From dailyprompt: “knowing where your towel is.”

Autumn/Stranded world, goes along with Enclosed

“The shawl is a new look for you,” Anja commented over tea.

Autumn plucked the edge of the rainbow-hued garment in question, tucked around her hips like a skirt. “Always know where your towel is,” she explained cryptically. “Besides, Aunt Happy knit it for me.”

“Aaah.” Autumn’s Aunt Happenstance making something was reason enough to hold onto it; she was a Weaver. But Anja still tilted her head. “Hitch-hiker’s guide? I didn’t figure you for a fan – and, besides, your towel’s a bit prettier and a bit more handcrafted than Ford’s.”

“Well, it’s also more socially acceptable.” She smoothed the cloth, feeling she owed her old friend more explanation. “The book has a couple good points, even if I’m not a fan. And, face it, I live an essentially itinerant lifestyle. A multi-tasker that I never have to leave behind is a pretty useful thing to have around.”

She should have left it at “Aunt Happy.” Anja, no fool, raised one questioning eyebrow. “Autumn, what happened?”

She slumped a bit in the patchwork Queen Anne chair. “Someone stole my van last month at Rhinebeck.”

“Oh, god, the poor thing! What did you do with the body?”

Autumn glowered over her scone at her friend. “An, my van does not eat people.”

“No, no, of course not, but it’s been known to chew on them.”

“Only a little, and only when they really deserved it.”

“So, I repeat, what did you do with the body?”

“I drove him to the hospital,” she admitted in a mutter. “But it took me three days to find him – and the van.”

“Aaaah.” And the lovely thing about friends like Anja was that they really did understand. “Thus the sudden connection to portable belongings. Where are you hiding the tent?”

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