"I'd like a ride please." Morana asked the carriage boy who was visibly shaking at the sight of her.
"I'm sorry-"
"I'll pay you one hundred Yars to take me to the hilltop." Morana cut him off before he could say no.
Although she felt bad for bribing the poor boy, that was the only way Morana could get her goods home without breaking her back. Unlike what everyone said about her, she didn't have the powers to magically teleport her things back home, although she wished she did.
Just like she expected, the boy was hooked at the mention of the amount she would pay him. Instead of two Yars for transport, she would be giving him a hundred which is more than what he earned that day so who would say no to that.
"One hundred Yars? Are you sure?" The boy asked her with widened eyes.
"I'm sure." Morana pulled out the money and handed it to him so he wouldn't think she was tricking him, "Now, can we go?"
"Y-yes, thank you." The boy smiled animatedly at her as he collected the money with trembling hands and shoved it into his pocket.
Just as Morana was about to get in, the boy paused a bit, "I won't be able to go to the top of the hill." He seemed hesitant as he spoke, "I-I can give you the money back if you want."
Morana understood what he meant so she just smiled at him, to everyone else, her hous was still a scary place, "It's alright, just take me to the bottom of the hill and you can still keep the money."
"Thank you, thank you." The boy beamed as he helped her get her bags into the carriage.
Morana chuckled at his innocent behavior. No matter how much the kids of the village taunted her, she knew it wasn't their fault, they were simply acting on what they believed to be true as told to them by their parents so how could she ever get angry at such innocent children?
For the first time since she left her house that morning Morana could finally sit and relax her back for more than a minute or two. Her feet were swolen and sore but in the long run, it was a small price to pay for materialistic happiness she felt that day.
Morana smiled thinking of all the things she bought and the nice people she met earlier on while selectively ignoring the ones that tried to ruin her day.
"Today was fulfiling," She said to herself, "I'm glad to finally have milk again."
After lacking her precious milk for nearly a month, she made sure to buy two crates of milk to last her till the next market day once she stored it in the cooling room.
It didn't take long for the carriage to reach the foot of the hill and Morana had to get her sore butt of the comfortable seat.
"Thank you for the ride." She told the boy once he brought down her things for her.
"Thank you too." He appeared distant as he spoke as if he was comtemplating something, "Will you be alright by yourself?"
Morana noticed he was staring at the large amount of goods she bought and she could tell he was worried she wouldn't be able to carry them by herself but also scared of helping her up the hill.
'What a sweet child.' She said to herself.
"I'll be fine, don't worry." She reassured the boy to make sure he wouldn't feel guilty for not helping her when in truth, he had helped her more than any sensible adult in that village.
Without saying a word, the boy went to grab something from the carriage. He came out moments later with a strap in his hand.
"You can use this to hold the crate together so it will be easier for you." He didn't wait for her to respond before tying the milk crates together.
"Thank you so much." Tears stung Morana's eyes as she said those words. She didn't expect him to be that worried for her and even help her out to that extent, his kindness greatly moved her.
"What's your name?" She asked the boy.
"Flynn." He replied.
"Well, Flynn, thank you for your kindness." She smiled at him while reaching to grab something from her purse, "Here, use this to get yourself something." She handed him another Hundred Yars.
"That's too much, I-I can't take it," Flynn shook his head.
"You helped me so much today so this is the least I could do."
"Thank you so so much miss," Flynn wrapped his tiny arms around her for a brief second before stepping back, "I'm glad I could help... Have a nice night." He gave her a toothy smile and scurried out of there before it got late.
That was Morana's fisrt hug for as long as she could remember and she could feel the purity and happines Flynn radiated as he huggged her.
"It was warm." She whispered, allowing herself to linger in the moment of the hug.
Flynn seemed to be younger than thirteen years of age and the fact that such a young child was working odd jobs at late hours like that saddened her, however, she found solace in knowing the money she gave him would help him one way or another.
Wiping the stray tear that escaped her eyes, Morana carried her now easy to carry goods and turned to face the hill. "I'm definetly going to break a bone or two climbing this hill." She sighed dejectedly.
With slow steps, she made her way up the hill as gently as she could while trying not to damage any of the things she bought.