Who: Marit and Danté
When: Mid-afternoon
Where: The bakery
What: Marit is attrached to the bakery by strawberry pie and meets someone new

The winds were just right and the sun was cheerful today. It was another day to set off to explore the town. The morning had been, well, interesting to say the least but she was not keen on keeping to the bungalows or the lake all day today. She had grown a bit weary of sitting inside and reading, and it was far too nice of a day on land not to take advantage of it. Marit had slipped into a nice sundress, pink with little yellow flowers, and set to make her way into town. She followed along the lake for awhile, smiling as a water friend was not far off and was attempting to get her to come back in and play.

Something smelled absolutely wonderful and it was wafting slowly but surely down towards the bungalows. Marit allowed herself to be guided by the nose. When she arrived at the bakery, there was a small bustle of people whom all seemed interested in one thing or another. Marit was happy to find that there were fresh strawberry pies cooling. Strawberries were something that smelled as wonderful as they tasted. She had not been into the bakery before and allowed herself to investigate some of the more unique items. There were different kinds of baked goods for persons with different sorts of tastes. One even smelled like something that might be good if she were in a fishy mood.

She decided on an itty bitty pie, a single-serving one for herself, and agreed on some tea. Maybe she could have something outside and enjoy the passing crowds.

Who: Marit and Nathaniel
When: Early evening
Where: Walking through Helicharis on the way to the library
What: Having obtained and finished her library books, Marit is on the way to return them when she walks into another new face in Elysium.

They had all been simply wonderful, joyous reads! Marit had been able to take home three novels the previous day, with the assistance of Doctor Zane Smith, and had practically skipped the whole way back to the bungalows. All night and into the morning, the woman submerged herself in the pages of the Dickens' classic A Tale of Two Cities and two smaller picks of different genres. It had felt so good to hold the hardbacks and smell the slight hint of dust on the pages as they were flipped through with ease. These were not comforts that she usually found, or had previously found when she had first arrived in Elysium.

The place was still very new to her but she was being extremely adventurous today. She had walked around much of the place called 'home' after reaching the conclusion of the last book. Exhausted, she had taken to the water rather than sleep on the bed in her bungalow and once refreshed had decided to dig through the few belongings she had brought to retrieve two more books. Understanding that what was in this place should be for everyone, Marit decided that it would be best to donate her selections to the library--even though one of them was in Swedish.

Evening was setting behind the mountains to the west and to the east loomed certain darkness. While confident that she could find her way back home from the library, thanks mainly to the good Doctor's directions yesterday, she did not want to find herself in another pickle as to where she would inevitably end up. Once she had taken careful note of the way to the Town Hall, Marit allowed herself to wander over to the ceramics shop for a few moments. There were some pieces she was interested in, displayed in the window, but wondered if she really wanted them for their beauty or because she was finding land to be less enjoyable than she last remembered. Land was always much, much larger than the lakes, and being alone on land seemed to be much, much worse in the same way.

As she contemplated what she ought to do about the ceramics while also en route to the library, Marit walked with her eyes cast to the ground in front of her and thought about her dead husband. There were matters she was only now coming to terms with, and some of them she would rather ignore completely.

Who: Marit and Zane Smith
When: Late afternoon
Where: Outside of the Glassblower
What: Completely lost, Marit is determined to find a book--with a little help!

It had been months since she had read a good book, or a book at all for that matter. Perhaps that only drawback of living in the lake was that she could not take one of her favorite things in the entire world back to the place that her heart would always feel she truly belonged. Land was a very exciting place but she could only go so far. Well-written books could take you anywhere in the world, across time and space, and Marit's feverent interest in everything imaginable could be pacified but never completely satisfied by a good book. She would always require more until she was lost in beds of paperbacks and hardbacks instead of seagrass. When she had finally decided that it was time to venture out onto land again, the very first thing she had wanted to do was to get a book.

That was, of course, until she realized the very first thing she needed to do was to put on some clothes. Despite the years she had spent on land, in a house and with a husband, whenever she returned to the water for more than a week, it was as though all of those adaptations were lost on her all over again. There were expectations and mannerisms that one was to act with. A small mirror was mounted in the bathroom and she looked over herself before she left. Marit was still very determined to find whatever library or shop would have something worth reading. The distance between the bungalows and Helicharis was not terrible and yet her yearning for a new experience made the walk almost agonizing. She had not really explored Elysium when she had first arrived with many, many others, and instead took right to the lake and the bungalows. The rest of the land was still a complete mystery to her, and as she walked as gracefully as a woman in a rush could, Marit sadly came to another realization; she had no idea where she was or which way she should go.

For a little while, Marit watched the glassblowers as her long, blonde hair dried under the rays of the sun. Damp lines lingered down the back of the sleeveless lilac dress--she was not fond of trousers--and she toyed with a cluster of beads on her right wrist in thought. Everything was worth a little exploration, but she really, really wanted to get a book, too. The paths were not so much "bustling" as they would be in a larger town but the population of this place must have grown considerably since she had first arrived. Everyone was moving along, doing their own thing, living their lives. Marit did not want to bother anyone with what must seem like such a silly question to anyone else.

The only other option was to walk some more, and walk she did. Unfortunately, she neglected to notice where the road might take her if she went to the left once she passed the sweets shop, and eventually she came back to the glassblowers again. Drats! What a perfectly imperfect way to spend the day. She feared she might be losing light soon and then she would have to wander back home in the dark, alone, which was a dreadful thing to do. Marit then thought that she should look for her watch and hoped that she had remembered to put it amongst the things she wished to bring here. Quickly thereafter was the thought that perhaps she should also find some paper and a pen in order to make a list of all of the things that she had to remember to do.

But first, she had to find a book.