Weeping Willows

Chapter 27

Bump in the Night

                Back at the house Elizabeth made a beeline for the front door carrying as many bags as she could tote at once.  The plastic bit into the skin on her arms as she hustled up the steps and flung open the screen door.  Opening the door, the cold air didn’t faze her as she hurried to take her things to the kitchen.  Dropping bags on the floor she rubbed the angry red marks along her arms.  Elizabeth was panting with the exertion of her activity.  Leaning back against the table she shivered as the sweat that soaked through her clothes began to cool.  She took deep breaths trying to get her breathing under control.  She inhaled deeply, the cold air stinging her throat.  She exhaled making her eyes widen in surprise as her breath formed in front of her.  One would think it was the middle of winter in there.  Elizabeth finally noticed just how cold the house was.  She rushed over to the thermostat in the living room to turn the temp up.  When she reached it however the thing was showing it was seventy-five degrees in her home.  She stood there shivering in confusion staring at the black number.  Tomorrow she would ask Jan or Ryan who to call to look at the heating and cooling.  Before going back outside she threw open the downstairs windows to allow the heat of the outside to invade her home. 

                By the time she was done bringing everything in, the temperature was finally returning to a more comfortable level.  She decided to go ahead and bake the pieces now since the house was so cold.  While those were baking, she moved about the kitchen putting things away making sure to check her snack cupboard for fresh rodent droppings.  Still fearing new critters would move in and eat her goodies before she could.  That was one thing she didn’t share, but much to her relief there were no new sightings.  Clayton and Tyson’s family pest business was well worth the prices they charged.  Once everything was put away and all the art supplies had been returned to her make-shift studio the projects were done.  Turning off the oven she left the door open for them to cool off slowly. 

                Freshly bathed and dressed for bed in another set of ratty comfy jammies Elizabeth made her way to the kitchen for something to eat.  She closed the door to the now cold oven leaving the projects to deal with another time.  Not wanting to cook she went to the cupboard getting out a package of cookies and a bag of chips.  Grabbing a water out of the fridge she headed to her studio.  Early evening had set in leaving a dusky pinkish light spilling through the windows giving the house a rather eerie aura.  Shaking off her misgivings about the night to come she turned on the light moving about to deposit her meal on the glass tabletop.  Opening up the drawer she removed the calligraphy supplies and a piece of the old stationary.  Popping a cookie in her mouth she began to write her next letter.

Dear William,

                As I sit here writing to you my mind is reeling with all of the new things I learned about people here.  You see I teach art to a group of elderly and I must admit I fell into the pit fall of seeing them as nothing more.  I was fascinated and a bit heartbroken by the lives they have lived that I, up until that point, had not given much thought to.  The trials of one that effected so many and still clearly does.  The loneliness in secrets that were kept hidden and the damage caused when they came to light.  I found myself yearning for a way to have prevented these atrocities.  The one bright lining was a whirlwind romance I learned about.  Maybe it is because I am a hopeless romantic at heart, but I found the tale swoon worthy.  It did make me a bit envious that I have never had such a grand love of my own.

                Do not take that wrong I have thought myself in love a time or two in my life, but they were obviously not what I thought them to be.  After hearing about a true love this woman had with a man who may not have seemed perfect to everyone else but was perfect for her.  I must confess that it has ruined me for all future relationships.  I will inadvertently find myself comparing everyone now with the ideal she has planted in my mind I just know it.  How will I ever be able to find someone who measures up to a fantasy?  I will be destined to either settle for less or just live with being an old spinster.  My future is bleak I tell you.  I have met someone that could possibly be right for me, but I am having a hard time coming to terms with my feelings.  I do like him well enough, although I do not truly know him well yet, but the timing is bad. 

                Why is it that when you do not want for something to happen it does anyway?  I want to give him a chance and I do find myself caring for him.  I keep thinking of the two types of love I heard about and hoping for the one, praying I do not ever find the other, but knowing my love story will likely be mediocre at best.  There was a time where I would have been content with a comfortable relationship but now, I feel like I will miss out on something epic.  Maybe it is just my artsy side coming back to life and getting carried away.  I wish I had the answer for what to do.  Do I leap and give him a genuine chance, or do I hold out and see what is waiting out there for me?

