New Year Goals

*SCREEEE*

The teapot howled as it sat on the blazing burner of the aged wooden stove. Milo hastily grabbed the screeching teapot and poured the boiling water into his misshapen coffee cup. Adding a little milk and honey in, he stirred the mixture then walked over to his desk with the freshly brewed cup of tea. A subtle drip echoed through the elderly lighthouse, a place that he has called home for years; always tending to its' brilliant flame every night and taking care of the puffins outside during the day.

His favorite quilted blanket was already waiting for him on the back of his chair from the previous night. He promptly wrapped himself up in its cozy embrace hoping he'd warm up soon enough to get to writing. Milo, for once was in a writing mode. It was rare for him to be, but this time he wanted to write a letter to his future self and not his usual fictional horror stories. Milo rarely plans out what he wants to accomplish during every new year but figured why not give himself something to work towards this time.

Taking a sip from the steaming tea, Milo opened the frayed turquoise journal and grabbed the pen sitting next to it and begun writing...

"Well, hey Milo! It's the new year and another year to try new things! It has been a while since I've written to myself! I remember last time we did this was years ago and it didn't turn out too well, but nothing wrong with trying again. I'm surprised we even kept this journal for so long with it being a gift from the previous lighthouse keeper and all. But enough of my rambling, I figured maybe I'd read this down the road and see what things I manage to accomplish for myself this year or things that I manage to visit and such."

As he finished the sentence, he inspected the oddly warped coffee cup that he crafted a few months ago. It was Milos first attempt at creating pottery and even though it's a bit crooked, he still enjoyed the process.

"Pottery is something I hope we continued working on! We enjoyed making the very first cup despite the messy mishaps and I hope we continue to enjoy every plate, cup, vase we make! After working with pottery, it would be good to start learning how to paint them and possibly make cute clay puffin figures of Dot, Sparkle, and Pipp. It would be a nice reminder of them especially if they decide to leave the nest and start their own journeys...I do hope they stayed though, but if not, I hope you made some new cute puffin friends! It hurts writing it out and thinking about it, but we know every puffin leaves at one point or another."

Tearing up, he wiped his eyes, a drop still falling on the page smearing the words a little. It was always difficult on Milo watching the puffins leave the coast, but he knew it was always their choice. He has grown very attached to Dot, Sparkle, and Pipp though; the puffins who had lost their families and Milo took them in to watch over them.

"It's ok though! I hope they do very well in the future when they leave the nest!..."

They grabbed a tissue off the desk and dabbed their eyes. Holding back another sniffle, they tossed the tissue away and took a sip of their green tea to calm down before writing again. The constant beat of the gentle drip of the rain leaking in the lighthouse reminded Milo of something he's been meaning to do for a very long time.

"I would love to see the interior of the lighthouse renovated as well. Anytime there's the slightest sound of rain, the leaks start and we're always having to place that rusty old bucket out to catch it. Maybe some new furniture as well would be nice, this desk and chair have definitely seen better days since they were hand me downs from the previous owner. Maybe with the pottery we make could be used to trade for new furniture, possibly a rocking chair! A bed, wardrobe, pantry, a desk, and a chair too. I think renovating the lighthouse would be a spectacular goal for us and I'm sure it'll turn out amazing! Make sure to write it down in detail what all you do! Thinking about it, a rocking chair is a must! Imagine we could sit outside in the morning and watch the puffins dive into the bay while having our daily coffee."

"We should be taking better care of this place since the old keeper entrusted us with it! It does get a bit hard though with taking care of things especially with how busy the puffins make us. It would be nice if we could give ourselves just some relaxing days where we spend half a day with the puffins and the rest of the day with ourselves reading a book or working on that pottery! I think that's a great idea to do for us, Milo. So hopefully we nail some of these goals and wishes this year! I'll list them down then we can cross them off at the end! Any that we didn't so I think we should carry over into the new year.

The List:
-Start making more pottery
-Renovate the interior of the lighthouse
-Trade pottery work for new furniture and a rocking chair (a must!)
-Relax once or twice a week with half-days!


I think this covers everything we want to get done this year, I hope this year was kind to you Milo!"
Milo gently closed the journal, placing it aside and glanced around the lighthouse as the dripping intensified with the brewing storm.
"We really do need to get that leak fixed, Milo" sighing, he got out of the chair and made his way up the winding staircase to check up on the beacon.