Where it Ends and Begins

The sun was at the angle in the sky that flooded beams of gold light through the old house. The dust particles are instantly illuminated against the renaissance of shadows in the settled home. The particles lazily float as if caught bits of stardust on the blanket blue seas of the universe.

A swift breeze through the open screen door sends the dust in all directions. The dust is disturbed once again as a large and fluffy, fawny cat slinks through the door discreetly disappears into the house's shadows.

A harder wind passes through the house; a wild band of fast incoming storms. The wind threw the sheer curtains into large billowing waves in its wake. The curtains, gauzy in the warm air, float like jellyfish through the beams of light. Illuminating like large phosphorus leaves.

A door somewhere in the house slams shut in the way only wind and spirits can get away with, a large boom and silent.

It was, as if with the wind, that a stranger arrived at the old house. A distance, if traveling by foot.

The slamming door upstairs woke the woman, who was dozing in a plush orange chair. A book tucked under her chin; it had fallen on the page she had fallen asleep in. Her sudden forward movement, in response to the sound, threw the book to the floor in a crumpled pile.

“Shit!” The word escaped her in a breath.

The woman was not ready to be awake and sat very still. Her eyes still closed as she took in the sounds of the house. Did a door slam? She thought. She and the house held its breath, still quiet but that didn’t mean anything.

Satisfied with the silence the woman’s arms shot into the air above her and she let the sound of the much needed stretch bend it’s way through and out of her body in a groan.

“Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttt….” She sighed.

She stood slowly, taking her time to take inventory of what ached where. She was only rewarded a few pops from various complaining joints.

From a small, moss green colored bag, beside the chair, she pulled a small jar of golden raisins. She pulled a few from the jar and popped them into her mouth. She chewed on the raisins staring at the jar contents. The clear liquid that the raisins were soaking in was cloudy. I’m going to need to make a fresh batch this week, she mused.

She leaned down to put the jar back into her leather bag and her hand passed through the sunbeam. The glass reflected light across the room in a scurry. The cat, from earlier, darted after the refractions in a dark-eyed hunting frenzy. This sudden movement startled the woman again.

“SHIT!” She hissed.

“Meroooowww!” The cat cried as it slid into a dark corner and was gone.

A gust of wind tore through the open windows that set the messy office into a flurry of dovetail sounds as the wind swept papers into the air. The cat, ready, pounced at the sheets of paper closest to him and the woman caught the pages that flew in the other direction.

“Aw... thank you Rune” she groaned as she pulled the most important looking paper item from his claws, “you saved some.” She said disheartenedly as she watched what looked like junk mail proceed to be shredded by her LCF (little crazy furry) Office Manager.

She gathered the rest of the papers quickly in this too familiar task and then shut the windows before the air could strike again.

Looking around she saw the book that she had accidentally thrown from her sudden awakening. She took the opportunity to fold herself forward and walk her arms into a downward dog pose and then ease herself into a plank pose before her brain could catch her body taking a minute for itself. She flipped through the crumpled book pages and marked where she thought she had fallen asleep. Her legs started to shake a bit so she plopped her head onto hands and focused on holding onto the pose.She was forcing herself to keep her breath even, letting herself just focus on the faint beat of her heart in her ears.

That’s when she heard it, a creak of old wood, specifically the top step of the porch just beyond the open screen door. The sound did not stop whomever had just arrived but the unfamiliar stride was swift and quiet, otherwise.

The footsteps grew louder as the person entered through the open porch door and into the foyer of the house.

The woman curled herself into a crouch behind the chair, careful to avoid the loose board that the chair sat over. She closed her eyes, the fuck is going on? She thought. Adrenaline started to pump into her body and she watched as the hair on her arms began to stand alert.

Something was touching her hip!

She had been so focused on the footsteps that the woman jumped when her long coiled hair tickled her side in her alert state. The woman grabbed at her long hair, still windswept around her. The bracelet on her arm hid the hair tie and with a quick twist, her hair was in a half-hearted bun behind her head.

She leaned back against the wall and pressed her feet into the wood floor.

The footsteps had stopped at the door of the office. The woman held her breath and closed her eyes.

The stranger stood in the door frame, looking into the room that was exactly where it had been shown to him.

Yes yes, the office is a mess… why are you here? The woman thought, trying to rationalize why she was holding her breath behind the chair she was napping in minutes ago. What is happening?!

