The dirt road leading away from Blackwood Cemetery was wide, quiet, and shaded by large, leafy trees.
B walked at a slow, lazy pace, her oversized white dress swaying with every small step. Behind her, her massive tail of snow-white hair brushed lightly over the dust of the road, leaving a thin, smooth line in the dirt.
As she walked further away from the stone walls of the graveyard, the gentle breeze continued to blow through the branches above.
...sssshhhh... vvvvv...
Every time the wind rustled the leaves, a faint, whispering sound seemed to trail right behind her ears. It sounded almost like a bunch of tiny voices murmuring in an unknown language, low and buzzing, constantly echoing just out of reach.
B didn't even turn her head. She didn't care in the slightest.
In her past life, during those brutal six-day periods where she stayed awake on nothing but coffee and energy pills, her brain used to play all kinds of weird tricks on her. Whenever she was deeply deprived of sleep, the hum of the cheap office ceiling fan would start sounding like distant human voices whispering her name. The quiet buzz of the computer tower would sound like someone murmuring in the hallway.
Sometimes, out of the corner of her eye, she would see dark, blurry shapes sitting on the empty office chairs or lurking near the water cooler. But whenever she turned to look directly at them, there was never anything there. It was just severe fatigue making her brain misfire.
'Classic sleep deprivation symptoms,' B thought casually, keeping her eyes fixed on the road ahead. 'My brain is probably still recovering from dying of overwork. A few more good nights of sleep on that couch and these weird whispers will go away. What a persistent sleep deprivation to still exist after a good sleep earlier'
She completely ignored the cold drafts that brushed against her pale skin and kept walking.
After about twenty minutes of easy strolling, the trees along the road began to clear, revealing the entrance to Oakhaven Village.
B stopped at the edge of the paved stone street, looking around with her large, void-black pupils.
The village was surprisingly modern, yet cozy. It looked almost identical to the rural countryside towns she used to see on television back on Earth. The houses were neat two-story buildings made of light stone and dark wood, topped with red tiled roofs. Clean glass windows caught the bright afternoon sunlight, and small flower boxes hung beneath many of the windowsills. Paved stone pathways connected the houses, and electric street lamps lined the main road.
There were no strange flying dragons in the sky, no giant stone castles, and no fantasy creatures walking around.
"Thank goodness," B whispered to herself, letting out a small sigh of relief. "It's just normal humans."
She had been a little worried that she might pop out into a crazy world filled with monstrous beast-people, talking animals, or giant magical monsters that would ruin her quiet, low-stress life. Seeing normal people wearing simple shirts, jeans, and work aprons made her feel much more at ease.
She stepped onto the paved stone street, blending into the gentle flow of the village life.
People were going about their daily business all around her. A woman was hanging wet laundry on a line outside her house; two old men were sitting on a wooden bench playing a board game; and a young boy was riding a simple bicycle down the lane, laughing as he sped past.
As B walked down the main street, her stomach suddenly gave a sharp, empty rumble.
Gurgle...
B stopped, pressing a small pale hand against her dress. She hadn't eaten anything real since she woke up in this new body, aside from a glass of water from the cabin sink.
Just as her stomach complained again, a sweet, warm smell drifted through the air.
B turned her head, her sleepy eyes landing on a small wooden street cart parked near the corner of a bakery. A cheerful-looking middle-aged man in a clean white apron was standing behind the cart, dipping fried bananas into a pot of thick, golden liquid caramel before setting them out on wooden sticks to cool.
The sight made B's mouth water instantly.
She walked over to the food cart, her long hair trailing behind her on the clean stone floor. She stopped in front of the counter, barely tall enough to see over the wooden ledge.
"Excuse me," B said, her high-pitched, child-like voice cutting softly through the street noise. "Can I have one of those, please?"
The vendor looked down, surprising himself when he saw the tiny, white-haired girl with vast dark eyes staring up at him. He gave her a friendly, warm smile.
"Well, hello there, little miss!" the vendor said cheerfully. "One candied banana coming right up! That'll be one bill, please."
B reached into the small pocket of her short black pants underneath her white dress. She pulled out one of the crisp, blue paper bills with the bold number 50 printed in the middle and handed it over the counter.
The vendor took the blue note, nodded politely, and picked up a fresh, hot candied banana on a stick, wrapping the wooden handle in a small square of clean paper so she wouldn't burn her fingers.
"Here you go, kiddo," he said, handing the sweet snack down to her.
Then, the vendor reached into a metal cash box on his cart and pulled out a small stack of different paper notes. He handed them back to B.
"And here is your change," the vendor said warmly. "Forty-nine back to you. Enjoy!"
B took the stack of change and stepped back from the cart, holding her candied banana in her left hand while counting the bills in her right.
She had handed him a 50 bill. He took it, gave her the snack, and gave her 49 back in smaller bills, a mix of tens, fives, and single units.
'So one candied banana costs exactly 1 unit of money,' B calculated in her head, her eyes sparkling slightly. 'That means my remaining money is worth a lot!'
She had started with four 50 bills, totaling 200. With the change she just received, with her rough math, she calculate the total would be reduced by 1 unit of the money. That gave her a grand total of 199 units of money!
If a delicious, hot food item from a food stand is only cost 1 unit of the bill, then 199 units was a very healthy amount of money for a young grave keeper. She wasn't rich, but she certainly wasn't poor either.
She still had one small problem, though. She didn't know the actual name of the currency.
B took a bite of the candied banana. The outside was crunchy and sweet, while the warm banana inside melted on her tongue. A soft, happy expression appeared on her pale face as she chewed contentedly.
Just as she was finishing her second bite, a loud, booming voice echoed from a housewares shop across the street.
"Step right up, folks!" a round shopkeeper shouted, slamming a heavy shiny pan onto a wooden table outside his door. "Brand new iron cookware! Direct from the city forge! This metal pan can be yours for just 8 Vicks! Eight Vicks only!"
B blinked, her pitch-black pupils shifting toward the loud merchant.
'Vicks,' she thought, filing the word away in her memory. 'So the money in this world is called Vicks. A candied banana is 1 Vick, a heavy metal pan is 8 Vicks, and I have 199 Vicks in my pocket. Perfect.'
Now that she understood the local economy, B turned back toward the friendly candied banana vendor.
"Um, sir?" B asked in her soft voice, holding her banana stick.
"Yes, little miss? Need another one?" the vendor asked with a laugh.
"No, thank you, it's very good," B said politely. "Do you know where I can find a shop that sells simple clothes nearby?"
"Ah, clothes!" The vendor pointed his wooden spatula down the street, gesturing toward a quiet side lane just past the bakery. "Just go around that corner right there. Look for the blue wooden sign with a pair of scissors painted on it. That's Mrs. Clara's shop. She makes great, sturdy clothes for fair prices."
"Thank you very much," B said, giving the vendor a small, polite nod.
Holding her half-eaten candied banana, B turned around and walked toward the corner, her long white hair swishing gently in the afternoon breeze.
With 199 Vicks secured in her pocket, she was feeling confident. She was going to buy herself a nice, comfortable change of clothes, maybe a extra pair of socks, and then head right back to her cozy cabin couch for an uninterrupted afternoon nap.
Author's Note
EliteToeCollector
Thanks for reading!