Once (Gypsy Fairy Tale)

by Burnett, Dana Michelle

  Everything seemed darker as I walked back to the register, as if the back half of the shop was already settling in for the night. I sighed, full of the peace and contentment that only the end of the day can bring.

  The ancient black cash register opened with a weary ding, the coins rattling as the drawer jutted out. I wrinkled my nose at the coppery smell inside as I lifted the tray to remove the checks and large bills from underneath.

  I thumbed through the cash, counting it twice to make sure of the amount. I took out the calculator and added up all of the checks.

  Looking down at the meager amount, I sighed. That wouldn’t cover the feed I needed to order and after I paid Alec, there wouldn't be anything left to pay on my grandmother’s left over hospital bills. I didn’t even want to think about how I was supposed to eat for the next week.

  My mind went to what little was left of my one-time college nest egg. There might be enough left to get me through a few weeks, but then even that would be gone. I would hate to see it spent, not because I ever intended to go to college, but because once it was gone it would mean this really was my life and it wasn’t going to get any better.

  So there it is... This is it...

  I shook my head and counted everything again, then once more just for good measure. I was so busy counting that I didn’t hear Alec speaking to me.

  He waved his hand in front of my face, “Harmony?”

  I jumped, “What?”

  He smiled at my reaction, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “You didn’t,” I lied. “I was just day dreaming. What was it you said?”

  He swept at the floor, moving closer to the counter. “I hear you had lunch with one of the carnival people.”

  Wow....Word travels fast....

  “Oh yeah,” I replied, trying to sound as casual as possible. “He’s the one in charge of the horses.”

  I couldn’t look up at him. I could feel myself blushing at the memory of Kieran leaning across the table to whisper to me about the travellers knowing how to keep secrets. I could still remember the feeling of his breath on my face and the scent of clover that clung to his clothes.

  “That makes sense then,” he said with a smile. “You wouldn’t believe how people were talking about it.”

  Oh yes I would...

  He went back to work and I busied myself with the bills and accounts even though now my mind kept drifting back to lunch.

  After a few minutes Alec stopped and leaned against the broom he was sweeping with, “I was wondering what your plans were for tonight?”

  I ran my hands through my hair, “Oh, I don’t know. I’ll probably just heat up a frozen dinner, take a hot bath, and crawl into bed.”

  He smiled sheepishly, “Oh, I thought maybe we could do something. You know nothing special, just something to eat and maybe a movie.”

  I barely heard him; my mind was already back on the bills. How was I going to pay off these debts and still have money to live on?

  When I didn’t answer, Alec went back to sweeping the floor, almost smacking in the floor with each stroke.

  “Never mind,” he grumbled.

  Realizing that I had ignored this question, I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity.

  “Oh Alec, I’m sorry, I –“

  He turned his back to me and swept with even more vigor, “Forget about it.”

  I didn’t try to say anything else. I had wounded his ego enough for one day. I just bit my tongue and watched him move across the floor.

  When he got near the door, the breeze caused by his frantic sweeping made the carnival advertisement come loose and flutter to the floor. He leaned over, picked it up, and looked down at it.

  “I wish those damn Gypsies would just go back where they came from,” he said as he hung the flyer back in the window. “Maybe then things can get back to normal.”

  He propped his broom against the wall and then left without even saying goodbye.

  What was all that about?

  I didn’t follow him. I waited until I heard the back door slam before I left the counter, went through the back room, and locked the door.

  I didn’t even peek out any of the windows to watch him limp off. I didn’t have energy to wonder too much about what his problem was, I just chalked it up to him having a bad day and hoped he would be in a better mood tomorrow.

  Switching off the lights, I walked back through to the front room. Now that I was alone, it was silent and more than a little creepy now that everything was dim and shadowy.

  I pushed the faded and worn buttons of the register so that the drawer jerked open again. I gathered the large bills and checks up again and placed them under the tray, spreading them out so that they were even.

  The deposit could just wait until tomorrow, I thought as I slammed the cash register shut. It’d been a long day and I was more than ready to be done.

  I twisted my hair and again stuck a pencil through the knot to hold it up. I knew how hot it would still be outside and I hated the feeling of my hair sticking to my sweaty neck.

  Gathering up my keys and other things, I went to leave. I smoothed the flyer one more time before opening the door and walking out.

  I stepped outside, the heat pushing against me. As I locked the door and turned, I saw Kieran and the tall traveler from the parade, the one that I guessed was maybe his father, walking along the edge the fairgrounds.

  Even from where I stood I could hear the gay music and happy voices of the travellers’ camp. Everything seemed so bright and cheerful over there, unburdened by responsibility and debt.

  I envied them. It didn’t matter that people thought they were thieves and liars. I just envied their freedom.

  * * * *

  I dreamed about the travellers again that night when I fell asleep.

  As I lay in my soft and familiar bed, with the old metal fan on the dresser oscillating back and forth, I drifted off into dark dreams about the strangers that had come to town.

