I reach in through the window as I turn off the radio, the screeching speakers not taking the bass heavy song well at all. Sighing to myself I lean against the driver's side door, my head tilting back as I try to plan my next move.
The gears slowly churn inside my skull, the last few weeks catching up to me as I feel my body ache and exhaustion begin to grip me.
"Okay..." I muse, reaching into my pocket as I fish out my keys. "I think I know what to do..."
I had seen the advert weeks ago, a series of them in fact, for the tourist destination of Daleshaire. The small old mountain mining town had recently, after finding a bubbling natural hot springs buried within the surrounding hills, had invested rapidly into expanding itself into a tourist hot spot.
While other may call it more of a tourist trap, the effort had certainly revitalized interest in the town as people flocked to stay at the newly built hotel and hot springs as well as the new art installations and freshly recovered hiking trails.
With the new interest in the town and the wave of visitors flooding every available bed, there was a distinct lack of people to take up the numerous jobs that had popped up to handle the influx. I had deleted the emails fairly quickly, the town being so far from my home in the city that the commute simply was not worth it.
However, with the lose of my home the offers simply seemed far more intriguing.
The drive out to Daleshire confirmed my earlier rejection of the job adverts, the drive beginning at just after sunrise and taking until the early afternoon for the first signs of the town to come into view.
The clearing of trees on the hillside looks like a bald spot on the mountain range as the series of sandstone structures poke out from the gap. Freshly repaved roads wind up through the serene forests leading up towards the town proper, newly hand painted signage giving the town a more 'Historic' flavor.
The road itself splits off and runs away from the gravel and dirt one that appears to lead to the outskirts of tome, the fresh road acting as a funnel to bring outsiders directly to the 'important' economic areas of Daleshire. In the scant few breaks in the tree line I can spot the occasional house, the lack of fences and the expansive yards making it seem that these homes were few and far between.
As I arrive at the historic town center proper I catch a glance of the rather cheap and quaint homes that had popped up around the edges of the town over the past century. A gradient forms from street to street, the homes on which appear to almost be from different eras as the town went through boom and bust.
The town center however is largely old turn of the century stone-work buildings and gorgeous wooden structures, the left over rocks from excavating the mountain side and the wood from clearing the trees having been repurposed into these heritage sites. Despite buildings like the old general store and striking town hall giving the sense of a town trapped in time, new plots with exposed steel and glass walls give some sense of modernity.
People wander up and down the cute little boulevards and lane ways around town, shops of all kinds and new restaurants filled to the brim as tourists look for a good meal or a sweet little souvenir of their time here. Other stores seem to provide more practical supplies, from paints for visiting artists to hiking and camping gear for those planning to spend their days and nights traversing the mountains themselves.
With my stomach growling at the sight of the greenery filled cafes and the packed restaurants I quickly begin to look for a car park, a long low sigh slipping from my lips as I find the town simply ill-equipped to handle the number of cars that these visitors had brought.
After no small amount of searching I find a place to put my car, at least for a short time, a dumpster filled alleyway behind a row of townhouses turned eateries being the only place with a 'No Parking' sign and without any other vehicles taking up the spaces. Out of concern of getting a ticket, or worse yet towed, I spend far longer than I would have liked nestling my car between two dumpsters as I hide it from either end of the long yet narrow alley.
Sighing to myself I pat down my pockets, quickly feeling for my wallet and the cash within as I try to work out just what to do for lunch.
"I mean... I have enough for something nice I guess..." I mutter, pursing my lips as I think about the wad of cash I had earned selling off practically everything I owned that wouldn't fit into the car. However, was that prudent given my utter lack of income or savings.
I open the driver's side door, hopping out quickly as I lurch and stumble on the uneven cobblestone. I hear a voice scream in shock as I appear from behind the dumpster, the cry quickly being followed by my world spinning as I'm brought to the ground along with the utter stranger.
"S... sorry..." I croak, groaning a little as I feel my arm pressing against their shoulder while my other hand rests grazed against the stones beneath me. As I try to stand I feel my arm tug on something, the feeling of their warm skin against mine pulling painfully as though we were super glued together.
"I... oh..." the voice mutters as her words catch in her throat. Leaning back I look down as I find myself staring at a...
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