The Apple Shed

Cinnamon and Sugary

I had met him while I had been out shopping in Beverly Hills as a small treat to myself for having it made to a degree. It came to me completely unexpectedly, and yet I was more than willing to roll with it in the end. He was something new to me, and I was ready to begin a whole new adventure, anyway. However, I had no idea that I would be caught up in the midst of something else once I got to know him, and something that I never would have believed could ever happen to me of all people.

I was ready to start school up at Cal-Tech as an undergrad working for a meteorology degree and achieving such a position was no easy feat for me. Though I had found my way there all because of my desire to watch the weather and feel closer to Mother Earth, I still found the hoops to jump through rather difficult, between the essays and the fact that I had to dig up a few old test scores from yesteryear, I had to do something to get my ass in gear and into one of the most prestigious schools in the country. I had been told that, in a world such as this, I needed to pull up my bootstraps and roll up them sleeves as well.

I was your standard young woman who had found her way to Tinseltown all because of some smart moves on the part of the people around her, but you would never guess that I had gotten there by my own leisure rather than a desire for career. 

It's your funeral, they told me with their eyes wide and their hands clammy. Nevertheless, I learned to hold my head up high.

We all could do it at that point, however. I wasn't running from something, but I wanted a challenge of sorts. I wanted something new, a move to greener pastures, something to tickle my mind and my fancy as we all thumbed our way through this strange thing called life.

I had the money in my pocket and the belt right under my protruding belly because I figured I loved to eat, and the filmy black top around my green camisole to accentuate my body against the amber autumnal sunlight, and the sunglasses upon my face, and I strode about the street with my bag slung over my shoulder. I wore my bracelet with my name engraved on one side which my mother gave to me for one Christmas because I knew that people would want to get to know me. School wouldn't start for another week or so, but I was settling into the area. To feel the sun on my face and the wind at my back among other things.

My family had originally hailed straight out from Los Angeles, but I hadn't lived there since I was a toddler: rather, I grew up down south in San Diego, and I was eager to be in the place due north up the California coastline, instead. It was all home to me, nevertheless: the blood spilled where the ocean salts whisked away and pressed downward into the earth below.

It was a warm day there in the City of Angels, the last truly warm day for the next several weeks: following this September, we were looking at a round of hearty rain to usher in the autumn followed by the winter for real that time. They say it never rains in L.A., but when it does, it's always a major deal and it's always a thing of hilarity for those who hail from elsewhere. I could go on, but I would rather not.

I reached the corner and there stood a little Mexican market across the pavement from me. I was in the mood for a cup of horchata and some fresh produce, after all: something nice to tithe me over until I found my way down to Rodeo Drive and everything upscale. I had the money now. I could do it.

I crossed the street once the light turned green, and I soon reached the corner opposite me. A tall boy with shaggy blond hair down to his waist there at the doorway peered back at me with a little smile and a little scruffy goatee on his face. He wore these ragged denim blue coveralls over a green plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of scuffed black leather boots: a sight you don't see often, especially in the upscale part of Los Angeles, either. A farm boy in a big city.

He handed me a handheld basket as he took one for himself.

"Thank you," I told him as I took off my sunglasses before I entered the market.