Playing with words

Who did she want to be this time? The ingenue or the siren?

Or just herself.

Wouldn't that be a change?

She sighed and shifted her backpack strap to a less tender spot on her sunburned shoulder. The KZ rumbled underneath her, the once soothing vibrations now irritating. It was time to find a place to settle. Temporarily, of course.

Was this a good place? She surveyed the one-block expanse of Main Street and wondered if perhaps a hundred years ago or so, a lone cowboy sat in this spot astride his horse, looking for a place to settle. The town hadn't done much updating in the meantime.

But it was so peaceful.

She'd stuck to getting lost in the crowds in major cities like St. Louis and Kansas City. It was easy to melt into the crush of people. An odd job always popped up when needed. But then there was the constant movement, the constant noise, always leaving her on edge, nervous. Not to mention the underbelly that surfaced in every city so far, threatening to suck her down roads she knew she shouldn't travel.

So much depended on the hospitality quotient. Was this community closed to the outside? Or did they welcome strangers into their fold? What was the best way to find out?
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Today's word: ingenue