A Second Chance

When I first entered the small carpentry, the scent of wood shavings and mechanics hit me like a hard ball. The place was relatively small, but allowed adequate room for work to be done. Behind a small counter stood a very large man, with a long moustache, and his rugged long black hair pulled back into a small ponytail. His skin looked rough, and his face looked dirty and soaked in dried sweat. Although his outer appearance looked rugged and a bit intimidating, I could tell in his small blue eyes that he was a kind man. I’ve always had a bit of a sixth sense about those kinds of things.

“Dad!” Luke yelled enthusiastically. The man looked over from what he was doing at his desk.

“Mhph.” The man mumbled when he looked over at his son.

“Dad, this is Mallory. She’s the new girl that I told you about.” Luke gestured over to me, as I waved shyly at him. His rough features melted slightly as he gave me a smile.

“Welcome Mallory. I’m Rick, Luke’s father. How do you like your house?” Luke and I walked over closer to Rick and stood at his desk.

“Oh, I love it. It’s perfect.” Rick slightly blushed.

“Aha, as long as the customer likes it, I’m satisfied. If you need anything having to do with woodwork, just come on down here. We’ll fix up whatever you need and we’ll do it cheap.”

“Yeah, my pops is like a doctor when it comes to wood, he can fix anything!” Luke piped in happily.

“Hey, I ain’t no miracle worker. I’m just handy with my hands.” He said, more directed towards his son.

“Well, thank you Mr. Rick. I appreciate it.” He waved me off slightly.

“Please, just Rick. We’re all people, no need for Mr. and Mrs.” I simply just smiled. “Well, I have some work to go do; Luke, if you want to show her around some more, do so. But I need you back here by 5pm.” Rick began to walk away to the back room where I’m guessing all the woodwork is actually done.

“Gotcha Dad.” The boy turned to face me. “So, Mal, I only really got to show you Bell Fall Town yesterday. Want to see more of the island?”

“Pssh yeah.” He giggled.

“Well, then come on!” He began to run outside excitedly when someone called his name from inside the building.

“Luke!” Surprised, Luke turned around to see who called. It was a boy, a year or two younger than me, with short blonde hair and a carpenter’s outfit on. Obviously, he too worked here.

“Nick?” Luke replied.

“Dude, I need you to take my shift. I feel horrible, I’m going home sick.” Luke groaned; loudly.

“Nick! Today of all days, you get sick? I was just gonna go show Mallory around!” Nick then looked at me confused.

“Who?”

“Me,” I said. “I’m Mallory.” He then looked at Luke, unimpressed, which for some reason mildly offended me.

“This your girlfriend or something?” Both me and Luke automatically blushed furiously.

“No!” We both yelled at the same time, which then led to a bit of an awkward silence. Finally he sighed.

“Nick, she just moved here. I was just being a good friend and showing her around.” Luke said, a bit softer than he normally spoke.

“Well, the island will still be there tomorrow.” Nick said matter-of-factly. Something just got to me about this kid that made me want to rip his throat out. I dunno, I was just getting that kind of vibe from him.

“Not if the world ends tomorrow, and Mallory never gets to see the island. Now won’t you just feel so horrible if that happened, and this poor, innocent little girl,” He grabbed my shoulder. His antics were making me giggle under my breath. “Would never get to see the island. Wouldn’t that just break your heart? Wouldn’t you just feel horrible?” Nick crossed his arms coldly.

“If the world ends tomorrow, I won’t be alive to feel anything.” he said flat out. Luke removed his hand from my shoulder and sighed.

“Fine, I’ll work your shift. But now you owe me.” Luke turned to me as Nick smiled to himself. “Sorry Mal, I’m gonna have to show you around tomorrow.” He looked at me sadly.

“Hey, dung-for-brains, you’re not the only one on the island that knows your way around here you know. Just get someone else to show the girl around.”

“The “girl” has a name you know.” I said defensively. Nick waved me off.

“Yeah, yeah, Miley or whatever.”

“Mallory.” Both Luke and I said awkwardly at the same time.

“Whatever. Look, I’m sure Ryan would do it. He’s got nothing but free time since that gold rush. So why don’t you just go outside, show Miley where the blacksmith’s is, and let her go. Actually, you know what; I’ll let you go with her. So you can explain this whole little episode to Ryan.” I could see that Nick was at this point getting on Luke’s nerves and insulting him right in front of his face. “You know, since you wanted to show her around, maybe there’ll be a nice tree you can show to her on the way to the—”

“Nick shut up.” Luke interrupted, annoyed. “I’m taking your shift for you; that should be enough to make you happy. So shut your face and just go home sick, like you said you were. Even though you’re not acting sick at all.”

“I don’t feel well.” Nick said defensively. Luke began to push me toward the door as he followed.

“Yeah, well, you don’t act it either.” Luke slammed the door before Nick could get one more word out.

