2 Like a Ghost

Like a ghost that has let loose

Its tether to life; floats free

I wonder what it would feel like

To finally shed this soul from me

    Once I pulled up to the curb in front of waterFalls of Knowledge I got out of my car then automatically locked the driver side door. The passenger side door always remained locked. Not because the lock didn't work, but because there had never once been anybody in the car besides myself. I really couldn't blame people; if I had the means of getting places without the aid of my vehicle I would gladly use them. However that wasn't the case and I was stuck doing what I had to do.

    I walked around the car and stepped onto the sidewalk. As I took a step onto the sidewalk a car drove by and someone beeped its horn. I didn't really want to turn around to see who it was, for I was pretty sure I knew what I would be seeing. Yet I turned around anyway in case it was someone who I did actually want to see. When I turned around my gaze encountered a bunch of young men, and I use that word loosely, jeering and laughing at me. I just smirked in return, knowing they probably wouldn't notice or even care if they did notice.

    Shoulders slumped I headed into the building in front of me.

    Once I reached the front door I grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, a bell chiming as I did so. A young man at the counter looked up at the sound of the bell. He gave me a nod of acknowledgement then went back to the book he had been reading. I silently passed him by and headed to the book of the store to put my purse away and to punch in. Once I had accomplished that I headed back out into the store front.

    I stood in front of the counter where the young man was leaning and waited for him to once again acknowledge me. When a minute or two had passed and he still hadn't looked up from his book I cleared my throat in a meaningful manner. I couldn't actually hear him sigh, but I saw his shoulders move in a manner indicating that he had. He marked the page he was on, shut the book, and then looked up at me.

    "Yes...?" he said.

    I wanted to roll my eyes, but held myself back from doing so. "So what am I doing today?" I asked.

    The young man didn't have any qualms about rolling his eyes. "You will be working with books.  You see, you take a book from a pile and then place it on a shelf.  Think you can handle that?"

    I bit my tongue as I turned from him and looked around the store front. The walls and floor space were full shelves of books and when I say full I mean full. There really was no room for any more books on the shelves. However in almost every empty space not inhabited by shelving there were piles of books waiting to be put away.

Almost against my will I blurted: "Well maybe if I actually had somewhere to go with those books I could."

    The young man, who had started to read the book again, quickly looked up at me. I thought I would see a scowl of disapproval from him at my words, but instead I saw that he was actually half-smiling. Once again he marked his page and closed the book, but this time he walked around the counter and stood in front of me.

    "You know I was beginning to wonder if you were a zombie or something." he said. I just gave him a blank look. This time he chuckled. "Well you always came in and did what you were told, you didn't talk much. You finally showed some spunk today." He pointed out.

    I blushed a little at his somewhat compliment. "Well it is the truth." I once again surveyed my surroundings then looked at my co-worker. "I really am surprised that they have let Mr. Boles keep the place open this long." I got a questioning look. "This is beyond fire hazard."

    My co-worker chuckled at my small joke. "That is true, but hey it keeps us employed.  What would you suggest we do?"

    I tried to hide my surprise at his question.  I had only started working at waterFalls a few weeks ago, and from what Mr. Boles had told me Matt, my co-worker, had been working there longer than I had. So I figured he would be more the boss of me. I didn't exactly feel important being asked my opinion but I was a little surprised.

    "Well, I noticed that there were some extra displays in the back, and I noticed that some of the shelving units that are on the floor have rollers on the bottom of them." Matt wasn't saying anything so I continued with my idea. "Well I was thinking that if we got all the books together by category we could put them on the tables. And if we are ambitious…or whenever we get that accomplished we could then alphabetize them?" I finished on a questioning note.

    Matt looked at me in silence for a few moments, and then gave me a big smile. "Well that is going to be a huge undertaking, but if you're game then I am game.  I might actually feel that I deserve to be called a worker then."

    I chuckled at his joke, but knew what he meant. Working at waterFalls was an easy job, but it could also be a boring job. "Do you want to work together or should we each take a section and start working there?" I asked.

