The Sisters of Nowhere

n i n e : s o d a s h o p

NiNi's Soda Shop was filled with the youth of Nowhere on Saturday, which was to say around fifteen people in total.

The scuffed checkered floors reflected the only fancy neon lights in Nowhere, which came from the jukebox in the corner. It was the newest piece of technology to come into town in nearly ten years.

Currently, it cranked out the melody of Dean Martin's rendition of Basin Street Blues.

"The band is there to meet us, old friends to greet us..." the jukebox preened.

Ophelia sighed, twirling her red straw around with her finger. "He's a dream, I tell you, that Dean Martin."

"Wasn't Elvis "a dream" last week?" Birdie asked, taking a sip of her Coca-Cola and scribbling down a note on the pad beside her. She had an obituary due by that evening.

"He was," Ophelia said, "but if I have to hear Mystery Train one more time, I'll board my own mystery train and never come back."

Wyatt, who was sitting beside her, said, "But at least Elvis doesn't have twelve cats like Dean Martin does.."

Ophelia turned to look at him wide-eyed. "How do you know that?"

"My father worked with him at a charity event," Wyat stated. "I thought he was wearing a mink coat, but when I looked closer, it was just cat hair on a Dior blazer."

All of the girls were staring at him, but Ophelia kept blinking like one of her brain circuits was shorting out. "You...I mean, you...and Dean Martin? In a Dior suit?"

"Blazer," Wyatt corrected. "The shirtwaist and pants were Balenciaga."

Now Marigold laughed. The names "Dior" and "Balenciaga" were two things she never thought she'd hear come out of Wyatt Best's mouth.

"Well?" Ophelia pressed, grabbing his arm beside her. "What was he like? Was he handsome?"

Wyatt squinted. "How am I supposed to answer that?"

"Answer something!"

Wyatt's eyes darted between each of them, wondering what was so astonishing about him seeing a celebrity, of all people, in Hollywood, of all places. "He asked me to get him a glass of champagne when my father was the one hosting the party. I wasn't a waiter."

Ophelia frowned and muttered, "Killjoy," under her breath as she took another sip of Coke.

"You've got to miss that life," Marigold said wistfully.

Wyatt wasn't sure how to answer that, either. He didn't like waiting for a paycheck in order to grow a rose garden or mucking the cow stalls at five-thirty in the morning. But did he miss his old life? "I miss how easy it was," he offered, "sometimes. But I like how you live in Nowhere--it's simple. You don't need an education or money or status to be happy."

Birdie laughed darkly. "I know, it's a wonder we even know how to write our own names, isn't it?"

Wyatt scrunched his eyebrows together. "No, I meant that those things aren't necessarily important for the way you live."

Birdie stared at him in disbelief.

Ophelia sighed, "Here we go."

"Important?" Birdie repeated. "You think we're stupid just because most of us farm or run the shops?"

Wyatt blinked. "No, not at all. But I wouldn't say that, as a culture, you'd be considered academically inclined."

Marigold winced.

Ophelia closed one eye.

Birdie said, "Well then, maybe next time you find yourself starving or without clothes or in need of a shelter, you can just ask your academics for help."

Wyatt opened his mouth, then figured it was safer to close it again. He was having a hard time seeing what was so offensive. He wasn't saying anyone was stupid. He thought the people of Nowhere were smarter than most of the people he'd met in his whole life.

Birdie shook her head and gathered her notepad and pencil. "I have to go turn this in to the Post. I'll see you all tonight, where maybe we can scratch pictures on the wall and dance around a fire."

Marigold rolled her eyes as Birdie left. "I'm sorry, Wyatt."

But Wyatt didn't need an apology. He asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

Marigold and Ophelia exchanged a silent conversation with their eyes.

Ophelia said gently, "I just don't think you're used to not being rich yet."

And that was that.

"I'm going to see if there's anything other than Dean Martin to play on the jukebox," Ophelia said, and Wyatt stood up so she could get out.

When he sat back down, Marigold said, "That's Birdie for you. She has this thing with...with skeletons or whatever. Don't take it personally."

"Skeletons?" Wyatt repeated.

"I don't know, but basically she doesn't trust anybody until she sees what they're really made of. Who they are deep inside." Marigold flicked a piece of blonde hair away from her eyes. "I tell her that she can't know the skeleton of every person she meets in passing and that she just has to let loose and have a few friends. But she's not interested in friends. She believes in kindred spirits who are knit together at the soul, which are few and far between."

"Ah," Wyatt mused. He was surprised to find that he understood this. It explained why she tried to push him away. Her walls were already built and she hadn't made a gate for him to enter into yet.

It also explained why she picked apart everything he said.

Marigold took a sip of her grape soda, twirling a curl around her finger. Wyatt had to admit she was the most strikingly pretty of the Penny sisters.

"I've heard talk of an eclipse," Wyatt said. "People say that's why there are more ghosts than usual."

Marigold gulped down her soda and winced. She cast her eyes to the side, then back at Wyatt, then away again. "It is an eclipse year, yes."

By this time, Ophelia had rejoined them once Mambo Rock was playing. She said, "It's painful."

"The eclipse?"

Marigold replied, "To allow the ghosts to borrow enough of our energy to pass on leaves us nearly dead ourselves. And they all have to make it by the time the eclipse ends, or they have to stay in Nowhere until the next one."

"Is that so bad?" Wyatt asked. "To have to stay here?"

"The ghosts weaken over time," Ophelia explained. "If they stay too long, they might fade away. Like a lightbulb."

"And they can't pass on without you?"

The girls shook their heads.

Wyatt frowned, thoughtful. He propped his elbow up on the table and asked, "Then what happened before the three of you were born?"

"There's always been someone like us. Just never three at one time." Ophelia shrugged a shoulder. "We're able to let more ghosts pass on than anyone did before."

Marigold patted his hand. "But you'll see what it's all about firsthand in August."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey everyone! Hope you're all hanging in there!

~What did you think of Wyatt and Biride's argument?

~General thoughts?

Thank you so much for reading! {Don't forget to comment, vote, and share!}