s o l o m o n

s i x

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The day felt still. All the noise from the busy streets outside the shop had muted out. She was closed off from the world outside. The rest of Soledad carrying on with their normal day, just as she had before she found her grandfather's cane, tucked behind the counter downstairs in the shop. It was nestled in the crevice where the wall met the counter, not visible to anyone unless they were standing in Yusa's spot. It had stuck out to her, as obvious as the Sun in the sky, while she frantically checked through both levels of her shop and home.

Her wish that perhaps her grandfather had simply decided to head off somewhere still persisted in her mind as she had searched. Regardless of how unlikely it seemed that Ciro Yokazi would leave his shop, front door unlocked and the windows open, while his granddaughter wasn't there to watch over everything, Yusa still had that hope. What affirmed her fears, what cut through the small semblance of optimism she still harbored, like an arrow soaring through ribbons of smoke, was his cane.

There was not a sliver of a chance that the older man had decided to walk off without it, he couldn't get very far even when he was using the cane let alone if it was abandoned. Had it been anyone else who discovered the scene, or lack thereof, might have made the assumption the geezer had just taken a stroll, or he'd gone out to eat. Anyone else, that is, who didn't know Ciro as his granddaughter did. The front door was unlocked, the windows were open, no one was present in the shop to look after things. He was too conscientious, too much of a stickler for his own rules to leave the door unlocked without either he or his granddaughter around to take care of things.

The cane was what solidified her fears. All her worry, her dread at what might have happened while she was away, was corporealized once she'd laid her eyes on the cane. Yusa sat, perched on the stool her and her grandfather shared when they manned the cash register, the cane clutched horizontally in both her hands. Just as if she carried a sword, the wooden body felt heavy, dangerous.

There was no telling how long Yusa sat there, unmoving. Willing her thoughts to lay dormant, she restrained them from venturing anywhere that would force her to imagine what might have happened to her grandfather. She didn't want to think of that, not right now. She had yet to cry. Though she was aware it would come at some point, something would break the dam and tears would course down her face with no chance of stopping, that point was not now. In a way, she was thankful she hadn't immediately burst into a crying mess but rather, the exact opposite.

The hours crept past, Yusa knew this, but she had no certainty as to how long she had been sitting in that spot. Her eyes had found their way to the dragon's head, the handgrip of the cane. The emerald eyes twinkled in the evening Sun, the deep orange light piercing into the open windows of the shop, bathing everything in its glow. Was it still the same day? Or another? Had hours passed? Or minutes?

The sound of the bell, what was once a benign jingle that signified business for the repair shop, now felt malignant, full of malice. It taunted her, mocked her with the illusion of a normal business day. She broke away from her stupor.

"I know we just made some earlier today, but I brought over a different batch. I figured you and the geezer wouldn't want cold buns if you know what I mean." Hyx carried in a small wooden box, a pastry box used for deliveries that was line with padded cloth on the inside, as the door closed behind him. "I know I wouldn't like cold buns, if you know what I mean," he repeated himself, saying the past part in a lower murmur like he was hinting at something, wearing the familiar light-hearted smile that seemed to be the natural state of his expression.

That expression soon disappeared once Hyx had adjusted to the sight of his closest friend. He was suddenly no longer easy-going, setting the small wooden pastry box on the counter, he stepped around the barrier to Yusa. "What's wrong? Why are you holding that?"