Sigh, Alaska: a short story novel

Alyssa King

"Shhh. Gotta be quiet. Gotta be quiet. Shhh."

"Yes, shhh. You're being too loud Daphne! You have to tiptoe to the bathroom. Oh God, I'm going to vomit."

"Shhh. Don't wake anyone up. Gotta be quiet."

Alyssa King rolled over in bed and groggily opened her eyes. The voices outside her door erupted into giggles and she knew sleep would elude her for the next little while. Alyssa also knew she would have a better chance of getting three more hours before work if she helped the two hellion girls sober up and in to bed. Left to their own devices, who knew how long it might take?

She crawled out of bed, and found her pink fuzzy slippers. Alyssa supposed just because she was in a temporary living space didn't mean she shouldn't have the creature comforts of a home.

Stepping out into the hallway, she followed the sound of the giggles into the bathroom next to her room and sighed. Looking at the scene, Lacy had removed her shirt and pants and appeared to have vomited what looked like two bottles of red wine down her front. Luckily, she was sprawled in the tub and her mess was generally contained. Daphne put her whole head in the toilet and was making throaty sounds in between upheavals and laughing at the echoing sound.

"Ladies, I see you've made it back. Are you ready for bed?" Alyssa asked in her most brisk and professional voice.

Looking the two girls over, Alyssa decided right there she never wanted to have to deal with this again. She knew she'd have to survive the winter with these two idiot girls, but once the winter was over she was never coming back.

Sure, she'd made that promise for a few years now, and each September found herself lugging her luggage up the steps to the Northern Lights Hostel in Anchorage, Alaska. Six years, she'd been wintering at the hostel and for the last three she'd promised she wouldn't be back.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy her time or her memories there. Really, living at the hostel during the winter had been dreadfully convenient, if a little rowdy at times. The fact is, even though the people changed every year it was the closest thing she'd felt to family since her parents left her behind. At twenty-nine, Alyssa had spent the better part of her twenties at the hostel. During the summer, she'd go north, work at a hotel or some other tourist related chore and save up her money. She liked the life, and it had suited her sense of travel and exploration. On her days off she'd back pack through Denali Park or head south and hop on a boat to fish for some halibut. She liked seeing the smaller towns like Kodiak, Yukatat, and St. Petersburg. Some places you could only get to by boat or plane. She didn't fancy the idea of living there, but in one of those nooks or corners of Alaska, she felt her parent's presence and that was enough.

Alyssa didn't grow up in Alaska, but her parents met in the icy cold tundra. When they died in a three-car accident when she was eighteen, Alyssa decided she'd go searching for the magic her parent's had always talked about. She bounced around for a little, trying to find her place in the world, convinced she would never find a home away from her parents. At twenty three, she finally made the journey up north and never looked back.

"Shhh," Daphne shout-whispered into the toilet bowl. "Gotta be quiet!"

"What is all this?" A voice asked from behind Alyssa. She turned around and saw Marlene standing there, sleep still in her eyes and none too pleased to be out of bed at two in the morning. Again.

"It looks like Lacy needs a bath and Daphne was trying to empty her stomach. I'm pretty sure she's done. I've been watching them for the last few minutes, but they need some water and to get into bed." replied Alyssa. Marlene nodded sagely.

"Alright, I'll grab Daphne. You get Lacy."

"You hear that, ladies?" said Alyssa. "We're going to help you get to bed. Lacy, go ahead and take off your bra. We're going to wash you down real quick."

"You take off your bra!" Lacy snarled back. "You can't touch this!" she sang and covered her chest with her hands. Her grip changed quickly and she ripped the cups of her bra to the sides, her large breasts spilling out.

Alyssa nearly sighed but held it in. Luckily the shower had an extendable showerhead, and so after turning on and letting the water heat up, she let the water run over Lacy's body.

"It looks like I bled all over myself." Lacy giggled. "I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding!" She cackled like the Wicked Witch of the West, if the Wicked Witch of the West was drunk.

There was a time when Alyssa would have laughed at these shenanigans. She thought that time wasn't even too long ago. Two years ago, maybe? But tonight she just wanted to go to sleep and make sure she was to work on time in the morning. She had found a temporary position as an accountant, and while it wasn't scintillating work, it paid the bills and put some extra in the bank. Being a temp job, she knew the employers were looking for any reason to find fault with her and thus the company she was hired through, so she certainly didn't want to give them one.

"Hey, Alyssa. Hey, watch this!" Lacy pulled her breasts up and pushed both of her nipples into her own mouth at the same time. "My boobs are so big I can suck on my nipples!" She exclaimed on release with a wet smack. "Can you do that?"

"I'm, I'm not sure. Haven't really tried."

"I bet you can. Look at those melons hanging low." Lacy replied and started flicking at Alyssa's nipples. "Try it. Lemme see!"

"Not tonight, Lacy." Not ever, you drunk bitch, Alyssa added to herself. "Let's get you up and dried off and into bed."

