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By the time we arrived in Sitka, I’d seen and done everything the ship had to offer. I couldn’t wait to escape the ship. When the captain announced that boats were available to take us ashore, I rushed to the exit. I was hungry for anything different and, hopefully, exciting. The boat left us at one end of the main street though Sitka. The cute little street was crammed with tourist trap shops and bars full of fishermen even though it was 10 in the morning. I walked up and down the main street peeking in the shop windows. After window shopping the whole street I popped into a shop full of native Inuit artwork. The tall man who owned the shop had some great stories about the artists and history of each piece on display. He talked me into buying a carving of Sedna, the goddess of the sea. The owner wrapped it securely in tissue paper and settled the bundle in a bag with the logo of the store on it. I took the bag by its cord handle and continued my explorations.
I had covered many of the side streets when I found a dark coffee shop across from a grassy park. The sign out front said that the shop was called, “Pour Decisions”. I enjoy a good pun, so I went in. It was a bit late for morning coffee, so the place was empty except for me and a couple at a table in the corner. There were four round tables scattered around the front of the shop. I picked out one with sitelines out the front window and towards the couple in the corner - a perfect perch for people watching. There was a deck of Tarot cards in a little basket on the table. I put my bag next to the basket and went to the counter to make my order. I stopped on the way to see if the black cat sleeping on the window sill was friendly. She let me stroke her head once, but put up a paw to push me away before I got too familiar.
The counter was decorated with stars and wands and other symbols that looked like something out of a wiccan spell book. There was even a cauldron simmering on a hot plate behind the counter. I examined the options on a blackboard above the counter until a woman with long gray curly hair seemed to appear from nowhere to take my order. Her hair framed a face that was all points and angles. She wore a dark blue robe with red runes printed on the left side. My granddaughter, Hannah, had a card game that featured the same ancient symbols. I sounded out the ones I recognized and guessed at the ones I didn’t know. It was a name - Wendy.
"What would you like," Wendy asked. I got my usual - a 20 ounce caramel latte with three pumps of raspberry syrup. She seemed to approve and went right to work at the espresso machine. She pulled levers and stirred and steamed and all the other mysteries of baristas everywhere. When the drink was nearly done, she closed her eyes and whispered something I could not hear while she held her hand over the mug. When she presented the drink, I was delighted to see that she had drawn my own image in the foam on top.
"How delightful!" I declared. "How did you do that?"
Wendy smiled mysteriously “Go ahead and sit down, hun. I'll bring it over," she said instead of answering my question. I followed the instructions and plopped down at my table by the window. The old woman put my coffee down. She moved half a step back and twirled all the way around. When she was facing me again, she had a plate in her hand with a yummy looking scone on it.
"It's free for first time customers," she said before I could ask where the scone came from. She placed the plate next to my coffee and drifted back behind the counter and out of sight. When I say, "Drifted", I mean that in a literal sense. I could not detect any scissoring of her legs when she moved. I dismissed the impossibility as the dark blue robe she wore hiding how she really moved.
I picked up the mug and carefully took a sip. That single sip was enough to decide that I had found my new favorite coffee shop. The coffee was rich and slightly bitter. The caramel was as sweet as a summer day and the raspberry syrup added a deep fruity flavor that perfectly balanced the complex coffee flavor. I was enchanted. I sipped again. The second sip was just as good. There was plenty of time before I needed to get back to the cruise ship and I would be happy to spend it all here with this perfect coffee.
