I wake up on the couch. Bronx is beside me sprawled out taking up much of the space. Some weird British show I've never seen before is on t.v. I look around to find what time it is. Two o'clock,I fell asleep before I got to see dear Edward propose(my favorite part). I cant believe it! No wonder I've never seen this show. Who is watching t.v this late anyway! Oh well, I'm too tired to climb the stairs so I grab a blanket and use my dog as a pillow. "Goodnight" I tell him. He blinks in his sleep.
I'm dreaming. Edward Ferris is walking towards me with a plate of lasagna. "I'll be back later." He says. Then he runs off. Odd.I'm now in a car I slam the brakes. Somebody has been hit, not by me though, somehow I know that. Mary Ann is standing beside the road crying . I cant see anything. Mark is one of the EMS guys. He puts his arm around my shoulder and says in a British accent. "Sorry I couldn't make it." I wake up with my heart racing. What on earth was that all about. Dreams are so vivid when you first wake up and I feel like I'm still in it. How weird. Obviously falling asleep while watching t.v has a strange affect on one's dreams.It's six o'clock in the morning so I get up and take a shower to clear my head. I remember as I throw a load of laundry in the wash that Mark never came to the shop yesterday like he said he would. That must be why I was thinking about him in my sleep. Later on...
Nine thirty, Tuesday morning and a beautiful day again. " Thank you Lord." I say looking out my store window. I see Cassie walking down the sidewalk with a guitar over her shoulder. I didn't know she played guitar, I think to myself. She looks over at me and I wave. She waves back. I wonder at why she didn't tell me she played guitar. No matter. I remark at how pretty Cassie is . She has long blond hair big green eyes and the lightest spray of freckles. I turn around to get started with my work. It's funny how often I wave. Everyone here waves at everyone else. The mailman, the construction worker, the sheriff, the complete stranger , it doesn't matter in Canter Falls we wave to everyone and say howdy do.
Annie,
ReplyDeleteYou are a very gifted writer. Your characters are believable and make you want to find out what will happen to them.
I have a suggestion, though, for those of us of the male persuasion: we could really use some action now and then.
I hope this isn't too presumptuous, but below is a sample of what I'm talking about:
Six o’clock arrived that morning as it usually did, far too early for any reasonable person to enjoy. Pastor Daily hauled himself down the stairs to begin the morning’s regular routine: roaster on, beans in, espresso machine fired up.
Through the blur of not nearly enough sleep, the pastor-turned-shopkeeper noticed something not quite right with the appearance of the glazss-paneled front door. It didn’t look, well, right.
“That’s odd”, he thought. “Looks like the doorway has sort of a shimmer to it.” Making the effort to focus, he squinted hard, figuring that would somehow help him figure out what he was seeing.
Just then the door opened hard, revealing the form of a blurry someone or something filling the door frame. “Oh my”, Pastor Daily muttered to himself. His mind raced. “Who or what was this?” Somehow the low sun behind the creature made the morning rays ripple, like waves rising from hot pavement in mid-summer.
The pastor’s sleep-fogged brain struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. He was used to weird dreams, but he was mostly certain he was awake. This was far too real to be a dream. “What am I seeing?” he wondered. “A zombie? In Canter Falls, of all places?”
Suddenly, the being moved toward him and panicking, Pastor Daily reached under the counter for what he knew was there. With the creature moving slowly but deliberately toward him, Pastor Daily, with reflexes trained from fielding weird questions people asked after his sermons, he hurled the dark round object at the shimmering being.
The whoopee pie from beneath the counter found its mark, hitting Zeke Stoltzfus squarely in the center pocket of his neatly pressed bib overalls.
“Thanks,” Zeke offered with a wave. “A man’s got to put something on his stomach before the day gets too long.”
“Zeke,” grumbled the now wide-awake pastor, “what in the world are you doing here, walking in like that before I’m even open.” “And what in the world has happened to you?” “Not to be disrespectful, but you look like you’ve been plowing from the wrong end of the team.”
“Well,” Zeke replied, “I’ve been up half the night, and when I walked by I saw you movin’ around and thought I’d visit. Door was open, after all.”
“Gracious goodness, left the door unlocked again,” Pastor Daily admitted sheepishly.
“Well, as long as you’re here,” he found himself saying, “you may as well tell me what’s on your mind, losing sleep and all.” As soon he as he said this, he mentally kicked himself hard, remembering he already had more ongoing counseling situations than he thought was healthy.
“It’s like this,” Zeke began. “You know how we choose new elders in our church?” “The current elders draw up a list of suitable candidates, then they hand out hymnals with slips of paper tucked in them. The one who gets the shortest piece of paper is the new elder.”
“Well congratulations”, offered Pastor Daily. “That’s quite an honor. You’ll make a fine elder.”
“Can’t say as I’m too sure about that,” Zeke replied. “Very first thing I had to deal with, Esther Hershberger comes to us complainin’ that Eli has been ignoring her of late. Seems he bought a computer to help him keep track of his milk sales, but Esther thinks he’s spending too much time on it.”
“What got me in trouble was suggesting to Esther that she try it out herself. I thought she might enjoy connecting with some of the other ladies. Next thing you know, Esther’s playing Angry Birds and Farmville and Eli can’t get online to save himself. When he complained, Esther told the other ladies, and before you can fry a schnitzel the whole district’s in an uproar.”
“My, my,” Pastor Daily sympathized. “Eldering isn’t for the faint of heart.”
Pastor Michael , you should have a blog! That is so funny! dont worry a bit there is action on the way I'm just "easin' up to it" as Mavice would say.
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