Isaac nodded empathetically. “I totally understand. I’ve never been a person who wanted that. My parents never understood. Parents just don’t get it.”
Elly ignored what sounded to be the most teenage sentence ever and continued talking.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. Kim – that’s my best friend – helped me carve out a plan. I had no clue what the future held, but I wanted something…earthy.”
There was much Elly wasn’t saying. She didn’t just want earthy. She wanted to immerse herself in something messy. Something dirty and moist, something to make herself forget what she had left. She dreamed, after she left Aaron, of damp earth, of ivy growing under her skin, or her eyes turning into poppy blooms or her body getting covered in veiny soil. It was as if God has sent a garden to spring up around her to heal her pain. She glanced at Isaac, who was staring at her as she spoke.
“I was staying with Kim and her husband Sean at the time, and I just ran across the shop. It was vacant.”
The day was etched so clear in her memory, just two years ago. She remembered sitting on Kim’s couch, going through tissue after tissue, as Kim played both host and therapist. Her days had consisted of waking, eating, sleeping, waking, talking for six hours, and then sleeping again. Elly had not left Kim’s house for weeks. Sean had proven himself to be everything that Aaron wasn’t – patient, kind and understanding – by letting a strange, weepy woman stay in his home for months on end.
After weeks of crying, Elly started waking up earlier, moving around more, and looking towards what happened next. One afternoon, Sean finally had asked if she would mind if he stole his wife for the afternoon, and Elly found herself with hours to kill. She walked down the leaf-covered paths that led to Wydown Street, where she knew she could find solace in a piece of lemon cake covered with delicate frosting swirls.
It was early fall, but the air had still felt like summer, and the sun barreled down on her bare neck. It felt good to be out of the house. Elly, for the first time, realized that perhaps, just maybe, she would live through this experience and be better for it. She turned the corner to the coffee shop where she had first met Kim and smelled warm bread. Where was that coming from? Two or three doors down from the coffee shop sat a small deli. She walked up to the building and peeked her head in the door. She could see a short man talking with customers and putting large chunks of roast beef onto a sandwich. Steam rose from the kitchen, and the place vibrated with excitement and taste.
Her stomach growled. One thing that had not suffered through this whole ordeal was her appetite. It was a shame she had only grabbed enough money for coffee and lemon cake. She would have to tell Kim about this place, this – she glanced at the sign – Keith’s Deli. Next door to the warm bread heaven was a vacant building. It was tan stone, two levels, with white trim and what looked like new windows. Above the store was a cobweb covered sign that said “Dog-topia.” It blew in the wind next to a “For Lease/Storefront and Apartment” sign. Yikes, thought Elly, with a name like Dog-topia, no wonder it failed…
She rubbed a small hole in the dusty window and peered inside. There was a long silver counter that ran through the back of the store, with a silver sink at the end. Probably for washing dogs, Elly thought. The rest of the place was trashed. Piles of plastic littered the floor, which was covered with clumps of dog hair. There was a fluorescent light hanging down from the ceiling, and Elly thought she spotted a mouse, unaware that he was being watched, scamper across the doorway. There was something about the back counter that kept drawing her eye. It would be perfect for crafting. Perfect for cake-making, or sewing – both of which Elly did not know a thing about – or flower designing.