The Distance Between

by Blair Cousins

  She made it to the market twenty minutes early and headed to the booth where the man had offered her a job. It wasn’t hard to find the market this time around because it was on the directory outside the underground train station. She walked over to the man and tried to flag him down, but he seemed to ignore her at first until her recognized her face.

  “Girl!” He walked over with open arms.

  Ester cringed at the greeting but smiled anyways. He reached down and grabbed an apron and tossed to her. She barely had time to catch it as it landed in her hands just inches away from her face. His attitude had completely changed from before.

  “I am J-Kolson, the boss. You come for job? Hmm?”

  “Y-yes sir,” Ester responded as she moved out of the way of the other workers.

  “Good!” An employee tapped J-Kolson on the shoulder and handed him some tones. J-Kolson nodded then turned back to Ester. “Name? You have name?”

  “Ester, Ester DuTain.” Ester put on the apron, trying to tie the worn straps together.

  “DuTain! A good and hardy name,” J-Kolson bellowed. “Well, welcome to J-Kolson’s booth of fresh produce. I sell the best imports for my homeland Cha-la. You will load. You have loaded before, yes?”

  Ester nodded.

  “Good, new order in, load oldest to newest. Pay daily, but only for time worked. No breaks until slow time.” J-Kolson threw his thumb back, pointing to where he wanted Ester to go.

  Ester looked around. She had no idea where he was pointing at.

  “Why do you stand around? Load is in back.” He pointed again, then turned his attention to his arriving customers.

  Ester looked passed him and finally saw where she was supposed to be working. She flipped up the door and walked over to a group of people off loading crates of vegetables. She fell in line and got up to the hover cart where a guy was passing crates. He stopped and looked at Ester for a second. She stood and looked at him back, extending her arms. He shrugged and passed her a crate. It was heavier than she thought. She looked inside; it was a crate full of mini-melons. She groaned but readjusted the weight and hauled the crate to the area where the mini-melons were stored. A person turned and nodded towards her as they took the crate and stocked and arranged the produce. Ester thanked him then headed back to the truck. She repeated this about forty more times, picking up more and more about the job from the staff as the day went on, and by closing time she was dead tired. It was true what they say, if you don’t use it, you lose it and her stamina was being tested today. At the end of the day, the owner surveyed his booths. Everything was tidy and ready to go for tomorrow. Ester was paid 100 tones for her work.

  “Good job, you come back on second, fourth, and sixth day and I pay the same for hard work.” He reached down with his great big muscular hands to pick up a sack of melons. “Here, they’re bad. Eat fast, first day welcoming gift,” he hollered as he laughed.

  Ester uttered a tired thank you and waved goodbye. Her first day wasn’t terrible, but she was beyond tired. Now she dreaded her commute back to her apartment because she had to haul a bag full of melons. On the train ride home, she could barely keep awake. She would pass out right there if it were socially acceptable. She got off at her stop. The sun was setting, and it was nearly dark. She was starving but hadn’t the energy to stop for anything. She was so exhausted that neither the sights nor smells bothered her, but there was something new growing inside of her. A small little seed of hope that things were finally starting to look up. She smiled to herself as her tired face blended in with all those around her.

  ***

  Morning came, but this time Ester had won out on her war on sleep. She was far too tired for the rays to affect her today. She slept till a little after twelve hundred hours. When she finally got up, she felt well rested and refreshed for the day. She was eternally grateful she didn’t have work today. When did she get so out of shape? She used to be in peak condition, then she remembered that it was all for ranger academy. She sighed as she stretched in her bed. She sat up and thought she heard a light knock at the door. She stopped and listened. The sound was faint, but there was a knock again. It couldn’t be Angel. He would have practically knocked the door down by now. She got up and went to the door. There wasn’t a peep hole.

  “Who is it?”

  “Forgive my intrusion, it is Sal Chu’Pree your neighborhood from down the–”

  Ester opened the door and greeted her neighbor before he could finish introducing himself. Over the past few days, Sal had been making small talk with her in passing. She didn’t mind now that she got to know him more. He was nice, but a little long winded at times.