As if prompted by her questions. Rune leaped out, chirping, from his hiding spot and immediately started rubbing the legs of apparently his new best friend.

“Where did you come from?” A soft male voice broke the silence with a laugh on his breath.

Rune, already purring, leapt to the low shelf that sat next to the door. Undoubtedly looking for a more face to face introduction.

“Aren’t you a handsome cat.” The man purred at the cat as the cat purred happily back. “Where is she?” He asked Rune, quite matter of fact.

The woman realized that her chest hurt from holding her breath. Wincing as she let her breathe out slowly to not make a sound. EXCUSE ME!? Her eyes shot open in surprise as her mind burst into a flame of curiosity. But she didn’t dare reveal her hiding spot now. How could I ever explain myself out of this weird introduction, she mused to herself.

The friendly cat chirped as if answering the stranger's question. He then, fluffy tail twitching happily, jumped down from his perch and led the man to the book that sat open on the floor. The cat proudly placed it’s paw on the pages and turned looking directly at the woman. Eyes; wide, engaged and brilliant green that recognized something that the women couldn’t begin to understand.

Little FUCKER!! She lamented silently, as she focused her eyes glaring at her little snitch of a cat.

The man approached the cat slowly looking at the book,

“Was this hers?” He asked the cat.

Rune chirped a response but kept his eyes locked on his owner.

The man’s arm entered the woman’s line of eyesight; he was cautious with the cat and stretched to reach for the book. When his hand touched the book Rune immediately batted as his hand, leapt to the chair, launched past the man and out of the room.

Silence again.

The cat’s millionth mood didn’t seem to bother this stranger much. He did not return to the book on the floor. Instead he turned quickly to the desk between the two windows.

What is he doing? The woman wondered.

This was the only moment to catch a glimpse of the man, the women knew this. As quietly as she could, she pressed into her heels and pushed herself slowly upward to extend her head just above the back of the chair. She saw the back of the stranger’s head. She pushed herself higher, placing one hand on the back of the chair.

The man was occupied with something, his hands silently hovered over the items on her desk. She couldn’t tell exactly what he was doing but he was being very careful to not touch or move anything.

The woman took advantage of his distraction to look him over. From this angle all she could see was the back of his head and the expanse of wide shoulders. His dark hair reminded her of duck tail feathers, downy looking and flipped in every direction. He didn’t look like a tall man but he towered over the desk. His neck extended and shoulders a bit hunched as he now leaned over the desk, still looking, only now his nose was about a foot above the desk. The grey knit sweater hung from his shoulders that were relaxed in his inspection.

Unseen by both, they both lifted their heads towards the window when the sound of a car pulling up the driveway could be heard.

That must be Paulina and the others, the woman thought and looked back at the back of the stranger. He had stopped his observation of the desk and had straightened himself up. He was looking down at the desk again, his hand resting firmly on the dark wood. Then without another glance around he quickly walked out of the room and was gone.

The woman stood up from her hiding spot, faintly aware of the sounds of people greeting each other outside. So he's with them, she thought. She walked over to the desk and looked out the window, watching the small crowd as they unloaded themselves from the vehicle. The man already had the suitcases sitting at the edge of the walkway and was heading, arms open, towards the blonde woman who was getting out of the driver's seat. The two hugged as old friends did after a long absence. The other man got out of the other side car and waved at the man. Then helped the older woman, dressed in vivid orange, down the step from the back seat.

The woman smiled, how long had it been since the family had been together at this house, she thought before turning her attention back to her desk.

The desk wasn’t as messy as it had been in the past but the pages that had been blown off earlier sat on top of several notebooks, a planner splayed open (revealing nothing more than the planned arrival of family at the end of September) and a few books about a variety of subjects. The man had truly not moved anything as far as she could tell.

Then, with a sigh, she let her hands fall to the dark wood desk. She placed a hand on either side, fingers curling around the smooth edges and she leaned her full top weight onto the desk pushing it down. The desktop was still under the pressure a moment then it seemed to collapse under her hands and then lift slowly. The woman kept one hand on the desk as it opened like a car trunk. With one more glance outside, the woman then lifted the desktop completely over her head and the hidden mechanical arms extended and locked into place. She let her hands fall to her sides.

The woman stared blankly at the contents hidden inside the desk. The small LED lights along the inside edges started to pop to life, the low yellow light illuminating the shallow storage area. There was a box of ammunition next to a small gun case, below, her American passport. This secret compartment had two new items since the last time she had opened it, two stacks of cash and a slim black book.

