The Ballad of Optimistic Billy 277 words Billy had always loved wet Moria Village with its flooded, swampy landscape. It was a place where he felt afraid. He was an optimistic, gentle, water drinker with fragile feet and ruddy eyes. His friends saw him as a foolish, but generous friend. Once, he had even jumped into a river and saved a nervous iguana. That's the sort of man he was. Billy walked over to the window and reflected on his foggy surroundings. The rain hammered like exploding centipedes and smelled like earwig honey. Then he saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the figure of Sophie .