#raefordstarter

“Hey, hey, excuse me!” Drew called out to the stranger walking down the street as she all but jumped out of her car, waving her hands to get their attention, her toothbrush hanging out of the side of her mouth. “Sorry, I just, can you tell me where a inn is? Or motel? Anywhere to stay?” she asked, firing off the questions quickly, hoping they wouldn’t walk away. Drew had only been in town long enough to secure a job as a bartender, and had been living in her car which was stuffed to the top with everything she owned. “I kinda just got her a couple days ago, I haven’t found a place with cheap enough rent yet so I need an alternative to my car,” she laughed nervously, motioning back to her beat-up ride. 

The last little backpack had left for the day, and the daycare sat silent for the evening. Birdie always stayed for a little while after the day ended to be sure everything was together for the next day and that the turtle wouldn’t die suddenly in the night. The window had been left cracked one night and she came in to find a very angry raccoon trying to carry him away, so she made sure that never happened again. After the markers had their lids returned and the broken crayons picked up out of the floor, she went out to the playground behind the building with her small bag she kept in the car and got her lighter and small joint out of the pocket. “Oh-oh shit.” she choked mid-drag as she heard some foot steps on the sidewalk behind her and she hurriedly put out flame and tried to fan away the smell with no use.

“Come on now,” Callie grumbled, struggling to get a decent sized crate out of the back of her truck. The glorified dented rust bucket was parked in front of her shop, and the contents were gradually taking up sidewalk space. Glancing over her shoulder she noticed someone coming, “Sorry,” she started apologizing, setting the crate down and turning, “I had a lot to pick up today, I guess it happens when you leave town for the first time in awhile, new inventory orders pile up. Didn’t mean to take up almost all your walking space...”

In hindsight, it had been a terrible idea to book an appointment at Raeford General, the local hospital, at the beginning of September.

Esteé hummed silently to herself, her head bopping to the beat of Harry Styles, Sign of the Times. The espresso was beginning to course through her veins, making the young female a much happier person, somewhat giddy even. Langford Creek was quickly becoming her favorite spot, it didn’t seem like many of the locals visited often, but Estee craved the serenity the place offered. She was trying to get back to herself, the her she knew many years ago. She didn’t know if it was the same person she was now, but it seemed like a place to start. 

Small towns were not known for their relentless activity. On the contrary, it was their lack of it that usually attracted people. Agnes could certainly say that was one of the many reasons that Raeford appealed to her. And as of three weeks ago, she has become an official member of this tight knit, quiet community. With that, Agnes was relatively happy.

“What? Yeah, I know, the sign outside keeps falling down. We’ve been trying to hold it up.” They were about the tenth person to point that out, and with the unlikely spate of rain and gusts of wind in Raeford in July, of course they hadn’t been prepared for that. But inside the bakery, it was business as usual. “Hopefully the winds will ease up so we don’t actually have to nail the thing down.”