When life starts moving too fast for you...
Like all days, she didn’t mean for it to start raining so suddenly. She was just out on an errand for muse, dressed casually in her usual long skirt and blouse, looking as if she were off to somewhere professional or profound, but really not having anywhere to go.
It was a horrible habit of hers.
It just seemed, though, that recently, all that she knew how to do was go outside for muse to write her newest paper or prose, and it was more than she could manage, just keeping up with her life. University had gotten excessively tiring and the professors didn’t care, and often, she’d find herself drowning in the general mass of work and her will to write, trying so hard to sustain a balance between the essential two.
Sighing, she stumbled dejectedly along the pavement side, the stench of city smog drifting pungently over the melancholic drone of metallic backdrop. The air pollution that stained the air had even begun to reach rural areas, sometimes, when the humidity hit its point like it did that early day in June. Reach up to adjust the strands of stray hair that slipped from her hair tie, she made her way steadily forward, going nowhere in particular.
Life always ends up like that, somehow. You know, you think you have something, but when you don’t notice it slips from your grasp like quicksand and all you have left is this pressing feeling on your heart and you’re thinking, no, no, no…
Don’t leave me now, not when I thought you were mine...
Blinking, she almost broke into a fit of ill-placed giggles at the strangely romantic thought. Eccentric phrases and expressions came into her head all the time when she was outside- it was the only way she could write so well. What was it, though, that had made her think that so suddenly? Was it the tinge of copper that touched the horizon in the most titillating way, or was it the flaring reflections of a wary, bleeding sun that pounded into her vision off lifeless windows? Was it-
Oh, there she went again.
Her whole life could have been some wild poem just like that, with unpredictable stanzas and the craziest of word choices, fleeting wingbeats and-
Oh.
Shaking her head and sending her auburn hair into further disarray, she stopped herself in the middle of the street and scolded herself inwardly, in a way her stern parents would have done, if they were there with her. Even as she had grown up, as a kid she was always spacing out, her thoughts going every which way, even to the point that she had once been taken to a doctor to see if there was something wrong with her mentally. The people that sauntered by slammed cold doors down on their faces, trying hard not to wonder what the young girl was doing, looking utterly guilty in the middle of the crowd of gyrating bodies.
She always attracted the worst of attention. Flustered, she adjusted the rough bag strap on her shoulder and hurried forward, eager to make it home before the rain clouds that looked like they were brewing in the west made their way to where she was.
Rain travels faster than expected.
And that’s just how it was, a frustrated, in-the-middle-of-nowhere university student trapped in the downpour, her hair soaked, her whole psyche drowning in some melancholic, ‘oh, what’s the use’ type depression. It was almost like fate, the way the nostalgic scent of the spring drifted over the ensorcelled landscape, the magic-like fog seeping in from all corners. It took some time, but she began to feel content, and sat herself down under a low overhanging, in an ornate bench that was sheltered from the flurry of drops.
A sign quivered in the corner under the summer torrent, and Raina had to stand up and walk over to steady it until she could read the curling, swooping handwriting that lavished the wood gracefully before she could make out the words. Solace Scents, it read, making her raise an eyebrow and turn her head into the window that lay behind it. At such an hour, it was no surprise that it was dark inside, but she smiled at the array of glittering glass burners and longed to go inside, for shelter if not to simply explore the quaint little store that, to her knowledge, only sold scents and tea lights.
It was a lovely store, but in a bizarre way, and that made her want to see it up close all the more.
With a newfound resolve, she steadied herself and would have gone back to that now-wet-but-still-suitable bench when the door creaked behind her and a faint, tinkling bell rang inside.
Surprised, she whirled around to be met with a tan-skinned lady in the doorframe of the store she had just been admiring, her curly hair framing her soft face in a way that made Raina’s heart ache to speak her. She just seemed so mature and composed, and as she snapped on the light that captured the entire room in a brilliant aurulence, Raina was left breathless at the beauty of the scene.
“I’m sorry I didn’t notice you earlier,” the girl admitted, abashed, gesturing for Raina to come in.
“We’re not really open at the moment, but I think I have a towel for you somewhere in the back… the storm’s getting really bad, if you don’t mind, you could stay here until it lets up?” she suggested cheerily, sending a wink across the room and retreating into the back cupboard to rummage for what she offered.