    "It would probably go quicker if we each took a section and worked in it."  Matt surveyed the area then looked back at me. "There is a small section by the front window that is pretty clear of books. Why don't we group the books together there and then move on from there?" he suggested.

    It sounded like a good idea to me so I nodded my head in agreement. Before either one of us took a section to start looking through I went behind the counter and grabbed the notebook I had brought along when I had first started there. I ripped out a few pages and grabbed a pen. I wrote down different genres then went to the window near the front of the store and set the pieces of paper down. We could now just walk to the 'sign' and put the books in a pile there instead of having to remember which pile was what. I hoped it would save us a little bit of time. Matt and I then each went to a separate section and started in on a pile of books.

   

    I must have really been in to what I was doing because before I knew it lunch break had come around. The only reason I knew that is because Matt came to where I was working and took the book I was holding from my hand. My gaze jerked to his face and I saw he was looking at me with a slight smile.

    "Time for lunch." he told me.

    "It is that late already?" I questioned automatically.

    "Time flies when you are having fun." he joked.

    I gave him a small smile in return of his joke. We stood there and looked at each other in silence for a few moments. Then without saying another word I turned and walked back to the break room. I punched out, grabbed my purse, and then headed back out to the front of the store. I was a little confused when I saw Matt standing by the front door. As I headed toward him I raised my eyebrows in a silent question.

    "I'm heading out too." He said in answer to my unspoken question. "Would you mind if I tagged along with you?" he asked.   

    We had walked out of the front door and had started down the walkway when he asked that question. I was so surprised by it that I actually stopped walking and Matt nearly walked into the back of me. I stood there in stupefied silence for nearly a full minute before I turned around and looked at him.

    "You want…to…..really…I mean are you…." He was looking at me with a puzzled look so I stopped babbling, took a deep breath and then started speaking again. "You really want to have lunch with me?"

    "Well yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

    "Well…we never have before." I pointed out.

    His eyes sparkled with mischief. "That is because I thought you were a zombie and was afraid you might go after my brains for lunch."

    I couldn't help myself and burst out laughing. "I'm not a zombie, I promise." I usually drove to a small local restaurant about a mile away and told him so. I asked if that is where he wanted to go and he said yes. "Do you want to meet me there?" I asked assuming he would want to go in his own vehicle.

    He shook his head no and I was confused until he told me the reason why. "My car is in the shop today for inspection."

    The smile that had been slightly curving my lips just a few moments ago completely disappeared when he told me that. I closed my eyes and willed myself not to cry. Just when I thought things had been going so well, reality had stepped in and kicked my legs right out from under me. I turned to look at my car, took a deep fortifying breath; then turned back to look at Matt.

    "Well, if you want to ride with me you will have to ride in that." I said as I pointed to my car.

    I watched as his eyes turned in the direction of my car. As he looked at the car I turned to look at him, expecting to see a look of horror on his face. And if he had worn one I wouldn't have blamed him at all. That was usually the reaction I got from people when they saw what I was driving.

    Sitting at the curb in front of us was a lemon yellow Gremlin. If that wasn't bad enough there were random works of art covering up the rough spots. Sadly I thought my artwork was probably worth more than the car.

    When I looked at Matt I was surprised to find that there wasn't a look of horror on his face. Actually he was having the other kind of reaction most people had. If people didn't react with horror at the sight of my car they usually reacted with laughter. Matt hadn't actually burst out laughing, but I could see his eyes watering with the effort of holding his laughter back. Surprisingly it didn't hurt to see him laughing, and I actually found an answering smile on my face.

    "That's my ride…or your ride if you still want to go with me for lunch." I said. "I will have to warn you that you probably won't be able to hold your head with dignity if you are seen in it."

    At that he did burst into laughter. Once he had himself under control he looked at me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed like that." I waved his apology aside. "Hey, I am up for some adventure and I am hungry. Let's go get something to eat."

    We then headed to the car and I got in then leaned over and did something I probably would never do again: unlocked the passenger side door.   Matt and I headed out to my favorite place to eat; ordered and sat talking while we ate. I couldn't believe how things had gone so well this day.

Like most things in my life though, it wouldn't last.

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