  “Hey Sal, what’s up?” Ester causally smiled as she folded her arms.

  Sal looked around confused. “I-I do not know. Was there some event in the news I should be made aware of?”

  “No Sal, I mean, how are you?” Ester laughed.

  “Oh, yes, I have heard that phrase before, but my mind could not summon its meaning in time. I am doing fine. What’s up with you?” Sal stressed the phase as he forced a friendly smile.

  All of Sal’s smiles looked fake, but that was because his old skin was leathered and tight which always made him look like he was trying too hard.

  “I’m fine,” Ester returned his smile as she leaned against her door frame.

  Sal nodded and smiled, waiting for Ester to elaborate, but suddenly he remembered why he stopped by.

  “Oh, I had forgotten.” Sal pulled a bruised melon out from his satchel. “You dropped this. I thought I’d return it to you in the morning. You looked gravely tired last night.”

  Ester looked at the melon. She had plenty of melons. She didn’t need any more, especially since they were close to going bad anyways.

  “Thanks, Sal, I got that from my new job. It’s going to go bad soon, and I have plenty. Would you like to have it?”

  Sal’s face stretched into a painful looking smile as he inhaled a lung full of air in delight. “You are too kind, Ester, too kind.”

  “It’s no biggie.” Ester smiled as she watched Sal place the melon back into his satchel.

  “I am happy you are adjusting well. This metropolis may seem cold and callus, but the people here have fine hearts.”

  Ester laughed to herself. “You don’t say.”

  “I do say.” Sal grinned widely, which reminded Ester of a horse’s smile. “Just the other day I sat in Verdie’s park and watched the birds. It was a beautiful day. The misses on the first floor had her children about. Oh, how I love the smiles of children.” Sal clasped his hands together. “They say if the children are smiling then the neighborhood is bright and alive. It took me quite some time to see the beauty of this place, and one day you will see it too.” Sal strained another smile.

  “Okay Sal, I believe you.” Ester yawned. She wouldn’t mind relaxing in front of the tele screen for a bit before she started her day. She thought as she tried to let Sal go.

  “I won’t hold you.” Sal reached down to pat his satchel. “And thank you for the melon.”

  “It’s no biggie, really.” Ester repeated.

  Sal’s smiled soften. It was her favorite part about talking to Sal. His genuine smiles and odd mannerisms made her wonder why he left his home planet for a dump like this. She waved at him one final time before closing her door. She walked over to her window and looked down at the street. She didn’t see any beauty here but saw children running by with big smiles on their faces.

  “Healthy neighborhood?” Ester muttered. She started to turn away, when a bright blue bird landed on her window ceil. It moved its head, chirped, then flew away. She watched the place where it once perched and mustered a smile as she settled on leftovers and spending the day relaxing in front of the telescreen.

  ***

  After a few weeks on the job, she was really starting to get the swing of things. It wasn’t as glamorous, but she liked it and she was good at it. She got up early and showered. This time she didn’t
bother wearing a nice ride suit, instead she wore some of her old clothes: a pair of thick pants and a heavy over shirt. She wanted to be warm but not too warm that she would over heat. She left her apartment and headed downstairs. As she got towards the middle of the stairs the sounds of arguments made her stop. Ester turned her ear and listened, it sounded like a mother and child.

  “You’re not my mom!” The same child that had bumped into her the other day yelled.

  Ester stood in the shadows, some feet away.

  “Gar,” The woman tried to get control of the boy. Her face was tired and riddled with worry.

  “I don’t have to listen to you! Why don’t you just leave me alone?” The boy ran away down the hall.

  The woman looked as if she wanted to cry but didn’t chase after him. Instead she placed her purse over her shoulder and left. Ester recognized the uniform, but she had remembered seeing the woman wear different uniforms other times. As the woman passed Ester, she lifted her head up giving Ester a weak smile, then moved on. Ester really didn’t like that kid; he was a real brat. She wondered why he acted out so much, but she had little time to think about. She didn’t want to miss to her train to work.

