Clover Village

Chapter 6 - Eco Tourist

ERIC

"Sue, why are you keeping these boxes under the counter?" I say to my sister while looking at the boxes filled with tiny pieces of yarn and cotton.

"I recycle those. I mix them with a bit of filling cotton and use it to fill dolls and cushions. I don't like to waste anything," she says with a small shrug while she keeps working on her sewing machine.

I smile at my sister. Our parents taught us to use the most of our resources. We were not rich or poor, but we needed to manage with what we had.

I go to the workshop and grab a piece of wood. An old sick tree fell over at Cloverfield and I salvaged as much wood as possible with Mrs. Constance permission. I cut the wood into small pieces and now I have enough material to build more toys.

I take out my carving knife, given to me by my dad on my 13th birthday, and sit in my comfy rocking chair on the front porch. My 32nd birthday is coming up soon. Time flies. Maybe I should take Sue and Jesse out for dinner and celebrate.

I look at the roughly chopped piece of wood in my hands. What will you become? A duck? A flute? A doll! I have enough pieces of wood to carve an entire family, plus doll house furniture.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" says a voice that sounds pretty pissed.

I look up to see a woman staring at me with a frown. Her blond hair is in dreadlocks down to her chin, and her brown eyes are trying to kill me.

"What have I done?" I say, looking around me.

"Murder! You have murdered a poor tree for profit! People told me: go to Clover Village. It is the perfect place for eco tourism and this is what I find! One local disgracing nature,"

She is actually beautiful and being pissed makes her look kind of cute.

"This is not what it looks like," I say.

"What I see is very clear! Or are you going to lie to me and say that you are not holding a piece of wood?"

"This is indeed wood, but I didn't kill the tree in question. It died of natural causes. I tried to resuscitate it, but it was too late,"

The girl opens her mouth to continue her rant. She thinks about what I just said and then covers her mouth to contain a laugh.

"What's your name?" I say to her.

"Ellen," she says in a soft voice, very different from the furious one of a moment before.

"Hello Ellen. I'm Eric," I say, standing up and offering her my hand to shake. "This wood comes from a tree that split and fell. I wasn't joking about the resuscitation. About three months ago I gave it a sturdy base. Mrs. Constance thought the problem was in the roots. The tree was actually rotten in the core and broke exactly over the support I built,"

"The ground around here has a lot of clay in it and holds water," Ellen says. "It can rot a tree with no other signs,"

"How do you know that?"

"I had the ground tested. I bought some land up the mountain to build some eco friendly cabins, completely sustainable, but because of the high moisture ground I will need to rethink my plans for a fruit and vegetable garden,"

"You could always go for pots or hanging baskets. They drain well, are affordable and if you buy bamboo ones, they are sturdy and durable."

"Are you pro environment?" She says and her face shows delight.

"Not in a formal sense, but I would like my kids to see an actual tree. That is, if I ever have any. Kids, not trees. I have plenty of those in the backyard," I say, feeling like an idiot.

"So... you recycled that piece of wood from the dead tree," she says, motioning with her head to the piece of wood in my hand.

"Yeah, I was thinking about making a doll. I like to make toys,"

"That is very sweet. I don't know many guys who are in touch with their inner child,"

"I don't know if that is the reason. I just like to give wood a second life and make someone happy. Would you like a cup of coffee?" I say.

"Sure. Wait! When you say coffee, you really mean coffee, right?" She says, putting her hand on my arm.

"I really mean coffee," I say with a chuckle.

We head inside and Sue glances at us quickly, then goes back to her sewing project. We go upstairs, and Ellen takes a seat at the breakfast bar while I measure the coffee beans.

"If you bought land here, then you are not a tourist," I say.

"At the moment I am. I'm just getting to know the village and I still don't have a steady place to live. I'm looking for a rental as I will eventually live in one cabin. I have a camper in the premises, a bike and plans and dreams,"

"No family?"

"Somewhere. In their eyes, I'm not normal and I'm wasting my time. I used to be a real estate developer, but then my interests shifted. I'm still a developer, but I don't want my projects to hurt the environment,"

"A very noble thing. So no partner either?"

"No. Which guy will want to do this? Well, which sober and not baked guy will want this?"

"Really? I thought that was a cliché,"

"The cliché of earthy people is unfortunately true," Ellen says with a chuckle.

"So you have never smoked weed?"

"I even hate how the thing smells. What about you?"

"Also not. Mostly because Mom told me she was going to rip my head if I ever tried it. I saw her once mad and yelling at Jesse for coming home drunk and peeing on the porch. The memories still give me the chills to this day," I say with a laugh.

Ellen and I keep talking while enjoying the coffee. I show her some solutions online for her garden. She is smart, very interesting and even funny.

"I have to go. I still need to run some errands and then cycle back before it gets dark. It was a pleasure to meet you, Eric. I will definitely see you around."

"See you around,"

I accompany her downstairs and wave goodbye to her. As I turn around, I see Jesse and Sue looking at me with big, idiotic grins.