Who Will See Me?

Outside information is always refreshing. But in the Gord Hanson world, there was always a danger of imploding on himself. A small one bedroom apartment on the six floor kept him away from the outside world. Always inside, and by himself, was comfortable but at the end of each day he felt tired. Any new information only came via computer. He didn’t get mail - all his bills came in his email. He ordered food in. He had a complete gym full of equipment that he used religiously every day. He seldom went out to do laundry. Who was going to see him anyway? When he ran out of clothes, he took the back stairs down to the laundry room. A thick sci-fi book with him, he kept his head down to read, hoping no one would come in and bother him.

A knock on his door startled him. He had to buzz people in, they couldn’t just walk up and knock on his door. But there it was - a tiny knock. If he hadn’t been walking by the door, he wouldn’t have heard it. Cautious and curious, he looked through the peephole and could barely see the top of a little blonde head. Making sure the chain was on, he opened his door just a crack. “Hi, mister. My name is Bobby. I live in the next suite. We’re new here and just moved in last weekend. I go to school online. My mom and dad decided to keep me home but I’m bored. They had to go to work and I don’t have anyone to talk to. If I go out on our balcony, would you come out on yours? I’m not supposed to talk to strangers, but then we wouldn’t be strangers.” Gord hesitated, looked up and down the hall and said “Ok.”

~~~~~

Gord and Bobby met everyday after that, at two o’clock sharp. They played games on their computers, Gord helped Bobby with his homework, Bobby told Gord about the outside world. When his parents took him to a park or a beach, Bobby live streamed a video to his friend’s sixth floor apartment. Later they talked about being outside, the sun on the water, the bird’s nests in good climbing trees and walking on the grass. One day, Gord asked Bobby “Do you ever have picnics?” Bobby had gotten used to his friend’s strange ways so wasn’t weirded out by his question. “Sure. Do you want to go on a picnic with us sometime?” Gord was quiet for a long time and said “Yes. Ask your parents if it’s ok and tell me.”

~~~~~

That night, Gord did his laundry.

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? 

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

~ T.S.Eliot, The Rock

It's a Crazy World!

Communication or gossip, which should it be? After the world news today, I suspect that both will be flowing down the same already murky river bed. Reporters and journalists will attempt to communicate to all that will listen the facts as they glean them. Assuming of course that they are true facts and not the notorious fake news. The most important fact today is that, apparently or for real, the United States President has fallen ill with Coronavirus. Gossip mongers will provide us all with side entertainment in this very unfortunate and unpleasant  show of reality. Who did what and when will be sounded so loudly that they tumble together over and over each other like pebbles, rocks and any other tossed away debris. It is up to each of us to either listen with an honest ear or turn the media off and listen to the birds of the air. Yes, we will all have our opinions. Which ones of them will be coloured by gossip and which by accurate communication? Be careful out there!

“Rumour travels faster, but it don’t stay put as long as truth.”

~ Will Rogers

For Everyone - COURAGE - Theme for October, 2020

 

Although I’ve continued to set a theme to follow for each month, my charming group on the Beaufort Estate in the story, Situationally Theirs, has prevented me from introducing each theme. Because I’ve changed my format for about five months, I’ve missed the challenges that I set myself at the beginning of each month. This month’s theme: COURAGE. 

               For Everyone

Communication or gossip, which should it be?

Outside information, always welcome,…

Understanding the other guy’s position…….

Rarely, if ever, do we take into consideration……..

Audacity is sometimes mistaken for…….

Gathering his wits about him……

Energy is not always available…….

“Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, 

but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

~ Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter Two, Episode Three - Sheltered - Situationally Theirs

 

Review, Revision, Edit and Outdate

When I reviewed this today, Emelina had made quite a few typo's. I never wish to correct the dialogue or writing of one of my characters, but knowing Emelina, I'm sure she would have preferred that I made the little corrections. They were really quite tiny - an unnecessary space and restructuring a sentence. 

Reading from Writing Tools - the Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark, he addressed the usage of verbs. I paid attention to my verb usage throughout this episode. I need more practice!

