Crossed Keys

Chapter One - Dash

"Hey!" Someone hollered as I whizzed by them on my bike.

"Kho tod!" I tossed over my shoulder.

Jumping the sidewalk, I sped along until a crowd of people forced me back onto the road. I zigzagged through pedestrians, them dancing out of the way and bumping into each other.

I didn't bother apologizing—they shouldn't be walking in the road to begin with.

A little distance away I turned down a dirt path with grass on both sides.

Sand kicked up behind me. Loose earth shifted under the wheels, but I was used to it. I knew how to handle the cracks and pebbles as I sped along the route back toward my home by the water.

Pumping my legs faster, I lifted my ass off the seat as I hit a small trench in the way and took a little air. I didn't sit until I landed on the other side.

I didn't slow down either.

"Dash!" My closest neighbour called. "Do you have any fish left over from the day."

"Sorry!" I called. "I can save you one for tomorrow."

"Two!"

"Got it!"

Twisting around a curve in the path, I broke out onto a paced road but that was only to cross it before dipping down a small embankment and onto another dirt path.

It wasn't really a road—but my roommate and I had been cutting through the path for so long, the grass grew on both sides, giving us a path to ride as a shortcut home.

Arriving at the house, I dropped my bag on the first step then ducked under the house and started stripping down. Naked, I wash the day off me—fish scales, sweat and everything that came with fishing for half the day, then gutting fish and frying them for the rest.

That was one of the rules with having Film as my roommate. If we were filthy, we ash off in the shower under the house before we enter the actual house.

Though the stream was weak, I stood there, lather my hair with the soap sitting on the small outcropping. Once I quickly did my body, I rinsed, yanked down my towel and dried and slipped my feet into my slippers.

When I was finally in the house, I stopped long enough to stick the only fish I saved for myself into the fridge. When I had some time later, I would season it and put it back in the fridge for the weekend. Rinsing my hands in the sink, I grabbed a snack and a bottle of juice and darted into my room.

I started my computer, set up my snacks then hauled on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. My only pause was to take a few cleansing breaths.

I was right on time to log into the chat.

The day's exhaustion was but a memory and the happiness of what was about to happen pulsed through me like a comforting wave.

I shoved a chip into my mouth just as a notification pinged at the bottom of my screen. A smile instantly crossed my lips and every bad thing that had happened that day vanished.

Exhaling, I clicked on it.

"How was your day?" Was the message.

"Long." I replied. "Same as always. The best news is, it didn't rain. Cooked anything wonderful today?"

"Of course. A friend of mine I met a few years ago in England sent me his recipe for jerk chicken. It was his mother's recipe and he swore me to secrecy."

"Wow." I grinned. "Sounds like he trusts you."

"How so?"

"I don't share my mother's recipe for chicken soup with no one." I told him. "Well, maybe if one day I was to get married. I'd share it with my husband and later my children so it stays alive."