I write on a Google Doc, and I had much of this post written by the time I posted the preceding one. Z thought I should go ahead and post it now, even though I updated just a little over an hour ago. She deserves major credit for the Willow Creek lore that follows.
6. Carpe noctem, carpe diem
Guided by The List, Cameron approached the next few days with a renewed sense of purpose. He had already decided to go back to San Myshuno for the Spice Festival. He had always had fun there as a kid, sneaking samples of dishes that seemed wonderfully exotic to a boy from Willow Creek.
He returned with a Curry Champion T-shirt. Carpe noctem.
Activities that had seemed to lose their appeal seemed more fun when Cameron turned them into challenges of their own. Instead of going to the gym, finding an exercise machine, and pounding out his workout in silence, Cam began to converse with the other gym–goers. If he didn’t know them, he’d introduce himself. He met Duncan Edwards and Kaleb DeLong that way.
https://i.imgur.com/OosKGn4.jpg
Left to right: Cameron, Duncan, and Kaleb
He discovered he got along really well with Randall Nelson, one of the trainers who worked there. Randall was a former professional athlete who had moved to Brindleton Bay with his wife and teenaged son.
https://i.imgur.com/SsC0yeT.jpg
"Don't you DARE let up! Three more. There you GO!"
Cameron got another boost on Sunday, when his supervisor told him he’d earned a raise. Ten more Simoleons per hour took his wage to §58. But the major part of his income came from the offspring of those Birds of Paradise he’d picked one night at the Romance Festival. The four plants were producing flowers each day, and each plant generated about the same amount of Simoleons as a full shift at work!
That day was Skills Day, and Cam had already decided how he would celebrate. He suited up in his Curry Champion shirt, and then…
https://i.imgur.com/nmRTjhf.jpg
He sounded terrible. He was glad Grandma Martha couldn’t hear him, but he did have fun. Carpe diem.
There's no place like home
The Willow Creek district contained four residential neighborhoods.
The Rosses lived in Courtyard Lane, a comfortable area that had been built in the triangle formed where two smaller streams flowed into Willow Creek. The Creek separated Courtyard Lane from Pendula View, an older neighborhood with four sprawling houses. Inside the loop of a winding stream to the south was Foundry Cove. The Georgian homes of this neighborhood had mostly been converted into townhouses, affordable options for roommates and young couples. Foundry Cove’s population was, therefore, more transient than those of the other neighborhoods.
Sage Estates had once been the Sage estate, the property of a single family. Theophilus Sage had made a fortune in the iron and steel industry in the late nineteenth century. His grandson, Samuel, sold part of the land—it was whispered that he had a mountain of gambling debts to cover—and a second large home was built there in the style of the Sage home itself.
The topic of neighborhood changes came up one evening while Cameron was having dinner at his family’s house. Dan had an evening meeting on campus, so Cameron had manned the grill. He produced a rather delicious batch of Hamburgers for the family to enjoy.
https://i.imgur.com/RjW0QQs.jpg
"Not bad..."
“Have you been down to Foundry Cove lately?” Courtenay asked her older son.
“Not for a while,” Cameron replied.
“There are a bunch of new people living down there now. Well, some of them are new. Quite a few of the kids you grew up with are still there, or back there. But I’m meeting more new people around town than ever.”
“I saw Tommy Geiger at the gym the other day,” Patrick added. Tommy was Cameron’s age, and Patrick had always looked up to him. “He’s moved back to town.”
“I hope Rosalind moved with him,” said Cameron. Tommy and Rosalind had been teenage sweethearts. All the Rosses had been at their wedding.
“Of course she did.” Halle rolled her eyes at her brother. “I saw her at the Café with two of her friends. I didn’t recognize them, though."
“I ought to give Tommy a call,” Cameron said.
“Just go knock on his door. You know Willow Creek people don’t mind that.”
Courtenay was right. That easy interaction was one of the things that made their home district feel like home.
