Pablo woke up and opened his hand.
Nothing.
Not a single Beli.
He had spent everything he had yesterday on food, and today he starts from zero.
He got up without much thought and took his fishing tools.
The solution is clear.
---
He reached the shore while the sky was still gray. The sun had not fully risen yet.
The sea was calm and the air was cold.
He cast the rod and waited.
This ti his hands were more confident. The body was starting to rember more than the first ti.
The correct angle, the right depth, the way to hold the line.
But the sea has its own mood.
So ti passed with nothing.
He changed his position on the rocks and tried the net.
The throw ca out better than last ti. It spread over the water more correctly.
He waited.
When he pulled it back, he found two small fish.
He cast it again.
On the second throw, three fish.
On the third, only one.
He continued like this, throwing, waiting, and pulling, slowly and patiently.
After three hours, he looked at what he had gathered.
Enough for three good als, maybe a little more.
He gathered his tools and returned.
---
He cooked his morning al quickly and ate while thinking.
Today he had sothing to do.
He opened the corner under the wooden plank and took out the ring.
A small green stone in a simple tal fra.
He put it in his pocket and went out.
---
The market was at its peak in the middle of the morning.
Pablo's eyes wandered slowly.
He didn't want to offer the ring to just anyone.
He needed the right type: not a professional rchant who knows the value of everything and asks many questions, and not a man who might suspect a child selling jewelry.
He passed by an old man sitting in front of his stall.
No.
He passed by the village rchant standing in front of his shop, his eyes tracking everything.
Definitely no.
He stopped at the edge of the market.
A woman in her mid-thirties was examining vegetables with interested eyes and haggling with the seller in a loud voice without embarrassnt. Plump, with kind features and a round face.
Not rich, but not in extre poverty either.
And on her wrist was a simple wooden bracelet.
A woman who cares about her appearance with what she has.
Pablo noticed that when she finished buying vegetables, she stopped at a stall selling small items: combs, small fabrics, and simple wooden trinkets. She picked up one piece, examined it, then put it down and walked away.
This one.
He approached her quietly after she moved away from the stall.
"A mont?"
She looked at him with surprised eyes.
"What do you want?"
He took out the ring and opened his hand in front of her.
She looked at him, then at the ring, then at him again.
"Where did you get this?"
"I found it."
She paused for a second, examining the ring with her eyes without touching it, but in her eyes was sothing that said she had liked it from the start.
"How much do you want?"
"Five hundred Beli."
She stepped back a little.
"Five hundred? For a ring you found on the street? One hundred and fifty."
"Four hundred and fifty."
"Two hundred."
Pablo looked at her quietly.
"Four hundred, and that's the least it's worth."
She looked at the ring again.
"Three hundred and fifty."
Pablo paused again.
Three hundred and fifty Beli for sothing that cost him nothing.
"Alright."
She took the ring and put it directly on her hand, as if she had been waiting for this mont. She handed him the coins without lifting her eyes from the ring.
She went away with light steps.
---
Pablo stood and counted the coins.
Three hundred and fifty Beli.
Less than he wanted, but better than nothing.
He headed toward the rchant's shop.
---
This ti he entered knowing exactly what he wanted.
He bought a small container for teeth cleaning for one hundred Beli, and a small bottle of hair wash for two hundred.
He looked at what remained with him.
Only fifty Beli.
He took it and left.
---
He returned to his room and put his purchases next to the soap and comb.
He looked at them.
Soap, comb, toothpaste, hair wash.
Finally, the four were complete.
He took everything and headed toward the river.
---
The water was cold, but he didn't care.
He washed his hair with the new bottle slowly. Sothing simple, but completely different from the days of washing with water alone.
He cleaned his teeth for the first ti since he arrived and felt an imdiate difference.
He washed with the soap and combed his hair when he returned to his room.
He sat afterwards and looked at his face's reflection in the bucket.
The sa face, the sa sharp features, but with a small difference that no one else could see.
A man in a child's body, trying to remain human.
---
He lay down and looked at the ceiling.
A full week in this world, and he is still living day by day.
Charcoal gives him a steady weekly inco, but it's not enough.
Fishing feeds him but doesn't give him money.
Odd jobs are not guaranteed.
And the ring he stole gave him three hundred and fifty Beli, which he spent in one hour.
Pablo thought quietly.
Stealing is not an ideal solution, but it is the fastest in this village.
The problem is not the stealing itself. The problem is the scale.
One small ring will not change his situation, but if he found the right thing at the right ti, things might be different.
Not a career plan, just opportunities he takes when they co.
He closed his eyes.
Fifty Beli in his pocket, and another week waiting for him.
The road is still long.
But he is walking.
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