Short Character Stories

Knocking

- Hey! It's been awhile since I've been active. I'm glad to be back! I might take a bit to update, procrastination is a bi-
Anyways, this is a short story. Like, 833 words short, so don't expect much.
Also the art up top isn't my best, but it's here. Enjoy the story! -

(For those who have already read this chapter, I only changed the tense. Nothing else is different about it)

Art, to put it simply, is something that comes in many forms that many interpret differently. Mine is the art of science. I help the people in the town, but many of them don't see it the way I do. I see it as a delicate work of art, like music, where nothing can go wrong. If done incorrectly, the whole thing will fall apart. In this case, however, the whole town suffers. Needless to say, I am very serious about my work. But others may not be as serious as I.
It takes very long to make the things the people in the town need, but it is something many cannot go without. The winter frost is taking many of us hostage and it would kill all of us if we did not have our homes and medicines to help. Due to our small size compared to the rest of the world, we are much more affected by it. Like humans, however, we gnomes and fairies need to eat. So we travel out to the small markets to get our food. With this, comes disease. That is where I step in. I make medicines for the people. Some of them do things that many would call unnatural but, in the end, helpful. Others are just your run of the mill medicines. Either way, we need every single one.
However, sometimes people intervene with what I have planned and make me realize things I couldn't have realized on my own.

A knock on the door, it's something I hear daily. However, one person seems to come on every occasion, pounding on the door. He asks for not a potion, but my attention, which is something I cannot give. Yet, here he is again, beating the door in. I would ignore it, but he's quite persistent. So, in the end, I always turn the handle.
"Morning Cory!" he says, in the same voice every day. The lumberjack always makes his way to my lab, without fail. No matter what the weather is, he always comes to disrupt my work.
"Hello again Damien..." I move out of the way for him to enter. I know the poor soul is never going to stop, so I amuse him. He takes off the large jacket that protected him from the storm. While shaking his head, he chuckles.
"It's kinda chilly out there, huh?" He turns to me, patting his hair and beard to get rid of any persistent snow that was still stuck in there.
"Yes, it is. It's the middle of winter for Christ's sake." Like everyday, I shut the door before anything else can get in. He smiles and turns to look at me once again.
"I take it you're busy?" he asks innocently. He knows the answer, it's always yes, so I just glare at him and continue my work. I can feel his curious eyes watching me, just as they always do. His expression, which shifts with every move I make, is engraved into my mind. He comes here every day without fail, and I can't seem to figure out why. Although, I will say, he adds something onto my day. Something no one has tried to add before. I think that is why I keep letting him in, without fail.
He grows closer as I work, trying to get a better view as I hunch over it. I can feel his presence behind me. A familiar and curious presence. He places his hand on my shoulder, and chuckles when I jump.
"Didn't mean to startle you, I was just wondering why you suddenly stopped." His familiar accent hits my ears, and his scent hits me as well.
"I'm just tired, I suppose. I haven't gotten good sleep in a bit." His familiar smile changes into a foreign frown, as a new look of concern rises to my sights.
"Well we can't have that now can we?" Grasping my hand, such a foreign place, he drags me off through my own home. "Where is your bedroom?" he asks me. Such an odd question. I lead him to my room, and he goes along the path as if he's done it so many times before. He led me to my bed, gently pushing me down.
"You need to make yourself healthy before you make other people healthy." His familiar chuckle hits me again. "Besides, our town isn't that big. The amount you make in one day could supply us enough for a week. You can take a break." He sat next to me on the bed, fixing the straps on his clothing. I felt oddly safe. Maybe, just maybe, I thought, I should calm down sometimes.

   I opened my eyes, and quickly recoiled from the harsh sunlight outside. Sitting up, I took in my surroundings. The familiar sight of lonely morning was all I found. Sighing, I stood up like I always did and made my way downstairs, waiting to hear that knock on the door.