  It was winter festival season in Ans-on and the markets were extremely packed. Her boss even asked her if she wanted to come in on her days off. She agreed but knew the next few days would take a lot out of her. After work, the trains were packed, making the lines long. She had never seen it this congested before. So, it took longer than expected to get home. She stopped by the convenience store to buy a sandwich, but they were out of the kind she liked and settled on drumming up something in the kitchen. The clouds were rolling in. Ester peaked out from the shop. She was only a few blocks from her apartment and could probably beat the rain if she ran. Just as she was about to start her sprint a ball of white fluff caught her eye. She looked and saw a pair of golden eyes staring back at her. It was a dog, a very old dog. She hadn’t seen a dog in so long. Domestic pets were uncommon in Adum; most people only kept animals for work. She walked over to him and bent down as she extended her hand out close to the ground for them to sniff.

  The dog sniffed her hand and wagged his tail. “What are you doing out here, old fella?” Ester petted him on the head. His fur was both soft but greasy. Then she felt a droplet fall on her cheek. “Ooo, looks like I’ve got to go.” She looked up at the sky again, it was getting darker. “You got a place to go? It’s going to rain soon.”

  The dog tilted its head and wagged its tail. She looked around. No one seemed to claim him. She reached down to pet him again and searched for a collar or tag.

  “Here we go.” She read the ID tag and to her surprise the dog was from her same apartment complex she lived in. “Chargie, huh?”

  She stood up and looked around at the people passing by. Could the owner be in the convenience store? She wanted to wait, but the rain wasn’t going to hold off while she played rescue mission.

  “Okay, buddy, I can’t sleep knowing you might get caught in the rain. Your owner lives in the same building as me, so I’ll just take you home. Is that okay with you?”

  The old dog tilted its head and stood slowly to his feet. He was a medium sized dog, about sixty pounds or so and looked it despite his fluff.

  “You follow?” Ester started walking and the dog followed. “Good boy.” She smiled and petted him once more.

  The two beat the rain, just in time too, as it started to pour just moments after they entered the lobby. Ester shivered and looked down at the dog’s collar again. His owner was in apartment A-3304 on the fourth floor. The two walked to the elevator and entered as Ester started down at the old white patch riddled dog.

  “Boy, I hope your owner is okay.” She wondered briefly if something could have happened to cause this old dog to be out on the streets alone.

  The elevator came to a stop and the pair exited. Ester read the numbers of each apartment as she walked.

  “Here’s your stop.” Ester looked down at the dog.

  He lifted his head and his mouth opened, which made him look as if he were smiling. He pawed at the door and whined then stood on his hind legs and opened the door. Shocked, Ester couldn’t believe she just watched a dog open a door.

  “Chargie?” The voice of an old man could be heard in the distance. The man appeared at the door and was surprised to see Ester. “Oh hello.” The old man, with dark tan skin and short wild white hair looked down at Chargie. “Did you bring back another girlfriend?” The old man laughed. “I am truly sorry miss if he gave you any trouble.” The old white dog panted as he stood behind his owner and wagged his tail slowly.

  “Not at all.” Ester smiled.

  “He has a habit of bringing guests over. I’m not lonely, you old fool.” The man chuckled.

  “He’s a cute dog, smart, too.” Ester eyed the dog. She guessed that he could have gone home at any time, seeing how he knew how to open the door. Chargie barked.

  “Oh, hush.” The old man petted his dog on the head. “Where are my manners? My name is InyOuty Applecom.”

  “It’s nice to meet you sir, my name is Ester DuTain.” Ester reached out her hand. The old man shook it with delight.

  “DuTain? Haven’t heard that name in a long time.” The old man turned, expecting Ester to follow. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner.” He smiled. Ester looked surprised but figured why not. She didn’t have anything good to eat back at her apartment and everyone in the building seemed friendly so far. “Where have I heard DuTain from? Ah yes. It was quite sad; vandals; miscreants, but that was decades ago.”

  Ester closed the door. “What was decades ago?”

  The old man turned around and looked at Ester like he was looking at a friend he hadn’t seen in a long time. “Before your time,” he scratched his head. “Well, you look about the right age, but it was sad. Just a piss poor situation, but that’s how it was back in my ranger days.”

