2.

Half past four, a little over six and a half hours after arriving to a newly acquired house, and Terrence Williams finally has a chair to sit on. He has changed all that is, all that was, and has moved home to a new town and has yet to think about unpacking. Sure, how could he get that far ahead of himself? The workmen from the removal company he has used to transport his belongings have only finished up a little while prior, going far enough as to laying transported items to the room or rooms they are destined for and Terrence indeed now sits alone contemplating all what this day has been up till now.

He has electricity but as of yet has not powered on anything or connected anything. He, in this moment, is as alone as anyone can be with their own thoughts. At that too, these thoughts are some thoughts to be having.

What the heck was it that had happened to him when he had gone wandering through this new town that he now belongs to? Yeah, belongs to, that might be the term to use despite the fact he is not long here, and as to how he already feels about the place. Does Terrence somehow belong to something that he could never have prepared for, something he could not have known about?

Nah, thinking can be dangerous at times. No conclusions can be reached just by sitting right where it is that he is. There has to be some logical reason for misplacing two hours of time, maybe there could be some sort of medical reason?

That can't be it. Terrence is twenty-six years old, slim, and healthy; he has no more stress in his life than anyone else might have. Things can go wrong at any time in any life but this ... this is something else. Moving to where he now is, had been something intended to make life all the easier. This place right here ... it is a complete getaway from all that came before.

Sure family, friends and acquaintances aren't totally out of the picture. They are only a couple of hours or so of a drive away. Down here ... life is meant to be easy, meant to be fun. It is a get-away, his own private get-away. It is a placed destined for his arrival.

Financially there is no problem. He can more than afford to take a bit of time out not only from work but from everything else too and this town should most definitely provide him with the break, the distraction that he seeks.

Once again, and in the here and now, he doesn't get to spend too much time alone with those thoughts of his for there a knock to his front door. This comes as a bit of a surprise for he has come to be alone and is not expecting visitors of any kind, at least not this soon. There is plenty of time yet to go inviting any of his family, friends, or acquaintances down to his new home not that he particular wants to do this but there is time and indeed no particular rush.

As is said, to be down here is to get away and not to bring all that is in his life to a different place. For the moment that is right now, there is no point in pretending not to be home so what the hell? He gets up out of his seat and answers the door.

Standing before him is the lady from down the street who had thrown a wave his way when he first pulled up to this new home of his. His first thoughts are that he has no intention or at least had intention of meeting anyone as in get to get to know anyone down here well enough to start any kind of relationship, be it friendly or something other.

If he is to do that, begin new relationships, find intimacy or friendship, he doesn't particularly want to find it on the first day of being out here and he also would rather any potential love interest, if there is to be one anytime soon, not to have a readymade family. It's not that he doesn't like children; it's more not wanting an instant family should intimacy come and find a permanent or even temporary residence.

Who says those children are hers? And who says she has come to instigate any kind of relationship? A good Samaritan is one who acts not out of personal want. The first thing of note that catches Terrence when he opens his door is her eyes. They are a striking bright blue, and he most definitely is not prepared for how her greeting smile would affect him.

'Hi' she says. 'My name is Mary. I live just a few doors down.'

'Yeah, I noticed, seen you earlier, my name is Terrence. Would you like to come in? I don't have much of yet to offer but ...'

'That's alright; this is just a flying visit. I may be wrong, but I noticed that you are alone.'

'Yeah, that's right. It's only myself here right now.'

'Good ... I don't mean good as in it is good you are alone ... I mean ...'

'You are alright, I understand.'

'What I mean is that I noticed you were on your own and may not have had an opportunity to get yourself a hot meal. I have made a casserole and plenty of it, thought I would bring you some.'

'Oh fantastic, very thoughtful of you, thank you very much, I am famished. I haven't eaten since early this morning.'

'Well, enjoy' she says handing over what she has brought.

'Oh, thank you.'

'I'll leave you to it, enjoy' she says with a smile and a nod before beginning to move away.

Terrence has such a grin on his face that he probably isn't fully aware of its extent. When Mary moves out of view, he closes his door then goes and enjoys the meal she has brought him. His first day in a new town is definitely a mixed bag of potluck, there most definitely was more to it that he could have ever expected and there is also more to it that he can't yet know.

3.

Morning comes and despite the missing time incident of the day before, it would seem that this new town is partly having the intended effect that Terrence had been looking for. He has had the best night's sleep he has had in some time; thing is too that this town is also already taking away from that intended effect Terrence had been looking for, this being due to that same previously mentioned incident.

A fact on the positive side of things possibly is that if he hadn't forced himself up and out of bed on this day then he would have been perfectly content to stay right there for the rest of the morning but then again, there is nothing wrong with having a day set aside to do nothing at all other than to stay in bed all day long.

A newly installed power shower, installed prior to Terrance having made an arrival of any sort, works a treat and Terrence is delighted that this does not need any sort of tweaking. The shower unit and its surroundings are perfectly set up ... a spacious walk-in space making such use relaxing and effortless. The less work he has to do on his new home the better. The strength of the water flow and the temperature are so perfect that once again Terrence is more than happy to stay right where he is for as long as he can.

