literature

Always for Eternity - Chapter One

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Chapter 1

I straightened a few books that some customer had placed haphazardly back on the shelf, probably figuring that we enjoyed cleaning up after them. I sighed, and replaced another book, one that had been tossed to the floor. I wondered if people were that dense or if they were just ignorant.

The merry chime of the bells attached to our front door alerted me that a new customer was entering the store. I gave the shelf one final glance before heading to the checkout counter, a smile plastered to my face.

“Welcome to Tomorrow’s Books Today. Is there anything I can help you with this afternoon?” My voice held a false cheer, though the customers hardly knew it.

The man who had entered looked at me, his rainbow colored shades blocking his eyes. He ran a hand through his dark colored hair, frowning at me. He seemed rather nervous and confused.

“Yeah,” he finally spoke after a moment. “I’m looking for Michaele Sencor. Do you know where I can find her?”

My name, spelled like Michael with an extra “e,” though pronounced like Michelle, often confused some people. I told Joseph, my boss, to put it on my name tag any way. I liked the uniqueness of my name, even if the customers complained it looked too much like a boy’s name. So when the man said it, I was excited that someone knew how to pronounce it. Although, I wanted to roll my eyes and point at my name tag, saying “Uh, duh!” but that was rude to the customer, and I didn’t want to lose this job. Instead, I smiled and replied,

“I am she, is there something I can help you with?”

The man removed his sunglasses, revealing his light brown eyes. My jaw dropped as I put the entire man together. His dark colored clothing, his dark hair, and the color of his eyes. It couldn’t be…

“Elijah?” My voice was a strained whisper. My knees grew weak and I grasped the counter, knuckles turning white, holding on for dear-life.

He smiled his crooked smile and I stumbled back, back hitting the wall and sliding down until I sat on the floor. I was stunned beyond belief. I never thought he’d return, and I never thought he’d find me in Dekon at this little bookstore. Tears fell from my eyes as I leaned against the wall.

“Mickey?” Elijah leaned over the counter, a concerned look on his face. “Are you alright?”

Through my tears, I looked at Elijah, anger and confusion bubbling to the surface. Anger took the lead, fueling the last bit of strength I had to stand, wipe the tears from my eyes, look at him with a straight face, and tell him,

“No, Elijah. No, I am not okay. I don’t know what you were thinking coming here today, but whatever it was, you were wrong. Just – just leave, please.”

The tall man blinked, shock and bewilderment on his face. He placed the shades back over his eyes, but not before I saw the pain hidden within. Straightening and moving away from the counter, he turned to face the door.

“Apparently I was wrong in coming here today. I’ll leave and come back another day when you’re more receptive to my return.” Elijah’s voice was hard, yet not unkind. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you before I came.”

He left the store, the happy little bell ringing as the door opened and closed behind him. As I watched him leave, I picked up the store phone and dialed Sara’s number. Lucky for me, no new customers entered as the phone rang and rang.

“Hello?” A voice replaced the ringing.

“Sara?” I responded, “This is Michaele. Can you get someone to cover for me, lunch isn’t sitting well. I don’t feel good.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments before she responded. “Yeah, I’ll come in. You don’t sound too good, is everything alright?”

A silent breath of relief escaped my lips. “Like I said, lunch is talking back. Bad seafood, I think.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you ate at that little sushi place down the road… They never cook their stuff right, even for sushi!” Sara’s concern made me smile a little. She hated when restaurants served bad food. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Think nothing of it, dear.”

I continued to work until Sara showed up, straightening books and placing orders for new books. No new customers came into the store while I waited. The bells rang only once more, and I heaved a sigh as she walked through the door.

“Oh, darlin’, you look a little green.” There were no pleasantries, just concern in her voice and hazel eyes. “Go home, you need to rest. You’ll get a full day’s pay, no worries.”

She ushered me from the store, and I climbed into my powder-blue Ford truck, a hand-me-down from my brother, and turned the key in the ignition. It roared to life and the bookstore disappeared from sight as I drove off.

However, now that I was free from work, I had no real intention of head home. I didn’t want to go home to deal with my emotions, so I decided to head towards the park and forest beyond, hoping that our favorite place to chat might help answer some of the questions I had. It would be a stretch, but I was willing to give my confusion, my hurt, and my questions some thought. I wanted to be prepared for the next time I faced him.

I parked in the empty lot and twitched my nose in thought. The park had lost its appeal some time ago, leaving the lot vacant most of the time. I turned off the engine and grabbed the blanket that I always kept in the back seat and the over-sized hoodie with a wolf howling at the moon on it. The hoodie had been deemed “favorite” right away, and not just because Elijah had given it to me, but rather because wolves are my favorite animals. I tugged it on over my head and shut the door, locking it before I headed through the park towards the trees.

I walked into the forest and took the well-worn path to a series of caves that I used to call home when I needed to get away from my family, school, friends, or anything that I couldn’t handle at the moment. It gave me time to think about things without any other noise interrupting my thoughts.

I chose a cave that was close to the ground, spread the blanket out, and leaned against the wall. Closing my eyes, a breath of air escaped my lips and my mind began working overtime, rethinking everything that had happened in the bookstore.  Only the call of birds interrupted my thoughts from time to time.

I was so confused. Why did he decide to show up now, and not sooner or later? And why was I so mad at him? Shouldn’t I be excited to see my old friend? At one time, he used to make my heart flutter, like I was some love-stuck school girl. But now, now it was all too foreign to me.

He had been away too long for things to be “normal” between us again. I yawned widely and snuggled closer to the wall and scooted farther into the cave. I curled up as the rain began to fall from the dark grey sky. I fell asleep with troubled dreams about meeting Elijah all over again.

I'm a fool and forgot that Sunday was the 1st of Feb. So have this just one day late. Also, I reread this at 6 am and realized that I'm not entirely fond of how this went down. O___O Oyi. So much editing to do before this ever reaches print.

Always for Eternity - Prologue
Always for Eternity - ChapterTwo

Story, characters (C) WyldWerewolf 
© 2015 - 2024 WyldWerewolf
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cheat-freak's avatar
Very nice! I intend to read the whole series to find out what it's all about!