A Haunted Marriage & The Cookie Baking Poltergeist

Chapter 9: A Cold Touch To The Shoulder

    The scarecrow, dressed with a white apron with a chocolate chip cookie ironed on, blue denim dress, blue slippers, and in its right hand holding a rolling pin, protected an orchard that extended nearly a mile behind its post. The scarecrow's head was made of a pillow, with two blue stones for eyes, a corncob for a nose and a drawn in mouth in magic marker for its smile. The smile resembled the Cheshire grin of a cat. Ten rows of apple trees extended for that mile in single file. Behind the trees one could observe the tree topped hills of Saratoga County, trees that were now turned orange and yellow. Groups of visitors walked in between each of the rows trying to locate that perfect apple to pluck off its tree. A gathering of fourth graders played tag and hid behind some of the bushes adorning each apple tree. Some of the trees were surrounded by haystacks instead of bushes. Another group was led by an Saratoga Apple employee who explained how bees were integral to the pollination process for the proper harvesting of apples. A steady wind blew some of the hay from the stacks into the air, causing hay to stick like velcro to some of the visitor's hair. One of those visitors was Julia Blake.

    Julia plucked a piece of straw from behind her right ear before zipping up her brown windbreaker to her neck. Michael brushed his hair to remove some hay stalks and watched as the wind blew the debris into the closest apple tree. Michael bent down to pick up a paper bag that contained at least twenty apples.

    "I told you this would be fun. We should have done this weeks ago," Michael said.

    "I have to admit, living in the city, one does not get the full fall colors on the foliage like living up here. This is beautiful," Julia said taking an apple out of the bag. Julia tossed the apple in the air before taking a bite.

    "That guy who ran the tour though was a little weird. He looked like Waldo from those 'Where's Waldo' book."

    Julia laughed so hard that she nearly spit out her bite of apple. After slowly swallowing the apple she said, "I know right. Who wants to hear about all that technical orchard stuff. They just need to let people explore this beautiful place and pick some apples."

    Michael placed a hand on Julia's shoulder. Even through her jacket, she could feel the warmth of the fingertip, like someone placing a hot water bottle there.

    "Let's keep exploring. I want to try to find a row away from all the people that we can have to ourselves."

    "What did you have in mind?"

    "To find an empty haystack so we can have a real roll in the hay."

    Julia laughed so loud that she bend over at the waist and her head nearly banged into her knees.

    "Why not? This is the perfect place. And it's not too cold to take all of our clothes off."

    "Yes it is," Julia said.

    "Come on," Michael said as he took Julia's hand and pulled her behind him.

    Julia had to increase her steps to keep up with Michael. She was now walking so fast that she didn't even notice the apron clad scarecrow hovering over her. Michael led her past twenty apples trees before the mutterings of the visitors could barely be heard. Julia pulled on Michael's hand so she could stop and pick another perfect apple she spotted off of a tree. She stood on her toes, but couldn't reach it. Michael extended his arm and plucked it off before dropping it in the bag.

    Michael kept walking before he found his ideal pile of hay. After placing the bag of apples on the ground he performed a Superman dive into the pile while Julia laughed behind him.

    "Care to join me?"

    "You actually want to have s*x here?"

    "No s*x. We could be arrested for that. But an actual roll in the hay would be fine I think."

    Julia dived on top of her husband and kissed him on the mouth. She nestled her head in the crook of his neck. Michael rubbed her curls with his right hand before kissing her on the forehead.

    "Honey I just want to thank you for taking me out today," Julia said kissing him on the mouth.

    "You're welcome."

    "You know for the past week I haven't noticed anything strange in the house. No scratching from Bogey or no odd smells. I think our ghost went to the other side. I think we're getting used to it."

    "I told you I think she's gone. Not all ghosts are bad. They just want to move on I think. I told you I was right. Google is a wonderful thing to look this stuff up."

    Julia placed her hands under her husband's waist. "I just want to say how sorry I am. I was pretty mean to you the past few weeks. Thanks for finally painting the porch railing. I also haven't had a drink in two weeks. It was making me more relaxed, but it was affecting my moods in a bad way. I-"

    "I wasn't the best of husbands either. I should have listened to you more. Especially about the move. I need to be a better listener and not order you around so much. So I'm sorry too."

    "I forgive you. Remember our wedding vows. We promised to forgive each other," Julia whispered in Mike's ear.

    Mike and Julia placed their hands behind their heads. The hay itched the backs of their necks, but they didn't mind. They stared up into the passing clouds that occasionally shrouded them in darkness, but most of the time, the sunlight streamed through the clouds, basking Julia and Michael in bright sunshine that warmed their faces and souls. Mike turned and noticed that Julia's head had the aura back once again that he noticed when he first met her.

                                                                                    #

    Julia spent the better part of the afternoon kneading dough on a pizza stone on the kitchen counter. As she flipped the dough in the air, she noticed Mrs. Ildleman sitting on her porch partaking in her usual activity, reading her newspaper. I really should have invited her over for some pizza. We have to do our part to be great neighbors too. Julia made sure to put plenty of mushrooms on the pizza because it was Michael's favorite. Julia took the pizza out of the oven after twenty minutes. It looks perfect. Let it cool a little before eating it with my lovely husband. Julia stared down at her feet to notice Bogey staring back at her. She took a piece of leftover cheese from the shredded pile by the sink and threw it to the floor. Bogey gobbled it up within seconds.