                There is also the problem with all the baggage I come with.  It has been a very unpleasant year for me you see.  I am just going to say it and get it out there or the reason I started doing this will be for nothing.  About eight months ago I lost my older brother David to a fire.  He was a firefighter you see and with a unit that traveled around to fight wildfires.  He loved his job more then just about anything.  Family was the only thing he put above it.  Anyway, during his last fire the ground crew was working to direct the fire to a near by stream.  Everything was going as it should, at least that is what we were told, there was a shift in the wind direction, and it caused the blaze to change course.  Those on the ground became trapped and no one could manage to get them out.  By the time the fire was contained it was too late.  There were no survivors from the ground crew.  The only saving grace was that most had succumbed to smoke inhalation long before any of them burned.  I found out when I got a call from the hospital.  My father and sister-in-law were the first to find out.  She had been over visiting with him when someone arrived to deliver the bad news. 

                The nurse that called me said he went into heart failure immediately and my sister-in-law was inconsolable.  I was given the hospital name where they had been taken to.  Once I got there it was too late.  He had died during transport and they were unable to revive him.  The doctor called time of death upon arrival.  My sister-in-law had to be sedated and her family had been contacted for her.  I watched as each member of her family rushed past me in their haste to get to her as I stood there all alone.  My only family was gone, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye to either of them.  I did not even have a mother to lean on for support.  She had died when I was three of cancer.  My friends tried to be there for me, but I was in survival mode.  Just get the funerals done, get through it, and you can break.  That’s what I kept telling myself at the time.  I did not break down like I thought I would I was just numb.  By the time the numbness started to fade I began to feel like a caged wounded animal.  I just wanted to get away and be left alone.  I bought your family home on a whim and left as fast as I could.  I figured once I got here, I could work through what I had not wanted to feel at the time.  I have tried to remember the little things about my family.  I honestly have never had any memories of my mother though just a picture.  With the other two I am finding it hard to look at what is there.  Instead of recalling any good times I had with the two of them, I am left with nothing but the nightmares that haunt me.

                I am definitely not where I thought I would be nor doing what I thought I would be.  Some days I feel like an empty shell so fragile the slightest ding will break it.  Other days I feel like an impostor in my own life.  A mockery of the person I once was.  No matter what else I feel each day I always feel abandoned, like I am standing in an open field forgotten by the person that brought me there.  No sense of how I got there in the first place and knowing no way to get out. 

No matter who surrounds me every day I seem to be half a beat out of sync with everyone else.  Like I just do not quite fit anywhere.  I want to go back to who I use to be, but I fear she is gone forever.  I do not know how to get back to her either.  I am completely lost.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth  Foster

                By the time she was done writing her letter she felt drained.  Water dripped onto the letter making Elizabeth reach up to her face.  She found her cheeks wet with tears she didn’t even realize had been falling.  She picked up the letter she had written shocked at how long it was.  She hadn’t meant to write so much but once she started it just came pouring out.  Of course, it wasn’t everything, but she just couldn’t bring herself to write any more.  Opening the wardrobe Elizabeth placed the papers inside.  She felt a little lighter getting that off her chest but also fearful someone would find the letter and read it.

                She was just covering the box back up to hide it inside when a light child like giggle drifted in through the open door.  Elizabeth froze in place straining her ears to try and see if she would hear it again.  Deciding she was hearing things she grabbed the door to the little closet to shut it when another giggle rang out.  The sound startled her so bad she let go of the door causing it to slam shut with a loud bang that made her jump.  Placing her hand to her chest Elizabeth tried to will her heart to slow down.  She stared out into the darkness past the studio doorway cursing herself for not turning on the house lights before loosing track of time.  The house was still new enough to her that she couldn’t remember exactly where the switch was on the wall. 

                As she took a tentative step out into the dark hall the giggle came again just off to the left.  Elizabeth whirled in the direction it came from, trying to see past the blackness.  Taking another step forward she ran her hand along the wall looking for the light. 

                “Hello!  Is anyone there?”  She called out into the night taking another cautious step searching the next section of wall.  The giggle rushed right past her this time causing her to spin around and back away.  The only light coming from the lamp in the art studio.  The beam too dim to really illuminate anything past the doorway.  Even that was short lived however as the light blinked out leaving her surrounded in complete darkness.  The giggle ran past her again causing her to press her back up against the wall.  This time the giggle was proceeded by the muffled voices of women talking.  As both sounds pressed in on her, Elizabeth worked frantically along the wall hoping to come across the switch.  As something brushed past her arm giggling, she screamed at the top of her lungs.  Just what the heck was going on?