"There's certainly an argument to be had for the beauty of love," Polaris said, leaning against the counter while Xorlack read a book and Chelsea walked around the shop, doing inventory; he turned a page in the magazine he was reading and added, "I mean, here's a couple who stuck by eachother after a horrific accident, and yet love one another just as much now as they did before."
"Was the accident being in this magazine?" Chelsea asked as she walked past, not even looking up from her clipboard, making Xorlack chuckle. "Mr and Mrs Belorguxelnox were your fairy tale standard, high school sweethearts who had grown up on the same block, it seemed they were destined to be together, and their wedding only further acknowledge this fact, but when-" Polaris started reading, until Xorlack interrupted. "Their last name is Belorguxelnox?" Xorlack asked, "Jeez, imagine having to write that on a check." "I'll inform them of your disapproval of their name, XORLACK," Polaris said, making Chelsea laugh from a whole different aisle; Polaris continued, "Anyway, they were on their way home from their honeymoon when they wound up in a horrific car accident, and Mrs Belorguxelnox's face was decimated in the crash, so her husband gave her half his face and now they love one another even more." "Sounds like he loves himself," Xorlack said. Chelsea approached the counter and sighed as she dropped the clipboard down and sat on the stool behind the counter, laying face first on its top. Xorlack put down her book and leaned in, looking closely at Chelsea. "Are you okay? You seem glum," Xorlack asked. "I don't know," Chelsea replied, "I spent some time with my parents this past weekend, and all they did was argue, and it just made me sad to hear this story and think 'why can't my parents be like that?', you know what I mean?" "What, sharing a face?" Polaris asked. "No," Chelsea replied, annoyed, "you know what I mean. Willing to be that giving and appreciative of one another. It makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me personally, like, am I gonna wind up like that? Am I gonna be downright impossible to love, or unable to love someone else?" Xorlack patted her hand and smiled, her skinsuit sagging a bit as she did so, but only momentarily before snapping back into place. "Trust me, you're not unlovable, and you're certainly good at loving others," Xorlack said, "I can attest to that." "Awww," Polaris said, "I think I'm gonna cry." Just then the bell over the door rang, and they all turned to see a man, or what appeared to be a man anyway, enter the store. It was hard to tell if he was human or not, only because he was so very very ancient, covered in wrinkles and dust, but well dressed at least. He had on a nice suit and tie, and an old fedora. He walked further into the store, and disappeared down an aisle. "Chelsea, take it from me," Polaris started, "love is nice, but what's better is being able to love yourself. Now I'm not saying that until you love yourself nobody else will, because that's an outright untrue, not to mention damaging belief, but I will say that while it's great to love someone else and get love from someone else, it's even greater to acknowledge you don't require it because you love yourself enough, and you're fine on your own." "I think Polaris here is just angry because he doesn't have someone willing to give him half a face," Xorlack said, making Chelsea laugh. "I don't need a face to know I'm handsome. I'm an adonis, a greek god, thank you," Polaris said, running his long slender fingers up the entirety of his featureless face, making the girls simultaneously chuckle and shiver at the sight. After a few minutes, the seemingly old man finally approached the counter and spoke, his voice sounding like it would crumble into dust at any second. "Excuse me," he asked, "You sell bouquets here, right?" "Yes we do," Chelsea said, "Over in the back right is a whole little flower department." "Thank you," he replied, wandering slowly off again in that direction. "God...I can't picture myself being old," Chelsea said once he was gone, "it just seems...not natural to me. I don't know that I'd enjoy it. Not that that means I'm going to throw myself off a bridge or anything when the time comes to avoid it, I just...I don't see myself as an old person." "With age comes wisdom," Polaris said, "Or, at least, that's what people want you to believe. Age doesn't actually dictate anything, truth be told. You can be wise beyond your years at any age. Trust me, I've met plenty of stupid old people. It just depends on how cultured, how enlightened you allow yourself to become." Finally the old man came back to the counter and sighed, looking sad, as he spoke quietly. "Would someone please help me pick something out?" he asked, and Chelsea and Xorlack both agreed, while Polaris stayed behind and continued to read his magazine. As the girls escorted the old man back to the flower section, they couldn't help but notice that he was much older than they initially thought. He looked...almost ancient, like a relic from an entirely different era. "So, uh, what exactly are you looking for?" Chelsea asked. "That's just it, I don't really know," he said, his voice creaky, "I...I can't remember the kind of flower...it...it was white, with a bell shape, and...oh goodness, my memory is just worse and worse with each passing day." "I believe what you want is a Cornish Bell Flower," Xorlack said. "How do you know about flowers?" Chelsea asked, sounding surprised. "My mom has a huge garden," Xorlack said, approaching the flowers, "When I was little, I used to help her out a lot in it, and I still do from time to time. I love horticulture. Here's what you want, I think." Xorlack pulled a bouquet of flowers from the rack and handed them to the old man, who happily took them. "Oh, oh thank you so much," he said, almost sounding like he was about to cry as he breathed them in, "oh...oh I haven't smelled this in a stars age. They still smell the same as they used to. Back when she was still with me, why, she used to have them around the house just for the smell alone. The whole house would wind up smelling like them, and in turn, so would she...I miss that smell. Smelling these now is like smelling her again." Chelsea and Xorlack exchanged a sad glance, as the man sighed and ran his old fingers through the petals gently. "That's the thing you don't realize, is that what you'll wind up missing most of all is the things you never think about...the smells, the sounds...those little quirks that at some points you find annoying but suddenly become endearing once they're gone," he said, "don't take anything for granted, young ladies, because if you do, you'll never really appreciate it." "Are these for someone?" Xorlack asked. "My wife," the old man said, "Died over a century ago, but my feelings