buildr

Not rebuild? Then...

You must tear it down.

Tear it down?

All of it? The entire shop?

The official nods.

I... I can't do that...

There will be other workers. Plenty of manpower.

Your wages will be paid out of the city hall's Fashion Street rebuilding project.

If you accept this job, I will draft an employment contract for you on behalf of city hall that will protect the rights that you are entitled to.

No, that's not what I mean... I mean this shop.

The furniture, the shelves... the previous owner really took care of them.

It would be such a shame to tear it all down... all the sweet memories of Old Siesta.

Have you ever heard about the story of the wayfowl and homefowl?

Wayfowl... homefowl?

The words sound familiar... what do they mean?

When I was little, my grandfather told me stories of a kind of fowlbeast.

Legends say that an ancient kind of fowlbeast used to live on that beach.

Beach... you mean Old Siesta?

Yes.

But Old Siesta didn't exist when those fowlbeasts filled the skies and forests.

Perhaps not even Mount Siesta did.

It was that long ago? Even the volcano didn't exist yet?

What's the story with those fowlbeasts?

Once upon a time, they were not a single kind of fowlbeast.

They were a complex community, comprising many different species of migratory fowlbeasts, 'wayfowls' that came from all over the land, and its members took many different forms and habits.

At first, they gathered in the woods by the beach.

Sometimes they fought one another. Some left, while others stayed, building their nests and nursing the next generation together.

Eventually, they became one species that ate the same fruits and sang the same songs. They made their home here, and become 'homefowls'.

My grandfather loved the story. He believed that these ancient fowlbeasts were like Siesta.

Can we still see these fowlbeasts today?

I'm afraid not... at the end of the story, a heavy rain that lasted many years caused the sea to rise and flood the woods where they made their home.

That was the last that anyone knew of those fowlbeasts.

Oh...

Ann-Maier?

I... I'm fine.

It's just a legend.

In reality, Siesta has been much more fortunate than those fowlbeasts.

I know...

I just remembered where I heard the words 'wayfowl' and 'homefowl'.

Grandpa, what's that word on this can of sour orange sauce?

It says 'Siesta'.

Siesta? What's Siesta?

Oh my, have you forgotten already, Ann-Maier?

Siesta is an orange that's not yet ripe.

Siesta made wayfowls settle down and become homefowls. Siesta is the home that we built.

Wayfowl... homefowl? I don't understand.

Someday you will, little one. Someday.

So your grandfather once told a similar story...

Sorry, Mr. Costa... I keep thinking back to the past.

I know the feeling.

I often think back to the times that I spent with my grandfather.

But the memories that don't fade also don't impede my ability to look forward.

...Mm.

She hears the sound of music and casts her gaze in the direction of the sound.

The scarlet door of the instrument shop is wide open, and dim lights fall upon packaging boxes big and small.

The owners sit with the workers on the ground, holding various instruments in their hands from guitars to tambourines to maracas, to folk instruments the names of which she does not know.

A dissonant note causes everyone to stop.

Hey, who played it wrong this time?

Oh, maybe it was me...

But this is how it goes back at my hometown...

Let's all adjust, then.

Some changed the chord, some slowed down the rhythm. The worker does not change his notes, but the phrase is once again in harmony.

One more time. Three, two, one—

It's the calluses on our hands, the brick dust on our shoulders♪

The wine of our meeting, the song of our parting♪

This is Siesta, this is home♪

This is Siesta...

Yes, this is Siesta.

Hello?

Yes, this is Ann-Maier...

You say you got me an interview with a construction company by way of apology?

Oh, I'm afraid I'll have to decline.

No, I was at fault for what happened today, too. Thank you very much. Hope to talk to you again.

From city hall?

Uh-huh.

Why did you turn it down?

Maybe because I understand what wayfowl and homefowl mean now... well, maybe not all of it...

But like you said, I have time to learn about the city... I should slow down and take it all in.

That's why I'll take this job.

She looks at the dusty shop.

I'll clear out the old furniture and repaint the walls within the apportioned time, restoring this house to its former glory.

This is my first job in Siesta.