Woven Alt. Story

December 3rd, 2014

Keyni pulled his thick scarf up to his nose once more, it fell just moments ago from a cutting gust of wind. It was night, bad enough it was winter. He was coming from his brother's house, it wasn't this cold when he left, but he lives far from his brother. The collar of his coat was pushed up to protect the back of his neck more than the scarf was. Keyni coughed, stumbling slightly, he bumped into someone, instinctively apologized and continued walking. The person he bumped into had stopped and watched him for a moment. Keyni coughed more, falling into the side of a building when someone grabbed him by the side and pulled him to the other's warm body. He coughed into his scarf once more before looking up at the tall person holding him. It was a man, his blonde hair sprouted from the front of the beanie he wore and stuck straight up. His skin was a beautiful dark brown and had a thick scar?, on the bridge of his nose, a pale brown shade. His eyes seemed to glow yellow in the light of the moon. He was broad and wore a black coat with dark blue jeans and workmans boots. Keyni continued coughing as he was pulled by the man into a building.

"Are you alright? It is too cold to be walking around at night. You might catch a cold." The man spoke with a low voice filled with concern.

"Y-yes, thank you." Keyni spoke, confused as to why the guy cared so much about a stranger and where he was taken. It was dark but looked like a coffee shop? The man walked over to the wall and turned on the light switch. The light showed Keyni that he was indeed in a coffee shop, the Coffee Leaf to be specific, the coffee shop he gets his coffee from on his way to college. But he doesn't remember ever seeing this man here, is he the owner? Keyni coughed small into his scarf once more and the man spoke again.

"Would you like something to drink? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate?" He asked as he removed his coat. Under the coat was a maroon red hoodie with the initials JK embroidered in the front on the left breast. Keyni wondered what they stood for.

"I'm okay, I have to get home, my dog-" Keyni spoke with a raspy voice before coughing. The man walked over to him concerned and rubbed Keyni's back comfortingly.

"I'll make you some hot chocolate, then drive you home. You're getting sick and it is too cold to go out there alone. How far away do you live?" the man asked, walking behind the counter, turning on the burner as he pushed his sleeves up and grabbed milk from the fridge. Keyni sat down at one of the tables and breathed into his scarf some.

"I live over on fifth, in the apartment complex next to-" Keyni coughed again before continuing. "Next to the general store." Keyni huffed into his scarf and pushed it up to his cold nose again, to warm it. The man nodded and began to mix the chocolate with the milk and placed it in a small sauce pot on the burner. It reminded Keyni of how his mom would make cocoa for him when he was younger. Breaking the silence, the man spoke.

"My name is Jasper." The name sounded familiar to Keyni. He began to try and remember exactly why it was so familiar to him. As Jasper moved around the back of the counter, Keyni began to think of where he had heard that name before.

~

"Wait up!" Keyni shouted to the boy running from her. The boy said he wanted to show Keyni something, so Keyni followed him. The boy she followed was much faster than Keyni and appeared to enjoy the act of running. Keyni, on the other hand, did not enjoy the exercise. The boy came to a halt and pointed at the ground. Keyni huffed as she finally caught up to the boy. He was beaming, clearly very proud of whatever it was he found. Keyni walked up next to the boy and looked at what he was pointing at. A flower?

"It's called a rose." The boy said. Keyni crouched down to look closer at it. The boy crouched beside her, staring at Keyni.

"It's so pretty." Keyni smiled looking to the boy. The boy stood fast with a sudden serious face. Keyni's smile faded as she watched the boy.