For the majority of year, Tsubaki maintained their house, finances, and played hostess for all of the village events. The latter job mainly entailing her going around and making sure all the events ran smoothly and the participants were happy. People loved her for it, thinking she was the epitome of the ideal daughter and woman, despite that deep down Tsubaki would have preferred to be tucked away in her room reading or doing some solitary activity. It wasn't as if she did not love the townspeople like family, but with all of the pressures placed on her, she needed her escapes. Her favorite means being to walk through the forest while the adults and children were busy at work or school. Very rarely did she run into anyone, and Tsubaki could lose herself in her thoughts, daydreaming of a better, more exciting life.
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The world at last belonged to only her. Walking through the forest, Tsubaki reached out one delicate hand to brush the underside of the velvety, multicolored leaves on the edge of the path, a contented sigh passing through her lips. The dew from the night before collected on her fingertips as she continued forward, eventually growing pregnant enough with the gathered liquid to fall onto the path. Cool, crisp fall air turned her moist fingers especially frigid while simultaneously surging into her lungs to cleanse it of the stale, indoor air she had been trapped in previously. Tsubaki's red robes dragged along the path behind her, rustling the leaves to make a satisfying sound as they tumbled over one another. Her red ornate umbrella shielded her from the late morning sun that threatened to blind her through the canopy of branches overhead, her hand absently twirling the handle of the accessory over and over again, watching the tassels that hung off the edge whirl around her head. The added noise and body to the forest disrupted the birds that had sat contentedly over her head, now flying back and forth in an irritated frenzy, chirping to their companions. Their song only eased Tsubaki further though and she finally stopped as she reached her usual marker, a pond about ten yards to her right. Somehow the surface always seemed to be clear of debris and could never be frozen by even the coldest night. Tsubaki had named it the Mirror Pond for its mysterious qualities that were akin to the object, and possessed a special fondness for it. Moving to the edge, she closed the umbrella languorously as she sat herself down on her knees. The pond was as still and tranquil as usual and Tsubaki leaned over to peer at her reflection, her fingers reaching down to stroke the surface.
((PM me to continue! You can be virtually anything: a traveling prince, the deity, a pond monster, an alien, anything! Please be interesting and at least semi-literate. The most important thing for me is being able to keep my character and myself on their toes. Hope to hear from you soon!))
