Chapter two: Becky and Tom help Mara and Owen move in, but immediately Mara feels a strange tension coming from Becky.
And now... The story continues...
photo by ldyck
The Other Side
Chapter three
Boom! Boom! Boom! Crash!
I threw back the covers, jumped out of bed, and stumbled to the window. All I could see was grass and the bottom half of trees.
I went back to bed.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The alarm clock confirmed that it was too early for knocking--6 AM.
Are the police raiding the house?
Knock! Knock! Knock!
I opened the door that separated the upstairs from the basement and...
Becky held a basket of clothes. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was brushed and she'd changed out of her Pyjamas. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Wow, what a wild mess of hair. You really should do something about it." She flashed her pearly whites. "I'm going to start my laundry."
"But Owen is still sleeping." I stepped back so she could see him.
She took that as an invitation and entered our apartment. "Really? Still? Tom has already left for work."
"Owen gets up at 6:30," I told her. "He needs his sleep."
Becky frowned. "You want me to haul this heavy load all the way back up those stairs?"
I knew living under the same roof would have its challenges. I knew we'd have to compromise. So I told her, "No, of course not. You can leave it in--."
She held her laundry basket above my sleeping husband's head. "He's such a loud snorer. I don't know how you can stand it. If Tom was that loud I'd make him sleep in the living room." She cackled. "But I guess you don't have that option."
I put my index finger on my lips. She pushed past me and headed to the laundry room.
I closed the laundry room door after us and cleared some empty boxes out of the way--making room for her basket beside the washer. "You can put it right here. Come back around--."
She lifted the washer's lid.
"Owen is still sleeping," I reminded her.
She dumped her clothes into the machine. "Oh, I know. You can hear that 747 taking flight." She giggled.
I moved to stand between her and the washing machine. "Can you, please, wait until Owen's awake?"
"Wait? Wait! I don't see why I should have to alter all my plans simply because you guys are living under our roof. I don't drink tea and watch soaps all day, you know. I have lots to do. Tons." She swung her arm at me--watch first. "It's 6:15 AM now. In fifteen minutes, his alarm clock will wake him, anyway."
"I'd really appreciate it if you could wait."
"Why? This washer isn't loud. It's like a cat purring." She turned the knob. "See."
The gush of water sounded like Niagara Falls. It made me so angry that I could have spit so I told her. "And, hmm, this morning I heard a noise, like a crash. It shook our ceiling and woke me from a deep--."
"So, of course, you blamed us."
"Well, it did sound like it was coming from--."
"I can assure you that we were as quiet as mice. Unless... Unless you heard Tom playing fetch with Rusty."
"Inside the house?"
"It relaxes him before work." Her eyes were like pieces of steel. "Does the sound of Tom having fun bo-the-r you? Because I could ask him to stop."
If the noise had woken Owen I may have..., but it hadn't. "No, of course not. You shouldn't have to change how you live because of me. That's not fair. I can get used to a little noise. It's all part of learning to live together."
"See, that's better. Now, don't you have to get ready for work? You better scoot. You won't be able to take a shower with the washer running but you can just skip it for today. You don't smell that bad. Now scoot. Scoot," she told me.
Chapter four
Sharing my author journey...
On Saturday, July 17 at 10:16 am, my blog received 700,000 page views. Thank you for your continuous support. Without you, I'd be sharing my writing with the wind. It's so much nicer to share it with you.
It has been wonderful sharing this news with all of you. You couldn't have been nicer or more supportive, but...
My muse took this news and ran with it. The result, this short story...
I told a friend, I said, "I... I mean, my blog received 700,000 page views."
"Seven thousand?"
"Yes, it happened at 10:16 am on Saturday, July 17."
"700,000 in one day. That's really impressive."
"No, that's in total since I created the blog on October 10, 2010."
"That's almost eleven years. Huh, I thought you'd have way more than that by now." She waited a beat and then asked, "What's a page view?"
