There's More than Just Coffee Brewing...

Posted on Sat Apr 29th, 2023 @ 8:36am by Hale Stratton

772 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Bangor or Bust
Location: Millinocket, Maine
Timeline: 25 AUG 2010 - 9:00 a.m.

Kara Sloane took a deep breath in, letting the scent of her fresh brewed coffee wake her up even before the caffeine hit. The breeze was still blowing, rustling the leaves of the trees. But the serenity of the scene had been dampened. She'd been inside the cafe for a full 30 seconds before this all felt like a mistake.

Reports of the spreading contagion dominated the news, even in Bangor. She'd been there just yesterday. Everything had seemed tense, but not quite like the news was now making it out to be. The thought of being in small, enclosed space now seemed like a very, very bad idea.

On the bright side, a very small rural town in Maine sounded much, much better than wading through airport after airport, in cramped sealed airplanes, to get back to the massive Denver Airport. If she had to shelter in place, somewhere, this seemed as good a place as any. At least here, she could go outside, get her morning coffee and drink it on the patio, and enjoy the outdoors. There was only so long she was going to be able to finance this stay though. Her hotel room and rental car weren't free. Every day she had to shelter in place was going to make the bill climb higher. Hopefully, this would all blow over in a few days and would time up with the rest of her half-planned trip.

She would have thought her inner introvert would have rejoiced a little too. She now had a federal guideline telling her she was allowed to avoid having to make small talk. Somehow, it had the opposite effect though. Her more anxious thoughts bounced around inside her brain with no outlet.

Sarah, her blonde hair twisted up and pinned with a black clip, wore matching t-shirt and jeans. While the unrelieved black combo she wore for her waitressing shifts was a touch on the funereal side, it was better than some places she'd worked. The owner was good that way. No crazy outfits, just a black t-shirt with the cafe's logo on the front over the heart and spread across the back. She spotted the newcomer in her section, someone who had tourist stamped all over her features, and smiled brightly. "Hi," she said in a light soprano that had a sort of musicality about it. "What can I get you?"

"Hello! I'll take the pancake platter," Kara said, handing over her menu. Her curiosity got the better of her. "Have you been listening in on the news coming out of Bangor?"

"Sausage or bacon," Sarah asked and then, because any good waitress could multi-task with the best of them, added. "Yeah. Scary stuff. From the sound of it, we're all supposed to go home and stay there ... though how I'm going to pay the rent if I can't work, I have no clue."

"Bacon, please," Kara replied, not quite keeping up with the multitasking. "And yeah, I hear you there. I don't even live here, as I'm sure you gathered. Not even on this side of the country for that matter. So a shelter in place means more days of hotel stay, car rental, food expenses. Part of me hopes its only a few days but...things are really, really odd out there right now."

Sarah nodded as she made a note on her pad. "They are. The deaths are just ... not normal." She shuddered delicately. "Makes me glad I don't live in Bangor but then ..." She leaned a bit closer. "My cousin, Max, who works at the morgue? He says they've been swamped out there the last couple of days. Maybe it's not just the big city, you know?"

Kara's eyes went wide and she leaned in a little closer. "Wait, here too? I thought the cases were still pretty limited to the big population centers."

"I don't know for sure," Sarah said, "and Max wasn't forthcoming with the details. Certainly haven't heard anyone talking about any of the really weird things happening here and you know, in a town like this, that would get around quick." She shrugged, a slight lift of her shoulders, as she stepped back. "Me personally, I want to think that its just a bad flu, or whatever it is the CDC says is running around. Let me get your order in."

"Thanks. For the food and the info," Kara said, sitting back in her chair and looking over the quiet town. Sarah had to be right. If any of the weirder things being reported had taken place in Millinocket, news would surely have gotten around. Right?

 

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