Ellis is tired of her predictable life. She decides to leave her family and move to Townsend, TN: population 500. She gets a job at the bookstore and a room at the only lodge in town. She expects to live a simple and quiet life in during her gap yea...
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The bell of the door rings as I walk into the dusty old bookstore. I honestly don't know how this store stays in business but I love that it does. I love coming in here on a rainy day and sitting in the corner couch with a good Steven King novel.
Ellis looks up from the stack of books she is shelving. Her face lights up and she gives a warm smile.
"Henry! What brings you here on this fine day?"
I laugh. "Oh I don't know, some girl told me to come visit her here. Have you seen her around by chance?"
She laughs and says, "Seriously, thanks for coming to visit me. You don't know how lonely I've been. I mean, do people in this town not read? I've only had 1 customer all day!"
I decide to give her a hard time. "I don't know, there are things such as Kindles and free books online, don't know if you've heard of those."
She swats at my arm. "Shut up, man." She laughs again.
I need to keep thinking of witty comebacks so I can hear that velvety laugh some more.
"Hey want to go get a coffee at Nelsons? It's time for my break and I could use the caffeine."
No. Tell her you should get back to the lodge. It's bad enough you came here to visit her. You don't need to get attached to someone like this again. Remember Emma.
"Sure, that sounds great." I hear myself say. What the hell, Henry?
We talk over our lattes, learning a little bit about each other.
"So why did you move here anyway?" I ask, hoping I'm not prying.
She sighs and picks up a piece of her hair to play with. "To be honest" she pauses. "I don't really know. I just couldn't continue living the way I was. Trying to be the perfect girlfriend. The perfect daughter. The perfect student. Those things defined me, you know? I didn't have an identity apart from who I was in relation to everyone else. I came here to breathe. And maybe figure out what I want my life to be, what I want to do."
"Where are you from?" I ask her, not picking up on much of an accent.
"I'm from Florida. But not the good part of Florida, you know. I bet you're picturing Disney World or the beach. Really my town is just a high school, a fish processing plant, and a couple of churches."
Wow. She's brave coming here, hours away from her home.
"I get the whole pressure to be perfect thing," I tell her, "Sometimes I think that I'm doing so much for other people that I forget who I am, or what I want to do. I mean, I don't really even know if I want to work for my dad anymore."
Whoa, did I just say that out loud? I don't even think I've ever consciously had that thought before. What is this girl doing to me? She's bringing out thoughts that I've never been been able to admit to myself.
She just kind of looks at me. I can see in her eyes that she gets it.
"So who is Henry, then? What makes you get up in the morning?"
I've never been asked that. Hmm. I dig deep and think about my answer.
"Canoes." I answer honestly.
That gets her to laugh, and I relish in the sound of it.
"What?" She asks, still chuckling to herself. "I'm sorry to laugh if that is what you are passionate about, I guess I just did not expect that answer."
"It's ok." I'm smiling too. "I mean not canoes themselves, exactly, but making them. I'm a woodworker. I have a little cabin on the outskirts of town down by the creek where I hand-craft canoes."
"Oh shit, ok sorry for laughing because that's actually the coolest thing I've ever heard."
She looks genuinely interested, which is new. Most people don't really care about my business.
After that we talk about the beauty of our town, the mountains, books we like... man, I kind of love talking to her.
