To earthland and beyond

To earthland and beyond


Hand raised over his eyes he shielded himself from the rays which brightened over time due to the dawn which soon came. A few intelligible sounds had been muttered as Lester came to understand the situation. Brushed around his hair fell into place when he sat up. He had stayed in an inn overnight, with the purpose of obtaining a passport. Feet slid into boots, belt buckled and the slight metallic clinks had summoned him back into his mind. The weather deemed his outfit appropriate as he left the building, the slight winds from the harbour had been scattered by the ever present scarf which was secured around his neck. The inn door had closed a little suddenly, but the innkeeper had mentioned that they would hold his belongings in a safe room until the evening. Mr. Drynedi wanted to leave the city tonight.
The streets had not started getting busy, yet the odd food vendor had already opened. Sweet scents of apple struck his senses, apple, cinnamon and pastry. A pastry, perhaps a scroll or turnover, had been cooked nearby. Breakfast had never been far from his mind, and soon he now clutched a steaming apple turnover whilst his purse had been lightened.

The sign up booth came into sight. He had underestimated how busy this would be. When he arrived the time had only been just past 6 of the morning, yet there were huddled bundles crouched in a line. This seemed to be madness, the registration opened at 9am, had some slept here overnight?
There had to be a way around this, he did not want to wait for hours.
The crackling of grit underfoot as his boots had made their way towards the entrance. It swung on the door, moved by slight winds. The wooden placard that read, 'Registration opens at 9:00 AM please form an orderly line.'  As he glanced back those who had lined up glared daggers. geez geez he wasn't a line jumper. The dawn hadn't broken and they looked possible of murder. Waiting in line, 3 hours till opening, plus the line looked like it would take at least 45 minutes. 3 hours and 45 minutes, that was not acceptable, he could find a way around it.

After he had examined the building Lester noted three entrances, the front door, the side door for staff and a larger door at the back for deliveries. he leant on the wall near the delivery entrance, finishing off the apple turnover his head was soon nestled in the folds of his scar. Looking as if he had been taking a nap, he simply rested his eyes, listened for  anything which might help.
A few early staff members arrived, taking a peek as they opened the door Lester noticed their heavy loads which dug into their arms. They were just paper pushers, no one important.  

He had been struggling, my feet had picked me up before having strolled towards him “Scuse me sir can I give you a hand with that?” My voice had seemed light and happy, the man had accepted. Muscles strained as I lifted and transported boxes. It had been hard, taken a good amount of time. However at the end of it the man had given me a firm handshake and brought me inside.
‘Now young fella, I won’t pretend to not know why you helped me but thanks anyway. Now, is there anything I can get you while we’re in here? There is still another hour till it opens’ His voice sounded rough, but I had known it was also kindly.   “Sir, I came here to get a passport, here are all of my certificates and other paperwork you may need. Thank you, for doing this for me.”
A smile had etched it's way across my face, but the other male waived it off saying that his staff were overworked and he was glad to have help for something so simple.

I had left the store out the employee entrance, I stared out at the water as my scarf shielded me from the early morning winds. Being kind to others really did have its benefits.