  In my dream, I was in a misty, moss covered forest, surrounded by a cloud of nothingness.

  What was this place? Where was I?

  I turned in a circle, looking in every direction. For as far as I could see, all that I could make out was the great mist and the bony outlines of trees.

  Far off in the empty distance, I could just make out some sort of music. It echoed against the trees, almost bell like, like a little girl’s music box lost and forgotten.

  I moved to the edge of the clearing, hesitating near the first moss laden tree. Did I dare venture into the forest? Did I dare go looking for the source that strange music?

  Just as I was about to step onto the leaf covered path, Kieran appeared next to me and took my hand. I looked up at him, amazed that he was even more handsome than when I saw him last, like an artist painting of how the real Kieran looked.

  He took me by the arm, pulling me away from the path. I stumbled after him and into the clearing where he pulled me into his embrace.

  Then we were dancing, a smooth floating waltz across the misty ground. Around and around we turned, so fast that if I looked away from his emerald eyes I would be dizzy and sick.

  It was safe in his arms with the strange music filling the air. I watched his perfect face, the way his skin glowed in the light of the unseen moon, and though as magical as all of this was, there was still one question to be answered.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  Kieran smiled down at me. I heard his voice, but his lips didn’t move. It was a strange, garbled language that he spoke.

  “What are you saying? I don’t understand.”

  Again he spoke, again without moving his lips, and again I did not know the meaning of the words.

  I shook my head, “I don’t understand.”

  “We are in the forest of the underground,” he whispered, this time lowering his head so that his moving lips rested against my hair.

  A shiver raced up my spine. I closed my eyes and rested my cheek
against his chest. I still had no idea what he meant, but at that moment, with him so very close, I didn’t care.

  Suddenly the ground shook, forcing us apart. I went to scream, but again everything vibrated as the roar of cannons deafened me.

  “Kieran,” I cried. “What’s happening?”

  He spoke again in that jumbled language that I did not understand as the ground cracked and opened.

  I screamed and reached for Kieran, but I was falling down into one of the crevices. Falling and falling until I bolted awake to the loud rumble of the garbage truck.

  Chapter 7

  I could still feel it, the sensation of Kieran’s lips near my ear and his cheek against mine. I could feel the strands of his dark hair tickling my eye and I could smell the delicious scent of the night air on his skin. If I turned, just a little, I could brush my lips across his cheek –

  “Hey Harmony.”

  I jumped as Alec interrupted my daydream. I blinked to bring myself back to reality.

  Unaware that he was interrupting anything, Alec went on with his question.

  “Do we have any more of those stainless steel scoops?”

  Oh my God... Seriously?

  I bit my tongue. It wasn’t his fault that my mind kept wandering back to that dream, just thinking about it made my cheeks flame.

  Running my hands through my hair, I struggled to focus.

  “Do we have any more what?” I asked, already forgetting what he had asked.

  “Stainless steel scoops.”

  “Sure,” I mumbled. “There are a few in the bag next to the chicken feeders on the shelf.”

  Alec went off in that direction, but then paused and turned back to me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” I said defensively. “Why?”

  He shrugged, “You just look tired.”

  I could feel myself blushing an even deeper shade of red. I shuffled some of the papers on the counter and avoided looking directly at him.

  “I didn’t sleep well,” I mumbled.

  “That’s getting to be a real problem. You should take better care of yourself.”

  I heard him limp off into the back room. Leaning down, I rested my forehead on the counter.

  I’ve got to snap out of it... I can’t go through the rest of the day like this... I’ve got to pull it together...

  Despite my best efforts I couldn’t get my mind off that dream. My Grandma used to talk all the time about dreams and their hidden meanings, but the only thing I took from my dream was the delicious tease of his lips at my ear.

  I have to stop thinking about him!

  “So Harmony,” Mrs. Allen asked in her sickening sweet voice. “What do you think about the travellers?”

  “What?” I asked, not at all surprised that I didn’t notice her coming in.

  She pretended to examine our small selection of wind chimes, even though they were the exact same ones that we had on display for over a year now.

  “I was just curious what you thought about the travellers and their permit situation,” she said.

  I sighed and rolled my eyes, not caring if she saw me do it.

  Don’t you have your own store to hang out at?

  “What about their permit?”

  “They actually got it approved,” she said.

  Alec came out from the back room, carrying the steel scoops and a few bags of birdseed.

  “Who got what approved?” He asked as he put down his load.

  Mrs. Allen forgot all about me as she honed in on the real reason for her visit.

  “Those travellers,” she said with a shake of her head. “They got their permits for their freak show or whatever it is.”

  “When is this supposed to happen?” Alec asked.

  “This weekend.”

  "Good," he snapped.

  I was surprised by his tone. Alec was the type of person that nothing really bothered, so his attitude caught me off guard.

  “Why do you say that?” I asked,

  He just shrugged at my question, “I don’t know. I’ll just be glad to see it all over and done with.”

