Natalie's Entirely Horrible Day

Natalie slammed down the telephone receiver. For good measure, she picked it up and slammed it down again. "Ugh, what a fitting end to an entirely horrible day", she said out loud. Zach, lounging in his favorite spot on the kitchen counter, slowly raised his head and gazed in Natalie's direction. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he closed his eyes and returned to his nap.

"Just like a cat", Natalie scoffed, "a spoiled cat at that, eat and sleep, sleep and eat." At once she felt contrite. "Oh well, this day is not your fault, why am I taking out my troubles on you?" She reached over to pet her faithful cat of five years. At the same time Zack decided to yawn and stretch, his extended claws collided with Natalie and scraped down her right arm like chalk on a blackboard. At once, four long red streaks welled up and started seeping blood.

Grabbing a kitchen dishtowel and wrapping it around her arm. Natalie hurried down the hall to the bathroom. Tossing the bloody towel into the bathtub, she pulled antiseptic and bandages out of the medicine cabinet and sat on the edge of the tub examining her wounds. "It's not terrible", she thought to herself, "but it sure drew a lot of blood." From where Natalie was sitting she could see the red trail leading out the bathroom door and down the hallway. "Wow, that looks pretty nasty, something else to clean up."

As Natalie set to doctoring her arm, she thought back over the day, beginning with that morning.

----------

Running late as usual, Natalie jumped in her car, turned the ignition, and...nothing. After trying to start her car repeatedly for twenty minutes or so, she gave up, went back inside and called the number for a garage. She had never used them, but a magnet was in an advertisement that had come in the same stack of mail that included a letter from her sister. Lisa had sent the latest picture of Scott, her adorable two year old nephew. So she had used the magnet to post the picture on her refrigerator.

Luckily for Natalie, the man on the other end of the line said he could pick up her car within the hour. They also had a service that would take her to work, if she didn't mind riding along in the tow truck. Grateful, Natalie said that would be fine. An hour and a half later, she finally made it to work, with a promise from Mike the mechanic that she would receive a phone call later to let know about her car. Natalie didn't even want to think about what that would cost.

She had barely gotten settled into her office, which was really cubicle with three portable walls, when a head popped up over the wall she was facing shouting "Hey there Nat!"

Startled, Natalie exclaimed, "Ted, how many times have I asked you not to do that. Can't you just walk to the doorway like everyone else?"

"Yeah, but I'm not like everyone else, Nat. Besides it's so much easier just to stand on my chair. Actually Nat, you know what would be easier? If you would just stop turning down my offers for lunch, or dinner, or even riding to and from work together. If you don't give in sooner or later Nat, I might just give up one day."

"I'm waiting for that day Ted. I've also asked you to stop calling me Nat. It sounds like I am a flying insect."

"You sure have a lot of rules", Ted mumbled. But being Ted he was still smiling. "Nat, I just wanted to give you a heads up. Old man Charming was looking for you. He's been through here twice already this morning."

"That's just great, how did he look. I mean could you tell if it was good or bad?", Natalie asked. "And you better stop calling Mr. Charmington by that nickname of yours before he hears you."

"Well, first of all", said Ted, "if the old man comes down here at all it's not to say thank you Nat, and second of all...."

"Second of all what, Mr. Bickson?"

Startled, Ted turned around and seeing Mr. Charmington staring at him, promptly fell off his chair hitting the floor with a loud thud. Natalie sat at her desk, hoping against hope to go unnoticed. No such luck, old man Charming told her to be in his office in fifteen, sharp.

"This cannot be good", Natalie cried. "Ted, I hate you", she said as she marched down the hall.

"Hey Nat, what did I do?" asked Ted, still sitting on the floor of his cubicle.

Thirty minutes later, marching back down the hall, out of sheer frustration, Natalie cried, "Ted, I hate you more."

"Again, what did I do?", asked Ted, now sitting back his desk.

