Chapter 1: Elizabeth
Light glowed from the east behind mountains which stalked the towns scattered across Bear Valley. At its center, Bear City boasted two handfuls of skyscrapers huddled aloof and surrounded by the old brick buildings that stood guard between the inner city and the staleness of suburbia.
There was always something calming about Thanksgiving mornings in the streets across Bear City. Most of the inhabitants of the inner-city skyscrapers were either with their families away from town or too embarrassed to show their lonely faces in the streets where they might be recognized. Hunger and brisk weather forced many homeless to refuge in shelters, making trash and dead leaves perform scratchy duets in the streets without audience.
It was a rare scene that really only happened one or two days out of the year: Normally, the city was an endless tumult of the classes seeking the means to prosper or feed their habits. On Thanksgiving Day, though, a child could launch a super bouncy ball down a street and it would travel uninterrupted for miles until it reached the edge of the city; it could hop over the San Pablo Bridge and pass right through any one of the many surrounding suburbs, and with the right velocity, the ball could scramble across gravel roads to the edge of the county, where the Wintuan Mountains raced up to the sky to sternly watch over Bear Valley.
On the edge of downtown in a quiet motel room, the glow of morning peeked through the third story window and illuminated the pale shins of a girl who sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed. Her long, flexuous black hair kept her wan face in shadow as she reached down to pull her socks up. She turned to glance at the figure on the bed, and her bright blue eyes studied him without expression. After a moment, she stood and walked towards a chair upon which the rest of her outfit rested.
The man on the bed opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath as he studied her nude body in the dim light.
“Where are you going?” he croaked. His voice was raspy like a rusted cello string. She started to dress but didn’t turn back to look at him.
“It’s morning,” she whispered.
“So?”
“So, the stores will open soon,” she replied in a low tone.
“And what will you be buying at the store?” he voiced condescendingly.
She silently continued to dress. The man on the bed felt her bare skin with his dark brown eyes, and as the last of it became covered with her sweater he licked his lips and grunted.
“Liz.”
Elizabeth slid into her jacket and eyed him askance as she slowly zipped it up.
“The fam prob’ly wouldn’t mind eating frozen pizza for dinner tonight... I’m sure it’s been awhile since your last real Thanksgiving,” he grinningly stated.
It was true. Last Thanksgiving, both of Elizabeth’s parents were passed out before dinnertime. The year before, her Dad spent it alone at the bar. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had seen a cooked turkey, but this year was going to be different, she thought. Her eyes welled up and she sniffed.
“Fuck you, Glenn,” she said, and swept the door open and vanished.
Glenn flinched and let out a chuckle as the door cracked against the wall. He turned his head to squint at the brightening sky, his smile phasing into a frown as the chilled air coming through the open door tagged him.