    Julia walked into the living room from the kitchen wearing oven mitts because she was carrying a homemade pizza. She placed her creation on the coffee table in front of Michael.

    "Wow hon, that smells great and you didn't forget the mushrooms this time," Michael said as he pushed himself up from his usual crouching position on the couch.

    "Of course not. Making a pizza beats buying one up here. Outside of Long Island and New York City, the pizza really sucks."

    "Yeah. The desserts like the ice cream are great up here, but the Dutch settled a great deal of upstate New York and they're not know for their culinary expertise," Michael said as he used a knife to cut the pizza into eight slices. He placed two slices on a paper plate and handed it to Julia.

    Julia blew onto the plate before picking up the slice to take a bite. "I know I sound narcissistic but man can I cook a great pizza."

    "I'll say," Michael said as he nearly finished eating his first slice.

    Julia picked up the remote to scan through some of the Netflix choices. "The pickings suck this month. I wish they would have left Titanic on there."

    "That one's overrated. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio running around in ice cold water like it's nothing. That wasn't remotely realistic. Hypothermia is what killed most of the real Titanic passengers. "

    "I know, I know. But I am in the mood for some romance and heartwarming things."

    "Why don't you check out those Hallmark movies. They should have the Christmas ones available by now."

    "I like those because they all have happy endings."

    "And they also have in common that there's always a kid that has a dead mother in those Hallmark films."

    Julia laughed out loud before taking the final bite of her second slice of pizza.

    Michael put his empty plate on the coffee table. He turned towards Julia and placed his hands on her shoulders. "What do you want to do for Thanksgiving?"

    "I was thinking of us driving down to Syosset to be with my mother. She's alone most of the time. I talked to her the other day and she said that she might need a knee replacement after all."

    "That sucks. A friend of mine decided to live with the pain. A knee replacement is major, major surgery."

    "If you could take a day off of work, we could leave on the Tuesday before instead of Wednesday when the traffic would be much worse."

    I really, really don't want to drive down there. Going to Long Island is such a nightmare around the holidays, Michael thought.

    My husband is giving me that look that he is perfectly capable of not entertaining one of my ideas again.

    "What about we have your mother come stay with us up here? I can set up the air mattress in here for her. She will have the TV to herself so she can stay up all night and watch QVC till her heart's content."

    "She can barely walk on that knee. Plus what is she going to do with all of her animals, two dogs and two cats?"

    "I don't know. It's not our problem. We always go down there. Plus there's the expense of the gas and tolls."

    "You didn't give a s**t about tolls when you went to the Yankee game."

    "Hon, this is the first year in this new house. I would love to have Thanksgiving here. I will help with the cooking. I don't think I have the vacation time yet to take a day off."

    "Bullshit Mike. You're a teacher. They get awesome benefits."

    "Downstate maybe, but not here."

    "You say you will help but you never do. You will just sit on your ass and watch football. I will have to do all the cleaning up too."

    "You tell me not to get frustrated, yet you want me to partake in the activity that causes me the most stress, driving in traffic. And if we're at your mom's you sit on your ass all day too, but instead of watching football you will drink from her wine collection. You have to cut out the drinking. I found two more bottle in the past week by the trash."

    Julia jumped off the couch and ran into the kitchen. She returned with a wine glass full of wine that she gulped so quickly that wine dribbled down her chin onto her shirt. "How do you like that? Drinking keeps me sane when I have to live with such a close minded man such as you. Why don't you go f*****g jerk off somewhere."

    Michael jumped off the couch and raised his fist to Julia's face. "f**k you, you f*****g derelict."

    "Go ahead. Hit me again. I forgave you for hitting me that once last year. You f*****g touch me I will call the police. I will leave you next time for good. I think it's best that you sleep on the couch tonight."

    Michael stared at his fist before lowering it to his side. "You should be the one on the couch. It suits you better since you're nearer to the kitchen's wine collection."

    Julia took another sip of wine before saying, "I will sleep anywhere tonight, as long as it's not next to you. You are such a stupid fuck."

    "Go somewhere to calm down you useless piece of s**t. No wonder why you can't find a job."

    Julia wiped a tear from her eye with her free hand. "You're such a f*****g jerk, resorting to cheap put downs." Julia left the living room and slammed the bathroom door.

    Michael shoved his hands in his pockets before dropping to the couch. I should not have talked to her like that, but she can be such a b***h sometimes.

    In the midst of their battle, Michael and Julia didn't notice that the burning smell had returned. During the shouting, Bogey stood at attention once again by the basement door, this time digging his claws into the towel.

    Michael rubbed his fists over his eyes before deciding to open them again to face a world where a separation from Julia was a distinct possibility. But first he gazed again directly at their wedding picture before the picture flew off of the wall into his lap.

                                                                                        #

    In the bathroom, Julia placed her wineglass on the sink. She stared at herself in the mirror and noticed two lines of mascara running from each eye. Sobbing, Julia took another sip of wine. I could be such a b***h sometimes, but he never listens to me. Julia stared at the reflections behind her of the toilet and the towel rack. Her head cast a shadow on her left shoulder. A shoulder that now felt the sensation of cold fingers extending their hand down to Julia's clavicle. The mirror's refection only displayed the swollen face of a recently sobbing woman. There's no one behind me. Who the hell is touching me? was Julia's last though before she fainted.