Pablo woke up at dawn as usual.
The one hundred Beli in his pocket had not changed.
He got up and washed his face with cold water. He combed his hair for the first ti since arriving in this world—a small difference, but better.
He went out.
---
He wandered through the village early this ti, before most people started their day.
He knew that job opportunities are taken in the morning, not in the middle of the day.
He passed by several houses. Nothing.
Then he heard the sound of things being moved with difficulty from inside one of the larger houses in the village.
He stopped.
The house was better than most houses in Verona. Its wood was newer, and its door was sturdier.
A man in his forties ca out of it, his face reddened from effort.
He looked at Pablo.
"You want work?"
"Yes."
The man gestured with a nod of his head toward the inside.
"Move so boxes from the back room to the front. I'll give you eighty Beli."
Pablo nodded and followed him.
---
The inside was better than he expected.
Not luxurious, but it had things that most village houses did not: so copper pots on the shelf, real curtains on the window, and a heavy wooden table in the middle.
A well-off man by Verona's standards.
The man pointed him toward the back room and said:
"The three large boxes, move them here."
Then he went out the front door.
"I'll be back shortly."
---
Pablo started working.
The boxes were heavy, full of old tools and fabrics.
He carried them one by one and moved them to the front room.
While moving the second box, he stopped.
On the shelf by the back door, there were various items: threads, small tools, and so fabrics.
And among them, sothing glinted slightly.
He approached.
It was a simple piece of jewelry, a tal ring with a small green stone.
Not gold, and not valuable enough for anyone to seriously search for it.
But it was worth a few hundred Beli, probably.
He looked toward the front door.
No one.
He looked toward the window.
No one was looking.
He grabbed the ring and put it in his pocket with one quiet motion.
He didn't stop, didn't hesitate. He continued carrying the second box and moved it to the front.
When he carried the third box and passed by the open side window, he threw the ring quietly outside into the grass by the wall.
He finished the work and put the last box in its place.
---
The man returned after a few minutes and looked at the boxes in their new places.
"Good."
He took out eighty Beli and handed them to Pablo.
He took them quietly.
"Thank you."
He went out the front door, and after he had walked far enough, he circled around the house from the side.
The ring was still in the grass where he had thrown it.
He picked it up and continued walking with the sa quiet steps.
---
He now had one hundred and eighty Beli: the eighty he had earned, and the one hundred left from yesterday.
He stopped at the food stall in the market.
He calculated quickly.
Three als for his day, no more, no less.
He bought bread and so dried fish for the morning, two potatoes for the afternoon, and one dium fish for the evening.
He paid what was asked and continued walking.
When he opened his hand, he found almost nothing in it.
He had spent everything he had on three als for one day.
---
He returned to his room, put the ring in his hand, and looked at it for a few seconds.
A small green stone in a simple tal fra.
Its owner would not search for it much. Things like this get lost and their owners forget them.
He hid it under a wooden plank in the corner of the room.
He would sell it when the right opportunity ca.
---
He took his charcoal tools and went out toward the forest.
He collected what remained of usable wooden remains, this ti more than he had taken the first ti.
He returned and dug two holes instead of one.
He arranged the wood, lit the fires quietly, and covered them with soil.
He sat waiting.
Savia's ti had not yet co, but he saw no reason to waste ti.
Any day in which he produces nothing is a wasted day.
After hours, he opened the two holes and examined the result.
Better than the first ti.
He collected the charcoal and arranged it carefully.
---
He sat in front of his room as the sun set.
Eighty Beli he had earned today, all spent on food. A ring hidden under the wooden plank. A quantity of charcoal ready for Savia.
A better day than yesterday.
But Pablo did not feel complete satisfaction.
Three hundred and fifty Beli a week from Savia, plus odd jobs, is not enough even to cover his daily expenses comfortably.
The ceiling here is very low.
Real money is outside, and he is still trapped on an island no one knows.
He closed his eyes.
Two steps in one day.
But the road is still long.
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