Coffeehouse Ghosts

The light tapping of autumn rain on the coffee house window muffled clinking dishes as the waitress cleared the only dirtied table. A young woman sat with her back pressed into her seat, staring out into the monochrome street, people roaming past with grey umbrellas, hiding their grey faces. Her coffee had long since cooled, and the only warmth came from a small oil lamp on the table, though even its light was cool. The last embers of a second cigarette lay dying, a trail of smoke drifting lazily up and disappearing against the cold air. At the end of the pier a single sailboat lofted side to side as the sad ocean sighed against the rocky shore. She couldn’t remember how long she had sat in that seat, how many countless hours staring off into the fog on the horizon, days, months, years. Even she didn’t know whether it was in longing or remorse, but at the moment she didn’t care. Today was an ordinary day, almost too ordinary: she had nowhere to go, no one to see, nothing to do but sit in silence.

The waitress sat with a worn book in her hands, staring down from her large frames, but looked up as the small door-bell rang. A young man entered the store and sat down across from the young lady as she took a long drag of another cigarette. The boy stared out the window longingly, his eyes moving slowly between the people outside. After a while the waitress brought out some coffee, its steam trail making ghosts in the pale light. The boy turned and stared across the table, pouring coffee �" kindness woke on his face as he slid the mug over. A shy smile crept across the young girl’s face as she placed a hand around the mug, taking another drag on her cigarette, and then handed it to the young man. And the two of them stared off into the grey street, leading down the pier, past all the grey faces, to the grey ocean. And the flame of the oil lamp seemed just a bit warmer.

© 2017 Aiden Villanueva

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EJ's Horror

Not fair to write half a story and leave the reader in suspense, then again there's always room for a cliff-hanger, but I like how it's going so far :)