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"Are you sure? He has a name tag, some one had to have given it to him." Lizzie spoke to a merchant in a busy trade hub. She still carried the small donkey between her arms.

The man shook his head, his fingers trailed his beard as he stared at the baby donkey. "Apologize, madam. I know everything that goes on in this town, and I swear to you if I knew who this donkey belonged to, I would tell you."

Lizzie nodded at the merchant's words. "Thank you for your time."

"I guess you'll have to stay with me for awhile," Lizzie whispered to the animal as she carried him out of the town. On the outskirts of the city was where she found lodging for the time being. Luckily they allowed animals.

Inside the small house Lizzie contemplated her plans, now that she needed to incorporate a donkey into any future ventures. She debated leaving the donkey to the wilderness once again, but she knew it wouldn't survive a day out there. Little Jeremy could be eaten by bugs. Just the thought of it haunted her.

She picked up her iron pickaxe and tied a lead to Donkey Jeremy's leash. Mining was dangerous but she needed to do it. It was her only source of income. Lizzie was directed to a well established mineshaft, at the mouth of a mountain a few meters away from the village.

She argued that, since plenty of miners had gone on before her, the caves would be well-lit which also meant that it would be safe. The main downside was that most of the riches would have been seeped from the stone walls.

One thing was cetain, she was right. As she usually was. Lizzie led Donkey Jeremy through the bright cavern, twinkling with torchlight that reflected over the smooth grey surfaces. There were no encounters with dangerous cavern creatures. Another thing she was right about, all the ores had dissapeared.

Minutes passed as Lizzie continued to stare at empty walls. There was sinply nothing left of the mine. She was at the precipice of giving up and turning around, having enough of being disappointed by a glimmer of fallacy.

Until the donkey began kicking at a andesite column. Lizzie eyed it intently, internally wondering what Donkey Jeremy was so invested in.

Softly, she tugged at the lead to coerce him into moving, but the donkey would not budge, relentlessly kicking the column with his hooves.

Lizzie took the pickax to the column, to ease his apprehension, pulling back and piercing at the stone repeatedly until it shattered. She wiped the sweat off her brow. "See, nothing's happen-" her words paused when the cave shook around her, the rocks beside the column toppled down, revealing a crevice that led to a chanber in the cave.

Donkey Jeremy raced through the opened space and pulled Lizzie with him. She tripped over the fallen stones but managed to catch herself with every tumble. "Donkey Jeremy!" She reprimanded, as she dusted herself off.

Her eyes bolted upwards and landed on a clear and luminous ore lodge in the cave's face. She blinked, convinced it was a dream, that she fell asleep in the creaky bed back in the village. When her eyes fluttered open, she saw the same sight, but now multiplied threefold. There were gems littered throughout the chamber and Lizzie knew exactly what they were. Diamonds. The rarest and most valuable of them all.

She sliced through with her pickaxe and managed to pull it from the cave, it landed with a thud on the ground, it's shiny blue hue illuminating the dark grey. She chuckled in disbelief and appreciation. Whatever force in the universe granted her such riches, she had to thank.

Whatever force, she pondered as her attention turned to the young donkey, who himself was fixated on a clump of diamond. Could it be? Her success was to be credited to a donkey? Donkey Jeremy was the one to hit the column, and the one who dragged her into the chamber.

Perhaps there was more to this foal than a simple farm animal.

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Joel soon realized that there was not enough space in his old home to house both he and Donkey Jeremy. Plus, Donkey Jeremy much rather be outdoors than trapped inside the small building. Joel decided long ago that there was more than enough space on his plot to build something great, his main focus was to first build a space for Donkey Jeremy to reside.

And, although most of the planks he had gathered were meant for the construction of the Church, there was more than enough to use for Donkey Jeremy's shelter as well.

He gathered his tools and two stacks of wood. "Don't worry, Donkey Jeremy. You will have a home in no time."

Joel spotted his chosen location for Donkey Jeremy's home, on the plateau behind his house. It was elevated higher than the rest of the land, but it would serve Donkey Jeremy a great view. Additionally, it had a small lake that Donkey Jeremy could utilize however he wished.

After hours of assembly, Joel had completed the wooden fence that surrounded the area allotted to Donkey Jeremy, to ensure that he would remain in the safety of his own home. Finally, it was complete. The last thing to be done was to bring the donkey up the cliff and showcase the new enclosure.

"You like it Donkey Jeremy?" Joel said, petting the donkey on his head.His reply was a series of snorts and pounding of his front hooves to the ground. "I'll take that as a yes."

Joel opened the fence gate and Donkey Jeremy rushed inside, racing around the grassy area and jumping into the lake. His sat in the waters, seemingly relaxed by its coolness.

"I'll leave you to it then," Joel remarked. Looking out from this vantage point, he could see the whole of his estate. There was so much room for much more than a man and his donkey. He nodded to himself, as he hatched an image of revitalizing this plain field into a town dedicated to his upkeep. A place where he could grow wheat for bread and flowers for decoration, and a palace to house him and all the resources he will reap from this project.

This would surely take some time, effort, and a lot of gold pieces, though that didn't bother him, for he knew that it would be worth it.

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A picturesque town for all purposes to sustain Joel's solitary lifestyle. Miles of farmland for wheat and carrots and potatoes. Greenhouses and sugar cane farms. In the compact valley side with looming . It was peaceful since most of the citizens were animals, and the very best of animals, since they had all been blessed with the name of Jeremy.

The next big project was the castle in the works. But that was for another time. He cracked his knuckles as he pushed up the last of the signs. An E, stood on the precipice of the hill that blocked the town from the east

The white letters proclaimed the region's name: Jeremyville. In bright signage right out of a fairytale book, or a place which is a base for the industry that brings fairytales to life through large screens, of course, there was no place in this realm of such a thing.

"You did this all yourself?" A stranger called from below. Joel peered down the cliff to a man with bright orange hair and a beard that matched. He waved at Joel then shoved his hands into the front pockets of his comfortable blue woolen tunic.

He squinted, the sun reflected harshly on the grass where the man stood. It was easy to make out his figure but not any intricate features.

Joel rubbed his hands together. "Yep, gathered the materials and everything."

"Must be proud of yourself there," he stated. "If you're ever interested," he held up a oak box. "I have a village of my own, there's directions to it in this box." He crouched to the ground and placed the chest beside a stone.

"What is your name?" Joel posed, still shocked by the stranger's presence.

He looked up at him with a smile. "Call me Fwhip." He tipped his head down and walked away.

Joel trailed Fwhip's shadow until he was outside of Jeremyville's borders. What a strange encounter, he thought as he descended down the hillside. He reached for the chest, left on the ground and pried it open. Inside was a parchment with illustrations of a grand villa atop a giant mountain, at its base were multiple houses of the same build style, gather into a community, quite similar to Jeremyville.

He pushed the paper into his pocket. Perhaps he would go and see this village some day.