Edemia World

Tomorrow’s a big day for us berry-farm hands. We’re taking the day off to lend our hands to an important quarterly event: Grok’s bath. It’s part of the deal the goblins made with him—they’d only work on the farm if Grok agreed to practice some hygiene. Four times a year was the best they could get, unfortunately. So we make a big deal out of it every time.

When I first came to the farm, Grok hadn’t been to his pond in a year and a half. My first Grok Bath was therefore unforgettable. The water started turning a bubbly green the second he stepped in. The goblins and I took turns refilling the pond—it took five refills in all, although subsequent baths have only required two.

It also took me all day to scoop out all the dead fish that had surfaced, put them in the grinder, and store them in little jars (“Them good fertimilizer,” Grok insisted). I’ll admit we had a good haul of healthy berries that month. Whatever works, I guess.

Anyway, tomorrow we’re trying a new soap that Joe got from New Sarsus. It’s supposed to smell like lavender. I don’t know how Grok would like it, or if he’s even capable of smelling nice things like lavender, but the Scymant shopkeeper told him it had hypnotic effects. That means we might be able to get him to give us a week off for Christmas. Plus he’d smell pleasant for a couple of days.

For now, my job is to relocate the fish (I’d rather be friends with them than throw their guts all over the farm) and alert anything else living in the pond. I like to give them a one-day notice, and Joe puts them in these nice little bowls with music, so they can have a sort of fish party.

How’s your week looking?