Mr.Sailor! | Sunjake

𝗦 𝗖 𝗘 𝗡 𝗘 | 𝟭

Italy, Narcissus' Landing, 2015

In a coastal town, called Narcissus' Landing, known to be the massive seafood supplier around the country. There are houses located in the mountains overlooking the wide expanse of sparkling clear waters of the Smeraldo sea just below is the shoreline where the docks and shops were located, and the residential areas—which were located on the hanging hills that surround the shoreline—were filled with colorfully painted houses usually wisteria-draped, vines clawing out the walls of the said houses creating a contrast which were one of the reasons there are usually tourists finding themselves in their town. It is believed that the Smeraldo sea has a secret hidden beneath its water causing different species of fish to be found around the sea and its abundance of marine life. Most of the old folks that are still alive and kicking around the town said that if you sail away from the shoreline of Narcissus' Landing you'll witness a lone isle in the middle of the sea in the shape of a heart, its mountain and cliff is also steeply deeming it uninhabitable, they say that under the isle was where the deities of the oceans hid the heart of the ocean. They say the town was named after the Goddess' lover who has taken a liking to the Smeraldo Sea which caused it to be blessed by the Goddess. It is folklore though, nothing's confirmed, but the town's inhabitants completely believe it.

The sun reaches through the gaps of the linen curtains hanging by the window of Fiorello's bedroom, reflecting throughout the bedroom, the warm pecks of the sun rays caressed Fiorello's eyes and forehead. His eyes fluttered and slowly opened, he yawned and rubbed his eyes to adjust to the lighting, and he rolled to the right side to move away from the sun. He stood up and reached for his worn-out stuffy slippers underneath his bed, and stretches his arms and back before fully opening the curtains and welcoming in the natural light inside his comfy room. On the bedside drawer, was his trinket box ( a repurposed coca-cola tin box) laid upon the notes he was jotting the night before, he quickly grabbed the paper and shoved it inside the box of trinkets. He closed his old fairytale books—that were lying on the floor—most of them are the tale of Smeraldo sea, he sighed as he saw how disorderly his bedroom was heaps of clothes dumped on the hamper, his Tom & Jerry posters are slowly peeling off the walls, and the writing materials are strewn across the rug in the center of his room. He ruffled his hair in frustration and kicked his feet in the air at the thought that it would be a tiresome cleaning. In hindsight, Fiorello fixed his pajamas and bed before scampering out of his room, slamming his door and creating a creaking sound, already promising to clean his room after taking a heartful breakfast.

He strutted down the stairs, his mother's potted plants lining up each step of the stairs right by the banister, most of them were wilted, but he doesn't take a glance or two since he was known in their family with the penchant of killing all the plants he was trying to raise and it's up to his parents to either revive those plants or just chuck them out of their house. A savory scent was wafting throughout the house, Fiorello's nose twitched smelling the delicious scent of breakfast, of course, he knew it was cornetto and eggs this time since it was Saturday as he checked the calendar in his bedroom a while ago. He went around the corner where the kitchen was located, ducking down the archway entrance of the kitchen because of the tied basil and thyme hanging on it. He saw his mother in the kitchen reaching for the cabinets for jams.

"Mama," Fiorello called out softly, lips pursed at his mother's soft mumbling. "Do you need a hand?"

Fiorello's mother stopped reaching for the jar of blueberry jam, she smiled at him. "Good morning, dear. I was about to wake you up after reaching for this jar." She rolled her eyes at the jar and heaved. "But I can't seem to reach it today, your papa must have placed it way too far than usual, I would love for you to help me reach for it."

Fiorello smiled, kissed his mother's cheeks, and reached for the blueberry jam. "Most likely, it's papa's doing, no matter how much you've told him not to push the jams too far because you can't reach it." He handed the jars to his mother which she hastily placed on the kitchen counters.

His mother laughed softly, she patted down her apron to fluff out the flour from it, then she ushered her son to the dining table to eat the breakfast she prepared, grabbing the bottle of jams on the counter and sliding it down the dining table. Fiorello started lathering his cornetto with blueberry jam and softly munching on it.

"Juice or milk?" His mother asked, holding out the box of orange juice and milk upwards, her eyes looking at him with a question.

"Coffee," Fiorello answered curtly, as he was still happily munching on his cornetto.

"No." His mother said firmly, Fiorello was about to protest, but his mother's left eyebrow raised as if asking him to continue. "Caffeine! In the morning? Really? You can't Fiorello, consuming caffeine at your age is—"

Fiorello immediately spoke to stop his mother's hysterics. "Juice would be fine, mama."

His mother just smiled at him and poured a glass of juice and pushed it toward Fiorello's direction, he rolled his eyes at his mother's expression.

Fiorello's mother has always been known to be steadfast and won't stop until her decisions were followed, just like now, she doesn't let Fiorello drink coffee at his age as most people believe in their town that caffeine causes a person's intellect to downgrade if they drink it in their teenage years.

A sham. If Fiorello is asked for his opinion.

Fiorello was reaching for the eggs, and his mother cleared her throat and called him. "Fiorello."

He hummed and gazed at his mother, who was sitting in front of him, he stopped munching and waited for his mother to speak.

"Are you going out today with Yang's youngest son?"

"Yes. We'll be meeting up on the Huang's residence downhill." Sunoo paused and drank his orange juice. "Why, mama? Do you need something?"

"It's just. . ." His mother trailed off, ripping off the tip of her cornetto and dipping it in her coffee, before continuing her words. "You're papa is asking for a favor."

"What is it?"

"He's asking if you could cover a week and next two weeks' shift in serving up the inn's customers? Just serve them up food and drinks, it's just unfortunate the guy your papa hired injured his arms and was rushed to the nearest city's hospital, he can't work for those following weeks." His mother wrung out the table napkin, eyes full of worry and concern. "But worry not, I'll be also helping over, you know it's summer already sailors will be more active because of the abundance of fish during this time, and they need a pint of booze to recover."

Fiorello smiled and nodded at his mother, understanding how rowdy the sailors can be at this time of the year. "Yeah, no problem. I'll be back in the afternoon, is it okay?"

His mother smiled warmly and pinched her son's cheek and whispered a thank you. "Oh yeah, you're papa said he'll be fixing up your sister's old bicycle this coming Wednesday, so you won't have to run around the town."

He beamed at his mother, and bid her goodbye before rushing upstairs to take a cooling shower and finally clean his room before meeting out with his best friends.

_________________

TBC

© All Rights Reserved