I picked up the tarot deck from the basket for something to do while I enjoyed my drink. Years ago, before I got married, I visited a tarot reader on a whim. My life was about to change from a safe life in my parents' house to the unknown of married life. When I saw the sign outside the reader’s office, I thought that knowing a bit about the future might make the transition easier. I didn’t believe in such things until the events the reader predicted came true. I went back from time to time when I had questions or was just curious about how the cards worked. The reader was happy to tell me all about the mysteries. Before long I was doing readings for myself and for friends at parties. The deck felt comfortable in my hands. I tried to come up with a question while I absentmindedly shuffled, but nothing specific came to mind. I suppose that when you have lived as long as I have, questions about the future just aren’t so important. A man came in and ordered a mocha to go. He looked uncomfortable around the strange decor. He told Wendy he was in a hurry. She frowned at him and filled his order without the attention she paid to mine. I smiled at the man as he left with his coffee, wondering if he would be enchanted like I was when he took a sip. I considered asking the cards about him, but changed my mind when I looked at the couple in the corner.
I recognized the woman. She was one of my fellow passengers. Her name was Alice, a nice normal name. My parents had burdened me with Constance, which gave me a lifelong appreciation for regular names. The man must have been a local. Every man in the ship had introduced himself to me and this guy was not one of them. Good on you Alice for your quick work, getting to know the locals, I thought.
I kept shuffling and started to form my question. What was up with Alice and the local man?
Alice was in her forties by the look of her. Her blond hair was perfectly sculpted into a side parted lob cut. Her light features made her brilliant red lipstick and fingernail polish stand out like ladybugs on a white rose. She was laughing quietly at the story the man told her. He lounged in his seat, telling his story and trying to not get caught looking at the cleavage that Alice displayed in a low cut sweater. He was at least ten years older than her, but he wore it well. His dark har had wisps of gray at the temples and his skin showed just enough age to make him look dignified. He leaned back and I could see that, unlike the men on the cruise, he had kept himself in shape. Once again, I congratulated Alice for finding a hot guy with some experience.
I laid out three cards on the table - The Empress, the Tower and the World. The Empress had a sniff of sex about her that made me wink in Alice’s direction. There was danger implied by the Tower, but combined with the Empress, it could refer to wild passions. The World told me that regular orgasms were part of the answer. I smiled slyly at Alice and collected up the cards. If I had not lost my touch, this was going to get good.
He leaned in and said something inaudible to Alice. She smiled coyly and put her hand on his thigh. I should have looked away to give them some privacy, but things were getting interesting. They were so wrapped up in each other that I had no fear that they would notice me watching every move.
The man sipped his coffee, then broke off a bit of scone that he fed to Alice. She smirked at him, then snatched the bite taking time to let his fingers rest in her mouth for a moment. Wow, who would have thought that sweet little Alice went in for PDA in such a bold way. I was a bit embarrassed and glanced out of the window. The street was empty now and there was some sort of tension in the air that I could not quite describe. With nothing to see outside, my prurient interest overcame my embarrassment and I went back to watching Alice and her companion move step by step towards being lovers.
Alice let her hand slip up his thigh and scooted on her seat to make her skirt bunch up, revealing a shocking amount of her left leg. The man leaned over to take in the view. His attention made Alice smile shyly. I wondered where she had learned the art of seduction and if they were taking any new students. The dance they were performing reminded me that I was not too old to think about desire. I felt a tingling in my breasts and between my legs as I imagined myself in Alice’s position. They leaned in to bring their faces together and pursed their lips.
A loud noise from outside pulled my attention away so that I missed the kiss. I could not see what was causing the noise outside, but whatever it was, it frighted a teenage girl who ran past with a horrified expression on her face. I had a dilemma - try to find out what was going on outside or get turned on vicariously by watching Alice and the man. She had pulled back and was blushing as red as her lipstick. The man waited for her to recover her white complexion before saying something that made her slide to the edge of her chair and plant a long wet kiss on him. He accepted her lips on his and put an arm around her shoulders to keep her close. Outside, more people ran past. Something shook the building. Ripples appeared on the surface of the last sipps of my coffee. I remembered reading about the earthquake back in the 60’s. While I worried about the danger, Alice and her man were too caught up in their blooming passion to notice.
