This week, on the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop, we're asked to contribute a piece of "Halloween Themed flash fiction--500 words or less using - pumpkin spice, ghost, and costume."
A good coffeehouse is a wonderful thing. And I ain’t been in one of those in a while. Ever since my usual hangout—Cup O Joe’s—closed down. They say it’s just for remodeling. But that seems sus to me. I mean, why’s it taking so long? What could they possibly be doing to the place that would justify my having to make my own coffee for the last few months…or weeks? Yeah okay, probably just weeks. But it feels like months. Because coffee at home is just not the same.
A coffeehouse is not just about the coffee. It’s the community, the vibe. It’s that feeling you get when you push through the door and the barista catches your eye and smiles and says, “The usual?”
My cousin, who gets all the tea from the Chamber of Commerce, assures me I’ll be happy when Joe’s reopens. That it’ll be ‘worth the wait’ and ‘better’ but I’ve got doubts. It’s practically Halloween! The TSMs (that’s Typical Suburban Mom’s, in case you’re cheugy or weren’t sure) have already togged their babies out in the most basic of costumes (low maintenance stuff, without a lot of chewable pieces) ghosts and pumpkins and baby bats. Which means I’ve missed half of Pumpkin Spice Latte season!
There is such a thing as diminishing returns, I tell my cousin. And ‘better’ is a relative term.
He laughs when I say it and tells me to stay in school. Right, because the idea of me, with my coupla semesters at community college, tryna tell him about matters of economics is ridiculous. But that’s not what I’m saying at all!
If I miss out on too much, if I have to wait too long, then how much better will better really be? I’m living in a post coffee apocalypse dystopia here. A postcoffalypse? Dude, I don’t know: something.
Anyway, I’m feeling kind of down as my ramble takes me past the graveyard…I mean the coffee-shop-that-was. And then I stop in my tracks. I smell coffee. Real coffee. Good coffee. I glance up and see that the paper that’s been covering Joe's windows has been removed. And…it's not Joe's anymore. In its place is Whole Latte Love. And the sign says Open!
Feeling hopeful, I push through the door. I glance quickly around, and freeze once again. Because it is better. It’s a coffeeshop-slash-wine-bar-slash-bookstore now. And I’m just so happy I want to cry.
But then my gaze tracks back to the counter and I want to cry for real because the barista’s a ghost. No, not that kind. He’s bussin—a total snacc, and yummy af. But he’s a ghost from my past and, in that moment, all I can think is, "Of all the coffeeshops in all the towns in all the world, he walks into mine."
Going Back to Find You
A Children of Night Halloween Story
Because even a vampire deserves a second chance.
When Jason Cook boarded the train to San Francisco, he didn't plan on coming back. He never expected to see Nebraska or Lizbeth Petersen ever again. But when an unexpected turn of events threatens the woman he'd been forced to leave behind, he has no choice but to go back and try to make things right.
Warning: This is not a drill. Vampires are invading your favorite, small Nebraska town this Halloween. Does this mean Type-O flavored Booze will soon be the new rage in Sapphire Falls? Hopefully, it won't come to that. But you never can tell...
***This story was originally released as part of the Sapphire Falls Kindle World. It takes place between books six and seven in the Children of Night series.***
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