Saving Grace [Jesse Fforde]
Posted: 10 Jan 2016, 09:54
The days were short, shorter than she ever remembered them to be in winter. Two years it had been since she’d last experienced temperatures this low, and the dark sky above, with its oppressive big clouds, made her yearn for Darwin’s late sunsets and muggy heat. Her travels in Australia were now part of a closed chapter however, and there was no turning back. Her initial excitement about the upcoming year in Canada was as at all time low, and the shite weather did little to lift her spirits.
Nuzzling her scarf to escape the night’s bite, Charlie wrinkled her nose in disgust at the lingering smell of cheap fried food. It was all she could afford these days, and she was starting to get sick of it. Her fingers furled and unfurled in her pockets, fighting the numbness settling into her joints. In spite of shopping for new clothes befitting the season, it wasn’t enough; the cold seeped through, rousing gooseflesh across her clothed body. She picked up her pace, eager to get out of the cold and back to the hostel.
“Charlie!”
A gruff voice had her stumbling, vertebrae cracking as she directed her attention to the pub across the road. Whoever had called out her name was not after her attention, and so, shaking off, she started to walk again, only to stop once suddenly. This time it was a sign that caught her eye:
Nuzzling her scarf to escape the night’s bite, Charlie wrinkled her nose in disgust at the lingering smell of cheap fried food. It was all she could afford these days, and she was starting to get sick of it. Her fingers furled and unfurled in her pockets, fighting the numbness settling into her joints. In spite of shopping for new clothes befitting the season, it wasn’t enough; the cold seeped through, rousing gooseflesh across her clothed body. She picked up her pace, eager to get out of the cold and back to the hostel.
“Charlie!”
A gruff voice had her stumbling, vertebrae cracking as she directed her attention to the pub across the road. Whoever had called out her name was not after her attention, and so, shaking off, she started to walk again, only to stop once suddenly. This time it was a sign that caught her eye:
NOW HIRING
Charlie’s brows arched high, eyes going wide as she glanced across the obstacle course of wrapped stock piled high on wooden pellets and, most notably, a considerably full skip bin.
SERPENTINE – OPENING SOON
By now Charlie knew better than to have any expectations, but there was an unmistakable coil within her gut telltale to excitement. Hope, as Nietzsche once wrote, was the worst of all evils because it prolonged the torments of man. There were only two ways to find out whether this could be the day’s saving grace, and that was to walk in and ask.
The familiar cadence of Irish favoured punk allowed for a skip in her step as she approached the venue through the front courtyard. In this weather, Charlie couldn’t imagine why someone would keep the door wide open, but she didn’t question it, instead taking it as an invitation. Her fingers curled into her palms, knuckles white as she repressed her anxiety and walked past the threshold.
It wasn’t what she expected.
Dumbstruck, Charlie stood in the makeshift foyer. The clash of old and new was unsettling, and her mind went into overdrive as it attempted to piece together what she was seeing. Then it dawned on her, it was only natural she’d be thrown off; never had she heard of such a thing as three-in-one bar-gym-tattoo parlour.
Clearing her throat, she stepped over a pile of... something.
“Hello?”
The familiar cadence of Irish favoured punk allowed for a skip in her step as she approached the venue through the front courtyard. In this weather, Charlie couldn’t imagine why someone would keep the door wide open, but she didn’t question it, instead taking it as an invitation. Her fingers curled into her palms, knuckles white as she repressed her anxiety and walked past the threshold.
It wasn’t what she expected.
Dumbstruck, Charlie stood in the makeshift foyer. The clash of old and new was unsettling, and her mind went into overdrive as it attempted to piece together what she was seeing. Then it dawned on her, it was only natural she’d be thrown off; never had she heard of such a thing as three-in-one bar-gym-tattoo parlour.
Clearing her throat, she stepped over a pile of... something.
“Hello?”