ecstasy | corpse husband

chapter 2.

port townsend, washington
the day before new year's eve.

elowen drives up to one of the free gas pumps, shifting the gear into park and turning the key in the ignition to off.

she shivers, rubbing her hands against each other as the little bit of heat that was flowing from the car vents dwindles into nothing. she pulls the tab under her seat to pop the gas compartment lid and hops off her vehicle. a 2006 beige hummer.

she notices a person getting gas for a convertible a few pumps down, and an elderly woman comes out of the passenger seat and heads into the gas station convenient mart. the rest of the gas pumps are unoccupied. there's a quietness she finds she doesn't mind.

she purposefully picked this gas station because it was out of the way and wouldn't be as crowded as others this soon to new years. the rundown appearance and slightly off-putting vacancy of the lot was made up for in cheaper gas, anyway.

it's as she's in the middle of putting gas in, her tank nearly half full, that a grey minivan speeds over to the pump in front of her hummer. she watches the entire entrance, nervous the driver would scratch the corner of her bumper with how recklessly they drove in. luckily, they manage not to do so.

the minivan screeches to a halt. out of the corner of her eye, she sees a tall, middle-aged man with brown loops of hair—styled similarly to that of men from the 60s—hurry out, and he starts inputting his information and swiping his card for the gas. elowen doesn't mean to be nosy, but she peeks into the back window of the minivan and notices he's carrying a lot of luggage with him.

there's a subtle kickback against her grip of the gas nozzle, indicating her car is at full tank, and she returns the pump to its place. she takes the receipt and stuffs it into her coat pocket when suddenly there's a shrill scream.

not from the man in front of her, or any of the other adults here, but from a young girl. her head instantly twists in the direction of the sound and she sees a girl—no older than six—storming out of the backseat of the minivan.

"jodie, get back here!" the man in the middle of pumping gas into his car shouts. his eyes shoot frantically from where his hand is holding the gas to where she's stomping off into the street.

the nurturing part of elowen's brain kicks in. "I can get her for you," she informs the man, and rushes forward past his car without a second thought to if this would be okay with him or not. she justifies it with the fact that he would've been too late, as by the time she manages to lift the girl into her arms a car flies by less than a foot in front of them, horn blaring.

the girl puts up a fight on her walk back, yelling about wanting to go home.

"thank you—thank you so much," he greets her when she returns and takes the kicking girl into his arms. "I must've forgotten to put the child lock on the doors. that was irresponsible of me...I didn't realize she learned how to unplug the seatbelt. still, I should have made sure, I—"

"we're only human. you seem really overwhelmed right now, is there anything I can do to help?" she gives him a reassuring nod, watching as he moves to put the girl back into her seat.

"no no, please, you've done plenty for me already. I'll be alright. I'm just in a hurry to catch a flight; it's the last available one before the holiday, you know, but my daughter is going to miss home dearly."

that explains the manic driving and screaming child.

elowen still goes ahead and takes the gas pump out of the car when she notices it's at a full tank and puts it away for him, closing the lid.