Natalie heard the wheels of his chair moving, "and don't stick your head up over my wall either." Natalie heard the wheels of Ted's chair moving back toward his desk. Natalie knew she was hard on Ted, but he made it so easy sometimes. He was a pesky guy, but always in a good mood.

Silence. "That's not like Ted, but good", Natalie thought guiltily. "I could use some quiet time." But all she could really do was think about Mr. Charmington's offer, or was that a proposition? At any rate, she turned him down flat. As politely as she could of course. When she turned and left his office, she missed the steely cold eyes that stared daggers in her back.

----------

Natalie finished taping her arm. Looking at her reflection, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her hair was a disaster, her blouse in disarray and her arm wrapped in enough gauze for a MASH unit. Natalie walked back down the hall to the kitchen, carefully avoiding the drops of blood which were quickly drying on the floor. "I'll fix a cup of tea, unwind a bit, then clean up the mess and call it a night."

Lost in her thoughts again, Natalie went through the motions of getting a teabag from the box of Celestial Seasons Sleepy Time and reached for her favorite mug off the cupboard shelf.

----------

After her 'meeting' with Mr. Charmington, or John as he suggested, and Ted's unusual silence, Natalie actually got some work accomplished for a couple of hours. Her phone buzzed an incoming call. Natalie picked up the receiver, "good morning, this is...."

"Ms. Singer?, this is Mike, from over at the garage?"

"Yes Mike, did you find out what the problem is with my car and how much..."

"Well, Ms. Singer..."

"Please, Natalie is fine."

"Well Natalie, we haven't exactly found the problem yet, we're going to need to keep it for a while longer. I was actually calling to see if you needed a ride home this evening?"

"Oh gosh, I was hoping it would be something simple..."

"Uh, Ms., I mean Natalie, it probably is, but we've been kind of busy this morning. I haven't really had time to look it over as thoroughly as I'd like to. I wouldn't want anything to happen because I didn't do my job right."

"Well, yes I can understand that."

"I promise I'll work on nothing but your vehicle tomorrow", Mike said hurriedly. "How about that ride?"

"No, thanks anyway, but I have a way home. I'll call back in the morning. Is there anyone else I can....I should ask for when I call? I mean , I don't want to keep pestering you", Natalie stammered.

"No just me and my brother, but he doesn't do so well with customers. Are you sure...?"

"Yes, I'm fine thanks." Natalie hastily hung up. "That was a little creepy" she thought, but immediately brushed it off. "Hey Ted, do you think...?"

"Sorry Natalie, I'm busy."

"But you just said.."

"Sorry."

---------

The tea kettle blew its steam and whistled. Startled, Natalie's mug slid through her hand and shattered on the floor. "Well, so much for that." She looked down at the jagged pieces of her mug. The 'I' was at the tip of her toe, a piece of the heart under the counter stool. Natalie looked around the floor, but all she saw was 'ickey'. She moved to get another cup. "Ouch", looking down, more blood on the floor and the 'M' protruding out of her instep. Reaching down she yanked the piece of glass out of her foot and limped to the stove and cautiously poured the hot water into her cup.

After making her way safely to the sofa, she sank down into the cushions and propped her feet up on the coffee table, not even caring about the blood on her foot. Natalie felt like, well she wasn't sure what she felt like. Her day had been exhausting, first her car, then Ted, then John, uh, Mr. Charmington, Mechanic Mike, a taxi that she couldn't afford to bring her home from work, the phone call this evening. Natalie couldn't believe he actually called her at home. Her home. She looked around, it looked like a crime scene.

Natalie looked at the clock on the fireplace mantle. "Seriously? It can't only be seven o'clock. I'll finish my tea, get up and clean this mess and then throw myself under the covers. Forget dinner, forget this day ever happened. The warmth of the Sleepy Time tea and the cozy cushions had almost lulled Natalie to sleep when the doorbell buzzed. It took Natalie a few seconds to shake the cobwebs out of her head, the doorbell buzzing continually.

