The Other Side (short fiction) Ch. 8 by Leanne Dyck

 Ch. 7 Owen and Mara move into their new home. Relaxing in the laundry room, Mara hears music. She thinks it's her next-door neighbour. However, later, when she meets her neighbour she discovers it wasn't.

"Vancouver" photo by ldyck

The Other Side

Chapter eight

The next day was overcast and the grey clouds finally released their load, like someone taking a knife to a waterbed. It pounded against our living room window threatening to break the glass. 

I flipped the pages in my paperback--not bothering to read them. I couldn't wait to be home alone--in the laundry room.

Owen stopped to give me a kiss before flying down the stairs, hair still damp and smelling of aftershave. "It's a great night for TV. See you soon," he called up.

Take your time, I wanted to call back.

I heard the front door close.

I skipped down the stairs, ran through Owen's office, flew down the hall, and landed in the laundry room. Cross-legged beside the dryer, I leaned against the concrete wall.

Plunk. Plunk. Plunk. A guitar strummed. Clang. Clang. Clang. A cowbell rang out.

"Slow down, you move too fast." I recognized the words--Simon and Garfunkel's Feeling Groovy.

It was heaven--.

Smoke?

I sprang to my feet. 

The dryer was cold. The electrical outlet was fine. 

Burning wood?

I searched the room. No match. No lumber. No firewood. Not even a splinter. 

Still, the smoke kept coming.

Deep breath in; deep breath out. Deep breath--.

The silver smoke turned sky blue, spring green, bright orange, purple. It continued to drift up to the ceiling and slowly began to clear. Blinding rays of sunlight poured out of the hole, where the wall had been. When my eyes adjusted to the bright light I saw a green meadow. 

"Mara." Someone was calling my name.

Far off in the distance, a purple cow munched strawberry red grass. I rubbed my eyes.

A bunny wearing a top hat hopped down an oatmeal cookie path. "Mara," he called. He stopped right in front of me and looked up. "Come on, Mara, we've been waiting for you." He wrapped his paw around my pinkie finger. Something about his touch eased my worry. 

Hand-in-hand, the bunny and I skipped up the path. Lollipop trees stood under candy floss clouds. Birds sang the familiar words, "Feeling groovy."

We climbed a small hill and I saw the musicians--a brown bear with a guitar and an orange cow with a cowbell hanging around her neck. In the middle of the circle of thatch-roofed cottages and lollipop trees, people danced.

The bunny led me over to a woman leaning against a lollipop tree. Her dress of eye-popping colours--orange, yellow, and green swirls--had wide sleeves and a full skirt. Round, steel-framed glasses balanced her nose, and a thin, leather band wrapped around her head. Her sun-bleached, straight hair fell to the middle of her back. She wove daisy after daisy into a long chain.

The bunny danced around singing, "She came. She came."

"Chill, dude. Don't have a cow." Her words swirled around lazily in the air, finally landing on my eardrums. "It's all cool. Everything is groovy."

"She came. She came. This is her. This is Mara."

Finishing the chain, she danced in a flowing spiral over to where I stood. "Far out." She slipped the chain over my head. "Welcome to my side of the wall." And I thought she said, "My name's Wendy.", but when I repeated her name, she corrected me. "No, my name's Windy--with an 'i', dig?"

"Dig? Dig what?" I asked.

Instead of answering me, she joined the party. Everyone had long hair. The women wore dresses like Windy's. The guys' blue jeans were faded and their cotton shirts hung loose.

Windy's arms flew gracefully in the air like wings. Her bracelets sparkled in the sunlight. Her dress floated around her like feathers.

Feeling Groovy ended and Windy rejoined me. "Join the happenin'."

"No, I couldn't. I'm too... I'm too shy to dance."

"Mellow out." She returned to the dancers.

This place seemed so safe that I thought maybe I could try. I closed my eyes and felt the music fill my body. I spread my arms out and floated on each note like I was flying.

I opened my eyes and I was dancing.

photo by ldyck

Chapter nine

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On this blog in August...

Every Sunday and Wednesday in August

from Sunday, August 1 to Wednesday, August 25

I will continue to publish installments of 

The Other Side

until...

Sunday, August 29

Book Review

Skinny Legs and All

Tom Robbins

The Other Side (short fiction) Ch. 7 by Leanne Dyck

 Ch. 6 Owen and Mara find a "dream home" to rent. Read Chapter seven now...

photo by ldyck

The Other Side

Chapter 7

Owen asked the members of his hockey team to help us move into our new house. Most of the guys had trucks so we didn't need to rent a moving van. They showed up ready to work. In fact, they took it as a challenge to outdo one another. One guy carried a very big box all by himself. So another guy carried a very heavy box. One guy carried two boxes. So another guy carried three. And on... And on... There was very little left for me to do but say, "That goes in here." or "Ah, I think it would look better over there."

Owen thanked them in beer. That day in April was surprisingly warm. So they sat around in our backyard sipping beer and 'talking carp'. I felt like I was in the way so I... I felt a strange pull to go back to the laundry room. 

It was so quiet in there. I sat on the concrete floor beside the dryer, leaned back, and closed my eyes.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

A cowbell?

Plunk. Plunk. Plunk. 

A guitar?

"Mara," someone called.

"Mara." That was Owen's voice. I rushed to the stairs.

"Oh, there you are. The guys are gone. Why don't you come upstairs and we'll..."

***

That weekend Owen and I went for a walk to meet our neighbours. They were all outside working on their sun-filled lawns.

"We just moved here," Owen told them.

"Well, welcome," some said.

"Into which house?" others asked.

"The one on the corner," Owen said.

"Do you garden?" They asked.

Clearly, we'd moved into an entire neighbourhood of avid gardeners.

"A little," I lied. The truth was that I'd under-watered, over-watered, and generally neglected every plant in my care. I'd even managed to kill a cactus.

Our last stop was the house just next door. A woman was on her knees weeding. All we could see was her back.

"She looks familiar," Owen mumbled.

I wondered how he could tell--we couldn't see her face.

He smiled at her when she stood to greet us. "We're your new neighbours."

"Yeah, I know." She used her teeth to tug on the middle finger of her gardening glove and slowly revealed her hand. "We watched you move in." She introduced herself and shook our hands. "I know you'll really like it here. It's a great neighbourhood, full of interesting houses, especially yours. Plants grow very well there, both inside and out. If you know what I mean."

I didn't.

"I heard you practicing."

Our new neighbour and Owen looked at me.

I quickly added, "Oh, no, I'm not complaining. I like it."

"It? What it?" She asked.

"Your music. You're musicians. Do you play the cowbell or the guitar?"

"Us?" She laughed. "Oh, no, my husband's a school teacher and I'm an exotic dancer."

"Vancouver" photo by ldyck

Chapter eight

Ensure you don't miss a chapter, follow me on Twitter, Linked In, and Facebook.

On this blog in August...

Every Sunday and Wednesday in August

from Sunday, August 1 to Wednesday, August 25

I will continue to publish installments of 

The Other Side

until...

Sunday, August 29

Book Review

Skinny Legs and All

Tom Robbins

Summer in the City...

Last weekend I sailed from my island home--Mayne Island--to the big city of Vancouver. My mother and father-in-law had to move from their apartment to a long-term care facility. Last weekend, I helped clean their apartment and sort through their belongings. 

(I'd like to thank the artist who put a smile on my face. When I brought it to the dumpster all I saw was an ironing board. In the master's hands...)

I brought my dog, Abby, with me to Vancouver, and on one of our walks, we found...