Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
I thought of how it must have been for him—frozen in statue form and watching other people live their lives around him while he never got to live himself. Never got to eat or drink or fall in love… Hey, where had that come from? I pushed the idea firmly to the back of my mind.
“Two human and one Creature sized, got it,” the man with red skin and horns—come to think of it, maybe he wasn’t a man but some kind of magical person—said, nodding. Then he turned to the back of the shop. “Celia, baby—we need a Creature sized almond croissant!” he called.
“Got one coming up,” a feminine voice replied and a woman with golden brown hair and blue eyes put her head out from the back. “Oh, hello, Goody Albright—and who are these two?”
“This is Willow—she’s a Medium. And this is her protector, Kael,” Goody Albright introduced us.
“I’m not really—” I started to say, but Celia the baker was clearly busy.
“Nice to meet you! I’ll have your Creature sized croissant out in a minute!” she promised and then popped back into the kitchen area, presumably to get our order ready.
We collected our croissants—two normal sized and one so large it looked like something you’d only order for Instagram pictures—and Goody Albright paid the girl at the register who had long, dark hair and a warm smile.
“How are you today, Sarah? And how’s Rath?”
“He’s busy setting up the WiFi for two new residents today,” Sarah said. “I swear this town is growing by leaps and bounds!”
“That’s because the human world is getting so chaotic,” Goody Albright said, nodding wisely. “So more and more magic practitioners are being drawn here. Don’t worry—the bubble around the town will grow to accommodate them but we won’t lose our small town charm. That’s part of the magic of Hidden Hollow.”
“I hope you’re right,” Sarah said. “I left a city down in Florida that was completely ruined by all the new people flooding in. No offense,” she said quickly to me. “I know the town needs a new Medium.”
“Oh, but I don’t really, uh, practice that,” I said quickly, wanting to manage expectations.
“No, she’s decided to open a magical ingredients shop next door instead,” Goody Albright said brightly. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have everything you need for a spell all in one place instead of having to hunt all over town?”
“It really would,” Sarah agreed. She smiled at me. “I hope you stay. If you do, we could be neighbors.”
“Do you ever do beignets here?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“Hmm, I don’t think so but I bet we could. I went to New Orleans once and they’re delicious,” she said, smiling. “I’ll talk to Celia about it.”
Then we had to move on because there were more customers behind us including a deaf centaur shouting that he wanted two dozen donuts stuffed with “crispy hay,” whatever that was.
As we left the line, I had to admit I couldn’t help liking the people I had met so far. Though I really thought it was wrong of Goody Albright to tell everyone I was about to set up shop in Hidden Hollow when I had no intention of doing so.
We went outside to eat since there was no seating in the bakery but before I could take my croissant out of the crackling white paper bag, Goody Albright suggested we get some coffee at the diner across the street. It had a big neon sign that read “Goldie’s” out front.
“But can we take outside food in there?” I asked uncertainly as she led us towards the diner.
“Oh sure—Goldie won’t mind as long as we order something. We’ll get some coffee,” she said.
Kael held the door for us and then came in after. Inside it looked like a classic 1950s diner with vinyl booths and metal tables. I even saw tiny juke boxes—one on each table—where you could put in a coin and pick a song.
Half the restaurant was clearly set up for humans and the other half was apparently for the “Creatures.” There was a tall table with no seats around it which might be good for centaurs. Also, there were several oversized booths where the tabletop would come up to my chin. Those must be for the really large residents of the town, I thought.
A full-figured waitress with curly blonde hair bustled up with a coffee pot in one hand.
“Hello, Goldie,” Goody Albright said to her. “This is Willow—she’s thinking of moving here. And this is her protector, Kael. We just got a few pastries from The Lost Lamb—can we eat them here if we get some coffee to go with them?”
“Sure, not a problem.” Goldie nodded and smiled. “I’ll put you in a half and half booth. Come on.”
She led the way down the row of human sized booths until we came to the end. The booth she showed us had a human sized bench on one side but on the other side the bench was much larger—clearly meant for someone Kael’s size.