The prompt this week was all about challenging a character,
particularly with a blizzard, complete with freezing temperatures and high
winds, leading to a whiteout. Life challenges us all, and my character has
experienced a great loss, and faces making critical decisions. A massive snowstorm
is on its way. Will it help her make the right decision?
A Knock On The Door
Barry will be sorry when they find me. They? Who are ‘they’?
Come on, Sheila. There is no ‘they’. Some maintenance guy who checks on the
cabins will find me, and think ‘oh damn, there goes my week’. Well, I’m sorry,
maintenance guy, but it’s my soon-to-be ex-husband’s fault. Barry and I were
married for 11, count ‘em, 11 years, and I find out he’s been fooling around
with an 18-year old for months, and now he’s dumping me for her. Months? A
fitness trainer at his club, no less. She prances around in a tank top and
short shorts and suddenly, she’s the love of his life. I wonder how long she’ll
hang around after she finds out that without his little blue pill, he’s only
good for 2 or 3 minutes. He’s not loaded either, honey. All his talk about international
deals and Deutsche Marks? He sells vacuum cleaners. He graduated from door-to-door
to selling over the phone to hotels, but they’re still vacuum cleaners. Buckle
up, baby girl. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
I’ll finish my TV dinner, light a fire, and snuggle up under
a comforter in this recliner. A few glasses of wine and a bottle of sleeping
pills later, I’ll be free. No more pain, no more humiliation, and no more
tomorrows. I’ll make sure he suffers plenty though. My note’s
going to be a doozy. I need to make sure the door’s locked so it doesn’t blow
open. That wind is getting stronger by the minute. I wouldn’t want snow to blow
in and get the carpet and furniture all wet. This cabin is Carol and Bob’s
pride and joy. If I let their things get ruined, they’d kill me. Kill me. Hah.
Good one, Sheila.
What is going on out there? The windows are rattling. I’m
going to close the drapes. Oh my God! I can’t see a thing out there but white. Where
did this big storm come from? It wasn’t snowing at all when I got here, then
there were some light flakes, and now a total whiteout? Great. I’ll be snowed
in. I suppose that’s okay. It’s not like I’ll be going anywhere, and nobody
will miss me. What the hell was that? I hope a tree didn’t fall on the roof. There
it is again. Could that be a knock on the door? I wonder if I can even get it
open. What the…
“Please, can I come in? I was out walking in the woods and I
got lost.”
Some old lady out for a stroll in a blizzard?
“Of course. Hurry in because the wind’s even stronger. Help
me shut this door.”
“Thank you so much, young lady. My cabin is at the bottom of
the hill. I was out on the trail that runs through the woods, and the snow started
coming down harder. I didn’t think too much of it, but then the wind came up
and the sleet started. All at once, I couldn’t see anything. I got so scared,
but thank God I found your cabin. I don’t know what I would have done if you
weren’t here.”
“You’re up here all by yourself?”
“Yes. You?’
“Yes. I came up here to…I mean, the reason…I’m sorry. I must
sound like some crazy person. I assure you, I’m not. It’s just that I recently
split with my husband of 11 years, and I came up here to think. This is my
friend’s cabin.”
“It really is a small world, dear. Forgive me for intruding
on you with my problems, but I’m in the same situation. My husband left me for
some young hussy. Thirty years down the drain. I promise you, I’m not crazy either,
but I came up here to punish Jerome. The plan was to take my own life. But
while I was out walking and thinking, I realized that if I went through with my
plan, it wouldn’t be Jerome who suffered. He’d have his child bride to comfort
him and he’d simply move on. And me? I’d be the one who lost everything. Know
what I mean?”
And how.
“I shouldn’t have bothered you with all this, dearie. I’m
really not crazy – just hurt and confused.”
“It’s okay. If you’re crazy, then so am I. I don’t know why
I’m comfortable telling you this, but I came up here with the same purpose – to
punish Barry by killing myself. But, you’re so right. Barry would move on with
his teeny bopper groupie and I’d be the big loser. What do you say we have a
glass of wine – sans sleeping pills, and call it a night. Maybe this storm will
be over by morning, and I’ll scramble us up some eggs.”
“Sounds great, Sheila. I’ll get the fire started.”
“I’ll get the wine and some cheese and crackers.”
She called me Sheila. How’d she know my name? Huh…
***
“I never slept that soundly. How about you? Hello?”
The old lady was on the couch, but she’s gone, and the
comforter’s back on the bed. How’d she do that without waking me up? Sneaky.
Wait. Are my purse and car keys still here? Sure are. Right where I left them.
Weird. Wonder what it’s like outside. Whew. Storm’s over and the sun’s out. I
wonder if the door will open. Wait a minute. It’s still locked and bolted. What
did she do – go out the window? Very weird.
It’s not too bad out here. I can shovel a path to the car. I
should start it and let it run awhile. I’ll try to get to the road this
afternoon. I hate to step out and ruin this perfectly smooth…it’s smooth. The
snow is smooth all over out front. How can that be? Where’s the old lady’s
footprints? Who…
You know what? I’m not going to try to figure anything out.
Not today, anyway. Maybe tomorrow…
I really like Sheila's voice in this story, makes me want to sit and have a drink with her and let her vent. Maybe that's all she needed form this mysterious neighbour. Did she imagine it all? Was it a ghost? We'll never know, but the important thing is Sheila survived.
ReplyDeleteSometimes help comes in the most unlikely ways. An elderly lady taking a walk in a blizzard who leaves no footprints? Was she a restless spirit or a figment of Sheila's imagination? Whoever, or whatever, she was, she helped Sheila through the night and beyond, and that is the most important thing in the end.
DeleteYour description of Sheila's thought progress as she considered suicide seems a little eerily realistic to me. I could see it happening that way easily.
ReplyDeleteWhen Sheila heard the other woman's story, I was thinking, "That's a weird coincidence." Then in the final few paragraphs, I leaned towards restless spirit being helpful. Or potentially, if someone reading it was religiously inclined, they might think guardian angel. I wonder if she'll show back up in Sheila's life later but this story feels pretty finished as is so we'll probably never know.
Thanks for your comments, Ginger. It was wild that you mentioned a guardian angel because that's how I pictured the older lady. She had been there long ago, gone through the same situation, and received help from a friendly spirit. Currently a spirit herself, she saw a need and 'appeared' to Sheila to provide the same inspiration. Someday, maybe Sheila will help someone in the same way. Who can say...
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