SPECTRAL

Chapter 8

 Working at a local coffee shop never was one of Noah's aspirations. To be honest, he never really thought about his aspirations. But that didn't matter, all that mattered is that Noah has a job.

When Noah was walking around the town looking for a job, the cozy coffee shop drew him in. Maybe it was the welcoming scent, maybe it was the colorful exterior, or maybe it was the warm atmosphere that wafted around the shop. But as soon as he saw the now hiring sign hanging delicately on a window he knew he had to apply.

The manager was more than happy to hire Noah after he applied for the job and he was welcomed with open arms. He had expected to dislike his job, he had hated his old job. But as soon as his first shift was done, he had a smile on his face. He loved it.

Josh laughed at Noah when he came home skipping and humming a catchy song. "I'm guessing you enjoyed it."

Claire scoffed, "Look at him, of course, he enjoyed it. Unless he met someone." She nudged him as she added, "But we all know Noah doesn't think about that stuff."

Joey chimed in, "What stuff?"

"You're too young."

"Excuse you but I'm older than you. If you recall, you died in 1950 and I died in 1792."

Claire cussed under her breath as Josh guffawed at Joey's response. Noah shook his head at the three, his smile growing wider. Finally, he responded, "I loved it! I hope the job stays the same, I wish my old job was like this."

Mildred chose that moment to intervene, "It has a good salary, right? You need to make sure that you can afford to live in this apartment and all the other expenses of living."

"Mildred you worry too much."

"I worry just enough, thank you very much!" Her icy blue eyes narrowed at Noah.

"Sure, sure." He turned to the others, "Anyways I was thinking we could head to the park. I saw some really nice flowers there on my way to work and I really wanted to draw them. So who's up for it?"

"Noah, we are dead. There's not much we can do other than follow you around when you aren't busy or around others."

---

Sometimes Noah wondered how peculiar he looked when he spoke to his friends in public. He didn't do it too much if he could help it, and he had gotten pretty good at claiming he was just talking to himself if anyone asked.

Currently, Noah was sitting on a bench. Mildred and Joey were sitting beside him while Claire and Josh were entertaining Charley. A worn sketchbook sat in Noah's lap as he drew vigorously in it with his pencil. Mildred watched with mild interest and Joey kept asking questions.

The flowers that Noah was drawing were truly beautiful. The local park had a wide variety of flowers to draw, but what drew Noah's attention were the daisies. Maybe the flower wasn't grand and colorful, but Noah didn't care. For as long as he can remember, Noah always enjoyed the simplicity of the daisy. He loved how the stark white contrasted with the dark green of the foliage. Here, the daisies were planted in a way that brought out their beauty.

Noah looked back up at his reference, his brown eyes sparkling with delight. In the corner of his eye, he could see many people. There were plenty of families with their children. But there was one kid that stood out from the others. He was small and dark skinned, but that wasn't what caught Noah's attention. It was the fact that there were no parents present that resembled the boy.

He paused his drawing as he looked around. And there seemed to be no one that knew the boy besides some of the other children. Why was he alone? After a minute of mulling it over and the questioning looks from Mildred and Joey, Noah shrugged his shoulders and continued drawing. It wasn't his problem.

---

Noah truly adores his job. When he was in the coffee shop he was a different person. But he didn't mind. Currently, Noah was preparing two expressos for an older couple.

The chatter of the customers filled his ears and caused him to grin. Everything was funnier without context, and there was a lot of instances where he had no context here.

"I'm saying this as nicely as I can, but you are utterly pathetic."

"The color red is really deep if you think about it. It symbolizes the eternal struggle between passion and rage"

"I don't know about you, but squids are absolutely phenomenal."

"Where is he? Since he's always late I told him to meet us here fifteen minutes ago since he always shows up ten minutes late. So where is he?"

"So I read a fact somewhere that 56% of people that have the internet have googled themselves. I can proudly say that I am one of them and I was not disappointed."

"School is like the aunt you never wanted."

Yes, the chatter of customers made the job even better. Noah was almost done with the two expressos when his brown eyes fell onto the store window. At first, he looked away within seconds, but then is gaze snapped back to the window. The boy walking by was familiar. It was the boy from the park, and once again he had no parents with him. Unease grew in Noah's chest.

The boy couldn't be older than ten. There was no good reason that he should be walking in this part of town alone. His mind went into overdrive until he was snapped out of his thoughts by a new customer entering the store, causing the bell to let out a warm ring. Shaking his head, Noah focused his attention back on the expressos he was making. It wasn't his problem, but why did it feel like it was?

---

"I'm worried." Were the first words to leave Noah's mouth as he returned from work. His friends all looked at him with confusion dancing in their eyes.

A small frown was etched on Mia's face as Mildred nervously replied, "I thought you enjoyed your job, so why would you be worried?"

"I'm not worried about the job, that's going great, I'm worried about this kid I keep seeing around town. I've been seeing him for weeks now. He'll be at the park, walking around the town, in the library, and sometimes even playing near our- my apartment." Mildred was about to cut him off but he shot her a glare, "The thing is, he never has any adults around. No parents, siblings, or other guardians. He is always alone."

Josh, being logical for once, said, "Maybe his parents are just busy. I know mine hardly had time for me due to their work schedules."

Noah wasn't convinced and the worry in his chest did not go away. But he let it go.

Mia chirped, "Anyways, did you hear anything funny from one of the customers today?" She always knew how to lighten the mood.

A smile grew on Noah's face as he responded happily, "Oh yes! There was this man that apparently loves cheese so much. He said something along the lines of 'I'm going to die anyway, so I might as well consume all the cheese I can before that happens.'"

Joey laughed at that, eyes crinkled in happiness, "But why eat all the cheese if you could just eat a lot of cookie dough?"

"That's what I thought!"

Mildred sighed, "Why are you like this? I thought you were raised better than this."

"Considering I grew up around Josh and Joey, I think it's a miracle I am still alive. I mean, have you seen them? Compared to those two I'm an angel!"

"Hey!" Two voices chorused in unison.

"Oh shush, you know it's true."

Mia decided to comment, "I've only known you two for a short while but I can wholeheartedly say that Noah is not wrong."

The two boys, one a young adult and the other a child, turned to the brown-haired girl and glared at her. She raised her hands in mock surrender as Josh retorted, "It's not like you are any better!"

"I never said I was!"