Appear

Chapter One – Bring Me a Glass of Water

Her wavy brown hair touched the table, looking a lot like a cascade of brown water. Her head was down and around her lay cups and cups of already slurped drinks. She was, of course, still a minor, not able to legally drink liquor. She lifted her face and her jolly green eyes contradicted with her sad, tired look. She was definitely weary; anyone would be at this late hour.

The man behind the counter smiled at her, “Better get up, Sofie. You had two breaks already,”

She nodded, “You’re right...” She stood up and fixed her apron, “Thanks for covering for me,”

“No problem, Sofie.”

The girl went back to work, busing tables and helping the cook. Just months before, she had been a runaway. No one had cared so far to look for her just yet, probably thinking she was gone for good anyway.

But she liked it here in the sandy, busy world of Dengar. The town was always full of activity in the markets, and this small diner was always up and running, even at night (the time where they received the strangest of strangers).

Tonight, though, no one was here at this late hour. The clock on the wall read 12:00am. If Sofie didn’t go home, then she would be here all morning. Jeff, the man behind the counter, tried to persuade her to go, since she had been here an hour or two over-time.

“You can’t stay here for the rest of the morning, you need to sleep. Don’t you have class?”

“No classes. And, c’mon—one more customer. Just one.”

“There are no—”

A man walked in at that instant.

More like a teen, no older than Sofie herself. He had silky but stringy, soft black hair and shockingly blue eyes. Sofie stuck her tongue out at Jeff and made her way to where he sat. The boy looked extremely familiar, but Sofie tried not to stare. The boy was looking out the window when she came over, so she cleared her throat to catch his attention.

“Welcome to the Celestial. May I take your order?” She asked.

He didn’t even look at her, “Can you bring me some of your finest wine?”

“May I see your DAC ID?” She always had to ask for the Dengar Age Confirmation Identification when she didn’t believe the age of the person was true.

He gave a small laugh, “I left it in my other wallet,”

Likely story. “Well then I can’t give you that, sir. Would you like something non-alcoholic?”

At that, he quickly stood up, swiftly grabbing her by the apron. Their eyes made contact. There was a moment of silence, and the boy shut his eyes with a smile, just sitting back down.

“Bring me a glass of water.”

And Sofie did just that.