Boy, had I discovered something interesting.
Long story short, I was wearing my coat backwards. Why? To look like the village idiot?
It had started that way, actually. A sudden barrage of anxious thoughts kept me up pretty late, and my breakfast must not have been enough to wake me up because before I knew it, I was putting my coat on backwards. My arms were outstretched and my hood was below my chin.
But I'd then looked down at the empty crawlspace of the hood and remembered pictures I'd seen. I then decided my day could use a little sprucing up.
It took a little bit of effort, but here I was, on a chilly but above freezing Winter day, placing down some of the final paths on this long and arduous project of mine... with Laslow watching my every step cozily from in my coat hood.
Was my range of movement limited, which meant I had to move more slowly and carefully? Yes. Was I okay with that? Also yes.
By 4pm or so, I only had one more row of crystal paths to place down for my vision to be realized. The farm was now divided into neat squares for different crops to the north, and the trees were neatly divided to the south with a cozy lounging area secluded within some of the trees. I swear it's a coincidence that when you lay down in the lounge chair and position your head just right, you could clearly see the skateboard ramp.
With Laslow in my hood, I stepped onto the porch and reached for the final paths of the project.
That's when a familiar voice, one I hadn't heard in a while, called a cheerful "Hi!"
I looked over toward the path to town to find her approaching. Sadly, our not speaking for a while was mildly explainable. Not agreeable, but explainable.
When I looked over at her, she saw Laslow in my hood.
She thus sprinted over to us, squealing "Oh my gosh, he's so cute!" She was scratching behind his ears before I could even blink.
Ah, Abigail... never change.
"I see you decided to shake things up," she giggled.
"Yeah," I said back with a laugh. "Would you believe me if I said I almost walked out the door wearing my coat like this without the cat?"
"Oh, gosh, really?" asked Abigail. "One of those days?"
"One of those days," I nodded.
"Can I hold him?" she asked, already putting her hands under his shoulders as if to pick him up.
"Yeah, go for it," I said.
She had Laslow held to her chest, also before I could blink. I fumbled with my coat to turn it around to wear it properly, as to give those two a moment before I asked my next question.
That was "How've you been?"
Truth be told, I really hoped she'd been doing alright... and I prepared myself to comfort her should she prove otherwise.
In response to my question, her face did fall. She looked down at Laslow for a few seconds before answering.
"I've been alright, but... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going through anything," she said. "My parents are as judgmental as ever, and... well... I'm sure you must have heard from Sebastian first that, uh..."
"Yeah," I nodded solemnly. "That is, if we're thinking of the same-"
"The breakup, yeah," she said.
She took a pause to hug Laslow just a little closer.
"I-I'm sorry to make you talk about it," I said.
"No, it's okay," said Abigail. "Talking helps me feel better."
"I'm glad to hear that," I said. "Though if you'd just like to sit and hold Laslow for a while, too, that's cool with me."
"Thank you," Abigail smiled. "But... it's just like... I don't know what to think." She sighed. "I love him, and I want to believe in him, but... he and I got into an argument and it ended badly... as you may have guessed. In the moment... he really made me feel like shit, and I just can't forget that. Even though I know now that what I said was pretty insensitive, too, and... maybe he didn't really mean what he said, but... it still sticks with me really bad."
I had the urge to tell her what Sebastian had said that night in Sam's room, but figured that Sebastian would want that to stay in Sam's room.
"I... I get that," I nodded. "All I can really say is not to rush things. Love's a bitch; it can infect your heart even if it's really not the best idea for it to."
"Yeah," Abigail agreed. "But... what if I act on it, and we can move past our misunderstandings and be happy again?"
"And maybe you can," I said. "But... don't leap into anything without being 100% confident and 0% reluctant that it's a chance you want to take."
"You're right, you're right," she said. "It's... just really hard."
"Of course," I said. "I can't magically take the pain away, but if I can do anything to help, you let me know, alright?"
"Well, that's kinda why I'm here," said Abigail. "Can I just hang out and hold your cat for a while?"
"Of course!" I nodded. "I'll just need to disappear to over by the skateboard ramp real quick to place down the last of these crystal paths."
As we headed for the porch, she said "Yeah, your farm's really pretty. Great work!"
"Oh, thank you!" I smiled, picking up the monumental final pile of paths.
That day, as I placed down the final crystal path, I heard Abigail and Laslow meowing back and forth, as if nothing had ever changed.