She looked over at the progress of Marlene and Daphne and sighed. While Daphne was just a little slip of a thing at five feet and two inches and barely ninety pounds, she seemed to have regressed. She sat in the corner of the bathroom, crying with her head between her legs, her arms pounding on the floor.

"Daphne you're fine. You're just drunk and tired. Let's get you to bed." Marlene said softly.

"I don't want to go to bed!" Daphne yelled back. She looked over at Lacy and said, "Let's go make snow angels!"

"Daphne, honey, there isn't enough snow to make snow angels. Whatever fell this morning has already melted." Marlene replied before Lacy could answer. "Can you stand up for me?"

"No one is ever going to love me." Daphne continued to cry. "I'm never going to find anyone to love me."

Alyssa caught Marlene's eye and in that moment, they understood one another. Deciding to switch girls, Marlene dragged Lacy out of the tub and started drying her off, sitting her down on the toilet. Alyssa grabbed Daphne by the arms and pulled her up.

Daphne was still crying. "Shhhh! Gotta be quiet!" She repeated between sobs.

Marlene led Lacy out of the bathroom and down the hall to her room. "Do you want the top or bottom bunk, honey?" Marlene asked quietly. Luckily, the two girls were the only ones to share their room. If they had roommates they probably wouldn't have made through this week, Marlene thought to herself.

Poor little Daphne, thought Marlene. She knew every time Daphne got drunk like this, (third time this week) that Howard boy would sneak his way into her room and have his way with her. He knew she wouldn't say no. Marlene looked over at Lacy and knew Howard hadn't tried to mess with her. She also knew that if Howard tried anything on her, she'd probably scream until God himself came to see just what the problem was.

"I don't need you to put me to bed Marlene. I can take care of myself. Gah! Why doesn't anyone just let me take care of myself? I'm not a baby!" Lacy yelled at Marlene the whole time she hobbled her way up into the top bunk, plopping down on her stomach.

She turned her face to Marlene. "Thanks for helping us." Lacy added in a softer voice. "Gotta be quiet."

Marlene nodded and moved out of the way, as Alyssa brought Daphne in the room. Daphne's tears had dried up and her face while puffy, seemed still. "Let's lay down now, okay?"

"Don' wan t' ever see 'im again." Daphne muttered in a drunken sleepy slur as she crawled under her covers.

Closing the door, Alyssa followed Marlene out of their room. Going back to the room the two women shared, their hands linked. "I'm never doing another winter in a hostel." Alyssa affirmed.

"You did good putting those girls away, but I don't blame you."

"I was those girls once. I know what it's like to be young and have fun but God; I'm just too old for this now." Alyssa glanced over at Marlene. "No offense."

"Oh girl, none taken. If I'd known this is what hostel life was really like, I would have sprung for a roommate situation. "

As they passed one of the living rooms, they passed Howard who was passed out on a couch. No sleeping on the couches was another rule, but after the drama they just faced with the girls, Marlene and Alyssa kept walking, leaving him undisturbed.

"Maybe we should just move out on our own." Alyssa offered as she took her hand back and opened the door to their room.

Marlene followed her in, and shut the door.

"Honestly, I don't know how much more of this I can take. I know we should just let Richard take care of it, but they are young and I don't want to ruin their fun." Marlene confessed.

"Yeah I know. If I hadn't been in situations like that more times than I care to count, then I would agree with telling Richard. Anyway, this is my last winter here, so I just want to make the most of it. I mean, what's one more winter, right?"

Marlene and Alyssa crawled into their respective beds and settled in. Even though it was nearing four in the morning, Alyssa was sure she could get as much sleep as she could.

Trying to calm her mind to go back to sleep, she started thinking about Anchorage as an actual place to live. Which neighborhoods would she prefer? What could she afford? After six years in a hostel, could she handle living on her own?

When sleep finally claimed her, she could have sworn she heard Marlene sigh to herself, "Shhhh. Gotta be quiet. Gotta be quiet."

One Year Later

Alyssa pulled up to her covered parking spot, turned off the engine and laid her head against the steering wheel. She did it. She actually found her own place. It actually wasn't too far from the Northern Lights Hostel; just a mile or so away.

She never could have predicted how the winter would have turned out, but she knew her and Lee moving in together the following summer was the right decision. They were both professionals looking for something a little more stable and a little less crowded than the hostelling life. For the first time in since her parents had passed, Alyssa was happy to have a place to call home.

Alyssa would never forget her time spent there, but as she walked up the stairs to her new home, she was very certain she would never be going back. There would be no more cleaning up other people's vomit at three am and no more craziness in general. There would be classy parties with people who could hold their wine with cheese, and outings to see the minor league baseball team have their asses handed to them. There would be quiet nights in with a friend, popcorn that wasn't burned, and late night TV. She learned so many life lessons at that hostel, but perhaps the most important was how to take care of herself.