[i]Finally, the summer,[/i] Joli grumbled, having been unfairly awakened by the familiar sound of ripped air and mutilated leather. His mother was practicing, as she always did at sunrise and, though finally afforded the ability to sleep-in, there was little chance he'd be able to comfortably remain in bed. Thus, he decided it best to simply get up, and perhaps enjoy his first full day of freedom.

Sliding the burgundy comforter neatly away, as to make it easier to compose it later, Joli whipped his legs around and over the side of the bed. Taking a moment to swing his feet, considering they still weren't long enough to reach the floor, he sighed and hopped safely on to them. Taking a short look around the room, if for no other reason to shake off the morning stupor, he noticed that he had left his lavender scented candle burning all night. Completely avoiding thoughts of the possible fire hazard, he felt a certain frustration at the small piece of metal and smoldering wick that remained, fitted sadly with the barely lingering smell of [i]fresh[/i] that he loved so.

Walking toward his closet, he took out his normal wear, on this day a grey t-shirt and black shorts, and laid them on his bed. Swiveling to the window, he opened it just in time to catch a brisk wind --a reminder that spring had come but had not fully left yet-- so he decided to wear a thin sweater instead. Replacing the t-shirt and pulling out a blue sweater, he laid it exactly as he had the shirt, and walked to the bathroom. Conveniently, the bathroom was accessible from a door in his room, and he always kept the entrance from the hallway locked. It was one of the perks of being an only child.

Quickly attending to the actions of a normal morning routine, he returned to his room to get dressed. As he slid over his sweater, he listened intently for the sounds of his mother's practice, and was rewarded by the continuing drum of annihilation he had grown to love...and hate. True to custom, he picked out his shoes last, a black pair of flat-foot, low-lip boots, and was finally prepared to head to the kitchen for breakfast. Plus, as it suddenly struck him, today was the Summer Festival in Trespiano. Which meant of course that his parents would be drunk by noon.

As he reached to open the door, grinning at the thought of his parents inebriation, he thought to himself, [i]actually, it'd probably be better to slip out unnoticed.[/i] As a result, he headed back to the opened window, slipped onto the sill, and shimmied down the pipe to the street. 

"That's one way to start the day," he remarked, smirking, as he began his walk through Vendrello, on his way to the festival in [i][b]Little Town[/i][/b].