I may have lost the Elements Game earlier this morning, but I still have chance to enjoy myself in just a few more hours. I was a bit reluctant to go outside, but after Nexa told me that there will be some fun things to do there, I was instantly into the idea.
So now, I am outside of the house with Nexa, trying to find some firewood. We'll need this as we will be having a huge feast tomorrow on New Year as it will be a gigantic celebration. You see, Nexa was born on New Year, which I think is amazing as she was born on the first day of the year.
Ever since she was born, Mother and Father had to double the festivities. However, disaster struck our money supply when I was born on...
Drum roll please!
*Drum roll from nowhere*
New Year's day as well. I know, what are even the chances! Me and my sister were born 3 years apart, but were born on the exact same day, which is also New Year's day as well! And, because of that, we will be having lots of food, which will require lots of fire to actually cook. That is why, I'm out in the wilderness with Nexa.
"Hey, Nexa, can't we just get any kind of wood and call it a day?"
"Well, since you haven't been outside a lot, I'll excuse your complaint. The best wood to burn comes from hardwood trees such as maple, oak, ash, birch, and hickory trees. They will let our fire burn hotter and longer. Plus, they are all generally cleaner to handle."
"I didn't know you were such a tree enthusiast."
"You learn things by doing this for a majority of your life."
I never expected to get a tree lesson from Nexa today, but I guess that is the wisdom from someone who has a large amount of experience in doing these sorts of things. I stay quiet and look for trees that look like what she said, but then realise that I have no idea what I am doing at all.
"Nexa, what do any of the trees you just described look like?"
"Don't worry about finding the trees. I just need you to find something else for me."
"What do I need to find?"
"Pyrite. It is a sort of rock which forms around these parts and is also very good at starting fires. I just need you to find some near that ridge over there."
"What do they look like?"
"It has another name which sort of describes it's appearance well. That name is Fool's Gold, aptly named because it looks like gold at first glance, but there are notable differences. They usually have crystal formations that can come in many different shapes such as octahedrons and also have striations on them, which is basically the word for stripes."
"Alright. Over the ridge, gold-yellow rocks with crazy beautiful crystals and stripes on their surface. Got it. I'll see you back at the old stump in around 30 minutes, okay?!"
"Make sure you don't injure yourself! Knowing you, you might trip over a rock or something and bruise your knee!"
"Don't worry! I'll definitely be fine!"
I ran ahead towards the ridge Nexa pointed towards, but made sure not to go too fast as I could accidentally reenact the exact scenario she just described. I didn't know Nexa had such broad knowledge on subjects like these. I guess playing the Elements Game a lot really taught her well.
Still, I can't believe that a rock called Fool's Gold was the thing we were using all this time to light our fires. And to think that they were just over that ridge, so close to our house and I didn't know about it at all. Maybe I should be going outside and explore a bit more as well.
When I reached the ridge, I looked down and scoured the area for any rocks that might look remotely like what she described. There was snow down there, which meant that I had to be digging around now. I sighed and jumped down to try to inspect every rock I find.
After a few minutes of searching on the ground, I grab something that seemed to display all of the traits that Nexa described. However, I wasn't a rock expert, so to make sure that I wouldn't need to go through the trouble of finding another one, I just stayed there to get as many extras as possible.
A long while later and I was able to find at least 5 of these pyrite rocks which I have lots of confidence in. I made my way back to the old stump while carrying all of the rocks in my hands. At that moment, I saw something move from the corner of my eye. Feeling a bit curious, I walked towards the area where I saw movement.
Since I have no idea what sorts of things travel around these parts, I was a bit apprehensive, but I wanted to check it out so that I could tell Nexa about it. I reached the area where I saw it but didn't see anything.
"I must be going crazy."
I turned around again and ran back to the old stump where I told Nexa we would meet up. And, just as I expected, I saw Nexa's black hair contrasting heavily against the snow near the stump.
"There you are, Zen! I've been waiting here for such a long time already!"
"Huh? What do you mean? I'm pretty sure that it has only been 25 minutes or so..."
"Actually, it has already been almost an entire hour!"
What?
How could almost an entire hour pass by? It has definitely been less than 30 minutes, I'm sure of it. What does she mean, almost an hour?
"... Sorry. I guess I wasn't tracking the time very well and made you worry."
"Don't worry. Just, don't do that ever again, alright? I was really scared you that you might have gotten lost in all of the snow. C'mon, let's go home."
"Okay."
I take Nexa's hand and we both start walking home. She isn't even mentioning the pyrite. I guess she must have forgotten all about it in all of her worry, huh? Still, I really am confused as to how almost an entire hour already passed.
"Well, I got some pyrite."
"You did? Oh yeah, I told you to get some. I'll check if you got the correct ones."
I hand over the pyrite I picked up to her and she starts looking closely at all of them. After inspecting all of them, she hands them back to me.
"I'm impressed. You actually found a bunch of them."
"How about you?"
"I found lots of broken branches around here that we could use, so don't worry about that. We should hurry or else our parents will get mad at us for staying out for too long."
...
She actually called them 'our parents'. Nexa is really changing a lot from how I used to see her before. Maybe it's because she wants to stop getting mad all the time for the New Year? I break the silence and ask Nexa something that was on my mind for some time.
"Hey, you don't think that things will change too much, right?"
"Hmm? What kind of question is that? No matter what, things will always change. If everything always stayed the same, life would be very boring, wouldn't it, Zen? I know you always want to have fun and, well, that can't happen if nothing changed, now would it? Change is the spice of life that makes things exciting!"
Nexa turned around and then smiled happily at me. I instantly felt my cheeks get a little red when that happened. I mean, the girls in our family are really beautiful and I really wonder how Father was able to find a woman like Mother. And, Nexa inherited all of Mother's beauty.
When she smiles so happily like that, it's almost like she is an entirely different person. This is the reason why I love her so much even though she gets at me a lot. She always thinks about us first before herself.
"Aren't you happy? Your eyes are shining a lot."
"Well, that's because I was just waiting for chance to say that to you. I mean, I even rehearsed it a bit before I realised you were late."
Wow, what a callback.
"But, nothing will change about our family, right?"
"I guess so. After all, there will always be exceptions to rules."
"I love you, Nexa."
"I already knew that. But, since you said it... I love you too, Zen."