They came in quietly, like many do... dust on their cloak, dusk in their eyes.
But they didn’t speak right away.
They warmed their hands by the fire.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEOOMIiBR2
Touched the mug I had already placed before them.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFa0FkZfBNA
Looked at me not to ask, but to listen.
They told their story slowly, in pieces, like someone offering stones to a river.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbWjPdnVHw
Not to be kept.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WGbXq5e8N
Just to hear how the water moves around them.
And when they finished… they stayed.
Long after the drink was done.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITguTqK9yq
Long after the fire had burned low.
They did not ask for more.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uxhvaXP9O
They simply looked at the ledger and whispered:
“Where do the stories go, once they’re written?”
I answered for the first time in years:
“They become the tavern.”
And then, I did what I had never done.
I turned the ledger toward them.
Offered a quill.
They hesitated. Not out of fear.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54TuxK8uxi
But reverence.
And then they wrote:
I Was Orion's Missing Shoulder
They closed the ledger with both hands.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3CaFSyQgw
Pressed their forehead to it.
Then left.
I did not ask their name.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzEvEgsv7E
They did not offer it.
But the tavern knew it.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DnTYW93ee
And now, so does this page.