Wendy glided past and out the front door with a concerned look on her face. She paused on the sidewalk where I could watch her through the front window. She looked up and down the street until something caught her attention. A shocked look appeared on her face. I pressed my face against the glass to try and see what she was looking at, but I couldn’t make out anything but the top of the Eastern Orthodox church. The woman pulled a cell phone out of her robe and pressed the screen several times without taking her eyes off whatever was happening down the road.
A loud crash shook the building and Wendy ran back in. She stood next to me while we both looked up the street. The roof of the church was gone, leaving a cloud of dust behind. Wendy tugged on my sleeve to pull me away from the window. Just before I turned to follow Wendy, I thought I saw the edge of a huge ugly face appearing in the dust where the church used to be.
"Get behind the counter and stay quiet," Wendy told me. "Hank! Take your friend back there too!" She held her phone to her ear, impatiently. "Liam! Pick up!" she shouted into her phone. I peeked around the edge of the counter to see what was going on outside. The shaking came in regular thumps and got stronger with each beat. When the pounding was so strong that I thought we would be shaken to bits, I saw a thick leg pass by the window. Whatever was attached to that leg must be huge. The foot and shin were all that fit into the window frame. The skin was dark, oily and covered in thick wiry curls of hair. I turned to see if Alice was seeing what I was seeing.
She was not. She was wrapped in the arms of the man and sucking face like it was the end of the world. The building shook again and I wondered if she might be right that this was the end. Hank’s hands were making the rounds of Alice's erogenous zones. He stroked her hair, touched her thighs and behind her knees. He interrupted the kissing to nuzzle her throat and nibble at her ears. If we were all going to be smashed by the monster outside, at least Alice would have decent foreplay as her last memory.
"Liam? It's Wendy. Hey, you should get down here right now." Wendy listened for a moment, shaking her head. "You can do that later. There is a mountain troll stomping the town into rubble." Another pause, and then, "Good see you soon!" she said and thumbed the screen to close the call. As the sounds of the giant’s steps receded to the east, she swept out to the street, leaving us to cower behind the counter.
Alice and her man were oblivious to the excitement outside as their passion developed. Hank had a hand on Alice’s breast. She arched her body towards him and moaned as he caressed her through the sweater that was not too thick to show how erect her nipples had become.
Wendy was in the middle of the street shouting something in a language that I had never heard before. My fear that she would attract the attention of the monster grew until it was validated by the increasing thump of enormous footsteps. Wendy dodged between two nearby buildings and hid. She popped her head out from time to time to make sure the troll was headed our way. I turned away from the window to avoid watching whatever fate Wendy was inviting.
Things were really heating up for Alice. She had a hand on the man's crotch and he had his up under her sweater. Sounds of sloppy kisses mixed with moans of pleasure. Alice was on her back with the man to her right. While she stroked the front of his pants, he slid his hand down from her breast to the hem of her skirt.
Alice gave out a squeal of delight when he reached under her skirt and slid his fingers under the edge of her panties. Her body shook in spasms and she gulped air in sharp gasps. I remembered feeling like that when I was a young girl making out with boys from school. Those were good times.
