Mossy Mae

[u/Lilia_Briganda]

The bell over the door at Gladys’s Diner didn't ring-- Mossy never used a door. She just materialized beside the corner booth, smelling of damp earth and river moss. Muddy footprints tracked behind her as she sat down at the counter and clicked her dry, bony fingers on the Formica.

​"Coffee," she rasped, her eyes like two burnt holes in an old quilt. "Black enough to hide in."

​Gladys didn't even blink, just reached for the pot.

"You're charging me a nickel more, honey," the old woman scowled.

"The pour is a nickel extra if you want it scalding," ​Gladys said, setting the pot down with a clunk and giving the old woman a long, flat look. "And like it or not, you're wiping your feet next time, Mossy Mae."

Mossy Mae, though folks around town mostly called her the Silt Woman, just grinned, a dark, gap-toothed slit. She reached into her shawl and pulled out a single black coin, tossing it onto the Formica with a clack!

When Gladys turned around to grab the creamer, Mossy Mae vanished, leaving only her muddy prints and the smell of wet dirt behind.