Lamp of Time

Chapter 1



Music blared from a passing car as Lena and I walked down the sidewalk from

Toast. We laughed at jokes of long ago as we decided what store to go into next.

There were many to choose form, but we decided the most intriguing and

interesting one on the strip; Silver Thread. As the bell chimed we automatically

wandered over to the incense and natural oils, sampling the different scents.


The shop owner, Sophie, came from the back room and smiled at us. She was a

middle-aged woman with slightly graying hair, wearing a flowing midnight blue dress

with a single silver pentacle stitched on the front.


“Hello girls how are you two this beautiful day?” she asked kindly.


“Fine thanks. How about you Sophie, is your ankle any better?” I asked.


“All healed, it just needed an herbal remedy,” she replied.


“I was wondering if there was something you knew about to help with acne,”

inquired Lena. “Brett just had a little break-out…He’s kind of embarrassed you

know.”


“Sure, I have just the thing in the back. It might take a little time to find so, if you

girls don’t mind, could you come back in about half an hour or so?” Sophie asked.


“Yeah, no problem,” Lena and I consented.


We walked out of the store and I proposed the idea of going down the street to

the physic for a palm reading or a tarot drawing. On the way, we passed by my

favorite book store.


“Can we please go in, please?” I begged Lena.


“Well,” she sighed as she checked her watch. “Okay, ten minutes tops.”


“Yes!” I replied happily.


“Well, I’m going to go over to the Gap. I need to pick something up for Ariel’s

birthday on the 12th.” Lena said, as she walked across the street, “See you in ten!”

she yelled as she narrowly missed getting hit by a passing car.


I opened the door to the quaint book store and was greeted by the familiar smell

of new and ancient books mingling into a musty odor. The main room was warm

with sunlight as I started browsing the shelves for a good find. When I got to the

history section I picked up a book on the ancient history of pagan religions and the

connections to modern monotheistic sects.


“Are you into pagan influences?” asked a British accented voice behind me.


“Yeah, it’s really interesting how much some people don’t realize about the

origins of their own religions,” I replied without turning around. For an unknown

reason I felt comfortable talking with the person behind me.


“Try this one, its one of my favorites,” said the voice, picking out a book and

handing it to me over my shoulder.


I looked down at the book; it was Linda Farr’s, “To be a Religious Outsider”. My

heart seemed to skip a beat as I stared at the tan, strong hand holding my favorite

book. I tried to stay calm when I asked, “Is that really your favorite book?”


“Yeah,” said the voice, which I realized was male. “It outlines the whole topic and

also goes into greater detail in the things I find most interesting like her studies on

pagan inspirations for Christmas,” he remarked.


“Wow,” was all I could manage to say.


“What?” he asked confused.


“Oh, it’s nothing bad,” I said hurriedly, not wanting him to think I disliked him. “It’s

just that, none of my friends are really interested in this stuff and I’ve never met

anyone who called ‘To be a Religious Outsider’ their favorite book except myself.”


“It’s your favorite book too?” he asked. “Wow.”


“What?”


“I’ve never met anyone who liked that book either.”


We thought this over for a moment, and I stayed staring at the book until I finally

noticed that I was still crouched on the floor. Oh, maybe I should stand up, I

thought stupidly.


I stood and was painfully aware of this stranger’s eyes on my body as it moved

slowly into a standing position. I became slightly self-conscious because of it. It’s

not that I was grossly obese, but I also wasn’t a size 0, more like a size 10. My

friends tell me that I’m so pretty and I could have any guy, but sometimes,

compared to them I feel like a bloated balloon. I turned around to look at the

stranger and saw him smiling to himself before he quickly diverted his eyes. When I

turned around and was able to see him fully, I almost fell down again. He was

maybe five inches taller than me with a deep tan. He had dark green eyes and dirty

blonde boyish hair. His face was square and muscular and his eyes showed he

was also evaluating me the way I was him.


“Whoa,” I muttered.


“Hey,” he said as if it were the first time he had seen or talked to me. “I’m…I’m…

Edward,” he stuttered and held out his hand awkwardly.


“Kendi,” I replied and grabbed his hand. As we shook hands our eyes locked and

chills shot through my body from his intense expression and our hands

touching. “um…..” I was reluctant to let go but was forced to when Lena called my

cell.


“Sorry, one second,” I told Edward. “What do you want?” I asked sharply, not

liking the way the question came out.


“Hello Mc. Scrooge,” replied Lena. “Ten minutes is up, are you ready yet.”


“Give me two more minutes, please?” I asked in an overly sweet voice.


“Fine,” Lena said and I hung up the phone before she could change her mind. I

turned back to Edward who was surprisingly still standing in front of me. “Sorry

about that,” was all I could think of to say.


“That’s ok,” he said, but there was something different in his voice.


“What’s the matter?” I asked, surprising both of us by being so empathetic to his

mood change.


“Was that you’re boyfriend on the phone?” he asked in a slightly hurt voice.


It surprised and delighted me that he was worried about who was on the

phone. “No, that was my friend Lena. We’ve being having a sort of girl’s day out

kind of thing. I’m trying to keep her mind off her boyfriend. He’s going away for the

summer to Scotland and he was preparing today.” I said, surprised that I was

sharing this much information with Edward, a boy I had just met. “I don’t have a

boyfriend.” I decided to go out on a limb and asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?”


He seemed pleasantly surprised by my question, “Nope,” Was his simple answer.


“Cool,” I said awkwardly, not knowing where to take the conversation from here.


“So it’s your favorite book eh?” he asked and gestured to the book I hadn’t yet put

down.


“Uh,” I looked down at the book, “Yeah.”


He smiled and looked down at his sneakers. He said “well, I was wondering…

Maybe we could meet sometime. I’d like to learn more about you and your opinions

on the book.” I must have had a surprise, dumbfounded look on my face because

he hastily added, “But if you don’t want to, that’s cool too.”


“It’s not that I don’t want to, believe me, I do,” I said, embarrassed how much I

had just told him in that one sentence. “It’s just…I don’t get these kinds of offers

normally.”


“Really? Then there must be some blind or stupid guys living around here. They

must be to overlook you’re beauty.”


I blushed when he said that. “You don’t have to be nice,” I replied meekly.


“I’m not though. I’m being honest,” he said as he lifted up my face slightly with

his finger. The surroundings began to fade away as I stared into his eyes, and there

was only him and I in a timeless moment. We continued to stare at each other until

my cell phone rang. Cursing Lena I answered the phone, “I know. I’m coming.” I

said quickly and turned back to Edward. “I’m sorry, I have to go,” I said sadly.


“When can I see you again?” asked Edward.

I gave him my cell phone number and said, “call this and we’ll set something up. I

can’t wait to see you again.”


“Me too,” he replied. His face came towards mine so quick I almost pulled away,

almost. He kissed my lightly on the cheek as we said our goodbyes.

I walked outside and pinched myself just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Then I

found Lena waiting for me. When she saw my face she asked, “What’s up?”

I smiled, put my hand on my cheek and simply said, “I got a lot of things to tell

you.”