Getting up off the sofa, Natalie thought "this person obviously does not know the day I have had." Still limping, she made her way to the front door and looked through the peep hole. "You have got to be kidding me. How does it this guy doesn't understand no? Well, he will certainly understand this time." Natalie swung open the door ready to give it to him with both barrels.

----------

A few hours later.....

"Jeez Sarge, this place looks like a crime scene!"

The sergeant shook his head, rookies. "It is a crime scene Officer Johnson, and how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Sarge? It sounds like a comic strip character."

Walking into the kitchen Johnson picks up a piece of the broken mug, " 'ickey'? Who has a cup with 'ickey' written on it?"

"Don't disturb the evidence you dunce. Don't they teach you guys anything in basic training anymore?"

"Hey Sarge, look a cat!" Johnson exclaimed. "If only cats could talk, then we'd have our killer."

The sergeant just shook his head, "I'm going to have to talk to the recruiters", he silently told himself.

Zack, still lounging in his favorite spot on the kitchen counter, slowly raised his head and gazed in the direction of the two officers.

"Yeah, if only", Zack thought. He closed his eyes and returned to his nap.

----------

It had been a Good Life

It had been a good life, until that fateful day. That odious little boy had changed their lives forever. They would never see their friends again, never feel the breath of laughter again, and they would never be missed.

Oh sure, everyone would think about them for awhile, the way people often do. She could just hear them talking about her and her family in hushed, conspiratorial voices. "Well of course they had to move away"...."how dreadful"....well I heard"...."no that's not true, this is what happened"....on and on and on. After a few months had gone by and some new scandal arose, then we would just fade into the past.

It had all happened so quickly, a split second. I remember my first thought was "what happened?" Seemingly, out of nowhere, action began to explode around me. People running into the backyard, sirens blaring louder and louder. "Why were they here?" Then I just stood there, dazed. My legs felt wobbly, I could barely stand on them. Slowly they buckled and I was on the ground, just sitting and staring blankly.

One of our neighbors came over to help me. A tall, slim, quiet woman, Jean was her name. The only contact we had before this day was exchanging hellos in the morning as we got into our cars. Firmly with both hands, Jean held my arm by the elbow, picking me up and leading me to one of the chairs. Then, realizing that was not the best place for me to be at the moment she changed directions heading toward the open sliding glass door into our cool, shadowy living room. The bustle of activity outside now seemed miles away.

I began replaying the events in my mind, slowly, not to miss a single instance. Kevin, our seven year old, and Michael, the ten year old boy from next door had been playing outside. In the yard barely ten feet from where I was now sitting.

It sounds horrible to say about a ten year old, but I never really cared for Michael much, he was an odd child. He always had a defiant air about him. Whenever our eyes met, he had a look on his face that said, 'I dare you.' His parents were peculiar too. They both kept to themselves, as if they wanted no contact with the outside world. Odd looks....as if they thought someone was constantly watching them. I couldn't put my finger on it really, just a strange niggling in my head.

There weren't any other children on our street near Kevin's age, so I begrudgingly let them play together on the rare occurrence Michael's' parents let him come out. I don't know why Kevin wanted to hang around with Michael really; he almost always came inside upset, sometimes teary eyed. When I asked what was wrong, he would shrug his shoulders and say "it's boy-stuff, Mom."

"What kind of boy-stuff? It can't be fun if you're upset every time you play together."

"Michael says when I'm older then I'll understand the games better." Kevin said on one occasion. So I let it go.

Dan, my husband, would say I worry too much. "They're just boys; they'll work it out in their own way."

"I'm sorry Dan, but the boy is just plain weird. I'm afraid Kevin's starting to act withdrawn now too."

That afternoon was different, I couldn't make out the words, but I heard shouting, yelling, crying. "This is it", I said out loud. "No more Michael", as I marched through the house heading towards the backyard. Those words haunt me now, "No more Michael", "no more Michael."

As I neared the sliding glass door leading to the backyard, there was no more shouting, yelling, crying. It was eerily still. I stepped out into the bright sunlight. One boy standing and holding a small shiny object in his hand while staring blankly at the other boy lying on the ground, lifeless.

