Once We Were Here by Christopher Cosmos

Author:Christopher Cosmos
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510757134
Publisher: Arcade
Published: 2020-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

Philia didn’t listen to her father.

She left the house and walked the dirt road to town. But before she left, she went upstairs to where Giorgos kept a large pile of drachmae for any emergencies that might arise and she took all the money. If food was going to be as scarce as her father had told her that it was going to be, she’d find whatever was available for her to buy.

But the agora was empty again that day.

Stores were locked up.

The taverna was closed.

She looked down towards the harbor where Giorgos and the other men were watching their ships sail into the distance. She felt the large sum of money in her pocket that she’d taken from their house, knowing that before all this it could have bought her half the city. But now money was useless because you can’t eat gold or paper. It was amazing, she thought, the way that things can change. Her father, who had once been the richest man in the city, had been reduced to the stature of a commoner in a matter of a few hours.

Everyone in Agria was the same now.

“Philia?”

She turned, when she heard her name, to see Thanos standing behind her, the baker who’d given her and Alexei sweets on her first day in Agria.

“How are you, dear?” he asked with a smile.

“I don’t recognize my own village,” she answered, with a sad look.

“Neither do I,” Thanos said. “And I’ve lived here longer than you have. Much longer. What brings you into town?”

“I came to see if I could buy any food,” she gestured around them. “And I think I’ve gotten my answer.”

“No. There’s been no answer. Not yet, at least. Let’s see what we can find around here.”

“But everything’s closed.”

“Not everything,” he smiled. “Follow me.”

She followed Thanos down to his stall at the end of the agora and watched as he opened the small door and went inside. He came back moments later with a small package wrapped in waxpaper and carefully tied around the top, and he handed it to her.

“Thanos … no.”

“Take it.”

“I couldn’t.”

“For the daughter-in-law of my greatest friend? Of course you could. It would be my honor.”

“There’s not going to be anything left soon.”

“You’re going to need to eat if the small one’s going to grow up strong enough to haul in the nets like his father and his grandfather,” Thanos said, smiling at Philia’s belly.

“News travels fast.”

“Only the good news,” the old man said. “Good news certainly travels the fastest.”

“Let me at least pay you,” she said, taking the money out of her pocket, but he stopped her, his fingers wrapping around hers, holding her hand closed before she could offer him anything.

“No, dear,” he said. “But you should go home now. It won’t be long before the rest of them are here.”

“I will,” she nodded.

“It was good to see you,” he smiled. “Say hello to your father for me.”

He turned and started to walk away, and Philia watched him go, rooted to the same spot, moved by this old man’s kindness.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.