Fan Fiction ❯ The Gift ❯ Sleep Cheap ( Prologue )

The Gift

By Phlie

AN: I'm not certain yet where this story is going to go, but it's not a one shot, so bear with me.

Chapter 1 - Sleep Cheap

The heat came of the ground in waves that distorted the landscape. Not that there was much to view. It was a sickening site, though. It was the type of situation that could make everything seem out of place, if there was anything there. One could see for miles and miles and it was nothing but asphalt and desert. Well, there were cacti everywhere. The only other thing to break up the consistency was Sleepy, which was as close to a ghost town as it could be and still have people live there. There was a gas station, a two room jail, a garage, a diner, post office, and a shady looking motel. Each building held its own quarters for the people that worked in them, except for the jail. The Sheriff slept at the motel, which was named Sleep Cheap for they never charged more than was necessary. There was a hospital, school, and a strip mall with grocery store about 25 miles down the road and that's where everyone went to run their errands. Now that school was out, they only went one a week.

Juliana couldn't remember when she and her dad had moved into the back rooms of the gas station. She supposed it was just after her parents, Bill and Judy, had gotten a divorce. Her dad had been given custody of her since her mom thought it would be more fun to get high all the time than to raise her daughter. That would have made her seven when they left the suburbs to run the place that her Uncle Paul had left them in his will. He had perished under somewhat mysterious circumstances and the death certificate said that he had died from `a lack of oxygen'. No one around there seemed to think it was strange, since he and his sister-in-law seemed to have more in common than one might have expected. Juliana found out much later that the reason he had lacked oxygen was because he had been sniffing the fumes off a gas nozzle. It's pretty bad when your work kills you.

Things had stayed as sane as they possibly could since then and that mean life was dull. Juliana had been going to school, but had just graduated and was now working full time at the station. They got a lot of tourists coming thru on their way to California so business was good for the most part. The only ones that suffered were Stan and Florence. They owned the motel that no one wanted to stay in. Even though the outside looked pretty bad, Florence prided herself in keeping all the rooms clean and aired out and was always putting personal touches around the place. The problem was that they never had any extra money since they didn't over charge the tourists and therefore they couldn't afford to spruce the place up. So no one stayed there unless if they had a choice in the matter. Juliana had always felt bad for them because of this and so did everyone else. The station and the diner both gave discounts to the people that stayed in the motel. Still, money was tight. No money meant that Stan couldn't buy all the nice things he wanted to for his wife and it also meant that they couldn't afford to have a baby. That broke Juliana's heart almost as much as it did Florence's.

Maybe that's what sparked Juliana's interest in the stranger in the first place. He came rolling thru town early one morning and stayed for 3 nights. No one bothered to ask him why he would want to stay in the desert with them for 4 days. You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, you know. The stranger, that was nicknamed "Luke" because of his luke warm attitude towards everything and everyone except Juliana, was tall and slender with broad shoulders. He looked like he was well toned and was definitely well tanned. His whole appearance screamed out `rich boy' from his whiter than white teeth and his manicured nails. He had medium length black hair and eyes as blue as a cloudless day. If Juliana hadn't been a beauty herself, she might have been jealous. She had no competition, though. Tall for a girl, she had wavy brown hair and green eyes that sparkled every time she laid eyes on Luke. He was new and exciting; he broke the monotony of it all.

He didn't follow after her like a lost puppy dog, but he certainly didn't ignore her either. She was the only one he made direct eye contact with and had even graced her with a smile, his white teeth gleaming. He stayed in his room unless he needed to eat or to check on his car that he had left at the garage. Those where the times that Juliana would see him. He never said much to her other than "hi" and "please pass the salt", but that was more than anyone else got out of him.

The fourth day Luke got up and ate breakfast at the diner just like he had the last few days. Instead of just going over to just check on his car, however, he paid Mike what he owed him for fixing it and drove his car over to the gas station to fill it up. He gave Juliana one last smile and then he was gone. He rode out of town and Juliana thought it was the saddest day she could remember.

It wasn't until she went over to the diner for lunch that she found out about what he had done that morning. Luke had checked out of the Sleep Cheap and left an envelope on the bed in his room. Inside it was 1 million dollars and a letter. Florence read it out loud to everyone.

Residents of Sleepy,

I want you all to know that I really enjoyed my stay here. You were all kinder to me than some of the people in my home town ever were. To thank you all for your hospitality, I have left some money with Flo. She and Stan should use it to make the hotel beautiful and shiny. The rest of the money can be used any way you good people see fit. The only other thing I ask is that Juliana should get to go to college if she so desires.

I'll be back some day, have no fear. I hope to find you all well when I return.

Yours,

"Luke"

When Florence was done reading, there wasn't a dry eye in the diner. Juliana sat down, stunned. She couldn't believe that everything she had ever known was about to change, and for the good. She would even be able to go to college! She had wanted to be an architect, but had thought she would never get the opportunity. Now her dreams could come true. She was still in a daze when Mike stood and cleared his throat.

"I just thought you would all want to know that Luke's car was fixed that first morning. It had only needed an oil change, but he asked me to keep it for him in the garage until he was ready to leave. It appears as though he stuck around for nothing more than a smile from a pretty girl."

From then on out, Juliana made sure that she had a smile on her face at all times on the off chance she might see the stranger again.