Unforgettable Experience

Once she’d taken a few moments to recover, peeking out the window to make sure the strange man was gone, Addie finally decided on a plan of action.

Clearly she had lost track of the plot. The stress of the Planetary Alignment was getting to her. Of course it was; she didn’t want to run that many rafting trips. Who would? They barely had the supplies for the trips they ran as it was.

It had been nothing more than a stress-induced hallucination. Therefore, all she had to do to avoid it was to reduce her workload.

Addie put her head down on her knees, took two deep breaths, then stood up. She had to put the sign up. That didn’t mean she couldn’t avert business some other way.

First, she dragged the sign out. It scraped and shrieked as she tugged at it. It was too large for her to lift by herself, and some of the paint was smudged and streaked. She could barely read it, with all of the drips from the extra paint.

Addie didn’t change anything.

On the front window, in front of where a dusty display of a taxidermied mammal Kev claimed was Bigfoot’s baby and a model raft stood, were a few neat lines of painted text.

They didn’t say much- just the shop hours and an encouraging line about anyone being able to raft. Next to them was the display of posters where they showed their latest rafting schedules and routes. There was even a helpful infographic about how pricing for groups worked and a number for Kev’s cell if no one was in the shop to help schedule.

So much for that, thought Addie smugly. She pulled the raft further over and leaned it against the window. At first it didn’t quite reach, but after going back inside to find a few boxes, she was able to make sure it was tall enough to obscure all of the useful information on the front window.

Next, she had to make sure anyone who saw the sign wouldn’t want to come in and ask about information anyway. Addie stepped inside again and surveyed her options. There was the large cardboard cutout of an alien- not really useful one way or another. There was the gumball machine. Again, not useful, although she wished they could get rid of it.

Her eyes fell upon the old raft shoved in the back corner, behind the help desk. It was half-full of holes, a giant gash in the bottom. Even in the still air of the shop, a single piece of rubber still floated helplessly.

It was the most pathetic piece of boating equipment Addie had ever seen. It was perfect.

Even as limp as it was, the raft was still meant to carry fourteen people. Addie had to fight to wrestle it out of the shop, sweating and angry. It seemed to catch on everything. Why did rafts have to have so many handholds?

At last, she was in the sun. It was fully mid-morning now. The birds chirped smugly. A few tourists milled around, drinking iced drinks and wearing cowboy hats and loose sundresses. Addie leaned over and dragged the raft back and forth, trying to decide how best to lean it up against the front window. Should she put the bottom up, so they could see the gash? Or should she put the top up, so they could see how the hand-holds had been duct-taped back on?

“Addie!”

She carefully lowered the raft handle. “…Kev,” she said. She turned and tried to straighten her shirt. How obvious was it that she’d slept in the shop last night? “…I, uh…”

“Great work!” He was wearing a tropical print shirt, too, and massive aviators. He looked smug. “I was thinking of getting that boat out, too. I’ve always thought you and I were aligned. Hey, you get it? Like the planets. We’re totally on it.”

He paused. “Although maybe you should move the sign a little to the left. I worked hard on that pamphlet, you know. And people should see baby biggie.”

“Of course,” muttered Addie. She was too aware of the sun beating down on the back of her neck. She should have gone home. “Is Chappie coming in?”

“Oh, I saw him last night. Told him he could have the day off, since this is your pet project and all. ” Kev’s teeth were so shining and white. She wished he’d stop smiling. All of the glinting was giving her a headache. “You know, there’s still time before all of the tourists really start to show up for the alignment. Why don’t I move the sign and you can go fix that boat? You looked so enthusiastic about it.”

“…Of course.” Addie inhaled, then exhaled.

There was nowhere else in town where she could ride on rapids for a living. She was lucky to have this job. She was lucky.

She didn’t feel lucky as she dragged the raft around to the back of the shop, muttering various swearwords under her breath. They didn’t have a ‘yard’ so much as a small muddy bank leading down to the creek. Kev had used the most of the space, as he did everything- every square inch that he could was filled with junk. The fence of the neighboring shop was less of a garden fence and more of a siege barrier. She could hear it creaking in every high wind as the piled scrap pressed against the aging wood.

She leaned over and began to unroll the tarp. At least Kev kept the raft repair kit out here in relatively good condition. It sat in its wooden crate. She leaned over, rummaging through for the patch she needed-

“Excellent!” said a cheerful voice from next to her. “I wondered if you would still be here. Is this within your working hours?”

Addie fell backwards. When she finally scrambled upwards, it was with a pair of pliers in hand. In front of her was the same green man as before. This time, around his neck was a digital camera on a large strap. He had emerged out of the creek, ankles dripping.

“Pardon me,” he said. “I thought this might be a better door, since you disliked me using the other one.”

“The door wasn’t the problem!” Addie said. She paused, then lowered her voice. “You aren’t real.”

“I beg your pardon?” The green man just stared at her, as if she’d just told him the price was something completely unexpected. “I assure you,” he said. “I’m quite real.”

“But you’re- you’re-”

“Of course,” he said. “I apologize!” He chuckled, then swept his top hat off of his head. He executed some strange and complicated bow. Addie felt frozen, half-kneeling over the deflated raft.

“W’eindaelan’launin din Ein’wel, here on diplomatic mission and sworn to do no harm,” he said. “Researcher in service of the Queen of Dawn, fourth Circuit of Quills, learned in the Court of-”

“That doesn’t help.” Addie paused. “W-”

“W’eindeal is the short form of my name,” he offered.

“Wendel- what are you?”

He put his stove-pipe hat back on and leaned his head to the side. “I’m an elf,” he said. “Specializing in research of human cultures. I am sure you understand why it is so important that I engage in this-” his voice shifted. Addie was beginning to realize that meant he was directly quoting from memory. “Unforgettable experience.”