"Michael said it was just boy-stuff", Kevin said, tears streaming down his face. He lifted the shiny object that was still in his own small hand. It was clearer now, I could make it out. He raised his arm and said "see." That's when I started screaming. My screaming must have startled Kevin back into reality and he dropped the gun.

That was three months ago to the day. Dan and I have drifted apart now. I'm sure we will file for divorce. Neither of us has the energy to take the first step. Separately we go to see Kevin every week. He is withdrawn. He doesn't eat much. He hardly looks at me or speaks. When he does speak he says the same thing over and over, "it's just boy-stuff."

It had been a good life until that fateful day. That odious little boy had changed our lives forever.

The Dwelling Place

The cottage was situated roughly two acres from the street. If you weren't looking for it you could easily fail to see it for the abundance of shade trees dotted across the front year. The long, winding driveway, never having been paved, had more than a few small potholes in the gravel, therefore, making the journey up to the cottage unpleasant if traveling over 10 or 15 miles per hour. The pay off is the opportunity to enjoy the view along the way. Even though the distance from the street to the house is a short 2 to 3 minutes, it seems as if you are slowly transported back to another time, another place. First you cross over a small wooden bridge that takes you to the backside of the shade trees. The passover has obviously seen better days but seems sturdy enough. Next passing a small pond on the right, perhaps once ideal for a father and son to spend a lazy morning with a fishing pole and a can of worms. Now the pondwater is murky and scummy. No respectable fish would be caught in those living conditions.

Now the cottage is in sight. The wood posts and railings on the front porch are splintered and the once bright and shiny white paint is cracked and flaking. The slight breeze is effortlessly swaying the porch swing. The ever familiar flag, now showing its age, is still positioned on its column.

With a good imagination, once could conjure up many happy times; family picnics, sleeping outdoors under the sars, catching fireflies. The smells wafting out of the kitchen; apple pie, chicken frying, made-from-scratch biscuits. And the stories this old place held; girl cousins sharing the secrets of first dates and junior high crushes. The boys....well, who knows what they boasted about.

Meredith pulled up at the end of the drive, put her car in park and turned off the ignition. She rested both elbows on the steering wheel and propped her chin in her hands. Staring out the dusty windshield of her old '98 Chevy Cavalier she gazed up at the weathered cottage. For a moment she pictured it as it was in her childhood. Pale yellow clapboard, white posts and trimmings. Window boxes filled with purple morning glories and red pansies. The upstairs windows thrown open with the curtains blowing in the breeze. The screen door in the back slamming shut followed by hushed giggles.

At least twenty years had passed since they had all shared the summer here together at Mama and Papa's home. For Meredith it was an escape from her real world. A few weeks she could relax and just be. As far back as she could remember, even as a child, Meredith never felt secure except for the time that she spend here.

A car honking jolted Meredith out of her daydream. A look into here rearview mirror told her the rest of her cousins, aunts, uncles and other assorted family members were making their way home. Would their recollections of the cottage and times spent here be similar to hers? Maybe it didn't hold the same sacredness as it did for Meredith. Perhaps some didn't reminisce about summers spent here with their grandparents. Possibly as the grew into teens, they only visited because they were obligated to come.

In later years, Meredith hadn't spent as much time with most of her cousins. She barely knew them now, which felt odd since they were closer than sisters back then. Meredith, Jan and Vicky, all closest in age, were inseparable. The Bobbsey triplets they were called! Now, just sporadic contact with a couple of the girls. Mostly who was married, how many children they had. Who was sick, who had died. None of them got together like they used to. Before Mama and Papa had passed away.

She knew Bill, the eldest of the fifteen first cousins, was a lawyer with a pretty recognizable name and a reputation as a tough attorney in the courtroom. Meredith had seen his name in the papers a few times representing, and winning, high profile cases. Jan was married now. Both she and her husband, Jim, are doctors. Pediatricians. There were a couple of accountants and more than a few teachers. They were all scattered about. Would they come together as if no time had passed or would they now seem like stranger? Meredith wondered how they would all get along. Especially at a gathering like this.