Raina was amazed at the beauty of the shop, and stepped carefully inside so as not to break anything. Accepting the immaculate towel with a gracious nod, she bent down to dry her hair, well aware of how horrid she looked.
“Thank you so much,” she bubbled, a wide smile gracing her lips.
Olivia just laughed.
“It’s not a problem. I’m Olivia Solace, by the way. Welcome to Solace Scents.” she gushed happily, leading Raina by the hand into the center of the shop.
“I-I’m Raina. Your store is beautiful!”
Stunned at the radiance of the entire place, Raina could only smile, her gaze sometimes drifting to the chaos outside a wayward window, a romantic sigh escaping between thin lips.
Catching her eye, Olivia led her even further, into the back of the shop, where a lone burner stood on a silver shelf, its cobalt and viridian contents swirling almost magically, with no incentive to move. Raina leaned in and took a whiff of the scent, and a relaxing wave came over her, beckoning her to close her eyes to those lonely, dreary days and find something more within herself…
Olivia’s clear voice pierced her thoughts.
“You have an affinity for rain, do you not, Raina?” she inquired, already knowing the answer.
“Well, that there scent is Spring Rain, and the last of our spring scents, I’m afraid. Perhaps it will bring you some comfort in your hard days, when they come?”
Raina laughed bitterly, eyes fixated on the glass and the liquid inside.
“Oh, they’ve already come. I’d love to have something to keep my mind off all the papers I have to write, and that scent just seems so… nostalgic, with the spring already being whisked off to make way for the waves of heat,” she spoke thoughtfully, fingering a strand of hair absentmindedly.
“I just can’t start to describe how that scent makes me feel, it almost seems… magical.”
Outside, the rain had begin to soften, and hints of the late night sky had begun to peek through like light past an obsidian curtain, the glimmering hints of dying stars enough to send shivers down Raina’s back.
She was sure she’d be back, some day, and this shopkeeper seemed so friendly… perhaps they’d become friends, in time. It was a delightful thought, and, had the girl not been smiling already, it would have brought that hint of happiness to her face.
Olivia offered a mysterious smile in return and lifted the cool silver into the girl’s hands.
“It’ll be magical enough for you, Raina, I promise.”
It was a horrible habit of hers.
It just seemed, though, that recently, all that she knew how to do was go outside for muse to write her newest paper or prose, and it was more than she could manage, just keeping up with her life. University had gotten excessively tiring and the professors didn’t care, and often, she’d find herself drowning in the general mass of work and her will to write, trying so hard to sustain a balance between the essential two.
Sighing, she stumbled dejectedly along the pavement side, the stench of city smog drifting pungently over the melancholic drone of metallic backdrop. The air pollution that stained the air had even begun to reach rural areas, sometimes, when the humidity hit its point like it did that early day in June. Reach up to adjust the strands of stray hair that slipped from her hair tie, she made her way steadily forward, going nowhere in particular.
Life always ends up like that, somehow. You know, you think you have something, but when you don’t notice it slips from your grasp like quicksand and all you have left is this pressing feeling on your heart and you’re thinking, no, no, no…
Don’t leave me now, not when I thought you were mine...
Blinking, she almost broke into a fit of ill-placed giggles at the strangely romantic thought. Eccentric phrases and expressions came into her head all the time when she was outside- it was the only way she could write so well. What was it, though, that had made her think that so suddenly? Was it the tinge of copper that touched the horizon in the most titillating way, or was it the flaring reflections of a wary, bleeding sun that pounded into her vision off lifeless windows? Was it-
Oh, there she went again.
Her whole life could have been some wild poem just like that, with unpredictable stanzas and the craziest of word choices, fleeting wingbeats and-
Oh.
Shaking her head and sending her auburn hair into further disarray, she stopped herself in the middle of the street and scolded herself inwardly, in a way her stern parents would have done, if they were there with her. Even as she had grown up, as a kid she was always spacing out, her thoughts going every which way, even to the point that she had once been taken to a doctor to see if there was something wrong with her mentally. The people that sauntered by slammed cold doors down on their faces, trying hard not to wonder what the young girl was doing, looking utterly guilty in the middle of the crowd of gyrating bodies.