The couple untangled themselves from each other so that Alice could undo Hank's trousers. She had a bit of trouble figuring out the clasp on his belt. They laughed at her struggles while he showed her how the latch worked. She finished undoing his belt and quickly unbuttoned his pants and lowered his fly. She carefully lowered his pants and underwear over his rock hard cock.It was quite a sight. Alice squealed with delight. I remembered the first time I saw my husband burst out of his pants that night back in college when we first went all the way. This one was different. Maybe about the same length, but bigger around. It was circumcised and dark colored. A small drop of pre-come peeked out of the tip. Alice examined him closer than I did. She clapped her hands together and tittered like a teenager. The man let her look for a moment before taking her hand and guiding it to his shaft. Alice looked up into his eyes and began long slow strokes. He ran fingers through her hair while enjoying her attention. She shifted up to her knees and quickly slipped him into her mouth. If I had known that a blow job was as pleasurable as these two made it look, I would have insisted on more oral when I was married. Alice closed her eyes and shuttled her head back and forth while he kept brushing her hair and watched her pleasure him. Alice sped up her sucking until Hank looked like he was going to melt in pleasure. Then she surprised us both. I don’t know how she did it, but Alice managed to slide almost all of the cock into her mouth. Hank moaned softly as his shaft went down her throat. They stayed motionless for a few seconds until Alice pulled back to come up for air. Hank took advantage of the break to reach down and pull her sweater up over her head. I admired the smooth tan on the parts of her breasts that were not stuffed into a leopard print bra. He slipped one hand into the left cup and used his other hand to guide her head back onto his dick. I could hear screaming from outside and shifted to see if Wendy was OK. The mountain troll stomped into view across the street. He was in the park across the street, far enough away from that all of his hideous features fit into the window. He was as tall as the three story building that Wendy was hiding behind. His limbs were so out of proportion that they appeared stubby. His head sat directly on his shoulders and included so many folds of skin that it looked like a pile of dirty laundry. He was naked except for a layer of thick, matted hair that glistened with som much grease that it almost dripped off of him. It was clear that the monster was male. He turned around giving me a view of his cock turtled up into the fur around his legs. He stopped and sniffed the air until he tracked down Wendy’s hiding place. I looked around in vain for some kind of weapon that would have made it make sense to go out and defend Wendy. I found the drip coffee machine and began to work up the courage to take the carafe outside and toss scalding coffee on the beast. Wendy looked braver than anyone I have ever seen as she stepped out in front of the troll. Her arms were spread wide and she sang in her strange language. The troll scratched some vermin out of the fur along his side while he considered how he was going to demolish Wendy. I took hold of the carafe and lifted it from its niche in the machine. I knew that my defense would be as ineffective as Wendy’s song, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did nothing. The troll put his hands together and raised them over his head, poised to bring them crashing down on Wendy’s head. I raced to the door, thinking about how I had lived long enough already. I didn’t make it to the door before the troll screamed in pain and dropped to his knees. He swayed from side to side for a few seconds, then toppled face down into the street. Behind him, the most handsome young man I have ever seen lowered a sling and ran up to the wounded troll. He must have been Liam, the guy Wendy called. He was tall, dark haired and despite the loose jeans and lumberjack flannel he wore, I was sure that he had muscles busting out all over. He poked at the troll and jumped back when the beast started to move. I was in the doorway with my mouth gaping when Wendy got my attention. She waved me back into the shop and went to help the handsome man keep the troll down. I slipped back to my spot by the counter and tried not to think about what would happen if the troll got away from Wendy and the heroic man in the street. Alice was not so worried. She was laying on the floor again and thrusting her hips up into the man’s mouth. I guess it was her turn to get a genital tongue lashing. From the sounds she was making, he was pretty good at it. Alice’s clothes were scattered at her side. She carried a few extra pounds, like so many women her age, but she carried it well. Her breasts were large and soft. They lay heavily on her chest with the nipples standing at attention. Her hips and ass were large, but not flabby her muscles writhed as she pushed her pussy into Hank’s face. He took a break to come up for air long enough for me to see that her pubic hair was trimmed into a neat strip above her pussy. She was quite the wild one. I’ve never spent any time on my own hair patch. My husband seemed to be perfectly happy with the natural look, so I left it alone. While I watched Alice get licked and thought about my personal grooming, I absentmindedly let my hand drift towards my crotch. I was wearing loose jeans with plenty of room in them to slip my hand inside. Alice used both hands to mash the man’s face into her muff. He licked and nibbled, then slid a finger inside of her. Alice growled and jumped as he explored her vagina. I curled my fingers through my mop of pussy hair for a moment before I