Mary's Path
The offer

Time passed slowly, the cold winter air found its way into the store and though the sun was shining, it did not warm. It was boring to sit behind the counter on the stool. Mary would rather be upstairs with mom and dad, but she didn’t dare to take a chance that there would be no more customers.

She was almost sleeping on the stool when the sun in the doorway was again obscured. She jumped off the stool and looked at the woman standing outside the store.

“Good day, Mrs. Korpi,” she said, looking at Erik’s mother. Mrs. Korpi lived just a couple of houses away and used to give Mary freshly baked bread with butter on when Mary was there.

“Good day Mary, I see the shop is open today.”

“Yes, it is, come on in.” Mary replied, making a gesture to Mrs. Korpi to enter.

Mrs. Korpi first looked into the store and then appeared to look at the door frame.

“Thank you, my friend, but I can’t stay that long.” she said. Mary walked out from the counter and walked closer to Mrs. Korpi, it seemed like she would get to do all the business in the doorway today she thought.

“Are your parents better?” asked Mrs. Korpi.

“A little thank you. Father talked to me today but he’s still weak and needs to sleep,” Mary replied. She stopped when she saw that Mrs. Korpi seemed to recoil as she got closer.

“Who’s running the shop today?”

“It’s me, we need to bring in some money to be able to buy meat on the market.”

“Is it really wise to open the shop, you should perhaps wait until your father or some adult can take care of it”

“I’m sure you’re right, but I have to take care of my parents, so I don’t have a choice.”

Mrs. Korpi seemed to hesitate a little. She looked back into the shop and then examined Mary for a while.

“How are you, Mary?” she asked.

“Thank you, I’m fine” Mary replied honestly.

“You don’t have a fever or cough?”

“No, I’m perfectly healthy.” Mrs. Korpi looked at her again.

“Mary, I think you’d better move in with us. You shouldn’t be alone here, you’d be better off at our home.” Mary looked at Mrs. Korpi, did she really want Mary to leave her parents?

“Thank you very much, but I can’t leave my parents alone. They’re not strong enough to fend for themselves right now,” she said.

“Mary, you know your parents won’t make it, they’ve gotten the sickness, and no one survives the sickness.”

“It’s not true, father is feeling much better now and there are some people who survived the sickness,” Mary said defiantly.

“I know it’s hard to hear, but someone has to say it. You are welcome to join us, but the offer is only valid today. I’m sorry, little friend, but the longer you’re in this house, the greater the risk of you getting sick. I can’t risk my family contracting the sickness. But if you want, we can go to our house now, but if you don’t come with me now, I can’t let you come later.”

Mary was shocked, did Mrs. Korpi think she would abandon her parents now that they would soon be healthy?

“I am grateful for the offer, but I cannot abandon my parents. They will soon be healthy, so I won’t have to live anywhere else.”

“I hope you are right, Mary. I have to go home now, but I will pray for you and your parents.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Korpi, it was very kind of you to come and thank you for your prayers.” Mary hesitated for a moment before saying, “Mrs. Korpi?”

“Yes, Mary.”

“Do you think God only listens to the prayers of those who are rich and important?”

“No, my child, God listens to all our prayers.”

“Thank you, I hope so. Have a good day, Mrs. Korpi.”

“And you my friend,” Mrs. Korpi said before turning around and continuing down the road. Mary went back to the stool behind the counter and sat there again.

She thought about what Mrs. Korpi had said. What would she do if her parents died? She didn’t know if she had any other relatives. Her mother had told her that she and Mary’s father had married in their home village and then they had moved to the city so that her father could open the store. He had already lived in the city since he was young but had gone home to their small village to marry Mary’s mother. Mary had always thought it sounded so romantic, but now she couldn’t remember the village’s name or where it was.

What would she do if she were alone? She couldn’t stay in the store, without her father’s craftmanship there were nothing that could be sold and she didn’t think children could live by themselves. Would she end up on the street? She knew there were children living in the alleys of the city.

Sometimes she and Erik had been fighting with them when they were out on their journeys of discovery. She was a little scared of those kids and she shuddered at the thought of becoming one of them herself.

But no, she wasn’t going to think like that. Her parents would be fine again, they would live here in the house and sit around the table and laugh at the time Mary had been forced to open the shop all alone. Her father would tell everyone what a good daughter he had, who had taken care of the family, and how she had managed to sell a beer top for 11 kresi.

Yes, that’s how it was going to be Mary decided and got up from the stool. It wasn’t time to close the store for a few hours yet. But Mary needed to check on her parents and besides, she had received the money she needed. She went out and closed the shutters and on the way in she locked the door behind her before picking up the goods in the box and locking it