A Working Day (Meg)

What was worse than having the world's biggest chip on your shoulder? For Meg, it was... not knowing why she had it. Meg wasn't a cruel person, but she was cynical, sarcastic, and seemed to care little about what daggers the world threw at her. But why... that was the question. She had no idea what made her that way, but something did. Every morning she woke up feeling like there was a big hole in her heart, that she needed someone... or something.

Whatever the heck was happening to her, Meg knew she still had a job to do. In the village, she was a handywoman, a Jill of all Trades. From odd jobs to big home jobs, she did it all. The woman had some skills, that was for sure. She took pride in her work as well, and hey the money she got was nice to. She didn't have to pay a lot of taxes living alone, but she still had to pay them.

Today's job was at the Meow's Mayhem... a joke shop. She didn't know much about the owner, but she hoped he wouldn't pull some gag on her while she worked. She could handle the occasion amusement, but being the butt of a joke... someone was asking for a punch in the face.

Meg walked into the shop and looked around. Her attire was not like many ladies in the village. She wore a purple shirt, black pants, and black boots. Over her shoulder she carried her satchel with her tools.

"Anyone here?" she asked. "Heard you needed something fixed."

@chesh

Meg waited until the guy walked out. He certainly wasn't what he was expecting. When she thought of a joke shop owner, she thought of some goofy looking old man in a tacky suit who acted far younger than whatever his age was. But this guy was young... and handsome. And wasn't playing some gag on her or telling some lame joke. Other girls might go gaga over a guy like this, but she wasn't most girls. She couldn't get close to any guy. She just knew she would be hurt if she did.

"Yeah thanks, I'm Meg," she said when Keith welcomed her. She then listened to his request. She also raised an eyebrow when he offered help. "Yes I fix flooring. And why would you help? If you could do it, you would have and you wouldn't have hired me. Show me where you need me to start." She was glad he had the stuff to use for it. She had the equipment too, but if she could save a few things for a later job, so be it.

She looked around as she walked.

"So... a joke shop, huh?" she asked. "What made you decide to open one of these?" The reason Meg asked was because... well... she didn't know how she became a Jill Of All Trades. She didn't know a lot of things... like why she was such a loner. Maybe others did know things... but what if they didn't as well?

@chesh

Keith seemed nice enough, but Meg couldn't settle for "seemed". She had a strong distrust for people in general, but had a particular one for handsome men. She felt that most, though not all, would only hurt her if she ever got close to one. So far it had been enough for her to not even give one a chance. Granted, this guy hadn't tried to make a move on her... so far. Still, she would get this job and then get out.

Meg sighed as the guy said he would just be a sidekick of sorts. She supposed he could help if it ensured that he would leave her alone for most of the time.

"Fine," she said. "But don't do anything until I ask for you. Just go... work on your whoopie cushions... or hand buzzers... or something." Meg hoped she wouldn't need to ask for anything, but she had an odd feeling that wouldn't be the case.

Meg then groaned to herself when Keith's answer about how he came to own the joke shop wasn't a strong one. He couldn't remember either. This was driving her nuts.

"You don't know," she said. "The girl at the book shop doesn't know. The people at the school don't know." She turned and looked at Keith. "Is it just me, or is something crazy going on around this village?"

@chesh

Meg nodded to Keith when he said he would work on his own stuff for now. She doubted she would need him. Meg wasn't one who seemed to need anyone. She certainly didn't seem to need a man. Well... at least not this man. She turned and began to work.

She listened as Keith said he didn't care about not knowing why he was doing what he was doing and how he came to do it. What a foolish thing to say. He was content with all this? With having questions that weren't answered? She just didn't get it. Then again, others she had been around didn't seem to care either.

"Well... I care," she said. "It drives me crazy. And it's not just my job either. I want to know why I don't like being around others. I'd like to know why I live by myself without so much as a hamster to keep me company. You don't think about it at all?" He darted him a look, suddenly interested in talking to this guy.

@chesh

Maybe the guy had a point. Maybe Meg was going to drive herself crazy thinking about it, just like she drove herself crazy convincing herself that a life alone was the perfect life when she was clearly making herself miserable. But really, when one lived alone and usually worked alone, all one had was one thoughts.

"It's probably easy for you not to think about them though," she said. "I mean, you seem like you're popular and... nice looking... and have a lot of friends. All I have is what goes through my mind twenty-four hours a day. But yeah, I guess I will end up driving myself nuts if I don't stop thinking about it all. Probably best to focus on my work."

And that's what she did for a bit. She had to focus on her job. It was the only other thing she could think about, besides what can of soup to open for dinner, and then that was usually tomato, tomato, or tomato. Finally, Meg looked over at the guy.

"You know I have this one good dream though... weird but good," she said. "That I lived in some ancient time and place. And there was this guy named... well I forgot his name, but he was like this guy who... if I ever wanted to date... would be the kind of guy I would like to date. He was goofy, but also sweet and really loved me back. You ever have dreams that were like that... I mean not exactly like that, but really pleasant ones that you swear must have happened."

@chesh