reached farther towards my clit. I was as wet as I imagined Alice to be. Years of experience guided my fingers to just the right spot. My body tingled with anticipation as I began a slow swirling motion. Alice and the man had rearranged themselves so that Alice could stroke his cock while he continued to eat her out. After the first few strokes, she raised up on her side and found her purse. The man had a finger inside of her again, distracting her from finding what she was looking for. She held still for a moment to enjoy his digital penetrations. When he paused, she caught her breath and looked into her purse. After some searching, she pulled out a small bottle of lube. Who would have thought that the shy middle aged woman I met at the buffet was so well prepared for sexual adventures? She poured a bit of lube into her hand before going back to work on his cock. The man gasped when the cold lube hit his sensitive parts. He toughed out the initial shock then smiled when Alice rubbed long slow strokes up and down his dick. He had been distracted by this action, so Alice had to ask him to put his fingers back inside her. They rubbed and moaned, changing speed and angles to keep things interesting. I pushed a finger inside myself and pulled out a load of juice. I spread the juice into the space between my clit and vagina so that I could alternate between them frictionlessly. A warm glow spread out between my legs while I watched Alice and Hank’s porn performance. She had a nice small warm up orgasm, then pushed him onto his back. Her ass was facing my direction as she swung a leg over him and settled herself onto his phallus. When they were fully connected, they held still for a moment. Alice closed her eyes and wiggled her hips every so slightly. He kept his eyes open taking in her breasts. When they completed this introduction, Alice began bouncing. She skipped any slow build up and went straight to a full gallop. The man tried to get his hands on her breasts, but her wild movements interfered with his aim. He let his hands drop down to her hips and settled for watching her tits dance.
Things were heating up in my own pussy. I rubbed hard, then soft, then circled my finger around my clit until electric waves of pleasure started building. I was so focused on the stimulation that I barely noticed that the building was shaking and someone outside was yelling. The troll must have gotten back up. I made a note to check it out later. First, I had something else to take care of. I undid the button on my jeans to give me more freedom of movement. I don’t know what kind of workouts Alice did, but she sure had plenty of stamina. Her ass was nearly a blur of up and down as she rode Hank. While she looked like she could go on forever, he was taking a beating. He tapped her hips to signal that he needed a break. Alice stopped her ride and leaned forward to kiss him. It was a sloppy kiss full of tongue and passion. Touching myself was fine for getting off, but I missed being kissed like that.
Hank grabbed Alice's ass with both hands and rolled her off of him. When they came apart, he rolled her into the small spoon position and pushed his cock back inside. Alice played with her own breasts while he pumped gently against her backside. I took the hint from Alice and reached under my blouse with my free hand. My nipples have always been sensitive and the electricity building between my legs zapped up my body when I squeezed them. Something loud was happening outside, but the real action was right here.
Alice and her lover had shifted to doggy style. This was clearly Alice’s favorite position so far. She slammed her butt into him in perfect rhythm with his own thrusts. Her breasts hung like short pendulums. Her elbows were on the floor and her head nestled on her forearms. She screamed and moaned loudly enough to drown out whatever was happening in the street. I sped up my hands spreading the sensations through my entire body.
I closed my eyes to shut out the world while my body shivered and warmed. I was moments away. I bit my lip in anticipation and kept rubbing. At just the right moment I put my thumb on my clit and slipped a finger inside. My body shook hard while every pleasure I had ever felt replayed through every fiber of my being. I may have yelled. Alice and her lover may have looked up. The action outside might have paused to listen. I didn’t know and I didn’t care. All I could do was to lay back and let the waves of passionate release flow through me.
I don't know how long I lay there. Alice and Hank had moved onto missionary position and were wrapped up in their own lust. I slid over a few inches to take a look outside. From the shaking of the building, I could tell that the mountain troll was moving around. Through the window I caught glimpses of the monster and the handsome guy, Liam, maneuvering around each other. The troll slammed his fist down on Liam who barely managed to dodge at the last minute. Liam slapped his hands together, somehow creating a shock wave that made the troll stumble. The troll recovered his balance and swung his stubby arm at the handsome man. This time, Liam was not fast enough. The troll’s meaty hand grabbed him and lifted him into the air. Muscles bulged as he tried to free himself. The troll shook him until I was afraid that his head would come loose. Liam was limp when the troll opened his mouth and brought him towards his rotted teeth. I closed my eyes and turned away until I heard Liam shouting in a strange language. It was not the same one that Wendy used when she made my coffee. Where hers was gentle, his words were full of awesome power. I opened my eyes in time to see that his right arm was free from the troll's grip and his hand was a ball of fire. Liam flung the fire into the greasy hair of the troll.
