The summer breeze was warm, yet not too intense, as the warm winds blew across my Short-Shagged hair. With my music playing, I began having flashbacks of my childhood and seeing the scenery around me. The forest itself has stayed the same and hasn't changed a bit, even though it was destroyed by both the fire that Rachael caused and the drastic tornado that came prior to Max's arrival. As I slowly arrived in town, I noticed too the major changes the town was going through, such as: The junkyard was officially being removed and was transferred to a new landfill far, far away from town and into a secluded area where hardly any trees grow. New businesses had been established, erasing the old ones. New street signs were renamed, making it confusing, but keeping the street vibes the same; yet somehow some names were indeed describable. But what caught my eye was the old diner that I grew up to enjoy, and of course caused trouble.
I slowly approached the old diner, and carefully studied the new name that was in its place. Even though the diner looked almost the same as the original, the scenery itself was converted to make more room and has indeed a new patio added to it for an outdoor dining experience. The name itself was familiar with a bit of reminisce of the one I truly missed the most….instead of being called, "The Two whales diner" it was been addressed as "Ms. Joyce's famous Two Whales diner".
"Wow, Mom. And to think it only took you a few years of hard work, working on a lousy diner, only to be honored with a name title on top of this old diner itself." I said while keeping a warm smile as I slowly passed by it. I didn't feel like eating and obviously wasn't going to go inside just to relieve that painful life…yet.
As I made a turn around the corner of Wayne Street and Big Bear Creek, I spotted what looked like a well-drawn image of a dragon, called "The Silver Dragon".
"The Silver Dragon?" I scoffed, trying to hold in my laughter. "Max mentioned to me a place where one can buy their high dose of legal weed. And I was surprised to see this. Well, I am here already…might as well go inside and see what they got."
I slowly entered its parking lot. Thankfully, the lot was empty, and there were hardly any customers at this establishment. As soon as I parked my truck, I began to make my way into the entryway of the establishment, and right next to the doorway stood a reflective glass window, and on its glass was a logo written on it,
'THE SILVER DRAGON, WELCOME ALL, AND WELCOME YE. COME AND GET YOUR DAILY HIGH DOSE IN LIFE. HIGH IS LIFE, AND SO IS ART. By Charlotte Harmon'
"That is a sic ass logo," I replied, while absorbing the smell of a fresh daily dose of canonized weed that was seeping through the entryway. "Great, even Frank himself would have some competition down the road… except this time it is considered legal to own and sell weed in the market. SORRY FRANK, I FOLLOW WHERE MY HEART IS, and that is 'WHERE THERE IS WEED, THERE IS A WAY"
I laughed at my own ridiculous comment as I slowly pulled open the door's entryway of the shop. As the doorbell made a jingly sound, 'RING! RING!' I began to notice the structure of how it was set up as I entered the shop. There where bongs of all shapes and sizes, some adult candies that have some weed ingredients that aren't suitable for children, some complete sets of "Do it yourself" Weed cigarettes, some Hookah equipment that is meant for flavored tobacco, and lastly weed that comes in different variety amount based on the lb's. Obviously, the weed that is stored in its canister was displayed behind the register and was securely locked. But what caught my attention was the full display of artwork and all of its well-preserved beauty.
"Wow, to think that I stumbled upon weed heaven; this place has a unique variety of Art displays." Saying it while being amazed by what was happening throughout my surroundings. "The art displays here make this shop more like a weed museum of art, instead of a weed shop. That's amazing."
Just then, I heard the sound of someone singing a sweet melody, and it was coming from behind the back room of where the register stands. The music was soothing, and with the rhythm of the guitar has made the one singing the tune more entertaining and enjoyable to listen too.
Song:
Oh, here I am in the loneliest world
Yet, here I am with nowhere to turn
Oh, here I am
Yet, here I am
With the world so small
Yet, everything is far
I am here alone with nowhere to turn
Bringing nothing but shame, in this loneliest world
This loneliest world, so loneliest world…..
The mysterious stranger stopped playing midway, and as she turned her gaze in my direction, I was able to describe her in clear view of my sight. She was indeed gorgeous, wearing a purple hoodie with a skull in the middle, as she stood and gave me that sweet smile. And very carefully, she approached the counter.
"Well, howdy, stranger?" She replied as she removed her hoodie, revealing her mesmerizing purple, short, straight undercut hair of hers. "Name's Cassidy, by the way….What brings you here to this establishment?"
"I um…ah…" I couldn't get the next phrases that were coming out of my mouth, since I couldn't get my eyes off from staring at her gorgeous physique.
