'Ah! It's raining!' Sam gripped the 3 large paper bags closer to her chest as she quickly ducked into the closest shop.
"Just my luck," The golden eyed girl breathed out; as she looked around the wooden shack.
Large shelves lined the walls. Books, newspapers, and magazines overflowed from their designated spaces. Carved into the walls were odd symbols and crude paintings of what looked to be monsters. A thin layer of dust seemed to hang in the air like an untold secret.
"Hello! Anybody there?", Her small voice echoed in the silence.
"No? Okay then, as long as you don't mind, I'm leaving my bags by the door!" She called out again for good measure.
Dropping the groceries, Sam turned back to look more closely at the shelves, examining the literature. They seemed to all be written in different languages, none of which she understood or even recognized.
"You know, you could have put the bags on the counter back there."
The seventeen-year-old nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of another person. Whipping around, Sam turned to see a blonde-haired girl; from her light skin and blue eyes, it was easy to tell that the girl standing before her was a foreigner.
"Who are you?" Sam cautioned, her stance becoming tense.
"I'm Cathy Louise Smith and the owner of this store! Who are you?" The blonde girl grinned as water dripped off her short curls and onto her face.
"I'm Sam; just Sam. Sorry, I hope you don't mind, I was just trying to get out of the rain before it came down too heavy."
"Don't mind at all 'Just Sam'. Find anything interesting to read?" Her blue eyes sparked with laughter as she shook the water out of her hair dog-style.
"No, nothing in particular; what language are these in?"
"Oh; I have a bunch of languages from all different types of planets and galaxies!" The girl explained as she removed her pink raincoat and pulled a towel from behind the cashier counter, thoroughly drying the rest of her head. "But, most of them are Rhapsodian; since that's where I'm from."
"What are you talking about? I know foreign countries are completely different from here, but saying they're in a whole different galaxy is a bit of a stretch." Sam said while brushing the dust of an old newspaper article that she found in English.
"You're not an alien?" Cathy's blue orbs widened in shock as she stared at Sam from behind the counter; she'd never had any earthlings walk into her shop!
"No, I mean I guess that even if I was I wouldn't know, but I'm pretty sure I'm human. Wait, you are an alien?!" Sam's golden eyes reflected the same shock that Cathy stared at her with.
"Is it too late to say no?" Cathy sighed as she already knew the answer.
"What are you doing here on earth? The way you talked about it, I'm going to guess that Rhapsodia isn't exactly the next planet over." Sam walked over and leaned on the counter, ready to listen like a child at story time.
"I wanted to see what earth was like so my Grandpa got me this shop as a present for my 780th birthday. Now I'm saving up so I can go travel the world!"
"Wow. 780, how old are you in human years?"
"Uh… I'm not too sure, at least over 250 years; but that's kinda like being 18 if that's what you mean."
"That's really cool, so do you like it here?"
Cathy smiled, Sam asked a lot of questions but the Rhapsodian was more than happy to answer, "Yeah it's pretty awesome here, a little lonely since I don't get too many customers; but people here are nice."
"I wish I could be brave like you. My destiny supposedly involves traveling but I'm scared." Sam didn't really know why she felt comfortable unloading her problems onto Cathy, and she was sure this kind of conversation was not appropriate for a first meeting, but Cathy seemed like a good listener and Sam needed someone to listen.
"All I've ever known is right here in Makapu Village. I'm not sure if I'm ready to find out what's out there." Running her hand through her brown locks, Sam grunted in frustration.
"I think it's your destiny rather than traveling that you're really afraid of." Cathy's usually bubbly and carefree tone was now serious.
"Well, in the end, I die either way so I don't think so." Sam retorted, trying to brush off how close to home Cathy's statement was.
"I'm no mind reader like my cousin Elton, but I can kinda sense your emotions, Sam. So I have to ask, what is it about change that scares you so much?" Blue eyes softened as they stared into the startled ones on Sam's face.
Soon Sam's golden-colored orbs closed as if the answer would be written on the inside of her eyelids; only to reopen glazed over in thought.
"Everything." Sam looked up at Cathy, a mist of tears gathering up in her eyes, "Things are bad now. If I'm going to change everything; I don't want to mess it all up."
"Then don't mess up." Cathy comfortingly put her hand on Sam's shoulder.
"I don't think I can 'not-mess-up' on my own." Smiling slightly at the phrase, Sam looked to Cathy for guidance.
"Well…I said I wanted to travel the world; never said I was going to do it alone. Do you want to travel with me?" Cathy flashed a 100-watt smile at Sam.
"Thanks," Sam said, returning the smile.
"Oh please. What are inter-galactic friends for?"
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