“Well yes, but that’s just a really touchy subject at the moment. Maybe you should go with something milder?” “I’ll take that into consideration,” Rynn forced out slowly, hoping she’d managed not to sound incredibly irritated. “Good luck with yours.” She was aware that this was a bit of a rude ending, and if nothing else, very abrupt, but daylight was fading and she wasn’t interested in discussing it further. “Oh, yeah, thanks. I’ll… see you tomorrow, then.” “See you tomorrow, Aspen. If you need anything else, feel free to call me again,” she added, not without some degree of reservation. She had, however, caught the dejected note in her friend’s voice and didn’t truly want to upset her. “Okay, thank you! Goodbye.” “Bye.” Setting her phone back down, she headed again for the door, then turned and opened her closet, remembering that the temperature had taken a sudden dip that day. Her hand paused halfway to a gray sweatshirt as her friend Myra’s voice wandered through her head, unbidden. “You’re really going to wear that in public…?” She groaned inwardly, reaching for the maroon one instead. There was no plausible reason that she could see for her friend’s preference of one over the other, but she always seemed to have very cryptic opinions about what was suitable and what was not. Rynn was not sure whether to assume she had an algorithm for such things, or whether she was just randomly picky. Either way, since the beginning of their newly-budding friendship, she’d been highly insistent on a change in Rynn’s wardrobe. “You may not pay attention, but the world surely does. Little details make a big difference.” What sort of difference, she’d not been able to elaborate upon. But anything gray was a terrible crime in September, July, and April. Maroon was okay. Off-handedly flipping on the porch light as she left, Rynn took three steps before she halted and doubled back. She switched the light off again, successfully avoiding the lecture her mother would have given her for leaving it on. “There, jeez...” she thought doggedly, finally making it to the sidewalk. “Nothing for anyone to fuss over now, at least until I get back.” She took the road to her left, following an alley until she reached the dead end where woods began with a flourish, huge looming oaks and maples stuck stubbornly into the ground, refusing to yield to the growing town. There was a faintly-used walking path that wove in among them, Page 58
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