| [Inside the windmill]
"Go around! Go around and around and around! What fun! I'm so happy! I'm... I... err, uh..."
The scrawny little man sighed. Lately, he'd noticed that his favorite (and only) hobby of playing his strange music box thing didn't thrill him the way it did before.
"It's been ages since I've seen the town," he mused. "I wonder what it's like out there now, after all this time."
He set his odd instrument beside him on the floor, and looked to the door. His legs were exhausted from standing all day and all night, and it took a great effort for him to walk across the room to the door.
"Do I really want to do this? What will they all think of me? It's been so long..."
Hesitantly, he turned the knob and creaked the door open just a crack, the natural light practically burning his eyes. He paused, then purposefully forced the door all the way open and stepped outside... |