Amity

Chapter 2:

It was around 8 o'clock pm and John Carter could feel his hands growing stiff from all of the meticulous work he had been doing today. He wiped his hands and brow and started to pack up his tools. He blew out his waxy candles and switched the lights off. He locked the door and headed out into the tiny streets of Wintin. "Good evening Mr. Carter." John traced the direction of the call and strained to see where the sound came from. He saw a shorter figure. The figure came into the light of the street posts.
"Well Don Henry how the hell are you?" John extends his hand out and in return he gets a strong shake from a man named Don Henry.
"I've been doing well John. I'm married now and have three children." Don says. "But I didn't come down here to brag about all of that no, I came to check out ol' Huckley's. You're old mans shop. I hear your running it now and I was hoping to maybe I don't know, buy like a chair or somethin." The two old friends chuckle and look at the old faded sign that's labelled Huckley's. It's a green font with a yellow trim. He always thought the yellow trim was ugly and weirdly placed but it was Georgia, his old love, who insisted that she paint it yellow so she didn't seem useless when he decided to move into the shop. That's when they were goin' steady. He shook the memory out of his crowded brain and returned to his old acquaintance. "So how bout that chair?" repeats Don.
"Ah I don't think so Don. Closed about a half hour ago." John said with slight humor in his voice turning to Don. Don hung his head and let out a laugh. Well kind of a snort.
"You haven't changed John Carter. Not one bit. And that's what I like about you. You always stay level. You never hear about you goin out on a tangent and wrecking your life. Say, you still seeing Miss Georgia?" Asks Don curiously. John's heart sinks and looks into Don's eyes.
"No. We broke it off about five or six years ago."
"Oh shit bud I didn't know. I'm sorry. I didn't kn-"
"Nah don't worry about it Don. It's just high school. Not anything you can take to heart you know?" John says not believing a word he's saying.
"I don't think so. You loved her. And by God she loved you too. A lot. You could see it in her eyes. What even happened between y'all? I mean if you don't mind my asking." John considered it. He just decided to tell Don. About the engagement and how he think he rushed it too soon. And that they haven't really spoken since the breakup. "Holy shit that is some serious talent right there pal. Being able to avoid each other in this tiny town." Don laughed and John tried to chime in too but couldn't. "Listen Johnny, I don't think you rushed anything to be honest. You were goin' steady four years. It made sense to propose and, especially because y'all loved each other." John looked to his feet trying to believe Don.
"Well Don it was good seeing ya. We'll have to get a drink sometime."
"For sure. Mustang Sue's? I hear he's selling somethin like twelve different types of beers." Don repeats enthusiastically.
"You know I don't usually like going there. It's too busy. How about Killie's?" John confirms. Now it's Don's turn to stare in John's eyes. He shakes his head yes and they shake hands again. John walks away and for the second time heads into the quaint streets of Wintin.

When John gets home it's quiet and dark. He lights some candles and grabs a cold beer from his fridge. He sits on his old armchair that has holes in the arms. He grabs his newspaper and reads the headlines that pop out. As he reads, he becomes bored by the girl scouts, the baseball teams, and the opening of the new little flower shop. He groans and throws the paper onto the messy coffee table. He chugs down his beer and begins to drift off...

He's in high school again. He's playing on his old baseball team with his team. He's in center field waiting for the ball to pop up right into his battered ball glove. He glances over at the bleachers where he sees numbers of kids from his school watching with glee and satisfaction. He sees Georgia. An angel staring right at him with her beautiful eyes and essence. He misses the ball and it lands in front of him. He looks over at Georgia and she's giggling. He sends her a fake angry face and quickly drills the ball to home base. The catcher catches the ball and the umpire calls the runner out. The game finishes and Georgia runs to John with a smile and jumps into his arms and starts kissing him on his dusty cheeks. When he is about to kiss her on the lips, John wakes up.