~¤~ †he †urning ~¤~
James A Gower ã 23 May 2000
"Damn this snow" he said as he pulled up to the little building.
The sign out front read "Bittergrass General Store"
After a few minutes of fighting to get the door open from the ice buildup, he sludged his way through the snow drifts to the door.
"Hello, you’re a new face" came a soft voice from behind the counter.
He unwrapped his face of shawls to see who spoke.
He was greeted by a woman’s face framed by curly auburn hair, a curious smile playing over her lips.
"My name’s Shaman Storm, good to meet you" he told her.
She smiled again "U Tsi Waya" she replied, holding out her hand.
"I’m here at a friend of mine’s cabin up by the lake, the brat forgot to tell me that he hadn't stocked the cabin and I need some food" he chuckled a bit as he headed down one of the small aisles, picking out several cans.
"Doesn't’t seem to be a whole lot to do up here during the winter" he said, flashing her what he hoped to be a winning smile, trying to make small talk.
"Not much, that’s true enough" she replied as she returned to the calculator and pad that she had been working on as he entered. "Watching cars rust to the best of my recollection was about the highlight of the day last I checked.That or ice fishing, of course but ice is hard to clean and doesn't’t cook too well" she grinned at him.
He laughed softly as he grabbed a few more cans and headed up to the counter. "Guess this should be about it for now.I could get more, of course, but then I’d have no excuse to come back and see your pretty face to break the dark of these cold nights" he smiled at her then quickly added "If it’s not too presumptuous of me, is there a Mr... Waya?" She laughed as she began to ring up his order, blushing replied "Well, yes, but dad doesn't pay much heed to what goes on in the world any more"
"So I take it then that you’re not married" he said as he looked down at her left hand curiously.
"No, not for me, not yet anyway" she said as she fumbled for his change.
"Just haven’t found the right one yet, eh" curiously smiling.
"Nope, good men are hard to find around here.. kind of like those ice fish.." she smiled as she handed him his change.
They both chuckled as he grabbed up the small bag. "What about you" she asked him.
"Well, not anymore" he answered a touch gruffly.
"Divorced" she asked.
"No, widower" he said quickly.
"I Guess God needed an extra angel" she said softly.
He smiled a bit. "Yeah, guess so, but enough of that. What are you doing tomorrow night" Once more he flashed the winning smile of his.
"Kind sir, I don’t even know you.I’m working, for your information but you’re welcome to come and sit a spell if you are of a mind to"
"Work you pretty hard, eh? I think it sounds lovely" he nodded a bit as he headed for the door.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He woke up chipper and joyous and threw the covers off, only to get a very rude reminder that its a bit cold this far north.
He wrapped the blankets back around himself and grabbed his clothes, bringing them under the blankets with him to warm up and got dressed right there. After warming them up a bit more, he hopped out from under the blankets once more and practically ran down the stairs and treated himself to a breakfast of canned corn beef hash. He laughed at himself as he ate, for his wonderful culinary choices at the store the previous night. "Guess your mind was on things other than your groceries, eh Shaman boy" he laughed at himself.
As the dingy dusk of full day outside darkened to proper night, he prepared himself a proper grocery list, and got himself presentable for the lovely lady at the store. He went out to the car and fought it to start in the unaccustomed cold, and drove into the center of the tiny town, once more parking by the hand painted sign. "At least there isn't a blizzard this time" he told himself reassuringly as he walked in.
"Well imagine that, and here I thought you had just passed through..... after last nights blizzard" came the same voice from behind the counter. He smiled as he once more unwrapped himself.
"No, I told you I’d be here, so here I am, I am a man of my word" he said with a smile.
"Well, in that case" she said with a grin "pull up that stack of milk crates and have a seat"
He watched her as she poured him a hot cup of cocoa then glanced away when she turned and gave him the cup "Its hot she said be careful you dont burn yourself" He smiled "Thanks, what can you tell me about the local history" he asked, once more attempting small talk.
"Well, not much, really, I haven’t been here that long myself" she said thinking back to what had been told her by locals.
"It was a boom town back in the eighteen hundreds, gold played out to pyrite.Everybody left except a few, whose descendants are the ones that are still here.It seems like once you’re a part of little towns like this, you get stuck for life" she sighed.
"Then how did you manage to end up here" he asked curiously
"Passing through, my car broke down.It was going to cost more to fix it than to just get an apartment.So I figured, what the hell, why not? It’s a nice enough town, quiet, no one’s any more nosy than they need to be" she replied
"Worried about nosy people are you" he asked
"Let’s just say I put a high price on respect of privacy" she said with a little smile.
"Well, while we’re on the subject of being nosy, what time do you get off" he asked with a grin.
She smiled wickedly and replied "Well that depends on who I happen to be with when I leave the store"
"Uhm... uhh.... " he stuttered fishing for words.
"Well, I need to pick up a few more groceries, all I have is those cans from last night" he stammered.
She nodded as he stood and walked around grabbing things almost at random before he remembered his list and set about to filling it.She watched him for a moment laughing to herself then said "Well, it looks like you’re going to be my last customer of the night, because its time to close"
"Would you let me fix you dinner then" he asked," I’m a decent cook, not great, but passable. And I hate eating alone" he added.
"Only if you let me bring the wine" she replied with a secretive little smile.
She reached under the counter and pulls out a box, brushing the dust off of the top and pulls out a bottle of very old wine, whose label read ‘Vitae Vino�? "I've never had blood wine before. But there’s always a first" he said.
She chuckled a bit as she rang up his selections, then totaled out the register and turned out the lights
as they both wrapped in layers of thick cloth against the cold.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Free Forum Hosting