--

“Sorry you had to see that.” Luke said quietly as he walked me to the blacksmith’s. I could tell that what I had just seen was not the normal way that Luke acted.

“Nah, it’s fine. Honestly, I thought it was kinda funny how you totally owned him like that.” He had been walking with his head down and his hands in his pockets, but when I said that he lifted his head and a small smile came to his face. He gave a tiny huff.

“I don’t normally act like that, you know. Since we just met, I don’t want you to think that I act like a jerk all the time.” His head sunk back down slightly.

“Hey, even the greatest people have bad sides; don’t beat yourself up over it.” His head stayed down, but though the little slits of hair that hung down, I could see a smile.

We walked in silence the rest of the way; the blacksmith’s shop was extremely close to the carpentry though, so it wasn’t silent for long. We walked up to the door as Luke pulled it open for me, we both walked inside.

--

We walked inside and I almost instantly felt the heat of the burning fire from behind the help desk. Like the carpentry, the blacksmith’s was quite small, but obviously big enough for blacksmithing.

Luke walked up to the man at the counter; he looked to be quite old, maybe fifty, sixty years old. He had old white hair, but only on the sides of his head, and a big caterpillar moustache crawling along his upper lip. His face was stone hard, and no smile had been there in a while.

“Hey Gramps.” Luke said casually. “Do you know where Ryan is?” The man behind the counter paused and seemed to think for a moment.

“I think he was at the mines. But he left hours ago, so I expect him back anytime now,” The man looked over at me. “Luke, it isn’t polite to not introduce your friend.” I walked up closer to where Luke was.

“Gramps, this is Mallory. Mallory this is my grandpa, Davis.” Davis nodded his head at me acknowledging me. I smiled. “She just moved here. I wanted to show her around but Nick’s being a jack—” Davis stared Luke down intensely. “Uh…rabbit, and is making me work his shift. So I was wondering if Ryan could show her around instead.” Luke’s grandfather nodded approvingly.

“He loves new people; I think Ryan would enjoy that very much.” A clink on the door was heard from behind us.

“Ryan would enjoy what very much?” A man said from behind me. I turned around to see an extremely muscular man with blonde spiked hair. He wore a mostly all black shirt and pants, except for spots of white here and there. He, like Rick, looked rough and rugged, but his facial features told otherwise. He looked like a caring gentle guy.

“Ryan!” Luke yelled happily. Ryan looked at Luke with a confused smile.

“Luke!” Ryan mock yelled. Luke smiled happily. It was evident that the two boys were very good friends.

“Dude, I got to ask you a favor. I have to work overtime because Nick is being a jerk and making me take his shift. I was going to show Mallory,” Luke pointed over to me. “Around since she’s new to the island, but I can’t now. So I was wondering if you would show her around.” Luke ended sounding hopeful. Ryan laughed happily.

“Sure man. I don’t mind.” Luke sighed happily.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He gushed. Ryan looked over at me and held out his hand so I could shake it.

“I’m Ryan.” I took his hand.

“So I’ve heard. I’m Mallory.” We released hands.

“I’ve been told.” We both smirked at each other’s sarcasm.

“Ryan is Luke’s older cousin.” Davis piped in.

“So that’s why you guys seemed so close.” Ryan put an arm around Luke’s shoulder.

“Yep, we’re like best friends, only we’re cousins.” I chuckled. I liked Ryan right away, both him and Luke seemed to be those types of guys that you can totally be yourself around from the very beginning. I really liked that about both of them.

“I figured you’d be cool around Ryan, he’s a really easy guy to open up to and be yourself around. I think you guys will get close in no time.” Luke smiled happily. He was so cute and childish sometimes, I just wanted to pick him up and hug him. But, it’s not like I would ever do that. That would just be awkward.

“Oh we’ll get real close.” Ryan moved closer to me and winked at me. I knew it was a joke, but I blushed beside myself anyway.

“Ryan…” Luke said quietly.

“Whoa, sorry dude. Didn’t know she was off limits.” Luke blushed hard and quickly.

“Well, she’s not off limits, I mean, she can do whatever she wants, you guys can do whatever you want, I just meant, what I meant was, that she, uh, me and her are only friends, um, I, uh…” He just stopped talking while he kept doing random hand movements.

“Uhm, Mallory, she…I’m just gonna go back to the carpentry now.” Luke walked out in a bit of an embarrassed hurry. I couldn’t help giggling at his embarrassment, it was just too cute. Ryan openly laughed.

“He’s a good kid, he tries. He fails sometimes, but he tries.”

“So I’ve noticed.” I said sarcastically, smiling.

“Well, alright Newbie. Looks like it’s just you and me now. Do you think you’re ready to see Bell Fall Island?”

“Oh, bring it on.” Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“Huh, a challenge taker eh? I like that. Alright let’s go see Bell Fall Island, there’s quite a lot to see.” He began to walk out the door and I followed behind.

“And I want to see it all.”