Letters to the Star Whisperer

-13-

Ethan looked around. "This isn't a mall."

"We are on the street. It just up the sidewalk."

"We're going to walk?" he asked, matching the same tone of a preschooler.

Aspen narrowed her eyes. "Hey, remember when I said I would talk less if you complain less?"

"You say interesting things unlike most people," Ethan said. "But you haven't held up your end of the deal."

She started to get out. "Well, neither have you." She slammed the door, and went around. The dogs stayed in the truck, not even trying to get out. Aspen told them how good of dogs they were. She put coins in the street marker. "We have an hour and a half. That's enough time for pizza."

"We have to walk?" he asked as he got out. Aspen put a hand on her hip.

"Come on," she called for the dogs. They all jumped out of the back, and went up right to Aspen. She put leashes oh all three of them, and they started walking. Ethan could tell that this was not the first time they had gone walking.

Ethan looked up and down the sidewalk, and followed behind her. Once they actually got to the main part of Pearl Street Outdoor Mall, Ethan could see why someone like Aspen would love it.

There were cafes, Indian food, tea shops, art galleries, and arties over price clothes stores, book stores. It all for her. It was screaming Aspen.

He had never seen so many hobo but trendy looking people. He felt so plain compare to all of them. They were all interesting to look at.

He didn't think he would be friends would any of them, but he could people watch. He never saw so many people with dreadlocks.

Ethan and Aspen walked side by side, talking and laughing. People were trying to pet the dogs, but the dogs paid no attention. There was a crowd by the court house. Someone was jugging bowling pins. Ethan and Aspen stood and watch along with the crowd.

"I thought you said they were jugging fire."

She shrugged. "Still better than what I can do."

Down the street were a lot of singers, playing on their beat up guitars, drums, and even pianos. Aspen gave a five to a girl with very pale skin, hair so blonde that even her eyebrows seemed nearly invisible, and eyes so blue that it matched the sky. She smiled at Aspen and said thank you.

She would drop a few dollars here and there on the way to the pizza place. When they finally got there, the lunch rush was over. They got in line, and of course, many of the workers knew the girl named after a tree.

"Aspen! How's it going?"

"Aspen! How are you?"

"Aw, look at Stinky, I think he needs some pizza!"

"How are you guys?" Aspen said back. Some workers came around and gave the dogs a pet. One gave all three some pieces of pizza, which the dogs loved. Aspen ended up getting pineapple pizza and Ethan got plain cheese. She was about to pay, but the manager denied her money.

"Your money is no good here! On the house," he said.

"Aw, thank you," Aspen said, putting a five in the tip jar. Ethan was speechless. Once they grabbed their slice of pizza, she waved goodbye, and they walked down Pearl Street once again. They ended up finding a bench next to some bushes. They had a good view of the man jugging. He was now jugging fire, but Ethan was not that impressed. He was more impressed in how everyone had been so kind to her and even her dogs.

He only got cheese pizza because it was the cheapest. He felt bad that he had to have her pay for his meal. His father always taught him that he was the man, and he needed to pay for the woman. That he needed to protect woman, and treat them with respect. Even though he was already 30, he couldn't say that he had ever been in a serious relationship before.

Come to think of it, he couldn't even remember the last time he went on a proper date. He had had a lot of woman in his life, but he always knew they were just using him. He was using them too though. He thought that maybe there were no good woman in the world, that they were all just using him to get something. But as he was thinking about it, maybe it was him. Maybe it was just the fact that he wasn't around woman that had respect for herself.

Though, he knew if it wasn't for the fact he needed a phone right then, woke up in an alley way, and ran into Aspen, he wouldn't have looked at her twice. He watched her, just like the dogs. She was watching the person jugging. Ethan thought, She's too good for someone like me.

"How did everyone back there know you?" he asked.

"I've been going there for years. The manager, I trained his little dogs. They had a bad peeing problem. I fixed it, and possibly fixed his marriage, I'm not sure."

"So, you know people at the coffee shop, and pizza shop. You sure know a lot of people," he said, taking a bite of his pizza. "I don't understand how you can like so many people."

"Maybe if you give them a chance, you would be surprise at how many people you would like," she told him, turning her head, watching him with her doe eyes.

He just shrugged. The sun was going down, and Ethan didn't want to be in the city at night. He wanted to be at his apartment, sleeping and dreaming away last night. How could he repay the girl who had done so much for him without even been asked?

"What time do you want to get?" she asked, stilling watching the entertainer.

Ethan looked at her small hands. They were like children's hands, very weirdly short. She had chipped bright blue polish on her nails, and two rings, a moon on her right index finger, and a ring with a pearl on top on the left pinky finger. It had to be fake, but he didn't care. He didn't care that her hands weren't perfect. They looked more real, more human that way.

"Soon," he said, not caring about the person juggling ten bowling pins on fire.