Her feet. She couldn't feel her feet. They were cold and numb. But why? It was probably because she was laying in the middle of the street in the cold snow with only a worn out blanket to unsuccessfully keep her warm. And it was dark. Most likely somewhere around midnight. But all she could focus on was the cold gnawing on her limbs .
"Miss! Miss! You're going to catch your death if you continue to stay out here! Please. Come with me."
A young man walks over to her and offers her his hand. She slowly looks up at him with her shivering face. She seems to be hesitant towards his generosity, but she finally accepts by taking his hand. It was warm and comforting. He helped her stand and walked her across the street to his 1994 Dodge Dakota. As he assisted her into the passenger side of the cab, he noticed she had dozed off and was now asleep. The man lifted her up into the cab and buckled her in. He jumped in on the over the side and turned the key in the ignition. The engine started up with an odd, clunking sound. It was fair to assume that it hadn't been to the shop in a while. But as loud as the engine was, it didn't seem to wake the sleeping young woman.
They drove for thirty minutes before finally arriving at a run-down motel that definitely gave off a "Bates Motel" sort of vibe. But it was the only place to rest for a while so the man decided to take his chances.
They pull into a parking spot next to a flower bed that was more weeds and trash than actual flowers. He looked over at his new traveling companion. She was still fast asleep.
"I'll just let her rest a bit longer. She's probably been through a lot", the man thought as he climbed out of the driver side door of the truck.
He walked up the entrance of the shady motel. The atomic doors slowly creaked open, but not all the way. He squeezes his way in and heads for the front desk.
He approaches the receptionist sitting at the desk. She was an older woman with short grey hair, and a purple blouse with a pattern of flowers on it, and reading glasses hanging around her neck by a small, golden chain.
"Can I help you, dear?", the old woman crooked. "We have plenty of vacancies at the moment, so you and your little friend can rest."
"Little friend?", the man asking puzzled. He looked behind him to see the girl in the blanket looking around the lobby like she was on a different planet. He rushed over to cover her up a bit more effectively because she obviously didn't seem to care that the blanket was about to leave her exposed by almost falling off. He looked back at the receptionist. "You wouldn't happen to have any extra clean clothes that she could borrow. Would you?"
The old woman pointed down a hall to her left where some of the motel rooms were. "Down at the end of the hallway, there's the lost-and-found. Go ahead and pick out something nice.", she said with a smile.
"Thank you, ma'am.", the man replies as they head toward the hallway.
The hallway was long and dimly lit. The stains on the walls and the dirty floor matched the rest of the unsightly decor. Walking by the rooms, they found that receptionist was right about the multiple vacancies. The hallway was deathly quiet. Damn near silent if it wasn't for the floor creaking underneath their feet.
They finally made it to the end of the hall. There they found a closet labeled "Lost and Found" on the door. The man grabbed the doorknob and turned it. As to his surprise, the door swung open quite easily. Inside the closet, they saw a large bin with an assortment of hoodies, jackets, shorts, and sweatpants. Articles of clothing that would more than likely be worn as sleepwear. But they would have to do. Seeing that they didn't have many options at the moment. The man reached down in the bin and pulled out a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants he thought would fit her.
"Here. Try these on.", he says as he hands her the clothes he picked out of the massive pile.
She took them, looked at them and looked back at the man with an expressionless face. The man looked at her and then at the clothes in her arms. Realizing what she might be trying to tell him something, he raises his eyebrows.
"Oh no. I am not dressing you. I've gotten you this far. The least you can do is put on your own clothes.", he says with authority.
She looks back at the clothes and set them beside her. She proceeds to take off the blanket covering her. The man becomes alarmed by this.
"Wait wait! Let me get out first! I'll give you some privacy." He rushes out of the closet and then shuts the door behind him.
A few minutes pass and the man decides to knock on the door to see if she is alright.
"Hello. Is everything okay in there? Are done now?", he asking as he began to slowly crack open the closet door.
She was done alright. Well, at least she thought she was done. The very confused girl had the pants tied around her waist by the legs so the upper part of them was hanging down in front as some sort of loincloth. As for the hoodie, she had that also in the same position as the pants but tied underneath her armpits. So the only partially covering her top was the bottom of the hoodie. The man just shook his head and kind of chuckled at the ridiculous looking outfit she had on.
"Oh no.", he says shaking his head again.
He approaches her and turns her around so she was facing away from him. He first undoes the arms of the hoodie from around her torso and slides it over her head. It was a snug but was a good fit. Now for the sweatpants. This was going to be a little more tricky. He undid the pants from around her waist and placed them at her feet. He looked at the ground to avoid staring at her.
"Now. I need you to step into the holes. Got it?", he tried to explain.
As if by some miracle, she seemed to understand him and stuck her left foot in the left hole and then her right foot in the right hole. He then proceeded to pull them up to her waist. Like the hoodie, they fit quite well on her.
"Alright then. Everything seems to be okay here. Let's go get a room key. Okay?"
With no response, she follows the man back out of the closet and walked back down the hallway that leads to the lobby. The receptionist was still there at the front desk. She takes a look at the clothes that she had on.
"Very nice. They suit you, dear."
The girl must have at least understand that it was a compliment because she quickly responded with a smile.
"Now. We would like a room please.", says the man while reaches for his wallet.
"Of course, deary. Would you like a room on the ground floor or on the second floor?"
The man remembers how disgusting the hallway on the ground floor was. And thought that the second floor couldn't be any worse, if not better. So once again, he decides to take his chances with this cheap, sketchy motel.
"We'll… We'll take the second floor. Thank you."