He is more than happy to keep up a leisurely pace for there is no particular rush to go anywhere at all, well not at least until he sees her. Having moved on from the shower over to his upstairs bedroom and remaining upstairs he takes a moment to observe the great outdoors. From his bedroom window he can see Mary, minus the two kids he had seen the day before, out in her garden so once dressed and ready he makes an effort to return the casserole dish and cutlery she had brought to him.

'Hi' he says before she has had an opportunity to head back inside or even notice a visitor coming her way.

'Hey. Did you enjoy the casserole?'

'Oh, I did, it seriously hit the spot, thanks again.'

'No problem.'

Terrance hands over the dish and cutlery. 'To properly thank you I would like to invite you and your husband to breakfast or lunch perhaps, my shout. I noticed a nice-looking café down the town while I was out yesterday.'

'Oh, I'm not married' she says. 'It is just me living here all on my lonesome. I have family staying over at the moment though so maybe I could meet you at that café at around one if it suits you?'

'It does ... sounds good. So, kids not yours either?'

'Nope, the benefits of being an aunt are that I can hand them back. So, see ya at the café at one?'

'Yeah, I will see you then and there. Bye.'

'Cya.'

As Terrance stood outside this particular café at a few minute before one o'clock the sky darkened quickly, and a rain began to fall so he went inside being sure that this Mary lady would enter and find him as soon as she arrives. He ordered himself a coffee and took a seat at a small table by the window.

Patience is not one of his strengths as he has been told on many occasions in his past and as he finishes his coffee at about ten past one, he briefly considers standing and making a move though before he manages to do so, the coffee shop door opens, and someone well covered up enters. An umbrella is lowered and shaken off and the entrant turns where at such a point Terrance sees that it is Mary, so he does stand then moves to greet her.

'Sorry I'm late' she says as he gives her a very brief hug, trying to be friendly and polite while also not wanting to get wet or offer an inappropriate greeting. 'Family stayed longer than I expected.'

'Not a problem,' he says aiding her with taking her soaked jacket off. 'Would you like a coffee?'

'Err, a latte please.'

'Coming right up ...'

Mary moves to take a seat at that table her new neighbour had been at while Terrance goes to order two lattes bringing two lunch menus back with him, offering one to Mary then taking his seat opposite her.

'So ... that casserole yesterday, did you make that?'

'Yeah, something I managed to learn from my mother.'

'Other than an excellent casserole you aren't much of a cook?'

'I like to cook though it wouldn't be an area of expertise.'

'I'm grateful one way or another. Do you mind me asking how long you have been living here?'

'Yeah, err ... I've been here a little more than three years?'

'So, you know the place quite well?'

'I would say so, used to come down here as a child quite a lot.'

'Ah, memories are what have you living here now.'

'You could say that but not the kind of memories you might expect.'

It's clear from Mary's speech pattern and demeanor that the conversation has struck a nerve or at least hit an unwanted emotion.

'Oh, sorry' speaks Terrence, 'we don't have to talk about this if it is uncomfortable for you.'

'My little brother ... em ... went missing one summer when he was seven, I was nine.'

This completely catches Terrence off guard. He had not expected to hear anything like this. He was being nice and returning a favour inviting Mary to the café but this, not what he was expecting to come his way.

'That is terrible. All is well now, right?'

'Not regarding my brother, no. It is all rather strange really. You don't need to hear all this ...'

'Don't worry about me it's fine, feel free to speak about whatever you want.'

'We were going to go swimming and our parents parked in the car park on the near side of town. Todd had a large plastic ball with him, and it bounced into the park. He went after it, and I went after him, but I couldn't find him. He had been no more than a few seconds ahead of me.'

'That is quite odd. I guess you kind of blame yourself?'

'Well, something more than that. If I had answers, if I knew what happened, ya know, I could move on. It's like where did he go? Did someone take him? Is he still alive? He just disappeared. There was nowhere he could have gone in those few seconds that I wouldn't have been able to see him, and he hasn't been seen since that day.'

'There is a river that flows through that park, right?'

'Yeah, but if Todd had fallen in then we would at least have seen some sort of struggle but there was nothing, besides he could not have gotten down to it so quickly. Todd simply vanished.'

The lattes arrive and the question is asked as to if food may be ordered. Mary orders a salad and Terrence orders a toasted sandwich. Conversation continues, Terrence decides against talking about his missing two hours though does offer his reasons for his own move to town and Mary tells of her own family wanting her to move away and begin leaving the past in the past, something she does not want and cannot do.

Mary has wanted answers for years, and now hardly being a day in a new town Terrance has questions of his own. It more than seems like Terrance will not be getting the kind of rest and relaxation he had initially been looking for. A search for answers may be coming his way.

Back at home and a little after five in the afternoon a large brown envelope comes through his front door letter box. Terrence picks it up and sees his name written on it. He opens the door and moves outside. He does not see anyone close enough to have posted this envelope let alone see anyone he may even recognize.

The envelope is fairly slim so nothing of bulk has come his way. It indeed only has his name handwritten upon it, no address, no stamps so it went through no delivery system, besides it is a bit late in the day for any regular postal service to be delivering any mail not that any postal official could have been seen near-by.

What else could Terrance do in this moment other than open that envelope and place its contents onto a living room table? For something so slim Terrence is quite surprised by how much came out from that envelope. What those contents were and are also is quite surprising. It would more than seem that this new town has secrets.