(The Dwelling Place is the beginning of a 'Round Robin' one author writes the beginning, the next fills out the middle, the third and final author brings the story to a close....it will be interesting to see what happens to my Meredith!...I will keep you posted!)

It's a beautiful mornin....

I think I'll go outside for awhile, and just smile.

It really is a gorgeous fall day here in TN. The sun is shining and the temperature will reach 72! We need to enjoy these days while we still have them. The boys are all excited, they are getting ready for trip downtown. Park, library and state museum. A pretty full agenda! Nana however is planning a day of staying home, catching up on things around the house and hopefully sitting in the rocker on the front porch reading the final chapters of the Baxter Family series from Karen Kingsbury. I am kind of sad to see it end. After fourteen books they feel like real people to me! I have only started reading christian fiction over the past few years and I am really enjoying it. Even to the point of where I find it difficult to start a new book from other authors I have loved reading in the past. I guess sometimes our tastes change over the years.
I have always loved reading...if you want to share any books or authors you like feel free to leave a comment.
Grace and Peace,
Eva

A little of this, a little of that

Hello All,
I have been feeling puny the past couple of days, so I've just been puttering around the house. Hence, a little of this, a little of that.
If you read my previous post, you know we went to the Autism Speaks Walk last weekend. It was an unusually cold and windy day for Nashville.
Especially walking the Speedway track. But we did it!
Here is a picture of TeamJacob....



Jacob is the one on his dad's shoulders.
Our team raised almost $2000...Jacob alone raised over $1000 under his name. He is so excited he is now a Grand Club Member and is invited to an awards ceremony in January.
This seems to be a busy time of the year, not a good time to be sick!
Fall Festival this Sunday afternoon...
This is also the 95th anniversary of our church. Big celebration dinner Saturday night, 175 rsvps.
Planned on heading downtown in the morning to attend the annual Making Strides for Breast Cancer 5 mile walk. I might just go to writer's class instead.
Well, this little bit has worn me out...back to laying down and reading for awhile.
Talk to you soon.
Grace and Peace,
Eva

anticipation.....

Wow.....I didn't realize so many days had gone by! So much for good intentions. Well, today is all about good intentions. Today is the much waited for, prepared for, and campaigned for....the TnWalks for Autism Day. If I haven't already told you, Jacob, grandson #2 has Asperger's Syndrome. The entire family and some great friends are walking 3 laps around the Nashville SuperSpeedway this morning. The boys are especially excited to walk on the track! We have raised almost $1500!!! I am looking forward to seeing the resource booths. Jacob has only been diagnosed a few months, so we are still in the newbie stage. Of course, it would be cold, drizzly and dreary this morning. We have our wagon and blankets ready for the younger two. Gotta run and get ready, not easy getting four boys and three adults up and ready and out the door by 7:30 am. I will get back with you on how things went.
See ya and have a blessed day.
Grace and Peace, Eva

Saturday morn.....

Hi All,
I am so excited...I have been wanting to start a blog for quite some time!
This morning I just decided today is the day.
Being new at this, I am sure I will be learning new things, so bear with me.
It is a beautiful fall day here in Nashville, TN.
The air is crisp, the sun shining, and the leaves turning to shades of gold, orange, and red. I love fall, it seems like the change of seasons is a fresh opportunity to start anew. Set a new direction (or straighten out the old path!).
Thankfully our merciful God is a God of second chances.
Not only second, but, third, fourth, and so on....chances!
Last night our women's ministry held our annual 'Festival of Tables.'
It is always so much fun to see the creativity all the ladies put into decorating their tables. The men serve our catered food and we enjoy wonderful entertainment.
Such a great event.

Here is a picture of one of my tables, Shades of Autumn.
Thanks for reading....and come back soon.
Grace and Peace,
eva
'God's mercies never end. They are new every morning' (Lamentations 3:22-23)