Oracle

Chapter 25

Ira

A young girl sat cross-legged on a bed, fidgeting with a small bundle wrapped in tissue paper. A knock came from the other side of the door just before it was opened to reveal a shadow. When the girl did not respond he entered and claimed a seat next to her. She leaned into him with a familiarity only she was allowed. She did not fear the being that had kept her alive for so long, only that he would one day leave her.

"Aren't you going to open it?" he asked

"No"

"Why not?"

"I haven't decided if I'm still mad at you or not"

"I don't see how that stops you from opening a gift."

"If I'm mad, I don't want it, so I can't open it, but if I'm not then I can."

"Maybe knowing what it is will help you decide"

"But that would mean opening it"

He shrugged.

"No one said anything about keeping it," he said, standing to leave "but you better make up your mind soon, it has an expiration date"

The moment he walked out the door she tore the package open, her curiosity stronger than her hurt. Inside was a box of coloring pencils and a large white envelope. Setting the pencils aside she opened the envelope and looked inside. She scrunched her nose in confusion then proceeded to dump the contents of the envelope on the bed. Several scraps of paper came fluttered out. An assortment of tickets, coupons, and gift cards landed on the blanket in front of her. A smile spread across her face and joy hummed through her. Grabbing a hand full of them she ran into the hall. He was waiting for her right outside the door, leaning against the wall.

"Are these real? "She asked breathlessly

"No, they're just for looks," he told her.

She squealed and threw her arms around him.

"When can we go?"

"As soon as you get changed."

"I can do that later, these are only good for a week."

"Shoes." He said not bothering to point out her twisted logic.

She gave a frustrated huff and went into her room but soon reappeared holding a neon pink rain boot in one hand and a blue sneaker in the other. She held them up for his inspection and he raised a brow. A smile broke out across her face and she quickly shoved her feet into the footwear before grabbing one of his hands and tugging him toward a large wooden door at the end of the hall.

"Come on, time to get out of this hole"

The Nest was Mindy's second child and a dream she'd kept alive for the sake of her first. After struggling for years to keep the doors open after inheriting the dinner from her former boss, Mindy decided the only way to keep it alive was to rebrand it. So, after Emma started school, she took out a loan and renovated. And soon found her niche by catering to exhausted parents and tired students from the boarding school just five minutes out of town with discount meals and cheap, but good, coffee

Now it was the go-to for after-school activities and a haven for the everyday folk who kept different hours than the rest of the world. Doors open from 2pm to ten in the morning it traded a lunch hour rush for the families of a dinner crowd and kept its doors open for the late-nighters who were, more often than not, back in the morning for a good breakfast after their graveyard shifts. And during the midnight hours, when the breakfast-to-go bags were being prepared for everyone in a rush to get to school, a pot of Mindy's famous soup was kept warm for anyone who stumbled in drunk off their ass or just in need of a safe place to be for the night.