I sat upright in bed for a while. I wasn't looking around, but I could tell it was early in the morning. I didn't put curtains on the windows, so the morning sun must've woke me up. I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes. When I opened them everything was still as it was so, I didn't wake up into another dream.
'That's strange, how could this have happened? Did me dreaming that I made this bed actually create it? It must've.'
I got out of bed and put some clothes on, continuing my thought process.
'This means that If I dream about using the amber, it actually happens. It worked out well this time, but what if I dream something in the future and accidentally destroy the things around me? I should probably not sleep while wearing the amber again, just in case.'
I went outside to meet with the others, as I could smell meat being grilled for breakfast, and saw the outside additions that I did in the dream.
'Wow, its exactly as I was going to make it today. I know I had some reservations, but the amber is really good at manifesting thoughts.'
I then felt someone walking up behind me, and I turned around and was met with Maddie trying to sneak up behind me.
"Hey there." I said, with a light chuckle.
"Hey yourself," she replied, "I should've known I couldn't sneak up on you, but I wanted to try anyway."
"So what brings you here?"
"Well I was gonna let you know breakfast is ready for everyone, but it seems you should get some rest. It looks like you stayed up all night to finish it."
"Well, not quite," I said before explaining what happened.
…
"So basically," Maddie said with a smirk appearing on her face, "it was so easy you could do it in your sleep?
"Not really, but sorta."
Maddie's smirk faded, and she exhaled and made a motion with her hand going over her head. I gave her a confused look and she just shrugged and said, "Nevermind. Anyways, that's really cool. That means it really does what you want it to."
"Yeah I guess so." 'I'm glad Maddie sees the bright side of things, otherwise I would be worried about it all day.' "Ok, well let's go get breakfast."
"Right."
During breakfast with everyone, Jack showed up last with sleep still in his eyes, bandages on his hands, and his hair a mess. He sat down next to Holly without getting food, leaned up against her, and fell face first into her lap, where he promptly fell asleep again.
"We should probably not tell him about the dream thing," I whispered to Maddie, "I feel like it would be like adding insult to injury if he stayed up all night to do less than what I did in my sleep."
"I'm with you there," she whispered back, "besides, he seems comfortable enough."
Maddie tilted her head to gesture towards Holly and Jack, and Holly was smiling, running her hands through his hair.
The rest of the day went on without too much happening. I added some finishing touches to the house, and a few hours in, I heard Jack start work on his house again.
Since I had finished the main house, I decided to start work on a pier that could later be used as a dock between Newman's Quarry, Riverhold, and any future towns that are founded in the future.
I sat down on the rocks near the shore as I watched the new seeds I planted for the pier grow.
'The new trees seem to be growing faster than the ones yesterday,' I thought, 'maybe it's just me, but if it's not, then I must be getting better at this.'
By the time the sun began to set, the pier was done. It extended a few dozen yards out from the shore, and I had the trees grow under the river and sprout roots in the riverbed to keep it steady. It had rope-like guards on the sides to keep people from falling off, except at the very end so people can easily get on and off boats later on.
Even though the sun was setting, I wasn't too hungry, so I decided to enjoy the sunset on the pier and go fishing. I sat there for a while, thinking about this or that, letting my mind wander as it pleases, every so often being brought back to reality as a fish tugs at the line.
Not too much time had passed before I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see Maddie walking up with two bowls of assorted fruits.
"Hey Prez." she said, sitting down next to me, " I haven't seen you since lunch, so I thought you might be hungry."
"Thanks Maddie," I said, accepting the bowl as she held it out to me. I set it on my lap, and nibbled at the fruit as we talked.
"This is really impressive," Maddie said, starting on her own bowl of fruit, "building a dock into the sea in just a few hours. It feels so sturdy."
"Thanks, I think I've been getting quicker in using the amber. It took less time than I thought it would."
There was a long pause in the conversation, where we sat in silence, watching the sun finally dip behind the mountains to the east, and the stars slowly came into view.
"So how is Jack coming along on the house?" I asked, to keep things going, as we had both finished our bowls.
"Oh," Maddie paused briefly, "It's almost done, he said he needed to do some finishing touches, but it's ready to be lived in."
"By the way, Prez," Maddie said, before taking a breath, "what made you want to come on this expedition?" Maddie started talking faster, "I know its been a long time since its started, and its not really my business, but I'm just curious, you don't need to tell me if you don't want to."
"Oh, its really nothing crazy, but" I said with a stretch, "I want to explore the world. I felt that I would need a metal weapon if I was to do that, so I volunteered for the expedition to help get metals. I guess now I don't need a weapon, if I'm able to make one out of wood if I needed to."
"That's amazing."
"It is?" I smiled, "Thanks, but I feel like I've gotten a bit sidetracked, you know? I didn't really think about where I was going, but it seems like I'm getting farther from my goal. Building a house, its like settling down. I don't want to do that just yet."
"There's still time." Maddie said, scooting over a bit closer to me, "There's a return trip to Riverhold in a decem, to bring back the metals bring more people over here. That would be a good time to start."
"Maybe." I took a breath, "But I've enjoyed the time I've spent here, helping build a town. I don't want that to end, and I don't want to come back in the future and things be completely different."
We sat in silence for another moment. Maddie rested her head on my shoulder, closed her eyes and smiled. 'Must be tired' I thought.
"I'll make a decision eventually, but not just yet. I want to spend a bit more time here in the town and help it grow a bit before I head out to explore. I now know there is more to this world than meets the eye, and so I should continue to learn and be prepared."
"Well, whenever you set out, just take me with you. Wherever you are tends to be really fun."
"Wait really?" I asked, but got no reply. I closed my eyes and sensed her heartbeat had slowed a bit. 'She fell completely asleep.'
Getting pretty tired myself, I gently picked her up, and created a bed downstairs in my house for her to sleep in for the night before heading upstairs and laying down in bed myself. Then suddenly I had a rush of realization: Maddie made a joke this morning and I didn't get it.