She always attracted the worst of attention. Flustered, she adjusted the rough bag strap on her shoulder and hurried forward, eager to make it home before the rain clouds that looked like they were brewing in the west made their way to where she was.
Rain travels faster than expected.
And that’s just how it was, a frustrated, in-the-middle-of-nowhere university student trapped in the downpour, her hair soaked, her whole psyche drowning in some melancholic, ‘oh, what’s the use’ type depression. It was almost like fate, the way the nostalgic scent of the spring drifted over the ensorcelled landscape, the magic-like fog seeping in from all corners. It took some time, but she began to feel content, and sat herself down under a low overhanging, in an ornate bench that was sheltered from the flurry of drops.
A sign quivered in the corner under the summer torrent, and Raina had to stand up and walk over to steady it until she could read the curling, swooping handwriting that lavished the wood gracefully before she could make out the words. Solace Scents, it read, making her raise an eyebrow and turn her head into the window that lay behind it. At such an hour, it was no surprise that it was dark inside, but she smiled at the array of glittering glass burners and longed to go inside, for shelter if not to simply explore the quaint little store that, to her knowledge, only sold scents and tea lights.
It was a lovely store, but in a bizarre way, and that made her want to see it up close all the more.
With a newfound resolve, she steadied herself and would have gone back to that now-wet-but-still-suitable bench when the door creaked behind her and a faint, tinkling bell rang inside.
Surprised, she whirled around to be met with a tan-skinned lady in the doorframe of the store she had just been admiring, her curly hair framing her soft face in a way that made Raina’s heart ache to speak her. She just seemed so mature and composed, and as she snapped on the light that captured the entire room in a brilliant aurulence, Raina was left breathless at the beauty of the scene.
“I’m sorry I didn’t notice you earlier,” the girl admitted, abashed, gesturing for Raina to come in.
“We’re not really open at the moment, but I think I have a towel for you somewhere in the back… the storm’s getting really bad, if you don’t mind, you could stay here until it lets up?” she suggested cheerily, sending a wink across the room and retreating into the back cupboard to rummage for what she offered.
Raina was amazed at the beauty of the shop, and stepped carefully inside so as not to break anything. Accepting the immaculate towel with a gracious nod, she bent down to dry her hair, well aware of how horrid she looked.
“Thank you so much,” she bubbled, a wide smile gracing her lips.
Olivia just laughed.
“It’s not a problem. I’m Olivia Solace, by the way. Welcome to Solace Scents.” she gushed happily, leading Raina by the hand into the center of the shop.
“I-I’m Raina. Your store is beautiful!”
Stunned at the radiance of the entire place, Raina could only smile, her gaze sometimes drifting to the chaos outside a wayward window, a romantic sigh escaping between thin lips.
Catching her eye, Olivia led her even further, into the back of the shop, where a lone burner stood on a silver shelf, its cobalt and viridian contents swirling almost magically, with no incentive to move. Raina leaned in and took a whiff of the scent, and a relaxing wave came over her, beckoning her to close her eyes to those lonely, dreary days and find something more within herself…
Olivia’s clear voice pierced her thoughts.
“You have an affinity for rain, do you not, Raina?” she inquired, already knowing the answer.
“Well, that there scent is Spring Rain, and the last of our spring scents, I’m afraid. Perhaps it will bring you some comfort in your hard days, when they come?”
Raina laughed bitterly, eyes fixated on the glass and the liquid inside.
“Oh, they’ve already come. I’d love to have something to keep my mind off all the papers I have to write, and that scent just seems so… nostalgic, with the spring already being whisked off to make way for the waves of heat,” she spoke thoughtfully, fingering a strand of hair absentmindedly.
“I just can’t start to describe how that scent makes me feel, it almost seems… magical.”
Outside, the rain had begin to soften, and hints of the late night sky had begun to peek through like light past an obsidian curtain, the glimmering hints of dying stars enough to send shivers down Raina’s back.
She was sure she’d be back, some day, and this shopkeeper seemed so friendly… perhaps they’d become friends, in time. It was a delightful thought, and, had the girl not been smiling already, it would have brought that hint of happiness to her face.
Olivia offered a mysterious smile in return and lifted the cool silver into the girl’s hands.
“It’ll be magical enough for you, Raina, I promise.”
