Veda dislikes public places, but Weston Academy remains self-funded, and to keep the school functioning, without high tuition costs, they sell excess produce at events like this. Normally teachers volunteer to staff the booth, but today, Veda is alone. Between price questions and bulk-order requests, she watches the crowd, etching faces into memory, linking strangers through imagined connections.
The passing hours smooth Veda’s serious edges and lower the volume of her ever-present anxiety. She’s nearly sold out when her final customers approach.
Ruth and Everly Wells are an odd contrast in both appearance and temperament. Ruth, a Seer and member of the Oracle Council alongside Clinton, is tall and willowy with pale skin and gray hair. She always wears a wide-brimmed hat regardless of the weather, and today is no exception. Everly, on the other hand, isn’t a Seer. She is as short as Veda and plump in a grandmotherly sort of way. Her skin is olive and her eyes are as brown as her hair. Despite their differences, they are sisters, but not by blood.
“Alone again, Veda?” Everly tsks. Since Veda’s birthday, Everly has cut her long hair into a bob that suits her nicely. “I’m beginning to think you only come when no one else does.”
Veda laughs awkwardly at the truth. “I don’t mind. It’s been a nice day.”
While Everly overpays for the rest of the school’s stock and refuses a discount, Ruth observes Veda like someone trying to decide whether food is too far past its expiration date to consume. Veda hates being scrutinized, but it’s worse because it’s Ruth. She doesn’t have kids of her own and has spent years as something of a mother figure to anyone who needs one. Since Veda arrived in Proventia, Ruth invites her to holidays, and Everly brews the salve she puts on her back.
“What you think is loneliness is actuallyhunger.”
Everly does a double take and gives her sister a small swat. “Don’t scare the poor girl.”
“It’s fine,” Veda says, bagging the produce in their reusable totes. “I’ve been accosted already with Clinton’s visions.”
That earns a sharp glance between the sisters. “When multiple Seers have visions about the same subject, it means there is something stirring in the Cosmos,” Ruth says.
“Should I be worried?”
Ruth’s smile is the nonanswer she expects.
Everly changes the subject. “How have you been? You haven’t been around since your birthday dinner.”
“Oh, you know me, I never sit still.”
Ruth scrutinizes her. “You should come by for dinner, and don’t say you’re cooking, because we all know your idea of a meal is either frozen, packaged, or purchased.”
It’s true, but she mumbles something about eating at Peter’s, places the last of their purchases into a bag, and immediately starts to clear her booth. Neither leaves. Worse, they start helping. As the women fold the checkered tablecloth, Veda pulls the empty bins from underneaththe table, places three inside one, and stacks the lids. “How haveyoutwo been?”
“Pretty good,” Ruth replies. “But birds keep shitting in my rain gauge.”
Veda suppresses a laugh with her fist. “That’s ... unfortunate.”
Everly snickers. “What are your plans for the rest of the day, Veda?”
“Home.”
She shakes her head shamefully. “You should drive to Seattle or Olympia, get out of those jeans, take out that nose ring—”
“Or don’t,” Ruth chimes in. “The youths love that sort of look. Just put on something nice and show a little leg. Have some fun out on the town.”
“Yes!” Everly grins. “Do it while your knees still work.”
Veda rolls her eyes. She once had a healthy social life with friends and parties, flings, the occasional boyfriend. Nothing serious. Only fun. That was all she could commit to. But she’s not that person anymore.
“I’m not looking for anything,” Veda says.
Her words fall on deaf ears. “That’s usually when you find your spouse.”
“Sounds like a threat,” Veda mutters.
Everly laughs while Ruth pats her hands. “Oh, honey, you’re in for a rude awakening.”
“I’ll pray every day to the Cosmos that you’re wrong.”
Both women laugh raucously at her opposition. Everly pats Veda’s shoulder. “As if you have any say in it. You’re brilliant, Veda. Cynical and distant, but not to worry, someone will outlast your resistance. They’ll wait patiently for you to open up and want everything they find.” A soft, whimsical smile appears. “I can’t wait for that to happen.”
