Justin followed Todd’s old black pickup truck on a small road that led to the house. It was decrepit and probably built by the ancient founder of the tiny house movement. Not that it mattered. He didn’t need a large space. Todd gave him a tour and told him that he occasionally stayed at the place just to keep it up. There are clean sheets in the closet and some toiletries under the bathroom sink. Todd shuffled through the house back toward the front door and left.
Justin unpacked what little he brought with him. He pulled his coffee maker out and set it on the kitchen counter. He would definitely need it in the morning. He put his luggage, box of books and writing materials on the kitchen table. This looked like the best spot for him to set up to work. He took a small notebook out of his box and stepped outside to the porch. He breathed in the salty air as he took a seat in a chair. “The people may be strange, but this place is beautiful,'' he thought as began writing in his notebook.
***
The next morning,Justin fixed a cup of coffee and went out for a stroll on the beach in front of the house. His feet sunk down into the sand and his sandals were making it hard to walk. He pulled his sandals off but grimaced as the heat radiated through his feet. He took off running towards the water in a comical display while yelling “ouch, ouch, ouch.” As soon as he reached the water, he let out an “Aww.” Laughter erupted from the trees. Shocked, he turned around to find the source of the laughter. The two twins from yesterday were standing amongst the trees laughing at him. His face turned red with embarrassment which only made the children laugh harder. Despite his embarrassment he smiled and waved at the children. Both were still laughing when they gave a small smile and waved back. He put his sandals back on, but kept his distance not wanting to scare them again. “My name is Justin,” he said.
The boy spoke first. “My name is Arbus and this is my sister Verana,” he said, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “We came to apologize for yesterday. Mr. Todd told us why you are here and asked us to see if you needed anything.”
Justin strolled closer to the children. “I need to go into town and buy some items, if you two would like to help me,” he said.
The children looked excited as they nodded.
“How long does it take to walk to town from here?” He asked the children.
Arbus said, “Not too long, sir.”
Justin chuckled as he thought it was probably farther than he wanted to walk, so he said, “maybe it would be best to take my car. Would you like to ride with me?“ They nodded eagerly as he let them crawl in the backseat.
The children started asking him questions as soon as they pulled onto the road. They wanted to know everything about him. They were fascinated by even the smallest of things.
Justin pulled into a lot close to the small grocery store and they all got out. The children were still asking questions. He felt sorry for the kids, they seemed to be lonely, the town apparently only had a few children. It seemed the twins roamed around by themselves most of the time too. They followed him into the grocery store. Justin got a basket and the twins directed him to every item he needed. He checked out his items and they went outside.
He looked up at the pub and saw the woman he had spoken to yesterday sitting outside reading a book. She looked up and smiled at him and the kids. Justin and the kids walked over to her. She set her book down and said, “I didn’t introduce myself to you yesterday. My name is Maribeth. I hope you have gotten settled ok.”
Justin smiled and said, “yes, everything has gone smoothly and now these two are helping me get some groceries.” He pointed back at the twins.
Maribeth smiled at the twins and asked them if they were hungry. The two twins eagerly nodded. “If you will wait here I will bring you all some burgers and fries to go.”
Justin said, “Oh really, that would be wonderful.”
He didn’t even realize it was lunchtime and the twins were probably hungry.
Justin thought of something that he meant to get from the store. He asked the kids if they would watch his stuff and wait for Maribeth while he ran to get the item. They nodded and started chattering away to each other.
He walked back into the store and headed to the back where he thought the matches and candles might be. There was a door open and he could hear voices. A tall woman with dark hair was talking to a man. He moved closer and he could hear the woman say, “no on the contrary I am honored to make the offering this year!”
Justin looked up at the woman just in time to catch a glare. She stopped talking and approached him. She had an unpleasant air to her as she said, “ my name is Mariana Lantrope. I am the town doctor and also the mother of Arbus and Verana. I was informed that my kids have been helping you this morning. Is that right?”
Justin smiled and said, “yes ma’am, they have been very helpful!”
Mariana said, “I am very busy with my patients and my husband Drake is a deep sea fisherman. We don’t have time to watch over them all the time. Don’t let them take up too much of your time, they tend to be very talkative and nosy.”
Justin frowned, “I have enjoyed having them around this morning. They are talkative but that is not always a bad thing.”
Mariana tilted her head back slightly and raised one eyebrow. “I will let you go. I have business to take care of.”
Justin nodded and turned around and headed to the checkout.
Outside, he saw Maribeth and the twins laughing. He could smell the food and his stomach growled. Maribeth helped them get back to the car and they returned to the house where they sat on the porch and hungrily devoured the food.
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