Torou Pt. 17

“So, what’s your magnificent idea?” Pondered Gregory. Both he and Radu were seated somewhere outside of Sum. The grass was greener than Greg had ever seen, and it rolled and shimmered brightly in the cool, relaxing breeze. The friends were both sitting against an apple tree with an incredibly large trunk, talking as the large sun of late summer beat down. 1

“It’s pretty plain, actually. All I have to do is offend Yiesmen’s father. Yiesmen’s her name, by the way.” Radu furrowed his brows in thought. He sat up straighter, his back now completely against the trunk of the apple tree, his arm resting on his leg, which was drawn up. Gregory sat to his immediate right.2

“So what is it that you are planning to do?” 3

________4

“Wait,” Gregory looked long and hard at his friend. “Let me get this straight…You’re going to steal Yiesmen’s father’s pig?”5

“Or kill it, it depends. But he has to know I did it. He won’t want to have a criminal in his family.”6

So apparently thievery was a very serious crime around here, Greg thought. Or maybe Yiesmen’s father was just picky. Either way, it would probably work. He sighed. Radu was too much. He really was just a little kid. 7

“Couldn’t you just run away or something? I mean, it’s sort of silly what you’re planning to do.” He countered. 8

“I wouldn’t want to worry everyone like that…”9

“But how would Elena react?”10

“Now that I think about it, she’d never let me go.” Said Radu. “I guess I’ll end up running away after all.”11

Greg sighed. “Then couldn’t you skip the pig thing?”12

Radu shrugged. “I guess so.”13

Gregory rolled his eyes. What was he getting himself into? Here he was in a place that he didn’t even understand, and he was having some hyper person that he’d barely known 14

tag along! This was a disaster. But who knows? Maybe things would work out…15

The two had briefly pondered how to spend the rest of the day, and had ultimately settled on Radu taking Greg for a tour of Sum. He had explained that what Gregory had seen was only a small part on the outside of the village, and in all actuality it was much bigger than what Greg’s first impression was.16

And so Gregory went on to see Sum in its entirety. The grid-like pattern that the houses and streets were based around went on for a ways, which Radu said was because they lived on the edge of the village. As they progressed it became busier and louder, and after a minute or two of walking they came upon Sum’s square.17