Rumor Has it • • • (Lenoura)

She is a stranger, you and I have history or don't you remember...

Dewey, lets go! That's all she ever had to say. Nothing more, nothing less. The sound of her quiet order was enough for her little brother to understand; it was time for school. Of course Lenoura wouldn't be going herself, but Dewey knew perfectly well that he wasn't allowed to be late. Not on her watch.

Staring at the stairs she watched the six year old leap and bound down the steps. He was cute, no lie there. The little boy was the color of caramel with dark brown wavy hair, and sea green eyes; the spitting image of their late mother. It always frightened Noura to see how similar they were, Dewey would unfortunately never be able to see the resemblance. Put on your shoes. Immediately the child did as he was told and soon enough they were on the streets heading to the school grounds.

Her father was already off at work. The hard working man was up at the crack of dawn, never later. He took pride in his work so it was no surprise that the house was vacant every morning, except for Lenoura and Dewey of course. As her slender feet hit the pavement with each of her steps, she grabbed onto Dewey's hand with more pressure. It was pathetic of her to rely on a child for balance, but he understood. His sister was an absolute klutz.

The day was fairly warm, ignoring the fact that it was winter. Her white, v-neck dress danced in the soft breeze as her sandals clanked thanks to the shells threaded onto them. She was an absolute sucker for shells, and of course they had an orange hue. She stared down at Dewey to see what he had decided to adorn on his body today. The little tike had chosen khaki shorts with a cotton tee and sandals. Typical.

Once at the school Lenoura bent down and handed Dewey a paper bag filled with his small lunch. He hugged her and then turned around and ran off. They never really needed parting words. He knew she was quiet. Just her stare was enough for him to know she loved him, and dearly. Standing back up she twirled her tall, slender body in the opposite direction and almost tipped over. Here we go.

Walking to the Town Square was something Len dreaded more than anything. The constant stares due to her skin were enough to make her wish for an invisibility cloak of some kind. I know I'm pale, just leave me alone. Pulling her sac closer to herself she hurried to the stand her mother once worked at. It was a pathetic little thing, but it was good enough for Lenoura. She would stay there till the end of Deweys schooling and sell whatever her father had placed in the sac earlier that morning.

When she finally reached the stand she placed her sac down and began to empty it of it's aquatic treasures. She loved the smell of fish. She would arrange them by length and color, tending to keep the ones she enjoyed the most closer to herself. Once she was finished she sat down at the little wooden chair behind the stand and waited for her day to begin.

Sitting here was nice. It drew no attention.

She is a stranger, you and I have history or don't you remember...

As Len sat, with her attention fixated at the floor, she shut out the world around her. Of course it wasn't something she typically did, knowing well she would have to be alert if a customer were to ask to purchase an item. For some reason her mind took a hold of her, and she was unable to resist. As colors seemed to spin around her she found herself back in the exact spot she occupied. However, there was a discernible difference. She was a much smaller version of herself, looking at her chest for complete confirmation. Turning her head to the left she saw her, standing in the middle of the square purchasing cloth. It was her mother. Her beautiful (living) mother. Looking at her she couldn't help but smile, with her coral lips stretching much further than they had in years. Not fully understanding at first it took Lenoura a moment to realize she was visiting a memory. A very sad memory; the morning the day her mother died.

Involuntarily tears began to pool in her small eyes and she dabbed away knowing there was no reason to be upset. Soon enough that beautiful woman would give birth the the small boy Noura loved unconditionally. As her mother's face turned back to meet hers Lenoura stared long and hard. She wanted to remember the curve of her body, the darkness of her tanned skin, the vibrant color appearing underneath her cheeks...Suddenly as quickly as it had happened Lenoura was back sitting at the stand, and she was once again 17. Thankfully she had realized that the tears she had shed in the memory weren't actually running down her cheeks. Thank goodness. That would have definitely freaked out some passerby.

Instantly, Len felt as if a light had been shut off. Where did the sun go? Looking up she realized there was a man standing right in front of her. Completely by accident, she shot right out of her chair, and fell back due to the urgency of the entire action. Feeling her thin body hit the pavement she let out a small yelp and instantaneously regretted it. Great, now he's going to think I'm a baby.

Looking up Lenoura took a peek at the strangers face. He was much younger than she had initially presumed, not as if it made the situation any better. Averting her eyes she lifted her arms, took hold of the stand, and lifted herself up. Even on her feet the boy was still taller than her. Well at least I'm not the abnormally tall one. Regaining her thoughts she kept her eyes locked on the ground and immediately uttered the first think she could think of, "You want to buy?" It was hard for her to to say anything else, usually the vender customer relationships lasted all about two seconds before she could sit back down and be glad she wasn't required to say much.

Waiting for a response Noura noticed an awkward silence pass between them. Oh god, he had asked me something, no told me something, no asked. The fight within her mind lasted all about five seconds before she uttered a few more words, "Sorry. Could you repeat that?" Allowing her soft voice to sound as sincere as possible wasn't too hard; she did want to slap herself across the face for missing everything the stranger had said. Her normal quivers began to take over her hands and she crossed them behind her back, hoping the boy didn't think she was nervous.

Keeping her eyes glued to the ground, Noura waited. She knew the interaction would be short, she was far to strange to keep any attention. Ever.