Times change?

 Autumn's crisp air stirred, tumbling golden leaves along lonely sidewalks.

It was colder there than she had ever been exposed to, yet she welcomed it.
The temperature made the melancholy less smothering.

A year and three months had passed since that day back in Parish.
The day her daughter and mother left this world for the next.

Tessa shook her head, pulling herself away from such thoughts before they could overwhelm her in despair.

After the initial shock wore off, a good four months after the funerals, Tess put her house up for sale, emptied her savings account and left town, not once looking back.

There was nothing left for her in that place.

Traveling around the U.S she was constantly reminded of her child.
Every blond head tore at her heart, every overly loud call of "mom" brought tears to her eyes.

It drove her further north until she found herself in Canada.

The cold air hit her in the face as she stepped down off the greyhound bus.
'Vancouver', she thought as she walked from the bus depot.

Looking around had her giving a ghost of a smile, a rare occurrence due to new unfamiliar surroundings.
It was a place she never thought she would go.
Tess really had little interest in Canada itself, but as she drifted along it just became the place to alight, for now.

A small diner caught her eye and she went in seeking refuge from the weather. Tess felt her lips already chapping a bit and habitually coated them in cherry lip balm.

Sliding into a red vinyl covered booth near the back, she pulled out her language study guide after ordering a hot chocolate from a tired looking waitress named Bernice.

One of the only outlets she'd found for keeping unwanted emotionally draining thoughts at bay was immersing herself in studies.
Even when eating she couldn't let her mind rest for too long.

She had taken up learning two languages, Mandarin and Korean. She wasn't fluent in Mandarin, far from it truthfully, but it was complex enough to keep her mind occupied.

The Korean she had a good hold on.
Other than that, she always listened to music when traveling.

Stillness was an enemy.
The nights were the hardest. Sometime between awake and sleep
her thoughts betrayed her completely.
Sara's laugh or her emotional outburst would play like a never ending movie in her brain.

Tears came like rain during those times. Her heart still so fragile.

The hot chocolate was in her hands before long and she sipped while staring out the big front windows into the bleak looking autumn day. The skies looked as if they could burst with cold rain at any moment.

Tess sighed, not noticing the presence nearby that had been eyeing her since she walked in.

~o0o~

A stitch in time...

The motel she found after leaving the diner was old but better than some she'd been in.

"At least there's no bugs." Tess said looking around. "So far." She flung her duffel bag onto the bed, which groaned under the slight weight.

Just then the heater under the window kicked on with a loud clanking sound. Tess rolled her eyes. Turning around, she slung her cloth shoulder bag across her body and left the room again.
She walked for a while just taking in the sights.
Passing a convenience store she was startled by a sharp yell from behind the bins in the alley.
Curiosity had always been a fault of hers and she often found herself in troubling situations.
This was no exception.

Walking with careful steps, she silently came up on a scene that made her face burn with anger.
A young girl was shoved into the brick wall of the store as five older looking girls surrounded her. They all wore looks of hatred on their faces.

"You think you're so much better than us don't you? Dumb ! You're just a piece of ! What? Your brother is going to get us? Like he can do anything. He's in another country! He doesn't even like you or your sister." The girl in the middle shouted while pulling the young girls head back by her hair.

The girl was small with short black hair and glasses. It was all Tess could see that wasn't covered by a scarf and big coat.

"Leave me alone! I don't know you." she said brokenly, a sob escaping at the end.

"Like we care!" Another girl said shoving her again. "Your stupid brother doesn't even care about an ugly, stupid little like you, why should we?"

She has to be twice her size!  Tess thought. The small girl sounds foreign too. That's about enough!

"What do you think you're doing?" She shouted, striding forward quickly.

The group scattered like pigeons and ran away, leaving the focus of their abuse leaning against the wall they'd shoved her into.

"Are you ok?" Tess asked laying her hand on the girls shoulder.

The girl looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you." she said softly.

Tess nodded and smiled a real smile for the first time in a year. After helping her up, Tess agreed to walk her home just in case those girls came back.

"What is your name?" Tess asked as they walked out of the alley.

"Yoojung." she said quickly.

"Yoojung? Are you Korean?"

"Ah, yes." she answered. "How did you know?"
"Oh!" Yoojung blinked and held her hands over . "Sorry."

She had inadvertently spoke Korean to Tess, but the older woman just shook her head.

"Gwaenchanha." she replied.

"Oh, you speak Korean?" Yoo jung said clapping her hands with a big smile on her face.

"A little. I'm still learning."

"Isn't this weird?" Yoojung asked with a giggle. "Fate must have wanted us to meet."
"Well, thank you for saving me earlier. I don't even know those girls. They are from around my sisters neighborhood."

"Why were they picking on you?" Tess asked as they turned down a street lined with trees and brick walls.

"I don't know. I have only been here for a month while school is on holiday back home. I live with my sister. I don't know much English so they pick on me." She snickered a bit.
"I didn't even understand half of what they said back there."

Tess looked at her from the corner of her eye and grimaced.

"It's better you don't know." She said with a sigh.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Oh my gosh! I just realized I didn't put this last part in my story. A big chunk was left out. So I revised it and wrote it in. Now you have two chapters in one. Sorry about that. While the spell check was down I was writing this on Microsoft word and the retyping onto this site so I guess I got confused as to what I had written, hence this mess. It's fixed now, so enjoy!