Inadvertent Destiny #001 - Island
A story about an unwanted destiny with a big responsibility part #001
ISLAND
The jingle of the bell at the doorway alerted the salesperson to the entrance of a new customer. Eleanor’s grocery store was the only one in the entire community that had virtually everything anyone could need, whatever the people couldn’t find at Eleanor’s they had to go into the city to find it. The store was owned by the Grey family- Eleanor and Emery Grey had been running it for the past nineteen years, they were both the town’s sweethearts, no one had a bad word to say of them. They did good business in the town, and their three kids were very well behaved. Eleanor smiled at the new customer as she was wont to do whenever anyone walked into the store, “Hello” she greeted the tall lady. She noticed immediately that she wasn’t one of the town’s people, she hadn’t seen her before. It was a pretty small town on the island, everyone knew everyone here, so, when there was a new face, they weren’t hard to identify. The girl smiled, but it was a nervous smile. She looked fidgety, almost like she was scared something or someone was coming for her. Eleanor narrowed her eyes at the girl, while she was tall, it was also obvious she was pretty young, maybe in her teens, “Hi, I….I need…” she looked around the store as if looking for something. Eleanor wanted to ask if she was okay if her parents were around or some guardian, “Are you okay?” she asked her. The girl turned to her suddenly, her face looked blank for a split second like she hadn’t heard her question, then a smile popped on it, once again, the smile unsettled Eleanor, “Yes, I need….tampons” she stated. Eleanor eyed the girl suspiciously, “Tampons are at the sanitary section. The third shelf to your left”. The girl nodded, “thanks” she turned around and made her way toward the sanitary section. Eleanor’s eyes remained on her until she disappeared behind the shelves. There was something about the girl that was very much suspicious and she made a mental note to tell Emery about her later tonight. It was one thing to have new people in the town, another if those new people posed some sort of threat to them.
Later that evening, the Grey family settled for dinner. The table was set for four- Emery, Eleanor and their kids, Edith and Elvis. The third, Evan, had been away from home for three years. Emery and Eleanor had Evan before they got married, they had just graduated from High school when Evan was born. He was now twenty-three and had left the town four years ago. Apparently, he was tired of the small town and wanted to see more of the world. Managing his parents’ store wasn’t particularly high on his to-do list, however, he did give signs that he would be back when he was done seeing the rest of the world. They spoke to him occasionally, but Evan wasn’t very good at keeping in touch. Edith and Elvis were both in high school now, they would be graduating by next year and would most likely come help with the store, which is more than they could say for Evan. Eleanor wasn’t as chirpy as she usually was at the dinner table, mostly because her thoughts were still on the girl at the store. She had gotten the tampons and left, but it was like that wasn’t what she had come for originally like she had some other mission, but had changed her mind….or had she achieved it without her knowing? She knew she had to talk to Emery about the girl, but that would have to wait till after dinner. She didn’t want to say anything in front of the kids so as not to scare them, but she hoped it had nothing to do with what she suspected. “Mom!” She jumped, startled by the sound of her name getting called. She returned her attention to the table and found that all eyes were on her, they looked concerned. “Are you okay, mom?” Elvis asked. She managed a tiny smile, “Sure baby, I’m fine”. Elvis and Edith shared a glance like they didn’t believe her, “Are you sure? You look a little out of it” Emery stated. She smiled, this time a bigger smile, “I’m fine, baby, really” she said as she took Emery’s hand and squeezed it tightly. He smiled at her, but it was obvious he could tell something was going on. thankfully, he said nothing about it and diverted the discussion with a simple, “So, Elvis, you were saying something about your test today?”. It was enough to get the kids talking about something else. This time, Eleanor made sure she didn’t zone out of the conversation. She could deal with her suspicions later. “So, what has you so out of it?” emery asked as soon as they had settled into bed. Eleanor turned to him, “Someone came into the store today” she began. “Was it the Logan boys? I told them not to make nuisances of themselves”. Eleanor sighed. The Logan boys were a general problem in the city, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She would have felt better if it was them, “No, Emery. It wasn’t them, it was someone new, different. I had never seen her before”. Emery noted his wife’s mannerisms. Since she returned from the store this evening, he could tell she was rattled. The last time he had seen her this rattled was…..he decided it was best not to alarm himself. “Do you think a new family moved in?”. She looked him in the eye, “I don’t think she had any family…she was acting suspicious, anxious…I don’t know, just…..There was something not right about her” Emery mulled over her words. He didn’t want to alarm her, but he could tell she was thinking of whatever he had in mind, that was probably why she seemed so shaken. But there was no way….it had been almost twenty years, surely, if there was a return, it would have happened much earlier, right? “Maybe she’s just a troubled girl. You know how kids are these days” he said. She nodded slowly as if allowing the words melt into her mind, just so she could convince herself that there was nothing to be worried about. There were troubled kids all over the city. This girl could be someone who just came in from out of town, equally troubled, she could very well be one of those kids who ran away from home. It was why she had been asking so fidgety when she came into the store, maybe she was scared someone would find her. of course, that had to be it. She nodded in agreement, “Yes, that’s probably it. Maybe I’m just over-thinking things” she mused to herself. “I think you’ve been spending a lot of time at the store, maybe I should put in some extra shift and let you rest”. She smiled, “Perhaps. Thanks for the offer”. “It’s our store, we should both put in the equal time. However, I advise you go to sleep now and rest your head” he said as he lowered her down the bed and tucked her in. She grinned as he pecked her on her cheek and she nuzzled into the pillow. “Goodnight baby”. “Goodnight, Em” she sighed softly. She had to let herself rest, Emery was right, maybe she was just overworked and her mind was blowing things out of proportion. She allowed her thoughts of the girl fizzle away, just so she could get some sleep. By tomorrow, everything would be normal, maybe she would see the girl again and ask her about her family.