At Liam's moment of triumph, Alice screamed and Hank grunted. I couldn't tell if it was their orgasm or the troll's stumbling that shook the building. When the sounds and shaking settled down, Hank rolled off Alice and laid beside her, both of them spent. Outside, the troll was on fire. He screamed while he pounded his grimy hands into the flames. Liam readied another fireball, keeping it in reserve in case the troll managed to put the first one out. He never needed it. The troll fell to his knees and gave up fighting the fire. He slumped for a minute before he fell over dead. Liam put out the second fireball before putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
When he was breathing normally again, he reached into a pouch at his belt and took out a black rock. He handed the rock to Wendy and gave her some instructions. Wendy nodded, then approached a group of people who were hiding nearby. She led them past the destruction on the street and made sure they were looking away when she held the rock up to their temples. After she said a few words the people walked away as if nothing had happened.
Liam had wrapped the troll in a tarp and loaded him into the back of a pickup truck that I hadn’t noticed before. Liam said something to the truck and it drove off with the troll. By that time, I had seen so many strange things that a driverless truck seemed completely normal. Liam walked off down the street inspecting the damaged buildings that were restored as he passed.
Wendy looked like hell when she came in. Her gliding movement was replaced with an awkward limp. Her hair spread out in wild streaks, like she was hooked to one of those static electricity machines. There was a small cut on her cheek that leaked dark red blood. She took a few exhausted steps to the chair I had used by the window. I got up to help her, pausing to close the door against the smells of burnt hair and troll BO that oozed in from the street. I raised her robe and found a nasty bruise on her hip that explained her limp. There was no sign of a break or other serious injury, so I pulled some tissues and a hair brush from my purse and went to work cleaning the wound on her face and getting her hair into some sort of order. Alice appeared from behind the counter with her clothes mostly arranged. She brought a glass of water that Wendy gratefully accepted.
"You might want to fix that," I said to Alice pointing to the label on her sweater that was in front and on the outside. "Unless you mean to advertise that you fit into that size." Alice smiled and her face turned red. She used the, "We're all girls here," rule to quickly reverse her sweater. I handed her a napkin so that she could wipe the smeared lipstick off her face. Hank came out making a final adjustment to his belt. He had a streak of red lipstick on his neck and probably other places. He kissed Alice on the cheek before noticing Wendy.
"You all right, Wendy?" he asked. She nodded and took another sip of water. I had the major tangles out of her hair and started in on long strokes. "I suppose you are going to have to do that thing on us," said the man.
"I'm afraid so, Hank," Wendy said. "What's this the third time or the forth?"
"You know that I have no idea. All I know is that you're standing there when I find myself with no memory of the previous few hours." He looked over to Alice and added, "I'm going to really miss these memories."
"I'm sure you will, but it's for the best,” Wendy explained. She pulled the little stone I had seen before out of a hidden pocket in her robe. She tried to stand, but the bruise on her hip was too painful. Hank knelt in front of her as if he was about to be knighted. Wendy put the stone up to the side of his head and whispered something. Hank looked confused for a moment. "Hank, be a dear and bring everyone some coffee.""Do things like that monster happen around here often?" I asked.
