Read Online The Red Thread by Bryan Ellis - Free Book Online Page B

sneakers. I look down at the ground, going out of my way to step on each crunchy leaf. I smile at the sound.
    I do my best to ignore the stares. When will I not be the talk of the town anymore? I pull my iPod out of my bag, and I crank up the music so that I am in my own little world. No one else matters. No one is even here, except for me. I’m alone on the sidewalks, my Converse crunching the leaves. I don’t even know where I am walking; I just let my legs go.
    Soon, I find myself at the local bakery. I walk inside to be overwhelmed by the different smells of cakes and cookies and pastries and pies. Each one smells better than the last. I close my eyes and just take in everything. All the different smells come together to create something delicious to the senses.
    I get in the short line, mostly made up of elderly people on this bright morning. As I get to the cash register, I am met by an elderly Asian woman with a bright smile.
    “Hello, Jess! How are you? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
    “Fine,” I tell her, like I tell everyone else, “I guess I’ve been pretty busy.”
    I used to come here a lot as a child with my mom and sister, but as I got older, I stopped coming here as often, but when I do show up, Mrs. Chen still greets me like I was just here the other day.
    “What can I get for you today?”
    “A cup of English breakfast tea,” I tell her. One cup a day just isn’t enough for me. “And also a blueberry muffin!” I add right afterward.
    My biggest weakness, other than tea and books, are blueberry muffins. I’m not big on sweets, but I love blueberry muffins, especially Mrs. Chen’s.
    She brings over a small bag and a steaming Styrofoam cup of tea. She hands it over, and I pay her the money, remembering the price by heart. I’m a tea junkie, searching for his fix. I live off tea like I live off air and sarcasm.
    I wish her a good day, and I take my tea and muffin to a nearby park. It’s empty, while the kids are at school and the parents are at work. I put my iPod back on, and I sit on the bench. It’s a sunny day, and I feel the warmth on my skin. The tea burns my warm hands, but when I sip on it, it feels good as it fills me up.
    I take a bite of the muffin and look around at the scenery. Multicolored leaves fall to the ground around me. With my music playing and a hot tea in my hands, this could almost be considered heaven. I pull a book out of my bag and open to the page I left off at.
    I don’t make it very far before a tap on my shoulder interrupts me. I look over to see Mr. Samuels. He’s an elderly man in his early eighties with thinning white hair and a large gut that sticks out. I watch his lips move, but I don’t hear a sound. I am almost tempted to leave my music playing, but that would be considered rude, or something like that.
    I pause the music only to hear him talking about how beautiful the day is.
    “This weather is so lovely. I do love the autumn. Don’t you, Jesse?”
    He also will only call me by my full name, for a reason I don’t know. Countless times in the past I told him I prefer Jess, but he just ignores it, and I just stopped telling him.
    “It’s okay, Mr. Samuels.”
    “I can’t wait for the winter, though, when the snow covers the ground like a white blanket. It’s beautiful. Oh, do you hear that, Jesse? Oh yes, don’t you hear those lovely birds chirping. Chirp! Chirp! They must be so happy.”
    I look around, but no birds are in sight, nor do I hear any. Mr. Samuels is also senile. He’s great company, because you never know what he’s going to say next. I know all the children in town make fun of him, but he’s a nice guy. He’s weird, but he’s nice. But then again, I’m the town lunatic, so I should not say anything.
    “Oh to be a bird, it must be so freeing. I used to dream of being a bird, Jesse. Did you know that? I could just fly away and go anywhere I would like. I would find new trees to live in and make friends all over. I would