Warm light

Well, if my day couldn’t get any worse, this storm came out of nowhere, Nora groans. It’s a good thing I found this bridge when I did. It reeks of pee and earth and questionable things in this overpass that she would rather not think about. “I guess it’s better than nothing.” she laughs to herself. I wonder how long I will have to wait here. I can’t believe today of all days I forgot my umbrella. Nora blows out hot air from her mouth in annoyance. Not too long after, she sees something in the corner of her eye that looks like a cat or a mouse, something fuzzy. Nora hates being under the bridge, but her curiosity gets the best of her, so she decides to look over in the direction in which she saw the fuzzy thing and stops to see there is a door. Which is half-opened. The fuzzy thing has run into. Nora wonders if there is a better place to wait out the storm. So she walks towards the opening in the door to find a dark stairwell. A looming orange light at the bottom. The stairwell smells of something she can’t really comprehend. She continues down the step. The smell starts to become something she can kind of understand.Almost like spring. She keeps walking towards the light at the bottom of the stairs, stumbles a little and hits the wall with her hand, the wall feels like moss or some soft type of greener. she turns up the brightness on her phone to see the stairway is covered in it and notices something that looks like old writing of a language that she can’t understand. The tunnel is starting to feel warm, which is odd. She continues forward. She reaches the bottom of the stairs to another door, which has more writing on the arch of the door. This time she can read it reads those “who are weary and travel that needs shelter in the heart of the storm may enter here.” Against her better judgment, she decides to open the door. The minute she opens the door, the warm orange light grows almost blindingly. Then, eventually, she opens her eyes to see a tavern. Looks like a very old place. A woman is cleaning tables in what looks like some tavern girl outfit. There is another woman behind the bar filling up drinks for two particular, burly men who look like they have just been in some battle. the place seems stuck in time; as Nora glances at the floor, she sees the fuzzy thing that looks like a cross between a bunny and a cat. Also sees that the creature has a name tag the name is Lieke. She bends down to try to pet the creature. It scurries away behind the bar. She looks over at the bar and there is a woman, who looks to be in her mid-40s, with a scar over her eye, and a bright smile on her face. Looks like she’s seen better days. She smiles at her and says, welcome to the banks of life, where the weary can come and rest and seek shelter. My name is Meredith. I’ll be pleased to help you today. Nora seems confused but sits at the bar cautiously. Meredith asks what can I get you. Nora is still confused and doesn’t know how she got here. Meredith walks away and Hands her a menu. Nora opens the menu to see a list of meals that she has never seen or heard of before. nor quickly closes the menu and goes back to being confused. Meredith laughs and says I’ll get you a drink on the house Meredith pours a drink from an unusual pitcher and slides the drink down the bar to Nora, now looking at the drink in the cup, and takes a sip, the taste which can be described as the most delicious sweetest thing you’d ever tasted before.Nora gulfs it down instantly Meredith laughs and says good huh glad somebody likes it and continues to laugh. One of the burly men at the bar said this is why I keep coming. That stuff is so damn good. I would quit my job if I could and stay here and drink it all day which, Meredith replies to the burly man; and if you did that, you would have nothing to pay me for the drink the man laughed at her Nora is still confused she talk to Meredith and says has this place always been here Meredith smiles, and says as long as I can remember and I’m pretty old Nora ask Meredith what’s the recommended dish here Meredith says the house special is called the sailor’s shelter Nora agrees to try it, not too long after a plate appears before her with something that looks like Nora decides to try it, not too long after a plate appears before her with something that looks like some stew with some meat she hasn’t seen before with a side of bread, Nora decides to be safe and try the bread first.The bread is sweet yet savory and warm then chooses to take a bit of the bread and dip it into the stew. There is Carmalee but a little bit spicy with a tad bit of sweetness.Nora's taste buds explode and before she knows it her plate is empty, and somehow her soul feels at peace. Meredith tells Nora that that dish is a family recipe and also a secret.She winks Nora smiles. I’m glad she’s found this mysterious place. She’s never seen it before. There’s a warm fire in the back. Nora decides to get up and walk towards it. Where she sees a comfy chair and sits by the fire. Before she knows it, she realizes what time it is. She has to get home to feed her cat. Nora jumps up from the seat and walks towards the bar.Tells Meredith thanks for the meal. Meredith tells her she can come by anytime when she’s in distress or needs to get away from it all, and she hopes to see her soon. The burly men at the bar pick up their drinks and wave at her to say good night or good day. She smiles and walks to the door. And when she walks through the door, she’s back under the bridge and sees that the rain has stopped. She looks behind her, and the door is gone. Nora was perplexed and wondered. Where was she for those past couple of hours, and wonders if she made the whole thing up. This is something that Nora decides to keep to herself.Nora is happy that she found the place.Her bad day turned into an amazing one.