The Green Hills

Star of the County Greenhill

The train dropped us off where we got on. Hansel was surely a character I'd like to see again. It was only mid-afternoon so we had a good bit of time to spend at the beach. This beach had sand that was closer to rounded off gravel than sand, but it still absorbed the heat and provided a nice warm surface to lay on.

"John", she just lay next to me holding my hand for hours. Few words were exchanged until she said that.

"Yeah?" I turned my head toward her. She was silent for what seemed like a minute. The sun was starting to go down, had it really been that long?

"I have to say, I think I've done my job well. You seem really happy here."

"You've done your job very well, ya know. Ever since that first time you appeared, or 'broke in' to my dreams. Well, in my mind you never left. Ya know it's quite nice to have someone with the beauty of a goddess gracing their dreams", she squeezed my hand a little tighter, I couldn't really tell with the dim lighting and all, but I thought she was blushing.

"I love you", I could barely hear her over the sound of the waves lightly kissing the shoreline.

"I've never had the most luck, with girls, and I'm usually really hesitant, but now I can see. I love you too Delia and I always will", I felt her lips on mine, the kiss seemed to last forever.

"I'm several hundred years old and I've never had much luck either, but right now, and ever since the day you were born I knew you'd be one for me" she said after she broke the kiss.

"I've always liked older women", this sent her into a fit of laughter.

"Hey, I'm not that old for a vampire", she giggled.

"Should we go and get some grub?" I was getting a little hungry, maybe she was too.

"Yeah, there's a pretty good place in Milton", I assumed Milton was the town where the lumber mill was in. That would make sense.

"Well, let's go", I stood up and helped her up off the gravelly sand. We walked back up the path to where she parked the truck. When we got to the truck what little bit of sun there was had left and now the moon was the only source of light. I followed Delia closely as she could see quite well in the dark.

The drive to Milton didn't take long, considering the car went about three times faster than the train this wasn't surprising. Milton wasn't much different from Greenhill besides the looming smokestacks of the Greenhill Materials Milton lumber mill. Greenhill Materials owned most of the major industries in the area and was a big reason why the government owned rail system was in such good condition on most of the local routes.

"So this is the place", she turned off the engine and opened her door. I followed her into the restaurant, a couple dozen people were at the bar drinking and the place was pretty full.

"Seems nice." It had a bit of a lumber town feel to it, after all it was a lumber town. Before I moved to the city the area north of me was all timber country. Giant redwoods grew tall, and for many years timber was the economy of the region. But with more EPA regs, and lots of protesting that area fell into ruin. Milton seemed to be thriving with the mill still sawing away.

"Can I help you? Oh hey Delia, how are you?" Hmm, the waitress knew her? The waitress was pretty short almost like a elf, in this world wouldn't be surprising if she was one. I had seen a few.

"I'm doing alright, this is John, he's my partner, so how are you Mary?", the waitress lead us to a table.

"I'm doing pretty good, so is he your romantic partner?" Delia nodded at Mary's question.

"Hello, nice to meet you Mary", I reached out my hand and Mary shook it.

"Nice to meet you to John, now take care of her for me", she pulled out her order pad.

"I got that covered", I chuckled.

"So what would you like to order for supper?" I looked at the menu and settled on a big plate of pasta. It was cheaper than getting two.

"We'll have some of the vegetarian pasta, and I'd like a side of steak", the black haired vampire knew me well. Turns out even after that terrible encounter a few months ago I still was a vegetarian, because well, I just never ate meat.

"Can I have some Rivertown lager?" That was now my drink of choice, I still remember that one time Delia got super hammered.

"I'll have some of that too", Mary left and returned a minute later with two mugs and a pitcher of my favorite beer.

"I'll be back with the rest of your order in about twenty minutes", Mary then went off to go help the next customer.

"Hey how are ya'll doing? Ya'll a couple now?" That voice belonged to the train man who took us on that trip earlier. Hansel.

"Yup, thanks for letting us on the train earlier," I was happy to see him again. He pulled up a chair next to us.

"No prob kid, I was quite impressed with your driving skills earlier and I'd like to offer you a job as a senior engineer of the Greenhill Materials Company", I had wanted a railroad job my entire life and now one was being offered right in front of me.

"I'll take it", he reached his hand out and I shook it. A deal was made, one that I had wanted for so long. Now I had both of my dream jobs.

"Well, you can start monday, it's a four day a week or on call job so you'll be working thirty-six hours a week on average, but we're flexible with hours if you have anything coming up".

"Can do sir."

"Just call me Hansel, see ya on monday eight o'clock sharp and don't be late", he then got up and went to the bar to get his drink. Delia just smiled sitting across from me.

"Seems like today just keeps getting better and better", I just looked at Delia's blue eyes. They were blue like the water that irrigated the crops, and her hair, long black like the night.

"Yeah, I have to say so far today has been one of the best days of my life." A few minutes later Mary came by with the large plate of pasta and Delia's steak. It was chow time. While we were eating we didn't talk much. The pasta had cheese and a homemade marinara sauce which was quite delicious.

Not to make it sound like virtually every romance movie ever, but there was this one long noodle that we somehow both got at the same time, and we gave each other a quick kiss after realizing it was connected. But, no need to describe that scene more because you all have probably seen a dozen times.

"Want to come over to my place?" We had finished our dinner, Mary had given us a little discount which was nice on my wallet. Farming costed a lot of money.

"Yeah sure, want me to drive?" She shook her head, I opened the door for her though. I still had yet to see Delia's house. I knew she didn't live in Greenhill, she lived in Black Hollow, I think. She started the truck up and sped off down the road, she drove a bit like my uncle, fast, aggressively, but somehow she never got in trouble.

It took about twenty minutes, and it was almost ten when we got to her place. I expected it to look something like a victorian mansion, but it was a simple cottage in the woods. It wasn't big or extravagant, it was small, and like my home, it was simple.

"Welcome to my humble abode", she unlocked the door and turned the lights on once she got inside. There was a couch, a coffee table, a small kitchen, and a few doors, which probably led to one or two bedrooms as well as a bathroom. Basically it was just an average quaint two bedroom house.

"It's a nice place", she nodded.

"Yeah, I've spent a lot of years here." She sat down on the couch and I sat down next to her.

"I bet", well, it was the end of the day, and there wasn't much to do. The rest of the night was a blur, things happened.

That day, it was one of my lazy days. Not much happened, I just spent it with her. That day I realized she was the woman I loved and that it would never change. My feelings wouldn't stay the same, they would grow like the trees in the orchard, like the rice in the fields, our love would grow stronger day by day, minute by minute.