Sheltered

The week before, when everyone had returned to theirs homes from the staff meeting, there was only one person left with her thoughts. Emelina Beaufort. She climbed the stairs to her room. Who would she tell her story to? Who would even want to listen? She held her wedding picture in her hands. “Michael, what was our life like? How did I fit into this family? There is so much I want to tell you but not just to a picture of you. As much as I love Jeremy now, you are still the love of my life. Emelina set the wedding picture carefully back on her bureau. Going to her desk, she took out paper and pen and sat down to write.

~~~~~

When someone’s life turns on a very thin dime with no warning, there is a period of disbelief. Disbelief that the reality of the situation is real. Waking one morning, the morning of pandemic restrictions being declared, I yawned and stretched. My cosy warm bed begged me to stay until my maid brought my morning tea. Dozing off, I snuggled my face into the silken covers of my pillow. I woke only because it was too quiet. There were no delicious aromas of coffee from downstairs, no Cook bustling in the kitchen that was usual each morning. There was only silence. My annoyance was mounting. Where was Brigitte? Where was everyone? My china clock on the bureau told me it was past eight a.m. Surely Digby was here. He was always here even before Cook arrived. Gathering my silk sheets around me, I sat up and listened carefully. Was that a footstep on the stair? But there was nothing. Speaking outloud to myself and stamping my foot like a child I said “I’ll have to speak to Digby about this lapse!” My annoyance bubbled into frustration and flamed into anger. How on earth was I ever going to get my day started? I  had appointments and meetings to attend. Where was Brigitte!? Pulling on my housecoat and I slipped my feet quickly into my silken slippers and stood, tied my robe at the same time, and went to the door. I was about to wrench it open it when I glanced down. That’s when I saw it. It was Beaufort stationery - one of the thank you notes my butler, Digby sends out. What?! Opening it, I found an answer to the ever deafening silence. Three times I read it. Once, then twice. I set it down on the table by the door, stood still and listened again. My hand strayed back to the note. I read it a third time. 

That's when I began to feel afraid. Not just afraid, but terrified. I have never liked surprises and have always liked an ordered and orderly life. I've depended on my employees to maintain that order. Breathing deeply of the silence, I looked around me, seeing it with new eyes. I was afraid to open the door to my empty house, so turned away and went into my bathroom. My hair was a mess. Where did Brigitte keep my brush? I didn’t even know that. Shivering, I pulled my housecoat close. Was I cold or was it my fear of being alone that settled into my bones? There was no one to call, no one to help me. What about my appointments? My butler and housekeeper made certain that my maid knew her schedule in advance.

~~~~~

Emelina read over what she had written. Maid.  Butler.  Housekeeper.  Employees! Was that all they had been to her?! They all had names and lives besides serving her and making her life better. She went to her bureau, picked up her wedding picture again and touched the matte finish of her photographed face. She spoke softly “Michael, I’ve found my answer. I’ve made everyone fit around my life, without fitting into theirs. Until this pandemic happened and Dez came to me. Before all of that, you took care of me, your mother took care of me. Martha, Digby, and Brigitte took care of me, especially when I couldn’t take care of myself when you died. I'm living and loving a very different life now, and will always love you.” 

The photograph was placed face down in the bureaus's top drawer.

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”

~ Robertson Davies, Tempest Tossed

Wind

 

Blustering and bossy.

Ripping leaves from the trees, scattering them on lawns and sidewalks.

Speckling windows of cars and homes with rain,

Swirling down streets and around office buildings,

Knocking over patio umbrellas and storefront awnings,

Pushing it’s way through mountainous clouds.

Racing off over the prairies

Leaving the sun to set in clouds thinning and frayed

“A great wind is blowing, and that gives you 

either imagination or a headache.”

~ Catherine the Great

For my Friend

 

From the great blue sky

an eagle feather fell

to softly pass spirit from 

loving heart to deserving heart.

Congratulations, Deb!

“Fear cannot capture us, criticism cannot harm us, 

and pride cannot make us fall”

~ Donna Goddard, The Love of Devotion

More Than Just a Sandwich

slender slices of homemade bread

delicious cold tomato slices

the taste of garden and sunshine

“A tomato may be a fruit, but it is a singular fruit. A savoury fruit. 

A fruit that has ambitions far beyond the ambitions of other fruits.”

~ E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Franki Landau-Banks