The Heart of Woodbury

Chapter 1

This morning was any other morning here in Woodbury. I woke up, looked at the time, and got up to get ready for work. It was the same boring routine every day. I'm not sure how my dad managed to do this every day. I sit here writing in my diary because I have nothing else to do while I drink my morning tea. Today's blend was awfully watered down. I must have added too much water, or maybe did I forget to steep it for as long as it needed to? Whatever. It's not like I'm making this tea for anyone except myself. I don't know why I have this urge to just introduce myself, because it's not like anyone is going to read this anyway. But my name is Jonathan DeVore. I live in a town called Woodbury, which is 20 miles south of Starune. I live alone in this tiny but rather warm house. And sadly I work at my father's old flower arrangement store in the town.

After my father passed away, my mother wanted me to take over the shop, keeping its legacy alive (like it had much of a legacy, to begin with...) It's simply just a little flower shop people come and visit when they need flowers. My mother is still sadly grieving for my father and has been living in our old house ever since. Though I can't quite understand why she continues to live there, just because I've never had anyone that significant to me. Even with friends, they often came and left, leaving me with not a consistent list of friends. Which I guess I didn't mind all that much. I would rather stay inside while I wasted the day away in my imagination and writing stories of princes and princesses. I loved writing, to me, it meant writing the life of someone who wasn't myself. I got to live in another human's shoes for a day, imagining their life. A life that was much more exciting than mine.

But that ended up being a short time in my life, as my family was fed up with me staying inside all day. They confiscated my books and pens and forced me to go outside, where I had nobody to talk to. To me, that was true loneliness. Being outside with nobody to talk to. But this was the time I also discovered I loved the arts. Fine arts, performing arts, all of it I loved. I heard the bards in the taverns and I couldn't help but sit outside and listen to the people inside drunkenly singing and having a good time. But what I enjoyed most were the dancers in the square. Having a combination of all of the things I loved. Dancing to music with lyrics with all the different elements of performing arts. It was like I was glued to the ground, watching for hours until my feet and legs grew tired.

But now with a job, I no longer had the time to sit and watch. All I could do was write orders and think of beautiful symphonies in my head as I arranged flowers one by one. It ended up becoming a normal routine. That's why it surprised me so much when a dancing troupe from out of town came to our tiny town to set up auditions. I read the name of the troupe and almost spat out my tea.

"The Moonlight Masquerade?!"

The Moonlight Masquerade was a dancing troupe with a rather big reputation for being strict with their dancers but is highly regarded as having some of the best dancers in the world. Many come to audition but many do not make it. But despite my town's size, many young women come to audition. I can see girls who probably range from 14 years old to at least 25. It was astonishing how many girls were there. Nonetheless, I had time before I started my shift, so I greeted the morning with a deep breath and watched the audition process. It was normal for their auditions to be held in public. Especially since we didn't have a theater (that I push for very strongly), they think it's important to have these girls audition with an audience. If they cannot audition with an audience, they cannot perform for an audience. To some degree, I agree with this, but my softer side also regards their emotions. It must be hard going out there and dancing to a piece of music you've probably never even heard of.

I watch in awe as these girls as nimble as deer leaped and twirled around. The Moonlight Masquerade was mostly focused on ballet, which most of these girls danced to. Two girls danced together in a waltz, which even that was incredible. Then I saw her. From a distance, she looked like most of the other girls, but for some reason, I couldn't stop staring. Her hair long and blonde. There were two braids in her hair that hung on her shoulders that almost resembled two rays of sunlight. She waved at the other dancers as she walked to the center. She stood in first position as she waited for the music to play. It started to play and she began to dance gracefully. Other bystanders watched in awe as she danced. By then I had walked closer to get a closer look. She had forest green eyes with freckles that adorned her face. She also had dimples on her lips whenever she smiled. She had noticed me getting closer and she made direct eye contact with me, which she smiled more and gave me a wink.

Wait. What?

I was stunned. She had actually winked at me. To be honest, I really had nothing going for myself. I had brunette hair with brown eyes. I wasn't relatively tall, maybe around 5'9 the last time I checked. And the only place on my body that is tan is my arms and a little bit of my face. To most people, I looked normal. Before I could react, a blush crept up on my cheeks as I watched her finish her performance, wave, and blow kisses to her fellow dancers, and walk back to where she was sitting. The rest of the dancers all had beautiful auditions, but to me, nothing compared to hers. I walked back to the shop and continued on with my day. But my customers noticed something was different about me.

"Mister DeVore? You seem awfully happy this morning!" Marnie asked, smiling her usual cheerful smile.

"Oh, me? I just happened to see the Moonlight Masquerade auditions this morning. That's all." I commented, handing her the bouquet she commissioned me to make two days ago. She grabbed them, handed me the money, and shuffled off. It was her and her husband's anniversary today, and she decided to celebrate.

Now today, I felt especially lonely. Physically lonely. But mentally, all I could think of was her. That contagious smile, those shining forest green eyes...and that wink. That image played forever in my head, even while I was working. At the end of the day, I could hardly think of anything else. I sighed as I lay down on my bed. It creaked as I turned over to face the wall. My arm was used as a pillow as I just spaced out. For what felt like an eternity, my eyes started to get heavy, the wooden panels on my wall getting harder and harder to focus on as I succumbed to sleep...knowing it was going to be restless anyway.

Today was just the start of my now less boring life.