"Mayor Hyndrel!" Vito called out, "You dropped this!" He picked up a scroll off the ground that matched various ones clutched in the mayor's paws.
The mayor, who was a couple steps ahead, seem to snap out of his thoughts, look to the scrolls in his hands, and then whipping around in shock. "Oh! Thank you lad! I've been preoccupied with so many projects, I didn't even notice!" The mayor trotted up to him with a greatful nod, before grabbing at the parchment from the young nyulop.
"Are those all for the new Post Office?" Vito asked, catching the mayor by surprise. "Hmm?" Hyndryl blinked, "Why...yes. Or at least, this one is. I must be tired, I don't recall mentioning the post office at all."
"Oh, you didn't!" Vito responded with a sheepish smile, "I saw the plans for it marked on the scroll I handed to you. I didn't read it on purpose though! It just uh, happened to open."
Vito looked back the the scrolls in Hyndryl's paws. "Seems like an awful lot of stress for one building. You think it's worth it?"
Mayor Hyndryl straightened up. "Why of course! Any new project requires many moving parts to keep it running smoothly! Builders need to be contracted, materials need to be gathered, money needs to be allocated--If I don't keep things in line, it could all go south very quickly! But a Post Office would ba an invaluable asset to have up and running again! Anything to aid the folks of this town will always be worth it!"
"No rest for the weary huh?" Vito replied, with a tone the mayor couldn't quite place, the young lad was strangely pensive, the mayor figured there was more to the boy's response than what he was saying.
"Say, do you mind carrying some of these for me?" Hyndrel offered some scrolls to Vito, "You seem to have a lot on your mind! Perhaps I could offer you some wisdom on the way to Town Hall?"
Vito nodded, grabbing some of the scrolls from the mayor, before taking up an even pace with him.
"Ah much better." Hyndrel exclaimed, "Now, tell me what's been eating you."
Vito stared at the ground for a bit, unsure of how to word how he was feeling, or even what he was feeling. "I'm...Not really sure..." he replied honestly, "I guess I'm just not sure what do now that I've grown up."
"What do you mean?"
"Well when I was little, everything felt like it would last forever. No matter what I did, it never felt like it was a waste of time.. But now, I feel like I should just be doing....I don't know. More? I guess? Now that I'm an adult, a lotta my previous pastimes don't feel the same, like I'm not doing enough. But I don't know what "enough" looks like."
Vito's ears pinned back as he looked to the scrolls he carried, "Alot of Finley my age seem to already have this adulting stuff figured out. Magic, Jobs, Familes, everyone seems to be moving forwards with their lives,, and here I am doing...Nothing. I feel like I'm falling behind...."
Mayor Hyndrel looked down at the boy with a empathetic smile, "It's never easy finding your way in life. But you aren't wasting time simply because you aren't running at the same pace as everyone else. You just gotta get out there and find what you wanna do!"
Vito shook his head, "But what if it's not worth it? Like what if I study magic and pick the wrong track and now I'm stuck with it? O-or the wrong job and I end up hating it! What if I put too much time into one thing and I can't take it back?"
"Well, what have you done so far?" The mayor responded in a soft tone, "Sounds to me you've done nothing but worry, and certainly that can't be a good use of time, no?"
Vito opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. "It's...not like that." He finally muttered out, "I just...wanna make sure whatever I do, counts."
"Count's for what?"
"I don't know! Something, Anything!" The mayor noticed Vito had stopped keeping pace, and slowed down to let him catch back up, but not before offering another patient smile. "I don't know..." Vito repeated with a defeated sigh, "I just feel like everything I do isn't as great as the Finley around me. All I do is sleep and laze around. But my friends are out there doing incredible things! And they seem so happy to do it! I want that too, but...I guess I just don't know where to start..."
Mayor Hyndrel stroked his beard with his free paw, "Well, sounds to me like you need to find what gives you purpose."
"Purpose?" Vito gave the mayor a puzzled look.
"Yes!" Hyndrel hummed, "something that makes you excited to wake in the morning, something that gives your life meaning. You said I was giving a lot of effort for one building yes? Well it's true I've had more than my fair share of sleepless nights to keep this town running, but I wouldn't trade if for the world! You wanna know why? Because making life easier for younger generations to come, making sure the people of tomorrow have a better chance at something great because of the efforts I put in today? That gives me purpose! I'd take all the sleepless hours, toiling over paper work if it meant this town flourishes into the beautiful community I know it can be." He offered a comforting pat on the back to the younger Nyulop, "But I didn't find my purpose over night. It took many, many years of discovering new experiences to get where I am now. Discovering who you are isn't linear, and sometimes you go down the wrong path here and there and have to start over from the beginning, but you'll cut yourself off from finding that "perfect something" for you to do if you keep deliberating on the "What-ifs instead of a going out there and figuring it out for yousrself!"
Vito still wasn't fully convinced, but he supposed he could understand what the mayor was trying to say. "I guess I'm not still not sure where to start...I'm scared to try...I'm scared to fail." Vito admitted, looking down at the ground once again.
"Let's start by being patient with yourself." Hyndrel offered, "You can figure out the rest later. For now, start slow, find what you enjoy in your day to day. Sometimes, purpose can lie hidden in the little things we do, just as much as in the big things."
Vito gave a small nod, "Ok, I'll...I'll try. Thank you Mayor. Sorry to uh, slow you down with such silly questions ha!" Vito gave a small laugh, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed.
"It's no problem at all!" Mayor Hyndrel's smile brightened, "Like I said, helping folks like you, in anyway I can, makes it all worth it!"
Submitted By Anyachilla
・ Location: Whistler Crest
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Submitted: 1 week and 16 hours ago ・
Last Updated: 6 days and 18 hours ago