Wood chopping

Sophia scuttled through the back of the buildings, she wasn't sure how this world worked, but she imagined it wasn't normal for people to suddenly appear out of nowhere in strange clothes.

Sophia needed to find a way out of here, but first, she needed a place to hide, a place to blend in.

As she walked through the narrow dirt roads of the village, she spotted a large building up ahead: a tavern. The sign hanging above the door depicted a clinking tankard, and Sophie's stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten in 30 minutes, but it already felt like an entire day. A meal would be enough to steady her nerves. Maybe, just maybe, she could find some sort of clue about how to get home.

Pushing the door open carefully, she stepped inside, praying no one would pay her too much attention. But as the door creaked behind her, the low murmur of conversation died, and every pair of eyes in the room turned toward her.

Sophie froze.

A hush fell over the tavern as the patrons looked her over; her pale dress with what seemed to be gold ornaments, her strange, almost otherworldly presence in the midst of this simple, rustic village. Sophie felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She had no idea how to handle this, how to make herself seem like she belonged.

Her heart pounded as the door shut quietly behind her, and the silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity. She shifted nervously on her feet, trying to keep her gaze low, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Finally, an older man behind the bar broke the tension. He eyed her, his graying beard twisting as he spoke in a thick accent. "Ye ain't from 'round here, are ye?"

Sophie's throat went dry. The last thing she wanted was to be questioned and she didn't want to draw any more attention to herself. She cleared her throat and smiled nervously, her fingers tugging at the edge of her dress.

"I… I'm just passing through," she said, keeping her voice soft. "Looking for somewhere to stay, perhaps?"

The bartender narrowed his eyes, his gaze drifting from her dress to her face, and then down to her feet. Sophie let out a nervous grin.

"Hmm. I see." He set down the mug he'd been polishing and leaned forward. "Aye, well, we got rooms. But…" He glanced over her again, clearly noting how different she looked. "If yer wantin' somethin' to eat, ye'll have to work for it."

Sophia's pulse quickened. This was her chance, but she couldn't let him know she had no idea how to fit into this world. She had to play it cool. "Of course," she said, trying to sound as casual as possible. "I can help with... whatever's needed, wow, i love your accent."

The bartender's eyes softened a little, but he still looked at her with suspicion. "We could use someone in the kitchen. Or maybe help with the firewood. If yer willing to work for it."

Sophie's heart raced. A place to stay, a meal, maybe even a chance to get some answers. She nodded quickly, too eager to let the opportunity slip by.

"I can do that," she said, trying to keep her tone steady. "I'll help with the firewood."

The bartender grunted and gestured to a small door at the back. "Round the side, there's an axe. Don't take too long, we're in need of some warmth for the night. Fill this form." He handed Sophia a paper and a fountain pen, the paper was like a form, but every section was harder to decipher than the last.

"Then hand it to Mike." The bartender pointed at another worker. Mike was a middle aged man, he was tall, had tired eyes, a 3 day beard, tied brown hair that hanged to his lower back, rebellious bangs and a careless posture. Sophia went to Mike's side, the first thing to notices is that she was so much shorter. "Hello, i might need help to fill this form." Took 3 seconds for Mike to notice her, but suddenly became another person.

"Sorry, sorry, i'll help. I was lost in thought for a moment! What do you need help with?" Mike was very polite and caring, reaching down for Sophia to speak to her.

"I want to fill this to work with you." as Sophia said that, Mike's eyebrows raised. "You're an adult?" He asked. The corners of her mouth bent upwards and her thin eyebrows frowned in anger. "This guy..." Said to herself. "I guess for an outsider this form might be a little confusing so... Just give me your basic info, like name and such." He took the pen and got ready to fill it himself.

Sophia calmed down and rubbed her lower lip. "I shouldn't use my real name, i can actually make a cooler name for my witch persona..." She thought and after Mike tapped the pen on the bar waiting for an answer, Sophia said: "Minerva, just Minerva. I'm 25." She felt like an imp performing something taboo, Minerva was her username on most videogames and roleplayed like a dark witch. She thought this wasn't much different from a videogame, her cheeks became slightly red. "Do you have any talents?" He asked. "Talents?" Sophia was caught off guard. "Like, magic and so." Mike clarified. "No, but i would like to." Sophia kept trying to act as if it was normal to learn magic. Mike seemed to fill some lines of text before pinning the form to a wall. "You're a weird one huh. If you want you can use our uniform, we have a spare small size one. Those white dresses are often made for dead women to wear. I'm not gonna ask anything, that might be different on your... Homeland." He moved the pen as he spoke.