  Ranger days? Ester thought to herself. Was InyOuty a retired ranger? Ester followed him to the kitchen looking around at all the pictures on the walls. Just like Sal, it looked like he was well traveled, but yet he made his home here. She stopped and looked at one picture taken in a massive freshly planted field. The man shuffled behind her.

  “That one was taken at a place called Bluburry farms in north Adum-la. Back in those days, you could walk the land and see nothing but crops for miles.” He smiled.

  “It’s still like that.” Ester stood and turned to him. “Nothing but fields everywhere you look.”

  InyOuty’s face lit up. “How wonderful. These days, nothing stays the same and when you get to my age you long to go back every day.” InyOuty walked back to the kitchen.

  Ester followed as the smell of fresh vegetable stew permeated the air as it simmered in a pot on the stove. Hanging on the walls were peppers and woven baskets of potatoes and bundles of spices. On the table sat a cornucopia of apples and pears and cinnamon incense burned lightly on a hand carved incense boat on the counter. Ester took a deep breath; this place was flooded with the smells of home. So much so that she half expected Sister Genevieve to walk around the corner carrying a tray of freshly baked bread.

  The old man poured out some stew. “Is this enough?”

  Ester snapped out of her memories and nodded. “Yes, that’s fine.” Chargie was by her side, wagging his tail and, looking quite content in the company of his new guest. Ester smiled at him and petted him on the head.

  “Are you from Adum-la?” Ester said.

  “What?”

  “Are you from—”

  “No, no. I was born in a tiny village in the Fortner locale in Who-da. When I was young, it was just called the traveling states, but you know we’ve got to have a name for everything.”

  InyOuty turned and walked to the table with two great big bowls of stew. The smells knocked at the doors of her memories and invited its self in.

  “Haglin Who was the name of the man said to have brought peace to the traveli
ng states, but all he did was show up and piss his pants, so they named it after him as consolation.” InyOuty laughed, when Chargie pawed at his leg. “Oops, forgive me, old friend.” InyOuty got up and walled to the refrigerator and took out a bowl for Chargie. He topped off his bowl with an extra spoonful of stew and stirred it. “This is for the lovely guest you brought over.”

  Ester smiled in between gobbling up a spoonful of stew. The stew was good. It reminded her of everything she missed. “So what made you want to live all the way down here, Mr. Applecom?”

  “Applecom? Please call me InyOuty, Applecom is too formal for this old man.” He sat back down and took in his stew sip by sip. “Here? Hmmm,” he paused. “This place was the cheapest.” He let out a hardy laugh. “You know, I’ve been alive for a very long time, but I wouldn’t call myself a senior.”

  Ester eyed him.

  “I’m only one hundred and thirty.” InyOuty tried to flex. “And when you get to my age you realize any place you call your home is home.”

  Ester stopped eating and smiled as he continued to talk. He was right. She was slowly starting to realize this. A home could be anywhere, and she was beginning to realize that hers lived in her heart. She carried it with her wherever she went, ready to be planted and started a new, wherever life took her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Work was incredibly busy the next day. Ester barely had time to sit down. People were buying up their stock faster than they could stock it. Ester moved loads in a hurry along with the other staff who didn’t seem phased by all the craziness. The morning flew by and the crowds thinned out a little, giving Ester just enough time to enjoy a bruised tomato and a drink of water. She sat on a crate and people watched, wondering what the big fuss was about. She didn’t know much about Ans-on’s festivals, but she would call Angel and ask.

  As she watched the crowd, she took interest in the families. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed playing with children, even though they could be little terrors at times. She laughed to herself as her memories came flooding in. When she looked up to scan the crowd again, she saw a young woman with gorgeous short midnight blue hair. Ester froze as her eyes followed her around the market. The woman’s skin was a pale white and she was dressed in a dark gray ride suit with a long black cloak around her. Ester watched her move from booth to booth cautiously, as if she were lost or looking for something. The woman stopped many times at neighboring venders, but bought nothing, only stared and looked with her fingers drawn to her lips. Ester finished her tomato and wiped her hands on her pants. Her break was coming to an end, but she was captivated by the woman’s beauty and guarded expression that fluttered every time someone bumped into her.