here if it wasn't for my good influence. I don't know what they'd do without me."
"I imagine that they'd be very sad and lonely for a long time, should anything ever happen to you," said Sola. Miya shivered.
"Okay, well, thanks for bringing me down," she said. "Do you want to go and see my friend Penny with me now?"
Sola looked down at his feet.
"Come on, she's super nice. Look at it this way, if you don't start meeting people around here you'll never be any better off."
Sola raised his head to look at Miya. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, you said you knew everyone in your village, right? So, you'd better start getting to know people around here! You already know me, Miya Black, AKA the greatest girl on the island, and my Mum and our Dad, so you've got kind of a lot of people to get to know ... like a thousand, actually. To be honest even I don't know all of them, and I've lived here my whole life. But if you tried I'm sure you could meet at least five a day—I mean meet them good enough to learn their names and get to know them a little bit. So that's ... um ..."
"Two hundred days to meet everyone on the island," said Sola. He smiled, then shook his head. "I'm not sure."
"Oh, come on, don't be such a wuss! Come and meet Penny, anyway, and her mum, and I guess her little brother. If you're going to start with anyone, start with them. They're excellent."
*
"Penny! Penny Buck! It's your bestest friend Miya here to see you! And I brought your favourite cinnamon buns! And my really, really big brother!"
Miya waited a few seconds, then frowned.
"Penny, I'm sorry about being rude this morning, I was kind of annoyed but I had a good stomp and thought about it and I'm okay now!"
She waited a little longer, then gave a melodramatic sigh.
"Guess they're not home. Goodness, how inconvenient of them. I wonder where they are?"
Sola shrugged and shook his head slightly. He hadn't said anything since leaving Miya's house, and the further they'd come into town the more he'd seemed to shrink into himself, his head lowering, his posture stooping, his gaze fixed firmly on the ground.
"Well, we're not doing any good standing around here. Hum hum hum. She's not at the stables because we would've seen her on the way down here. Are you okay?"
Sola shrugged.
"What's the problem?"
Sola shrugged again and made a little 'all of this' gesture.
"Oh help, I'm sorry, your townaphobia. Peopleaphobia? What is it that you're scared of, exactly? Is it the buildings?"
"No. I am not scared. I am uncomfortable."
"Would you feel better if we went back to the house?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let's go then. Maybe we can find something to do around the upper fields. Or the house. Oh hey, do you like books?"
Sola looked at Miya. "Yes. Do you have one?"
"One?"
*
"It's just in here. You should have said something earlier, I didn't even think—okay, here we are."
Miya opened the door and Sola stepped inside slowly, looking around at the tiny paradise he'd just been introduced to. It wasn't a large room, just a little nook that caught a lot of light really, with a couple of old overstuffed chairs and a small table in the middle, and a large bookshelf on each wall. Sola walked slowly to the closest bookshelf and stared at the books on it, the expression on his face somewhere between awe and disbelief.
"So many," he murmured.
"Yeah, it's pretty special, Dad's kind of a book nut, collects them from all over. Whenever he goes away he usually comes back with at least one. That shelf's stories and stuff, you know, adventures and mysteries and myths and legends and plays, and some, um, stupid romantic rubbish."
Sola nodded, not really listening to anything Miya said, reading each book's title carefully, stooping to look at the books on the lower shelves.
"So just, you know, read whatever you want, make sure you bring 'em back when you're finished, though, Dad gets really funny about that. He's usually pretty laid back but books are his, what
"I imagine that they'd be very sad and lonely for a long time, should anything ever happen to you," said Sola. Miya shivered.
"Okay, well, thanks for bringing me down," she said. "Do you want to go and see my friend Penny with me now?"
Sola looked down at his feet.
"Come on, she's super nice. Look at it this way, if you don't start meeting people around here you'll never be any better off."
Sola raised his head to look at Miya. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, you said you knew everyone in your village, right? So, you'd better start getting to know people around here! You already know me, Miya Black, AKA the greatest girl on the island, and my Mum and our Dad, so you've got kind of a lot of people to get to know ... like a thousand, actually. To be honest even I don't know all of them, and I've lived here my whole life. But if you tried I'm sure you could meet at least five a day—I mean meet them good enough to learn their names and get to know them a little bit. So that's ... um ..."
"Two hundred days to meet everyone on the island," said Sola. He smiled, then shook his head. "I'm not sure."
"Oh, come on, don't be such a wuss! Come and meet Penny, anyway, and her mum, and I guess her little brother. If you're going to start with anyone, start with them. They're excellent."
*
"Penny! Penny Buck! It's your bestest friend Miya here to see you! And I brought your favourite cinnamon buns! And my really, really big brother!"
Miya waited a few seconds, then frowned.
"Penny, I'm sorry about being rude this morning, I was kind of annoyed but I had a good stomp and thought about it and I'm okay now!"
She waited a little longer, then gave a melodramatic sigh.
"Guess they're not home. Goodness, how inconvenient of them. I wonder where they are?"
Sola shrugged and shook his head slightly. He hadn't said anything since leaving Miya's house, and the further they'd come into town the more he'd seemed to shrink into himself, his head lowering, his posture stooping, his gaze fixed firmly on the ground.
"Well, we're not doing any good standing around here. Hum hum hum. She's not at the stables because we would've seen her on the way down here. Are you okay?"
Sola shrugged.
"What's the problem?"
Sola shrugged again and made a little 'all of this' gesture.
"Oh help, I'm sorry, your townaphobia. Peopleaphobia? What is it that you're scared of, exactly? Is it the buildings?"
"No. I am not scared. I am uncomfortable."
"Would you feel better if we went back to the house?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let's go then. Maybe we can find something to do around the upper fields. Or the house. Oh hey, do you like books?"
Sola looked at Miya. "Yes. Do you have one?"
"One?"
*
"It's just in here. You should have said something earlier, I didn't even think—okay, here we are."
Miya opened the door and Sola stepped inside slowly, looking around at the tiny paradise he'd just been introduced to. It wasn't a large room, just a little nook that caught a lot of light really, with a couple of old overstuffed chairs and a small table in the middle, and a large bookshelf on each wall. Sola walked slowly to the closest bookshelf and stared at the books on it, the expression on his face somewhere between awe and disbelief.
"So many," he murmured.
"Yeah, it's pretty special, Dad's kind of a book nut, collects them from all over. Whenever he goes away he usually comes back with at least one. That shelf's stories and stuff, you know, adventures and mysteries and myths and legends and plays, and some, um, stupid romantic rubbish."
Sola nodded, not really listening to anything Miya said, reading each book's title carefully, stooping to look at the books on the lower shelves.
"So just, you know, read whatever you want, make sure you bring 'em back when you're finished, though, Dad gets really funny about that. He's usually pretty laid back but books are his, what
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