Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
“Hmpf,” Lou grumbles as he shuffles over to the grill. I snatch another one while his big back is turned to me.
Kathy is laughing. “Do you have a death wish or something?”
“It’s worth the risk,” I say with a moan as I swallow the delicious fry down. “It’s one of the benefits of working in Timberville’s finest restaurant.”
“Its only restaurant,” she says as she wipes down the plastic menus. “Why did you move here again?”
I sigh as I grab the pot of coffee. “I ask myself that every day.”
She chuckles as I head onto the floor, smiling at all of the regulars as I refill cup after cup.
There are about five thousand people scattered around the mountainous area, mostly working in logging and a few ranchers. We always get a few of them in here for lunch. They’re nice, wholesome, salt-of-the-earth people, which is a nice change from where I come from.
“Did you hear anything about that scuffle by the train station this morning?” Dan, one of my regulars, asks.
“Dan, you know as much as I do that nothing remotely interesting happens in this town. Ever.”
He laughs as I refill his coffee.
“Well, get this,” he says in a low voice. “Apparently, there were some bear shifters battling it out and a French guy with a sword.”
I roll my eyes and chuckle. “A French guy with a sword? Bear shifters? Were they riding in on unicorns?”
“Dirt bikes.”
I laugh.
“It’s true! My buddy Reggie works there. He saw it.”
I sit down across from him in the booth with a sigh. “Never trust info from a guy named Reggie. I shouldn’t have to tell you things like this, Dan. What are you, fifty?”
“I’m thirty-seven!”
“Oh! Shit, sorry. You look great for your age by the way.”
He frowns. “It’s true. One guy turned into a polar bear and his ear was bleeding.”
“A polar bear?” I shake my head. The people in this town will believe anything. “Bear shifters don’t exist.”
“Yes, they do!” he says with a fierceness in his tone that forces me to fight back a laugh. “My friend’s cousin’s boyfriend was one.”
“Always a friend of a friend of a cousin of a neighbor, right?”
His eyebrows bunch up as he frowns at me. I don’t think I’m going to be getting a big tip from Dan today.
“You city folk don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Coming from the guy who’s saying there are polar bears and French ninjas running around town.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Three months.” Three long boring ass months living in the tiny one-bedroom apartment over this diner. All of my stuff smells like hamburgers.
“You’ll see,” he says as he nods with complete confidence. “There are no bear shifters in the city, but out here… there are tons of them.”
“Hazel!” Lou hollers from the kitchen. “No sitting at the tables!”
“I was just checking the fluffiness of the seats,” I holler back. “They’re terrible by the way. The wood is digging into my butt.”
Everyone in the diner chuckles as I get up with a sigh. They all know me by now and they all know Lou too. They seem to love the way we bicker.
“The garbage needs to be changed,” he says with a huff as he shuffles back into the kitchen.
“I’m on it!” I say with a firm salute.
I refill a few more cups on the way back to the kitchen and overhear some more talk about the big bad bear shifters fighting by the train station. I wonder what it really was that’s getting these townsfolk all riled up. Maybe a raccoon wandered into the station and Reggie’s overactive imagination went overboard.
“Garbage,” Lou says when I return behind the counter and slide the coffee pot back onto the burner. “Now.”
“I’ll take the garbage out since I’m a stellar employee,” I say as I walk over to it. “But you’re not my boss, Lou. For the hundredth time.”
“I’m the one who opened this restaurant thirty-three years ago!” he says as he flips an egg on the grill. Why is his shirt always so dirty? Speaking of shifters, this man looks like a giant mutant frog shifter.
“Too bad you sold it to buy a hunting cabin,” I say with a sad face. “Now, you’re just an employee like me. So, no more boss.”
He grumbles as he flips another egg. “Just take out the dang garbage.”
I tie up the bag and pull it out with a grunt. Gross mystery liquid leaks onto my shoe.
“Ew!” I say as I rush out the back, half-carrying, half-dragging the heavy leaking bag.
The cool autumn air hits my skin and I shiver, but it feels good. I’m excited for the seasons. I’ve never experienced them before. I come from Florida where it’s sweaty weather all year round. I’m not used to needing jackets and gloves and hats. I guess I’ll have to save up and buy all of that stuff unless I want to freeze this winter.