Page 28 - Cindy Salas Murphy San Diego Woman Magazine

F ANT ASTIC FLASH FIC TION

MAKING IT COUNT DUST TO DUST

By Shelley Burbank By Isabella Steel
With the closed sign turned in the front win- Alison feared. Not for her own safety, but for
dow, MaryAnn counted books. Row by row, his. She had watched as he battered her neigh-
shelf by shelf, she made her way through the bor for a year. Ever since, the couple had moved
tiny bookshop doing her annual inventory, a in. Twice Megan had come to her apartment
dreaded but necessary chore. with their toddler sporting a black eye and oth-
er bruises. Now a third time she had woken Ali-
She’d left the window open, and fresh air off the
bay blew the tea-stained lace curtains, making son at 2am, again the toddler in tow.
them flutter. Outside, perched on branches just “Megan, you know my door is always open to
beginning to bud, a few early songbirds whis- you, but you need to take a stand for yourself
tled flutelike arias. Spring was just around the and your baby. He will not stop.”
corner. Soon as she finished counting, she’d Both women got the baby back down and sleep-
re-stock and decorate for the season. She imag- ing. Alison made coffee and prepared an ice
ined pink and green twinkle lights and paper pack for Megan’s face and neck. She sucked in a
flowers. A few hand-thrown pottery pieces and breath as she noticed the outlines of his fingers
vintage aprons on display with the cookbooks. on her neck.
Her great-grandmother’s sewing machine in
the front window with some pretty floral print “He choked you?”
fabric and ribbons surrounded by beautiful Megan looked at the floor.
hardback fiber arts books she’d picked up at
auction last month. “Put this on your neck. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Inventory day was like peas, she figured. You She returned to find Megan on the couch with
ate them first in order to get to the desert. the ice packs in place.
She’d started the store almost by accident. “I need you to take this ring and put it on and
First, there’d been the Little Free Library for take this emblem and keep it in your personal
fun and then the online resale store to support things.”
her reading and book collecting habit. She’d “What is it?”
discovered a knack for the book biz—yard
sales and second-hand shops offered up their “They are signs of Irkalla. She will protect you.”
treasures which she then sold for a few dollars Megan was dubious, but put on the ring. The
more than she’d paid.
following morning, to Alison’s disappointment,
Slowly, she gained a following. People offered Megan returned to his apartment.
to sell her entire library collections. As her in- That evening he returned to the apartment,
ventory grew, her crowded apartment shrunk drunk, and began shouting. Megan fled to the
until it was obvious she was ready for retail bedroom and locked the door. The ring on her
space.
finger glowed, almost burned. She found the
Three years and countless hours of work lat- emblem in her drawer and it also glowed. There
er, Spinningwheel Books—a shop devoted to was pounding on the bedroom door that sud-
hobby, craft, cooking, and art volumes—might denly stopped. She could hear him confronting
just turn a profit. She smiled, remembering someone.
her great-grandmother’s advice when she was “What are you??”
young and first learning to embroider.
Suddenly there was screaming from her hus-
“If you are going to do something, put all your band, a sound of commotion, breaking furni-
effort into it. Make it count, MaryAnn. Be sure ture, then silence. Megan emerged from the
to always make it count.” bedroom. She found a pattern of white dust on
Dedicated to my good friend and fellow writer, the floor, like ash. Her abusive husband had
Mary Ann Giasson. disappeared.

"If you or someone you know is experiencing domes-
tic violence please call Domestic Violence Hotline at
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)"

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