It was a crisp September afternoon, the first actually cool day of the year that signaled autumn was upon New England. This drew hundreds of people to the Public Gardens and Boston Common in the heart of the city during lunch hour, and provided a respite for the working class grind.
Two women were briskly walking along one of the more floral paths of the Gardens; talking between themselves and having what would seem to any passer-by, a typical discussion for this time of the year.
"So she left this morning, then?" One of them asked, with a delicate expression on her face. She was astonishingly beautiful; with a perfect complexion, brown eyes, and natural strawberry blonde hair ridden with waves pulled back into a tight ponytail. A loose fitting pair of gray sweatpants and a long-sleeved burgundy t-shirt clung to her perfectly-proportioned figure as they walked.
"Aye and she didn't even say goodbye this time…" Emotion was heavy in the other woman's voice. Equally as beautiful and, well, as perfect as her counterpart, this woman boasted dark brown wavy hair that was pulled back into a claw clip behind her head. Her eyes were of a leafy green that seemed to adjust to the light as if trees were actually dancing in the wind within her irises, and she wore a tight-fitting black support tank and a green pair of cropped sweatpants as if she was unaffected by the slight chill in the air.
"Oh, but you'll see her again in the spring." The blonde replied, a comforting tone in her voice.
As they continued along the path that would cross them into Boston Common, the brunette stopped, and looked down at a plant, "This rhododendron has blight." She winced as she moved a few of the shrub's branches aside. Taking a sip from her water bottle, she swished the liquid around in her mouth a few times before spitting it onto the rhododendron. "There, that should help."
Meanwhile, the blonde blinked a few times and glanced at the people who were walking by and wondering why this woman was spitting into a shrub. "Sister mine, come, we need to cross the street."
"Oh yes, sorry, it's just that I need to take my mind off…of…things…" A few tears trickled down the brunette's face and fell onto the ground. A cool wind then suddenly blew and a few of the other walkers shivered with this sudden blast.
Red-colored maple leaves then drifted in front of the blonde, and she sighed, "I must admit despite your melancholy moods, there is no other place in the world that I like to be during autumn than Boston or just New England in general. You really do one Hades of a job."
The sister looked at the blonde with a start, "Hestia! For Gaia's sake, that NAME!" She uttered some sobs and the sister now known as Hestia rolled her eyes and put a comforting arm around the crying woman.
"Relax, Demeter, relax…Come on, let's find a place to sit down…" More blustery cool winds ripped through the park, and the two sisters sat on a bench under the shade of an oak tree. Once they did a light sprinkle of leaves fell on Demeter's lap.
Hestia just shook her head, "It's going to be a bad winter, isn't it?"
"It wouldn't be so bad if she would just learn to say goodbye! I don't care if she's grown fond of him, the least she could do is say bye…" Demeter rattled on, ridden with the watery undertone of tears.
Hestia then caught wind of something in the air, "Oh, I think there's a barbeque nearby." Sure enough there was a yellow tent about fifty feet or so away from where the sisters were sitting. A sign was up near it, 'Annual Scientology Outing and Picnic'. This resulted in narrowed eyes from the two as they took it in their sights.
There was no chance of escape as they were soon approached by a young man brandishing pamphlets, a copy of Dianetics, and a shirt that matched the tent. "Good afternoon, ladies." He spoke, a coy smile on this face, "I'm approaching you today because you two look like you could use some guidance in your lives."
Demeter's eyes shot up and glared hard and cold toward this boy, but Hestia, on the other hand, tried to be a bit more hospitable. "Oh, we're fine; she's just a bit troubled since her daughter left for the next few months, that's all."
"Daughter?" The man blinked, "I must say, you definitely don't look as if you are old enough to have a daughter in college. Well, I assume she is, as you did say that she was away for several months? Where does she go?"
"Across the bloody river." Demeter muttered, obviously not too pleased with this company.
"You mean Harvard?"
"No, no…She's talking about the ocean, right Sis?" Hestia nudged her, "She's, uh, abroad for the semester."
"Oh I see." The man nodded along, "It must be hard for you to cope with her being so far away."
"You have no idea." Demeter grumbled.
"Well, anyway, I am a representative of the Church of Scientology; perhaps you'd like to take a look at some educational materials?" He handed Hestia a packet of brochures and Demeter the book, "That was written by our founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and I think you will find it most enlightening."
Hestia flipped through the pamphlets as if she was barely reading them, but in fact she was taking them all in, word for word. As she did, her nostrils flared a bit and her mouth gaped.
"Do you have any questions?" The man asked.
"No." Hestia replied coolly, "but your grill is on fire."
"What?" The man turned around to look at the yellow tent setup, and sure enough, the grill had flared up, and flames were engulfing it and starting to spread to the tent which was catching the flame on its support ropes. "Oh my God!" He ran back over to the catastrophe.
"He's not listening." Hestia scowled.
Demeter's eyes shifted to her sister, "That was mean." She said.
"Mean? Have you READ this stuff?" She waved one of the pamphlets up, "He doesn't even BELIEVE in the God that he just took in vain. What a crock of Cerberus sh—" A beeping noise went off in her pocket. Hestia reached down and took out a cell phone, then flipped the top open and pressed a few buttons. "It's a text from our brother; time to go."
"Alright then." Demeter stood up, "Follow me."
The two walked around the base of the oak tree. To those that were on the side with the path and benches, it would have appeared they simply planned on circling the trunk. To those on the opposite side, however, they would see nothing.
**PLEASE SEE THE DEPARTURE FOR THE PREQUEL TO THIS SEGMENT! THANKS!**