Once (Gypsy Fairy Tale) by Dana Michelle Burnett Read Free Book Online

done with.”
    “Why?” I asked, ignoring the way that Mrs. Allen was posturing and trying to get his attention.
    Alec walked over to the front window and looked out, even from my spot behind the counter; I could see a group of the gypsy girls on the sidewalk just outside the camp.
    “There is just something about them I don’t trust,” he said. “I’ll just be glad when it’s all over and done with and they go on their way.”
    Before I could say anything else, Mrs. Allen called him over to help her with the wind chimes. I came around from the counter and walked over to the front window.
    Looking at the traveller camp, I wondered what it would be like once they did leave and life went back to the boring normal it was before.
     
    * * *
     
    I sent Alec home in the late afternoon. There had been no customers for over an hour and it didn’t seem likely that there would be any the rest the day.
    He was reluctant to leave, but I insisted.
    “Go on,” I said. “There’s no sense in both of us sitting here doing nothing.”
    Please don't make me tell you the truth... I can’t afford to pay you for the rest of the day just to sit here and keep me company...
    Thankfully he spared me that humiliation and hung his dusty apron up behind the counter.
    “Well, if you do get busy,” he said. “Just give me a call and I’ll come back.”
    “You need to get a real life,” I said as I waved him away with my hands. “Now get out of here.”
    “Yes boss,” he said with a wink and a smile as he went out the door.
    Once Alec left, I paced the front room. I straightened the few items that were on display, rearranging the birdfeeders and rain gauges even though no one ever bothered to look at them. That took all of twenty minutes and I still had almost two hours until closing time.
    I looked out the front window and it looked like out there, in the real world outside of the store, people were going places and doing things while I was stuck inside my nearly bankrupt store.
    So Grandma, this is what it means to be all grown up... Well it sucks and I don’t like it one bit...
    Turning from the window, I started walking back to the counter, but about halfway across the floor I stopped, stretched my hands over my head and performed a cartwheel. It served no purpose, but I did it anyway, just because I could.
    I went back behind the counter and pulled up the wobbly wooden stool. Taking a seat, I rested my chin on my hand and watched the clock on the wall tick by the minutes.
    I must’ve fallen asleep because it seemed like one moment I was staring at the clock and the next I was lifting my head from my arms and it was dark outside. I stretched and looked around for my keys, more than ready to close up for the night. I made it all the way to the door before I remembered that tomorrow was Thursday and that meant that Alec’s grandfather would be making his weekly trip to Hayswood Park. It also meant he would stop in the store for corn for the squirrels and the duck feed the Grandma used to make special just for him.
    Part of me wanted to pretend that I forgot, but I felt the pull of loyalty. No matter how sick she was, Grandma always had that feed waiting for him every Thursday morning. I couldn’t not do the same just because I was tired and ready to go home.
    I turned and walked back towards the stock room, dropping my keys on the counter as I passed. I was still stretching and yawning when I pulled two ears of corn out of burlap sack. Holding them under one arm, I filled a paper bag with a mix of dried breadcrumbs, dried peas, and cracked corn.
    Just as I finished, I heard the bell on the door. I gathered everything up and went back out; expecting Alec or one of the nearby shop owners to be stopping in to see why I was open so late.
    It wasn’t Alec though; it was a scraggly haired blond man in a dirty tee-shirt and stained jeans. He stood there without saying a word, just looking around the store in silence.
    “Can I help