The book did not have anything distinguishable about it. The woman reached into the desk and ran her fingers over its shape. It was smaller than a school notebook and the cover was a soft leather that felt buttery under her fingertips. When she lifted the book, it dramatically didn’t hold its “book” shape, rather the book bent like a cloth and hung like a rag as she lifted it up from the corner she held.

“What in the world…” the woman muttered as her other hand picked up the drooping side of the book and held it. Under her fingertips the book moved, as if inhaling it expanded it’s pages to twice their original size. This sudden movement startled the woman and she dropped the book back into the desk. The book didn’t move again during the sixty-seconds that the woman just stared at it.

Okay… what kind of nightmare did I wake up in? She shook her hands trying to forget the foreign movement and then reached up for the desktop pulling it back down. The desk had just locked itself into place when the crowd from outside could be heard at the open screen door.

“We’re here!” Paulina’s sweet voice trilled into the house before she did, “Dabs?”

Dabs turned towards the sound of her cousin’s call. “Hey there! I’ll be right with you” she called back quickly. The contents of the desk were going to need to be dealt with later. She grabbed the sweater from the orange chair and threw it over her shoulders.

Paulina, and her mother, Esther, stood waiting in the foyer and they both raised their hands in excitement reaching for Dabs as she walked straight into their arms. They kissed each other’s cheeks readily. David and the stranger followed them in carrying the bags. David, with a grin, kissed Dabs on the cheek and headed upstairs with two of the bags. The stranger had the other bag and a rucksack over her shoulder. His coffee toned hair had fallen into his eyes, as he struggled with the larger bag.

Paulina gripped Dabs’s shoulders and pushed her forward towards him. Dabs reluctantly grinned towards him as he adjusted himself with the bag awkwardly.

“Dabria this is August, he’s been working in the fields with Mom for the last couple seasons.”

Dabs reluctantly grinned at August watching him adjust the bag awkwardly and hold out the hand of the arm he had the rucksack on. Dabs reached for his hand in greeting but ended up with the strap of the rucksack as the bag slipped off his shoulder.

“Damn, I’m so sorry!” He muttered as both of his large hands encased Dabs hand that held the bag strap. She quickly realized how warm his hands were. He released her hand, his right hand shot straight to pushing his hair out of his eyes.

“Yes, um, hello” he started again awkwardly, “most people call me Gus. But you are the big Writer I’ve heard so much about.”

Dabs noticed that Gus’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Splendid, I hope that doesn’t include too many secrets,” Dabs hoped the sarcasm could be heard on her voice as she hoisted the bag onto her shoulder.

“Well, I do currently live in your old apartment. I guess I Have you to thank for the furnishing. I moved in pretty soon after you left, perfect timing but no secrets found, yet, anyways.” He laughed in a way that didn’t quite sound nervous.

“Well Dabs, I’m sure mom wants to go sit and rest after the long drive and I want to go find that furry goblin, Rune.” They both went their separate ways deeper into the house.

Dabs and Gus were alone (again), introduced but still painfully strangers.

“You want to tell me about what you left in my desk?” The words had left Dabs mouth before she thought about them.

“The money?” Gus asked innocently.

“You mean the 20k?”

“Oh yeah, that money”

“Yes, that money, that wasn’t originally in there until you arrived before everyone else.” Dabs hadn’t expected to go directly to poke the bear antics but it had been a long year and the last thing she needed was another mystery.

To Dabs surprise, Gus just shrugged. His right had pushed the hair again out of his eyes and he rested both of his hands on his hips looking down at her from his surprising height. Why does he always seem taller? Dabs thought as she waited for his response.

“Can we think of it as a cash advance?” His voice was soft.

“A cash advance for what exactly?” Dabs leaned in. “Are you going to tell me about the book and why the fuck it took a ‘breath’ when I touched it?”

A look or relief flooded across Gus’s face. Dabs hadn’t noticed the tension behind all his nervous malarkey show. He then returned her gaze, it confirmed what she already knew. She poked the bear alright. Gus reached for the rucksack, pulling it from her shoulder and picked up the other bag in his free hand.

“I’m afraid that’s a story for later, just don’t go writing in it anytime soon.” He said flatly and started up the stairs leaving Dabs standing there alone.