Fairy Crosses

Chapter One

Written by Rowan Carver

 Charlotte made breakfast and then forgot about it again, sitting by the window with a cup of coffee while a plate of eggs and toast went cold by the toaster. She rubbed her bloodshot eyes and sank into her chair, wondering if missing work again would be worth the consequences, and trying to figure out which imaginary illness would warrant a sick day. Strep throat, she thought. I've done the flu, food poisoning, chicken pox which was a little hard to sell...but I haven't done strep throat yet. That should be believable.

Her husband sat across from her, cradling a Star Wars mug against his chest. He wore a Hanes t-shirt with grass stains that no Tide stain remover could conquer. The silver cross necklace around his neck clinked against his coffee mug when he took a sip.

The two sat for a while without talking, enjoying each other's company almost as much as they were enjoying their mountain coffee, the beans plucked and roasted mere miles from their house. An Appalachian breeze came through the open window, throwing tufts of Charlotte's hair across her face. The breeze smelled of soil, pine trees, and a million more reasons why she didn't want to go to work. She shot a look of longing at the neglected pair of hiking boots by the door.

"You alright, Grey?" Charlotte asked.

He rubbed the side of his neck. "Tired."

"Same."

They shared silence a few moments more, which was interrupted at times by the clink of Greyson's cross against Darth Vader's mask.

Charlotte scratched at a water stain on the table. "I've been reading up on Appalachian fairy tales since moving here," she said.

Greyson raised a brow. Charlotte enjoyed Hallmark movies and the occasional trashy romance on Netflix. She was never much of a reader. "Really?" he asked.

"Just online, but maybe in a book later. I've been wanting to check out the library."

Greyson leaned forward. "Really?"

"I'm not illiterate, Grey."

"I'm not saying you are!"

"Then why are you so surprised?"

"How many books do you have?"

"I have some...comic books."

"I didn't know that."

"I left them in Atlanta."

He gave her the half grin she loved best because it put a light in his eyes. "Still counts."

"Yeah, still counts."

"Tell me about the fairy tales."

She hummed, staring at the first sun rays coming over the mountains, frustrated that all her research had suddenly left her brain. "I don't know, I just remember a lot of it was weird. People came up with a lot of weird stuff out here."

"Mushrooms?"

"Probably."

"Moonshine?"

"Uh, hell. It would've had to been super strong for them to come up with all this trippy shit. I'm going to guess ayahuasca."

"That grows out here? I thought that was just in South America."

"You can grow anything out here if you have the right attitude about it."

He considered the shriveled cactus on the windowsill.

Charlotte frowned. "Guess we didn't have the right attitude."