are still as strong today as they were when we met. She's been gone so long that I'm finally starting to forget things, but the one thing time cannot take is how much I love her. It can take my body, it can take my mind, but it cannot take my love." Chelsea wanted to cry. The way he spoke of his wife, she wished her own parents could be that close. She looked at Xorlack, who was already crying softly, but smiling too. Chelsea reached over and held Xorlack's hand, and squeezed it gently, making her blush. "When she died, I felt like my world was over, but the thing is...she was a Lunar," the old man said, "so her soul was returned to the moon, from whence she came from. So, even if she's no longer in my life, at least every time I go look up at the moon, I know she's still there. I can see her every night, even if she isn't with me." "When you're ready to check out, I'll be up front," Chelsea said, excusing herself, wiping at her eyes as she headed back towards the counter, leaving Xorlack alone with the old man. As Chelsea arrived, she found Polaris exactly where they'd left him. "You know," Polaris said, "I've never really been one to order something from a magazine, but perhaps there's a first time for everything. Hey, you okay?" Chelsea wiped her eyes again and sniffled a few times, nodding, then shrugging. "I...don't know, man," she replied, "everything just feels so...empty. I worry that I don't care about people the way others care about people, especially romantic, and then I'm punched in the face emotionally by this old man who came in to buy his wifes favorite flowers centuries after she's died, after hearing a story about a man who gave his wife half his face. Seems like I'll never understand that level of closeness. Am I bad person for that?" Polaris looked at her, lowering his magazine and checking the cufflinks on his shirt sleeve. "No, you're not. Some people just aren't built for that sort of thing, and there's nothing wrong with it. Closeness requires opening up, and opening up isn't for some people, not to mention the dangers it brings. And not to knock those who manage to find it, who manage to open themselves up, but in my experience, it isn't worth it. I too find no real worth in connections of a romantic kind anymore. So, you're not alone, at least." Chelsea smiled weakly. "Thanks, I needed to hear that," she said, "I spent the weekend with my parents, and the entire time, when they weren't arguing, I felt like they were judging me for not having found someone for myself, and whenever asked, I would just think to myself 'why would I want that after seeing what it becomes?'. I know not all relationships become that, obviously, but still." Xorlack approached the counter again, breathing somewhat heavily, like she'd been crying with the old man. "Is he still there?" Chelsea asked. "He wanted a moment alone," Xorlack said. "For what it's worth," Polaris said, "even in spite of how I feel or what I said, I do find it sweet that he would still love someone that deeply after being alone for so long now. I wish I could have that level of closeness, but I recognize it isn't worth it for me, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth it for you." Xorlack and Chelsea looked at him, then back at one another. "Just something to think about," Polaris said, buttoning his coat and paying for the magazine, "I'll be off." With that he turned and headed out the exit. After a moment, Xorlack and Chelsea looked at one another again and giggled awkwardly. Xorlack finally looked at Chelsea plainly and took a long, deep breath. "Tell me," she said, "would you like me without the skin suit?" "Of course," Chelsea said, "I don't care. I like who you are, not what you look like. I guess I can find that sort of solace with you, if nobody else. I think...I think part of what makes us work is how different we are from everyone else. You don't fit in from where you're from, and I don't fit in where I'm from, but when we're together, we fit in with eachother, and maybe that's what love actually is, you know?" Xorlack took a moment, blinked, then inhaled through her nose. "Are you saying you love me?" "...yeah, I am," Chelsea said, "I do." Xorlack smiled, giggling, almost crying again when the old man suddenly approached from behind. "Would you ladies care to step outside with me and see the moon?" he asked, plopping the bouquet down on the counter, "I understand if not, but I figured I'd ask, since you did so much to help me." "...that sounds nice," Xorlack said, "but I think you shouldn't let others intrude on whats important to you. Be with her, alone. Appreciate that time." "You know," the old man said as he paid for the flowers and picked them back up, "I know not everyone lives as long as my species does, and that I'm close to being on my way out as well, and so perhaps to other short lived species they don't see the wealth that comes in finding someone that completes you in some way. They might see interpersonal connections as a waste of what's already a fast ticking clock counting down to nonexistence, but I think the world is a better place when you see it with someone, rather than alone, even if they leave first." Xorlack and Chelsea smiled at him, nodding in agreement as they held hands on the counter. "I'll tell her you said hi," he said, "She'll be happy to know I made some friends." The old man tipped his hat, then turned and dawdled slowly out of the store. Chelsea checked her watch and sighed, tapping her nails on the counter as she contemplated what to do next. She knew her shift was coming to an end, but she didn't really wanna go home, be alone. She looked at Xorlack, who was now packing her bag on the counter. "Do you wanna go do something? I'm getting off work any minute," Chelsea asked. "Sure," Xorlack said, "Got anything specific in mind?" "Not really, just as long as we're together," Chelsea said, the both of them blushing. "Sounds like a good time then," Xorlack replied. Xorlack finished packing as Chelsea changed from her uniform back into her regular clothes, and she locked up, knowing the day shift employee would have a key. Together they walked outside, hand in hand, into the unknown, but into the unknown together. As they walked down the street bathed in moonlight, heading somewhere to get something to eat, they couldn't help but feel like perhaps the old mans wife overhead was smiling at them, proud of recognizing that even if they didn't need someone else, it was still fun to have someone else. People, and monsters, are weird like that.
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Chelsea Teages is trying to pay her way through college, and has taken a job as a cashier at a local convenience store that may or may not be in an alternate dimension. Archives
November 2022
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