“A couple of times a year, I guess,” answered Wendy. She leaned her head on her hands and closed her eyes. “I should have known how exhausting it would be to live near a portal.” “A portal?” “Yes, it’s an opening between us and a world of myths and magic. I thought it would be exciting to be near that kind of magic.” “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” I said. There was no question of believing in such a fantastic thing. I had seen the evidence of it with my own eyes. “There are five of them around the world. No one knows why they opened up. Maybe they have just been here since the beginning of the world. Maybe they appeared when humans evolved. They are certainly connected to our stories and imagination. Some people think that all the old myths were about the monsters that have come out. Liam thinks it is the other way around, our stories and legends create the creatures in the other world.” “Liam. He’s that handsome fellow I saw fighting the troll?” “Yes. He is the Ixht’.”"Ixht'? That's like a shaman for the Inuit people, right? He doesn't look Inuit." I had read up on the native people when I was getting ready for the trip.
"The old Ixht' adopted him when he was a teenager. He was a messed up kid, but that old man took him under his wing and really helped him grow. When the old man died and no other Inuit wanted the job, Liam became the Ixht'. He’s been guarding the portal for a year now."
“He's, what 24?” I asked. “That’s just about the right age for my granddaughter. I should send her up here.”
Wendy sighed, then pursed her lips in disapproval. I smiled and picked a card off the tarot deck. It was the lovers. A little on the nose for Tarot, but who was I to argue with the cards?
Wendy was too tired to make a case against my matchmaking. She turned to beckon Alice to her side. After a deep breath, Wendy performed the same ceremony she had with Hank on Alice. Alice's confusion lasted longer than Hank's. I suppose that was natural considering that he had been through the process before. He came back with a tray of mugs full of good black coffee. Wendy and I took ours and sipped before I went back to brushing her hair.
“Hi beautiful,” said Hank with a pickup artist flourish. "I'm Hank. You must be from the cruise ship." “I’m Alice. It’s my first time in Sitka,” she said, flashing her best seductive look. “What is going on? I whispered into Wendy’s ear. “They know each other pretty well if what went on behind the counter is any indication.” “They’ve had their memories erased,” explained Wendy. “We get some weird incidents here from time to time that we would rather not have people spreading stories about.” She closed her eyes and hummed softly while I ran the brush through her hair. “That’s so nice,” she said. “I’m feeling restored already. Keep going for a few minutes, then I’ll take care of you.” “You’re going to erase my memory?” I asked. I looked over at Hank and Alice. He was handing her a napkin that probably had his number written on it. “No need to be frightened. You saw that the process is completely painless.” “I’m not worried about that. It’s just that I’m an old woman who has lived a safe, normal, boring life. In all my years, I don’t have any more exciting memories than the time I saw Paul McCartney at the Four Seasons. I can’t tell you how precious it is to me to remember what happened here.” I was not sure if I was more interested in the memory of Liam fighting the troll or of Alice in the throws of passion. I paused my brushing to let Wendy think."You know, Constance, I like you," she said after a few moments. "Maybe it's the endorphins from the hair brushing talking, but I'm leaning towards letting you keep your memories."
"Oh Wendy! Thank you so much!" I said clutching the brush to my chest like a teenager with her first love note.
"Only if you promise me something, Constance. Don't try to fix your granddaughter up with Liam. He has more responsibility that he can handle. There is no room for dating in his world."
I wondered if Wendy was trying to scare off any competition. I looked closely and realized that that was a silly idea. Wendy's eyes were bright and her skin was unwrinkled, but something told me that she was very old. Far too old to have any interest in Liam.
"And, you can’t tell anyone about what happened today." She gave me a serious look while I agreed to her terms. On the way out the door, she called me back to remind me to take my bag. I thanked her and wandered back to the ship. I was amazed as I walked through town that there was no sign of damage from the battle with the troll.
The voyage back to Seattle was nearly as dull as the trip up. More waterfalls, icebergs and wildlife. To spice things up I borrowed some things from Alice that were a bit sexier than what I brought. The male passengers were as distasteful as ever, but one of the pursers was nice and open to taking an old woman to bed. He was more energetic than skilled, so I closed my eyes and remembered Hank and Alice. That did the trick. I feel sorry for Alice who will never remember that day the way I do.