Sarah Of The Moon by Randy Mixter Read Free Book Online Page B

suspended from the ceiling. Their laughter echoed throughout the building as the pair arced into the sky, seemingly on a mission to touch the exposed roof beams of the place.
    Chick had wandered off, meeting and greeting old friends. Alex moved about the room, looking for Sarah. A painting on the far wall drew his attention. The girl pictured there bore a remarkable resemblance to Sarah. He was approaching it, when a hand grabbed his arm, stopping him. The swing creased the air in front of him.
    “You need to be mindful of the swing,” a voice said softly from behind him.
    He turned to face a girl with bright red hair and a smile on her freckled face.
    “You must be new here. The regulars know to avoid the swing. My name is Sherry, but I get called Freckles a lot,” she said, pointing to her face.
    “I’m Alex.” He shook her hand. “I thank you for saving my life.”
    Sherry’s smile grew wider. “I doubt the collision would have killed you, but I have seen people lose limbs.”
    Alex could not help but notice how cute the girl was. Her tee shirt was tight enough to see she was braless. Her jeans rode low on her hips and flared out at her sandaled feet. For the moment, he forgot about the painting.
    “Do you work here?” he asked.
    “Nobody works here. I volunteer to help out from time to time, here and at the Panhandle.”
    “The Panhandle?”
    “It’s a park not far from here. The Diggers serve up food there a few times a week. I usually give out the bean soup, which is our most popular dish. You’ve got to try it sometime.”
    She edged up close to him, close enough to feel a breast against his arm. Her mouth moved to his ear, and he smelled the scent of vanilla on her breath.
    “Look for me when you get there. I’ll give you extra beans.”
    Then she was gone. Disappearing into the crowd before Alex could respond. He rubbed his arm where, a moment ago, a breast had been. He wondered if Sherry was freckled there too, and in his contemplative daze nearly fell victim, once again, to the treacherous swing.
     
    They left the Diggers store not long after that. Upon closer inspection, the painting, that had almost cost him a limb, looked nothing like Sarah.
    Alex confronted Chick as they made their way to the Free Clinic. “Why do they have a dangerous swing in the middle of their store? That thing could kill someone.”
    “That’s the way we rid ourselves of inattentive individuals in our community. We bring them to the free store and let the diabolical swing do the rest,” Chick replied as he took a fresh joint from his shirt pocket and lit it up. “Writers, in particular, don’t last long in Haight-Ashbury. They daydream their way into oncoming swings. Fortunately for you, Freckles was nearby.”
    The mention of Sherry took his thoughts back to the store. The painting on the wall that looked so much like Sarah from a distance, the pendulum like swing, Sherry’s breast on his arm.
    “She’ll break your heart, you know,” Chick said as they neared the clinic.
    Alex found that an odd thing to say about a girl he had just met, and who had yet to give him extra beans. Before he could reply, it dawned on him he was referring to Sarah.
    “As I said before, she’s a free spirit and I doubt that anything, or anyone, could change her ways.” He offered his smoke to Alex, who gracefully declined.
    “My advice is to enjoy your time with her, but to avoid a courtship. I might be wrong, but I believe that if you try to romance her, your story will have a sad ending,” he added, taking another long drag.
    Chick’s words did not entirely convince Alex. Sarah’s actions still confused him. One minute she desired his company, the next she ignored him. He wanted her to be more like Sherry, who offered both breast and beans without provocation.
    They rounded a corner into a row of Victorian homes. A sign hanging from the door of one announced The Free Clinic.
    “We’re here,” Chick said, while rubbing out