Carrie and Keith 1

"More junk," Keith grumbled to himself as he shuffled through his mail. His cane hung over his arm as he balanced on his right foot, using the left only for stabilization. He shook his head, frowning. He heard footsteps coming up on his left, but he didn't bother to look up.

The sudden impact knocked him off balance. He swung his arms to try to recover, but it was too late. His cane went flying as he fell and he greeted the cement with a grunt.

"What the hell?" he yelled and looked around to find his attacker. There were envelopes and papers all over the sidewalk. A woman wearing a white, wide brimmed hat and a scarf over her face sat opposite him. Her eyes were wide. She reached up and pulled earphones from under her scarf.

"I am so sorry," she said and scrambled to her feet. She tried to help Keith up. He snatched his arm away from her.

"Just go get my cane," he snapped.

She recoiled and looked around wildly. She located his cane and nearly ran to pick it up from the street. She brought it over to him and he snatched it out of her hand.

"Back off!" he said when she tried to help him. She stepped back quickly and he rolled on to his knees. Using his cane, he struggled to stand.

Once on his feet, he looked over to see the woman scrambling to pick up the mail and papers that were scattered on the sidewalk. He noticed that she was wearing long sleeves and an ankle length skirt although the temperature exceeded ninety degrees.

"I am so sorry," she repeated as she walked over and held out his mail to him with a shaking hand. "Are you OK?" her voice trembled, too.

Keith didn't respond. Instead he leaned on his cane and looked into her eyes. She lowered them.
"You know it's July and ninety-five degrees, right?" he sneered. She looked back up at him, eyes narrowed. He could tell her lips were pressed into a thin line even though her face was covered by the scarf.

"Yes. I'm aware. Thank you. Here's your mail," she took a step forward and poked him in the chest with it. He reached up and grabbed it from her. "I'm sorry for knocking you down." She turned and stalked away.

Keith watched her for a moment. Then he saw another sheet of paper on the ground. He hobbled over and laid his mail on it so he could pick up the entire pile with one hand. He looked up, but she was gone. He returned his gaze to the page. It appeared to be part of a longer piece. He limped up the porch stairs and into the house.

He seated himself at the kitchen table and began to read the handwritten page.

"...and the serpent reared up to it's full height. Joryant could see it's white underbelly but was unable to reach for his sword to do anything about it. The dragon came down, black claws splayed. Joryant used all of his strength and rolled out of the way. The ground shook violently when the creature landed and some rock from the ceiling of the cave rained down on them. They bounced off of the dragon's blue scales like grains of sand. For Joryant, they were more of a problem. He curled up like a turtle and gasped as they dented his armor. When the stone storm ended, he hazarded a look at the serpent who was inspecting his feet for Joryant's remains. Struggling to his feet,..."

Keith flipped the page over. There was nothing on the other side. He sighed, wondering how he could get to read the rest of it.