Forgotten Souls (The Saving Angels 2)

"I think that's the coolest truck ever," I said, praising it as he handed it over for me to take a closer look. "I love the big wheels," I said, handing his prized possession back to him. Grinning at me, he scurried back around the table, suddenly shy.

"Sorry about that, he's usually too shy to come out behind the stand," a pretty woman that looked to be in her mid-thirties said to me while wiping her hands on the half apron tied around her narrow waist. "He obviously knows a pretty girl when he sees one," she added, grinning at me before she turned to help a customer. I returned her smile and turned to Mark only to see him studying me intently.

"What?" I asked, self consciously swiping at my face with my hand, making sure I didn’t have anything on it.

"You're going to make a really good mom someday," he said, looking at me in a way that made my heart beat at an erratic pace. The picture of cradling our child in my arms filled my head and I blushed thinking about what we would have to do to have a child. Both were extremely appealing pictures. I was definitely not ready to have kids now, but the promise of someday was enough to make my soul sing.

Mark smiled when he caught the gist of my thoughts. "Yep, definitely not ready for kids but…," he said, winking at me suggestively.

I giggled and reached for his hand. Our minds were obviously on the same page on that topic.

After several hours of shopping at the various makeshift stands, we were both famished and decided to dine at one of the countless food eateries there.

"I want a corn dog and fries. The smell has been driving me batty since we got here," I said after a few minutes of deliberating. "Ooh and I want a yummy chocolate ice cream cone," I added, spotting the ice cream vendor across the way.

"Of course you do," Mark said laughing as he headed off to get the food.

All the plastic resin tables were taken, so I picked us a secluded spot under the shade of a beautiful weeping willow tree. I ran my fingers over the light branches that hung almost to my waist in some places, giving it the feel of an outdoor tent. Stooping low, I crab-walked under the long branches sighing with pleasure as I stood under the canopy. Willow trees were by far my favorite species of trees. They had a mysterious appeal about them that seemed so romantic and sad at the same time. Combining our purchases into one bag, I spread the other two out so we could sit on them.

I sat down on my bag and drew my knees up to my chest, smoothing out the skirt of my dress over my legs. I watched mesmerized as the branches danced around me, gently putting on their own little show.

"Hey, I almost couldn’t find you," Mark said, chuckling as he parted the branches to join me.

"Sorry, I couldn’t resist the nice canopy under here. It feels magical doesn’t it?" I asked.

"It's pretty spectacular," Mark said, handing me the tray with the corn dogs and fries on it, before he plopped down next to me with our drinks. "I figured we could get you your cone when were done eating," he added.

"Good call, as long as we don't forget," I said solemnly.

"Um, Krista, no offense, but I'm not sure you could ever forget about chocolate."

Laughing, I swatted his arm lightly. "I can't help it. I think it's a part of my DNA. Subject must love chocolate," I said, trying to sound serious.

"Along with junk food," Mark added, indicating our food.

"Oh yeah, definitely junk food too," I said, emphasizing my point by dunking my corn dog in the ketchup and mustard before taking a bite of the deep fried treat. "Although, how could anyone call something like this junk? We need to rename junk food. I say we call it 'yummy food' or 'yum food.' What do you think?"

"I like 'yum food,' that way if you want extra, you can say I want 'yum, yum food,'" Mark said laughing.

"Oh yeah, and if you're on an eating binge, it would be "yum, yum, yum, yum food," I said, trying to get the mouthful out without giggling as my tongue tripped over the words.

We laughed through the rest of our meal as we tried to outdo each other with how many 'yum's' we could say without getting tongue tied or laughing.

Once we were done, we gathered our trash and left our own little private oasis. Dropping the garbage in the receptacle, we headed down one of the paths we had yet to take. By the time we reached the end of the row, we both had our hands full with more purchases and were both dusty from the dirt that had been stirred up by all the people that now crowded the market.

"Sheesh, this place is packed now," I said as we juggled our stuff.

"I can take the stuff back to the Navigator if you still want to keep shopping," Mark said, shifting the two plants I had bought for my mom into one arm so he had a free hand for my bags.

"Nah, that's okay. I'm beat and the heat is starting to make me feel a little sick," I said. "But I had a lot of fun," I added, so he knew how much I appreciated our excursion.

We rounded the next corner and headed up the long, dusty row. Our pace was faster now as we ignored the stands that lined each side of us. We were just about to the end of the row when a girl about my age, dressed similarly to how Lynn dressed reached out to hand me a flyer.

Though she had a firm smile planted across her face, I could feel her despair three feet away from her. My first instinct was to shy away from her emotions like I had been doing for years, but as our hands made contact, I decided to try the training we had been working hard at with Haniel. I allowed her emotions to flood into me. I was instantly blinded by the pictures that flashed behind my eyelids. I could see her cringing away from groping hands and trying to clutch a blanket up to her chin. I shuffled away from her, blinded by the images, trying desperately to keep my lunch down.

"Krista, are you okay?" I could hear Mark's voice asking from far off.

Shaking my head weakly, I felt Mark propelling me away from the center of the row. He dragged a white resin chair from one of the eateries near us and I dropped into it like a ton of bricks. I shut my eyes and willed the nausea back by trying to breathe only through my mouth. The smells of the market that had seemed so appetizing just minutes ago, now worked against me as my lunch swirled wildly in my stomach.