Sophia was in shock hearing this information, but forced a calm and sincere smile. "I didn't know, thanks for telling me." She hurried towards an open locket behind Mike and grabbed the small dark blue uniform, then went to the bathroom at the back of the establishment. As she passed the tables, she could still feel the eyes on her, the curious glances, the whispers behind hands. She tried not to let her nerves show, but it was hard to ignore the fact that she was drawing so much attention.

There were 2 doors with different icons. A tiger and a dragon. She saw a man enter the dragon door, so she went for the tiger, it smelled humid and had a small opaque mirror above a sink. Entering a wooden stall, she changed her clothes and wore the pants, boots and shirt made for men. She was an A cup, so the leather straps on her chest didn't bother her. "God grasps but never chokes." Sophia remembered a phrase her mom used to say, went back to Mike and gave him the folded dress. "i'll be back" She said but he didn't respond as he was busy preparing drinks.

Outside, the cool evening air wrapped around her like a cloak. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

This isn't so bad. I can get through this. I'll make some money today, buy some food, get a bed and figure out a way back home tomorrow.

Sophia grabbed the axe by the woodpile, ready to chop. The axe was heavy and almost couldn't lift it. She used to waste time watching videos online and remembered how a lumberjack moved to chop wood. Imitating the memories from her world, sat the wood on a bigger flat log and used momentum to lift the axe above her head, smashing down on the smaller piece of wood. It got stuck, Sophia pulled back and stepped on the wood to retrieve it, then used the same method again. She quickly got the hang of it and managed to split the piece of wood in 3 swings. She was tired, but not exhausted, which was an odd feeling for her. "I can keep going." 

After chopping a bit of wood in the course of 3 hours, Sophia sat on the ground and panted as she wiped the sweat off her face. The cold breeze wasn't enough to cool her down. 

This new body... It can actually perform physical activity...

It was getting late, Sophia left the axe where she found it, grabbed a bag that was laying around and went back to the tavern with lots of wood.

Mike eyed the bag. "Should have told me you knew how to do it, i actually thought you would give up and leave."

Is that considered lying on my resume?

Sophia shrunk her shoulders "I didn't know either. I guess that's one of my talents."

He squinted his eyes and went inside of the open door frame behind him, next to the locket. "I hope you're hungry."

Sophia's eyes glinted with excitement as a hot steamy bowl of... Some kind of stew arrived. She sat on one of the tables, the tavern was already empty. She could make up at least 2 of the ingredients, carrots and potatoes.

Bon appétit...

Sank her spoon on the thick soup-like food, fitting at least one of each ingredient on the spoon. To the side was some rye bread, she ripped a piece and started eating spoonfuls while biting on the pieces of bread. It wasn't very tasty, but it really killed the hunger. At least it was better than some products she could find on the stores from her world. The stew absolutely looked better than what it tasted, it was like eating chewy boiled meat with potatoes and carrots, all of this was unsalted. "Mike, can i have some salt?"

Mike rested on the bar with a tensed look on his face. 

"Sorry kid, since the acquisition of the mine it's been hard to get coal and salt."

"Acquisition?" Sophie glanced with a full mouth of stew.

"Some rich guy bought the closest mine and now everything related has ridiculous prices."

This information seems important, if i can get back the mine from that rich guy, could i gain some reputation? I need to prepare to take bigger steps, i can't chop wood for a living. I just confirmed there's magic in this world, i might look for information on the magic system tomorrow.

"Is there a library nearby?"

Mike started cleaning the bar with a sponge and some liquid. "Yeah, it's down the street."

As time passed, less and less people started to use the bar, oddly nobody seemed to drink late night. Mike handed Minerva 5 silver coins in a bag before she went upstairs. A corridor with rows of doors on both sides awaited for her, the last door being the one she rented for one coin. The floor creaked with each step, the bed was stiff and dirty at first glance but didn't smell like anything. "Just like my apartment." Muttered after getting in bed with a familiar feeling. 

I wish i had my phone.