Free Crimson by Jeremy Laszlo Page B

exited into the tavern’s primary room, and began wiping down every table and chair. It was a chore she had been doing for the past five years. Each of the twenty-seven tables and ninety-one chairs felt familiar to her touch. There had once been ninety three-chairs, but an overweight man had crushed one beneath his bulk, and Wilson, the tavern’s owner, had broken another over a belligerent customer’s head when the man had refused to pay after drinking for near half a day. Anna had the pleasure of witnessing both events, though she only smiled fondly at one of the recollections. Fat men breaking chairs, now that was funny.
    Finished with wiping everything down, Anna set about sweeping the floor as the first rays of sun began to slant through the windows. With the coming of light outside the tavern, the day began in earnest as Wilson arrived to manage his establishment, or so he was fond of calling it. Within an hour some of the chairs began to fill and Anna’s duties started piling up.
    Often as Anna worked she daydreamed about things that attracted her attention, and more often than not she found herself dreaming of Gavin. Of course she had to like the one boy in town who had shown absolutely no interest in her. But how could he like her, as awkward as she always acted around him? Anna could not remember one single time in the last year when she had not embarrassed herself while in the vicinity of Gavin.
    She was going through so many changes lately she felt like a stranger to her own body. Worse than that, she had been a late bloomer , as her mother called it. In the last year alone she had grown over a foot, developed breasts and began her cycle. With so many developments all at once, Anna feared she could not bear another. Thank the gods she had Momma. Momma helped her to understand not only how these changes would affect her body, but also how they would influence the way others reacted to her. Immediately it was apparent that Momma had been right. Anna began to notice that men looked upon her differently, and the women who accompanied those men made angry faces at her. Anna was no simpleton. It was merely that she lived in a very small community from which to gather knowledge from. She was the only girl her age in Traiven, though there were several younger. Boys, on the other hand, were more numerous and all but one had eyes for Anna now that she had changed so thoroughly.
    On this day, like most others, as Anna set about serving food and drinks to the customers, her mind wandered to thoughts of Gavin with his bronze skin and wavy hair of mixed brown and golden locks. She imagined for the millionth time what his lips would feel like on hers as she pictured him pulling her into his arms. But this time the daydream seemed peculiar in comparison to those she had had before. This time the fantasy was more precise, the details finer, the emotions more real. As Gavin pulled Anna close this time, Anna seemed reluctant to obey his restraining arms. When she did, instead of locking lips as they would usually do, Anna began voraciously kissing him upon the neck and dragging her nails across his flesh, leaving red trails. So vivid was the alien dream that Anna walked straight into a table, causing a customer’s drink to slosh out of his mug. Fortunately it had not spilled completely, and the man in traveling leathers dismissed the accident silently with a gesture.
    Carefully attempting to control her thoughts, lest she lose pay for upsetting another customer or spilling someone else’s food or drink, Anna resumed her duties a short while. However, soon, seemingly caught up, she took a few moments to relax in the kitchen with the rest of the staff while Wilson manned the bar. Shoving through the kitchen door, Anna nearly collided with Kristen, a woman in her early forties with blonde hair and a more than ample bosom. Apologizing for her clumsiness, Anna stepped aside to allow Kristen to pass, holding the door for her. Kristen