dimentio replied, keeping his gaze on the books shelved in front of him, making sure to keep his voice kind and patient so he wouldn't appear rude. He took one novel from the shelf and started reading the short introduction on the back while taking a brief glance at all the awards the author had won. 

"Oh. Because it's officially Christmas time! The tree lot just opened up! My mommies are buying us a Christmas tree today. You should get them while they're still cheap!" the toad explained. 

"Didn't your mothers tell you not to talk to strangers?" Dimentio asked with a small chuckle. "You know, stranger danger?"

"Huh? No. Why would they say that?" the toad asked with a small head tilt and a childish giggle. "Strangers are just friends we haven't met yet. That's what they say."

Dimentio frowned for a brief second, then shrugged. That seemed about right now that he thought about it. He wasn't sure where the idea of "stranger danger" even came from. Maybe it was just something he made up because the words rhymed. 

"Letters from Father Christmas," the little toad suggested, taking the book he was holding and gifting it to Dimentio. "It's by Tolkien. You know, the Lord of the Rings guy! This book is my copy, so you don't have to worry about returning it!"