Bridgetown, Issue #1: Arrival by Giovanni Iacobucci

Author:Giovanni Iacobucci
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: scifi, fantasy, science fiction, time travel, western, apocalyptic, alternate history, moody, counterculture, weird west, lynchian

4.

Susanna's alarm clock woke her at 4:30 AM, just as it had every weekday for the past year and a half. She threw on her work outfit, from her bloomers to her oil-stained denim jumpsuit. Then she scarfed down her steel-cut oats, topped with strawberries she'd picked from the ranch. These rituals had provided the makeup of her morning routine since ground was first broken on the factory. She liked it this way, for anytime before the sun rose, Susanna didn't much care for surprises. Besides, the simple repetition meant her mind was freed up for more meaningful pursuits. This morning, most of her thoughts were with Jesse.

Was Wayne awake? She tiptoed to their bedroom to find out. No, he was still snoring. She proceeded towards Jesse's room, and put her hand to the knob, not quite sure what she was hoping would happen.

She cracked the door open, just a few inches, and peered into the room.

Jesse wasn't there. He hadn't made himself seen or heard at all the prior evening. At the time, Susanna had to admit, this had given her a bit of relief. She'd figured he was just having a drink in town. Now, though, a knot of worry formed high in her stomach.

She considered using the room's guest phone to dial Sheriff White at his office, but something held her back. Susanna tried to brush various concerning scenarios out of her mind. The gnawing sort of thought that usually meant she was dead-on accurate clung to her, though. In this case, it was her concern that Jesse had gone back to Black.

Jesse wasn't on the patio, in the barn, or in the garage when she checked. But it was in that last location, on the driver's seat of the Mark II, that Susanna found a letter sealed shut with the crest of her own estate in red wax.

She tore it open, and read it three times. She could have allowed herself to feel sad, concerned, or angry, but she did not allow herself to linger on such feelings. She had a job to do, and she would be strong. She would keep her priorities in line until Jesse eventually, inevitably, returned from wherever he'd run off to.

Susanna put her keys in the ignition and started up the car. She backing out of the garage and took off down the small path towards the main road beyond the gates. The sun was beginning to crest over the horizon, and she didn't like getting to the factory after sunup.

Jesse's actions confounded her. Was it stupidity? A petulant desire to make her worry about him? Should she even worry about him?

Maybe she was the foolish one. Maybe Jesse had every right to want out, seeing her with Wayne. For the first time, she considered the full weight of how difficult Wayne's sudden business success must have been for Jesse. His whole life, he'd been the cool brother, after all. And now, he was an outcast. He knew nothing about this place, had nothing to his name.

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