Cyrus's point of view.
It was a cold, rainy day in the Port town of Saint Paul.
It was the end of the summer, so the town would shut down for winter in a little over a month. Being this far up north, winter always shut us off from the outside world for the most part.
We were somewhat of a tourist destination during the summer though. A lot of cruises stopped in our town for the views and whale watching.
Some of them even offered guided hiking excursions led by locals.
Our town was also an important port for many fishing industries.
But once winter hit, we were almost completely cut off from the rest of the world.
Since it wasn't quite winter yet, we really didn't get a fall, just winter and summer, I still had to follow a stricter schedule for my coffee shop.
I didn't really run the coffee shop because I needed the money. I made more than enough as an author.
My small, cozy coffee shop was more of a joy than a necessity.
I enjoyed watching my customers pick out a nice book to read as they sip on their morning coffee and complemented me on the brew, petting one of my regular dogs as he comes by during their walk, and sending the fisherman off for the day with a nice hot cup of joe.
The simple pleasures were why I ran my coffee shop.
It was quite the luxury to be able to run it simply for pleasure and not money.
I ran it with my adoptive mother, Linda, I called her Nana. She was old enough to be my grandmother, so that name had just always fit better.
She was in her late 80s at this point, where I was still in my late 20s.
I set up in my bed and stretched as I looked out the window, seeing the dimming stars and the lightening of the sky just before the sun peaked out over the horizon.
"I better get moving," I muttered to myself.
I pulled my leg over and let it dangle off the edge of my bed as I reached down and grabbed my prosthetic.
I attached it with ease as I had done this a million times before.
After it was secure, I got up and walked over to my wardrobe.
My adopted mother and I lived in the apartment above the coffee shop during the summer.
She also lived there during the winter, but I lived part time in a log cabin deeper in the woods and mountains occasionally during the winter.
I went out there to write and find inspiration during that time of year.
I still always made sure I came back in one piece for the holidays.
The room I stayed in was small but quite nice.
It had a large floor to ceiling window on one of the walls, with a great view of the port.
I could see the morning fog rolling in and a few sailors meandering around getting ready for a day of fishing out on the water.
I recognized a few of them as loyal customers.
I smiled at the view and then started to get ready for the day.
I put on a brown button up polo shirt, some black jeans, a pair of brown and green argyle socks, and some brown leather dress shoes.
I went over to my mahogany vanity and started to apply my make up.
I got into the habit of wearing make up when I was younger after the incident.
Nana had always told me that my scars were nothing to be ashamed of, but I preferred to hide them.
It's not that I cared what other people thought it's just that I didn't like drawing attention and with my leg, I already drew enough.
After my makeup was done to my liking, I fixed my hair.
After that was done,I grabbed my black rimmed glasses from my dresser and put them on.
When I was ready to face the day, I went out of my room and headed towards the kitchen.
Nana was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper while sipping on her coffee.
She had a plate of bacon and eggs sitting out for me.
When I sat down her lovely crisp apple alpha pheromones greeted me.
She wasn't forcefully putting them out, everyone let out a bit of a scent unconsciously, even if they weren't aware of it, and her lovely apple scent was always a wonderful greeting to me.
A person couldn't smell their own pheromones, but I had been told mine smelled like honey mixed with the scent of fresh rain.
I sat down, thanking Nana for the breakfast and began to eat.
Once breakfast was done, the both of us headed downstairs to open up the coffee shop.
We had stairs, but she and I took the small elevator that went straight down into the storage area for the coffee shop.
I could take the stairs just fine, but seeing as Nana was in her late 80s it was best for her to take the elevator.
Her age was the main reason I had it installed.
Once we were in the coffee shop, Nana started getting the coffee ready and I started turning on the lights and making sure everything was in order to open.
Once the clock hit 6 AM, I flipped the closed sign to open.