“You’re lucky this morning,” he said. “Just got a fresh wagon-load of the best from the fields.”
“Terrific,” I said.
He vanished back into the kitchen and I took up my seat at the window, taking a sip of the juice. It wasn’t as bad as I remembered it from yesterday, but I was sure that was because I was another day hungry. From my seat at the table I could see the entire street and all the activity along a part of it. If Aahz and Tanda came down the Main Street, I’d know it.
The bartender brought me a small plate of veggies that were actually hard and fresh. I was shocked and managed to eat them all over the next three hours, plus finish the entire glass of carrot juice. Surprisingly enough, after that I was no longer hungry.
But I was a lot more worried about ever seeing Aahz and Tanda again.
After another hour I decided that I was going to head back up to the cliffs. I offered to wash the plates and clean up the kitchen to pay for my breakfast, but my bartender friend told me to come back later, have some dinner, and do it then. I agreed, hoping I’d never see him or his kitchen again.
It took just over an hour in the mid-day heat to walk up the road to where we had first arrived in this dimension. I didn’t meet anyone on the road, and the air was so hot and silent near the cliffs, it felt as if I was walking through my own tomb.
I shook myself off and tried not to let my thoughts go to the dark side of this.
I moved over to the rocks where we had hidden to watch the two guys go by. My head was sweating under my hat so that when I reached the shade near the cliff I took it off.