"Oh, if you are looking for the store owner, she isn't here at this moment." She replied, as she gave me that flirtatious wink, "Other than that, welcome to the 'Silver Dragon'. Where you can get your daily high dose in life."
"Yeah, I can see that." Staring at her with disbelief, not realizing that she was already inches away from me.
I was simply mesmerized after seeing this stranger, who goes by the name of Cassidy. However, with just a snap of her finger, I was finally snapped out of her beauty trance.
"Yo! Anyone in there?" She yelled while snapping her fingers at me.
I blinked for a few seconds and as soon as she was inches in my face I jolted back; almost causing me to trip on one of the big bongs that were placed right next to the Indian carving.
"WOA!" trying to hold my footing.
She laughed hysterically after seeing me, almost about to trip on a well-designed bong,
"Whoa there, girlfriend…take it easy. You break it…You buy it."
"…Ah! And whose fault is that?" feeling a bit annoyed at her calm demeanor.
"Sorry about that…Didn't mean to startle you." She answered as she managed to get a hold of me. "But other than that, do you have a name?"
"Yeah, it's Chloe….Chloe Price." I responded, finally regaining my footing. "I was practically just nosing around after stumbling upon this place while driving by, and thought about taking a peek inside."
"Well, well, curious you are. I can see that." Cassidy shot back with a smile. "So! Your Chloe… well, that is indeed a wonderful name of yours."
"So, find anything you like around here?" She asked with a smile
"Sadly, No…I am, of course, flat-ass broke." I said, feeling a bit embarrassed telling her my current situation.
"Oh shucks, don't feel embarrassed about that, and if it makes you feel any better." She answered in a polite tone, "I am just as broke as you."
"For real?" looking a bit confused
"Yeah, it's true." She giggled, looking a bit honest. "Why do you think I am working at this amazing weed shop. But enough of that…you want to see something cool?"
She looked at me and, feeling a bit jittery, started to pull my arm, dragging me like a towel as she slowly walked towards the entryway of the shop. Upon approaching the front entryway, she reached down, pulling out a second sign below that says, 'Out to lunch, be back in 30 min', and immediately took me to the back doorway, which is located at the other end of the shop.
"Whoa! Slow down there, Cassidy. Where are you taking me?" I said, keeping up with her pace.
"Don't worry about it; I want you to see something really cool." She answered, feeling a bit confident.
Here we were, facing this rusted wooden door that led to this mysterious back room. For a second there, I had this gut feeling that something odd was about to happen, and whatever this Cassidy chick has in store for me can't be good news. However, before I could process anything else, Cassidy slowly opened the door. The hinges of the old wooden door creaked as it slowly gave way, opening up and revealing an art studio filled with lots of unique designs of nature's scenery, animal carvings, and paintings. I was amazed to see a whole lot of well-made art designs and handcrafted decorations all neatly placed in this big ass studio inside this small shop.
"Welcome to Charlotte's own art studio, where not only does she sells calm medicine; she also sells her very own unique handiwork of well-crafted, hand-drawn art designs," Cassidy responded, feeling a bit of excitement. "All of this is still in the works, but all comes at a fair price."
"OK!?" Looking a bit confused at her demeanor, "Why are you showing me Ms. Charlotte's studio?"
The moment I asked her the question, Cassidy showed signs of discomfort while trying to play it cool.
"I…I…I don't know, honestly. I felt kind of lonely here, and sadly no customers ever came to this shop this early; I was fukin bored out of my mind. But when you came to the shop and surprised me, I thought of maybe striking up a decent conversation with someone as handsome as you could help me get this boredom out of my mind. Sadly, I may have overdone it…"
"Well, to be fair, I did go off on you." I said, showing her my sympathy, "I am sort of still recovering from a recent accident that I just got out of not too long ago, and seeing unfamiliar faces does tend to put me on edge. Therefore, I apologize for going off on you like that."
I placed my hand on her shoulder, as she finally reverted back to being that joyful person I saw earlier today. "I noticed something else that has been bothering you all this time. You wanna talk about it? It's alright if you don't want to."
"As shocking as it may sound, I guess…" I responded, feeling a bit of ease.
As soon as she closed the door leading towards the art studio, we went back to the counter facing the entryway and took a seat at one of Ms. Charlotte's well-crafted wooden chairs. The environment of this shop felt calm, and seeing Cassidy for who she really is, I felt at ease. I decided to trust her for once, and in it we ended up chatting about our personal problems in life, and let me tell you that she and I have something in common indeed.
Cassidy started telling me stories about her childhood and the household problems she had with her old folks, and how messed up it got that she decided to flee. This led her on a wild adventure as a homeless person who traveled the road to find herself in life and hope for the best....