  “Why?” I asked, ignoring the way that Mrs. Allen was posturing and trying to get his attention.

  Alec walked over to the front window and looked out, even from my spot behind the counter; I could see a group of the gypsy girls on the sidewalk just outside the camp.

  “There is just something about them I don’t trust,” he said. “I’ll just be glad when it’s all over and done with and they go on their way.”

  Before I could say anything else, Mrs. Allen called him over to help her with the wind chimes. I came around from the counter and walked over to the front window.

  Looking at the traveller camp, I wondered what it would be like once they did leave and life went back to the boring normal it was before.

  * * *

  I sent Alec home in the late afternoon. There had been no customers for over an hour and it didn’t seem likely that there would be any the rest the day.

  He was reluctant to leave, but I insisted.

  “Go on,” I said. “There’s no sense in both of us sitting here doing nothing.”

  Please don't make me tell you the truth... I can’t afford to pay you for the rest of the day just to sit here and keep me company...

  Thankfully he spared me that humiliation and hung his dusty apron up behind the counter.

  “Well, if you do get busy,” he said. “Just give me a call and I’ll come back.”

  “You need to get a real life,” I said as I waved him away with my hands. “Now get out of here.”

  “Yes boss,” he said with a wink and a smile as he went out the door.

  Once Alec left, I paced the front room. I straightened the few items that were on display, rearranging the birdfeeders and rain gauges even though no one ever bothered to look at them. That took all of twenty minutes and I still had almost two hours until closing time.

  I looked out the front window and it looked like out there, in the real world outside of the store, people were going places and doing things while I was stuck inside my nearly bankrupt store.

  So Grandma, this is what it means to be all grown up... Well it sucks and I don’t like it one bit...

  Turning from the window, I started walking back to the counter, but about halfway across the floor I stopped, stretched my hands over my head and performed a cartwheel. It served no purpose, but I did it anyway, just because I could.

  I went back behind the counter and pulled up the wobbly wooden stool. Taking a seat, I rested my chin on my hand and watched the clock on the wall tick by the minutes.

  I must’ve fallen asleep because it seemed like one moment I was staring at the clock and the next I was lifting my head from my arms and it was dark outside. I stretched and looked around for my keys, more than ready to close up for the night. I made it all the way to the door before I remembered that tomorrow was Thursday and that meant that Alec’s grandfather would be making his weekly trip to Hayswood Park. It also meant he would stop in the store for corn for the squirrels and the duck feed the Grandma used to make special just for him.

  Part of me wanted to pretend that I forgot, but I felt the pull of loyalty. No matter how sick she was, Grandma always had that feed waiting for him every Thursday morning. I couldn’t not do the same just because I was tired and ready to go home.

  I turned and walked back towards the stock room, dropping my keys on the counter as I passed. I was still stretching and yawning when I pulled two ears of corn out of burlap sack. Holding them under one arm, I filled a paper bag with a mix of dried breadcrumbs, dried peas, and cracked corn.

  Just as I finished, I heard the bell on the door. I gathered everything up and went back out; expecting Alec or one of the nearby shop owners to be stopping in to see why I was open so late.

  It wasn’t Alec though; it was a scraggly haired blond man in a dirty tee-shirt and stained jeans. He stood there without saying a word, just looking
around the store in silence.

  “Can I help you?” I asked, placing my armload of goods on the counter. I was more than ready to go home for the night, but considering my finances, I couldn’t pass up a possible sale.

  The man didn’t seem to hear me.

  “Good evening,” I said a little louder this time. “Can I help you?”

  The man looked at me with bloodshot eyes, “Where’s the other guy?”

  My senses began to tingle in warning. There was something wrong in the way that he was looking around and how he was craning his neck to see behind me and into the back room.

  I read somewhere that fear was a sign of weakness, so I balled my shaking hands into fists and came around from behind the counter. Whatever his purpose here was, I wouldn’t let him see that he was frightening me.

  “You need to leave,” I ordered.

  Instead of leaving, he took a few steps towards me.

  “Now don’t be like that,” he scolded.

  “I said get out!” I yelled, hoping someone nearby would hear.

  He stopped for a moment, as if he too was waiting to see if it was possible for anyone to hear me. When no one came, he clicked his tongue on his teeth and took a few more steps towards me.

  I stood my ground, fighting the urge to back away from him. I glanced around at the things within my reach, hoping for something I could use for a weapon, but unfortunately anything that would’ve been useful was out in the barn.

  He chuckled as if he could read my thoughts or maybe he was just amused by my predicament.

  I looked past him to the front door. My stomach knotted as I wondered if I could make it past him and out into the street.

  Following my gaze, he laughed again.

  “Go ahead missy,” he said. “But are you sure that you’re fast enough?”

  Before fear could paralyze me, I made a run for it. I darted past him, reaching the knob and clawing at it before he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me away.

  “Turn me loose!” I screamed as I struggled against him.

  I kicked and scratched at him, but it was all in vain. I was about to scream again but I felt a knife at my throat.