52. Serendipity
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The time was December 2010, and he had only been back in Scalesville for a few months. The nostalgia of highschool and classmate comradery had faded. He hadn't returned to reminisce. He came back to build something new, something his own. University had been transformative, forging him into adult dragonhood. Higher education had given him wings in more ways than one, and the future stretched before him like an open sky.
The previous weeks had been long and tiring. His apartment was still full of unpacked boxes and settling into his new job was developing slowly. His mornings were feuled on coffee and passion. Life was good, but on this particular morning he was running a tad late and lost time to make coffee and breakfast at home.
By the time he was a few blocks into his commute, his stomach was growling for sustenance. He knew he’d never make it to lunch. The smell of fresh bread from the cafe that he passed on his way to work was the only invite he needed to stop in and grab a quick bite.
The cafe's door chimed as he entered, and immediately he knew he'd walked into the wrong scene. Four other reptiles were at the counter, three in line before him and the fourth was waiting on an order she’d already placed.
The first, a nervous lizard, was interrogating the menu with the intensity of someone defusing a bomb. "But what about gluten-free? Do you have gluten-free cupcakes? What about the muffins?"
A female dragon stood off to the side, arms crossed, tail twitching. "Ten minutes. I've been standing here ten minutes. Where's your manager? I've never seen service this slow."
“I understand ma’am, but we are short staffed. I do aplogize. We’ll have your order right out to you.” said the worker behind the counter, voice strained but professional.
The second customer in line, a burly dragon with brassy scales, snorted. "Maybe if both you girls were back in the kitchen where you belong, things would move faster. Ever think of hiring a male to actually run this place?"
“It’s like they are running a daycare in here, am I right? I swear if this wasn’t the only place opened to get a cup of coffee in town, they would have been shut down no doubt. Worthless.” Said the third dragon in line after he turned around, looked at Spyder with a disspointed scowl and stormed out the door.
Spyder was now the third customer in line. The first lizard was finally finishing his order and before he could pocket his change, the second customer was spouting out his usual in a condescending tone. He could no longer keep quiet.
“Hey! She’s doing the best she can. You don’t have to be such a jerk!” He said to the back of the brassy dragon who then turned around to face him.
“What did you say? You wanna go? Right here, right now.” the dragon snapped back with sharp words, straightening his neck and extending his wings to appear more intimidating.
Spyder was a handsome young dragon with a thick mustache, but he wasn’t exactly the picture of strength, however he also wasn’t one to back down. “I don’t think you want to do that, buddy”, and he reached into his satchel to pull out a folio.
He flipped it open in one smooth motion.
The gold badge caught the light. Spyder Locke. Scalesville Bureau of Investigation.
“Here is your coffee, sir”, said the dragon behind the counter. The brassy dragon grabbed his coffee without losing eye contact with Spyder and then slowly walked out the door.
It was the first time he’d used his badge outside the office, While he knew it was technically just an intern's security pass, good for exactly nothing beyond skipping pat-downs at HQ, it had worked. He'd been the hero, even in this small, absurd way.
After the dispute, he, the two employees, and a little green female dragon who was coloring at a corner booth, were all that remained in the cafe.
"Can I take your order?" The female's voice wavered. "And... thank you. He comes in most mornings. We're used to it by now."
She kept her eyes down, focused on the blank order ticket like it was the most important document in the world. Her apron was stained with coffee and grease. Her shoulders sagged with the weight of the morning. Spyder could see she was holding on by a thread and eye contact was more than she could handle in that moment.
"Well, I just thought that…" He stopped.
She looked up.
A single tear trickled down her cheek. "I'm sorry. It's been a long morning. How can I help you, sir?"
Déjà vu gripped his mind and a rush of memory flooded his head with dizzying confusion. The cafe disappeared. He was fifteen again, looking at her from across the lunch room as they caught eyes for the first time his sophomore year - the day she was crowned Homecoming Queen and he and Pip were touted as small town heroes for finding baby Belle.
"Lena?"
But it wasn't her. Not entirely. The girl he'd known in high school had been bright, unbreakable, full of plans. This Lena was hollowed out, held together by coffee fumes and sheer will. Her eyes had dimmed. Her smile diminished.
A small tug on his satchel pulled him back into present time. "Mister?"
The little green dragon from the corner booth now stood beside him holding up a piece of paper. A crayon drawing she’d made as small gift for protecting her mommy. She smiled up at him with adoration.
His gaze moved from the child to Lena. The resemblance was unmistakable. Same peridot scales. Same bright eyes.
Lena's daughter. Here. Coloring in a booth while her mother worked herself to exhaustion.
Everything clicked into place while nothing made sense at all.
"Lena," he said quietly. "It's Spyder."
The End. Subscribe below to follow the dragons. Read the beginning of it all at Blog 1: New Adventure Awaits.
