"It is for want of a man that there are so many men. It is individuals that populate the world." ~ Henry David Thoreau
It was 7 a.m. and a quiet spring morning in Mercury, and the rain from the previous night left the entire valley with a nice clean smell. The small town was still fairly quiet at this time of the morning, but it was starting to wake. The shop owners arrived and flipped their signs to open; the parents took their children to the small school that served K-12.
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Dina Olivia Woman woke up early that morning, with the sun just beginning to climb over the horizon. She swung her feet from over her bed and slid into her slippers. She girded her robe about her and walked over to the window, throwing the curtains wide open. She gazed out the glass pane of her old, Victorian style home into her garden. It needed weeding desperately, but she had just kept putting it off recently. She kneaded her temples with one hand and moved over to her master bathroom so she could begin readying herself for the day ahead. Not that she was dreading it, she really did love her garden; especially the irises and rhododendrons.
Ah, another day ahead of me, she thought. I will make it a good one.
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Katie Marie Kat was walking out her front door when she stumbled over her stoop. She righted herself before falling, but couldn't help blushing. She hoped no one had seen her, she must look like a complete klutz. And after putting up such an effort look graceful too. She tried her best to give that impression everyday, especially to her music students. A music instructor should be graceful, right?
She walked over to her car and opened the door, climbing in. It hadn't been locked; nobody locked anything in this town. It was so small that you almost literally knew everyone like family. Except Mr. Holt. That guy is paranoid.
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In fact, Zeth Holt was already at his Café unlocking the front door. He knew some in Mercury thought he was strange for locking his store and various other ventures when they weren't in use. He didn't think it was that strange. He had moved to Mercury from a large suburb, and that's just how life was there. He didn't know it any other way. Sometimes he still missed that place.
He walked into the small bistro, flipping on the neon "Open" sign in the front window. He went into the kitchen and turned on all the lights and equipment, getting ready for his waitress to arrive along with anybody who didn't feel like making their own breakfast. In all honesty, he wished Cryssy would get here on time and not arrive chatting with the first customers. But hey, who was he to tell a young girl how to live their life? She was the one who really held the restaurant together, serving cooking, running the register. He generally just helped out with those tasks here and there, but spent much more time with paperwork and running his other business facets. What would I do without her?
He gave a soft chuckle. Hire someone else? Not likely.
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Kitty Chu saw Mr. Holt from her own shop from across the street. She had opened up a minute or two earlier, but knew she wouldn't get any customers until much later, if at all. Not that life was difficult, it was just a fact that there weren't many people that came to her shop regularly. It was like those general store owners in the movies. No one ever came to their stores to buy anything, but they always made do in some strange way that the director never explains.
That would be cool, to be in a movie. She pulled up a chair behind her desk in the back corner of the shop and opened her laptop to see what was playing. Maybe she would drive over to Fesston, the nearest town with a movie theater, and catch a flick later. She was sure that her cousin Cryssy would want to go too when she got off from work.
Even more fun though, would be receiving an award from Mayor Shards. The Mercury Awards were coming up soon, and it was always so much fun for everyone in the community, even if you didn't get anything. They really didn't mean anything outside Mercury either. But still, they were awesome.
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Meanwhile, Cryssy Chu was rushing around her home trying to get ready for work. Zeth wouldn't be happy if she were late. Again. Then again, she was almost always just a little late, and he never really got on her about it, so why rush? She had already gotten ready by that time though, so she decided she would just take her time getting to work. Instead of going to her car, she pulled out her bike from her small garage. It was not in fact, very old, but was built like an old-fashioned bike. It had wheel rim covers, a wire-frame basket attached to the front, and a small, singing bell she could ring. She loved it and used it whenever she could. It was always nicer than riding in a stuffy old car. And especially on a day like this with the nice clean scent of rain still in the air. Maybe she would meet someone to talk to on the way to the Café.
She hoped it would be Sinister. Sinister and her had been really getting off together lately. He was so fun to be around. She giggled to herself and remembered their little secret. It was so fun keeping it from Retro too...
