The Wayward Child (Part 1)

The sudden words “Want coffee?” made Todd jump. He tore his eyes away from his computer screen and looked up at the waitress standing before him. Her arms were folded across her aproned waist, and in one hand she held an almost-empty coffee pot. One of her eyebrows was raised, and her mouth was stretched in a thin line. Todd chose to ignore her typical annoyed-waitress attitude and nodded towards his cup. “At least say yes, asshole,” she murmured as the hot coffee poured into the cup. Todd glanced up and calmly said, “If you have something to say, the least you can do is say it to my face.” The waitress said nothing, but her face was stone as she walked away. He watched her go, and in spite of his annoyance with her, he enjoyed the view quite a bit. When she disappeared into the back room, he shook his head slightly, as if throwing off the weight of a memory, gave a low chuckle, and turned his attention back to his work. He only paused when the waitress passed by again and dropped the bill on his table. He packed up his work soon afterwards, dropped a ten on the table, and left the coffee shop; but not before he caught the waitress’s eye while he was paying. She glared at him, but a faint blush colored her cheeks and she glanced down sharply. He smiled faintly and left for home.

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Alyssa felt her cheeks burning as she poured yet another cup of coffee. She was glad that the man had finally left. She hated his cocky attitude. Just because he was handsome and rich didn’t give him the right to talk to her that way, the bastard. Her being a waitress didn’t mean that she was somebody who could be treated like trash. She gave a tight smile to an elderly couple and gave them their check, then moved on to the next table. Over the past few weeks, Alyssa had gotten into the groove of waitressing. She had finally gotten to the point where she could move from table to table with ease, taking care of customers in a way that made them feel important. Except for the drunk ones. She mostly tried to ignore them and deal with them as little as possible. And except for days like today, when she couldn't hide the feelings behind a fake smile.

It was all because of the song that had come on the radio last night. It was the one that she and Brian had sung so many times together on their drives through town. She had tried to turn it down, or change the station, but her fingers wouldn't obey, and deep down she knew that she wanted to remember his face, his voice, the way his eyes looked at her when they were alone together. She wanted to feel the pain, to remind herself that she hadn't forgotten, and would never forget him. She couldn't sleep after that, and spent the whole night awake, dry-eyed, staring at the ceiling fan spinning around and around in never-ending circles. It made her think of the days before she had met Diana and Brian and Jesus, the days when she would sit in her small trailer room and stare out the window, wondering if there was anybody out there who loved her. It was strange how easily the bitterness had come back.

Alyssa hung her apron up on the hook. "Hey, Deb, I'm heading out!" "Alright, sweetie, you be careful getting home now," called Deb, the head waitress, as she pushed her way through the swinging door with an armful of trays. "I will!" Alyssa shouted back with a faint smile. She shrugged on her coat, grabbed her purse, and headed out towards the Green Lantern. A light breeze tugged on her ponytail. She glanced up at the sky and saw not a cloud, so she walked across the street to the only grocery store in town and picked up a large loaf of white bread. On her way back to the motel, Alyssa stopped by the duck pond and spent a couple of hours in her favorite place, a bench right on the edge of the lake. As she tossed the small pieces of bread into the water, more and more geese gathered around her, like some kind of hungry mob. She laughed as some of the fat geese attacked each other for a morsel of bread. However, her eye sometimes strayed to the tall, white, cross-topped steeple that could be seen above the tops of the trees. She hated to admit it, hated to even think herself worth of the feeling, but she missed God. Sometimes she felt so alone that she was sure her heart was going to break into a million pieces. And yet, He was so close, as close as the nearest blade of grass or beat of her heart. And that made her afriad. She had screamed such awful things at Him, at this Person who had saved her from herself and shown her love as no one else ever had before. She had spit in His face and she had hated Him for taking away the person who had meant the most to her. Brian, her Brian, with his shy, goofy smile, his sparking green eyes, his heart full of love, wisdom and courage. He had followed God. It had been so hard for him to leave home, to leave his family, to leave her with no promise of ever returning. But he had gone. He had proven his love to God. What more did He want? As these thoughts raced through Alyssa's mind, she clenched the bread bag tighter and tighter, and slow and steady tears began to fall down her face. Why? Why? her soul screamed out. Haven't you taken enough from me?

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Brian sat in the corner of the hovel, his dirty knees pulled up under his chin. Slowly, subtly, he rocked back and forth, trying to ease the searing pain coming from a thousand different places in his body. His eyes were squeezed shut, blocking out the sights of his dimly-illuminated comrades. If only he could block out the moans and stench as well. Brian could hear the faint murmur of two soldiers speaking to one another, and moved his shaking hands to cover his ears. Why were they still trying? Why were they doing this to themselves? They were all going to die, just like Greggs had died, in this God-forsken place. It would be easier if they kept apart, didn't let anyone close. Then they wouldn't have to hurt so much. A faint image played across the screen of his closed eyelids, one that made his heart ache even more. It was the image of a brown-haired girl, laughing as she crooned along to the radio. She flashed him a smile, and the joy, the surprising and beautiful joy, that raidiated from her made his heart skip a beat. Alyssa. Alyssa. His dry, cracked lips parted slowly, and tears somehow managed to flow from his dry eyes as he whispered, so low that no one else could hear, the name that meant so much to him: "Alyssa."