New Moon is coming and I made my way into town to ask Bess about what I can expect. She casually rang through my groceries and gave me a small smile.
“No concern about the eclipse, then?” She asked.
“What eclipse?”
“There’s a partial solar eclipse that same day.” She said, scratching at the sticker on a piece of fruit instead of ringing it up. “Probably nothing to worry about.”
“Bess,” I leaned in to make eye contact. “Can you stop the riddles and just tell me something? Anything?” Why can’t I just have a friend in this town – a normal friend who will help me.
“New Moon is new moon,” She said, obviously capitalizing the words the first time, but not the second. “Time for rest and rejuvenation.”
“Okay…”
“Stay home, get rest.” She put my purchases in a bag and handed it to me. “Stay out of the woods.”
“Is that it?” I asked.
“Maybe don’t ask Barbie or Paul about the New Moon.”
“Bess – what do I need to know?” I asked, stepping to the side so she could ring in the next purchase.
“Just stay out of the woods…” She started scanning through the next customer’s items. “And, maybe have friends over that night.”
Here I thought staying out of the woods was going to be hard… finding friends would be harder.