Cottage Creep-Chapter 8- as requested.
ugu...@nowhere.net
As his work had progressed, so had his dream. She came to him
in the night. He did not know how she got in, nor did he care. He
did not know where she came from, but he never questioned that either.
Her touch was as soft as a summer breeze. Her breath sweet and her
fragrance was of lilacs. And just as the sun would arrive, she would
leave as mysteriously as she had arrived. Tom would awaken refreshed,
and ready for another day, regretting only that the memory of the
details of his dream fled from him as the daylight flowed into the
house.
The house now had most of the necessities for residence. He
would add gas later after reconfiguring the pipes to accommodate
heating rather than lighting. His next big project would be to
insulate and to put up sheetrock before the family arrived. His goal
was to complete the downstairs areas, but even that would be a
challenge. Of course, he could now work late and get more done.
Still, the house was large, and there was a lot of external wall to
insulate.
He hated to handle the fiber glass insulation. It made him
feel like he had a rash and at the end of the day, his newly acquired
hot shower helped only marginally. He had learned from another friend
to drag tape across his arms at the end of each day to help eliminate
some of the fibers, but still, there was the residual that would stay.
It was one of the downsides to the do-it-yourself projects that he had
not anticipated. All in all, though, the results were worth the pains
and by the end of the week, he had the living room area insulated and
rocked. He set up a large table here, and several chairs.
Saturday morning he spent with the smoker cooking a huge ham.
His Mom had told him she would bring everything else needed. He felt
a sense of relief that the house was ready for welcoming guests, at
least marginally. He knew his father would be critical but that would
be expected. Besides, he needed that new look as his own eyes were
surely dimmed by familiarity with the old house.
The honking horn and the sound of a pair of cars bounding
along the dirt road up to the house gained Tom's attention. He waived
as the cars circled around and parked. Tom watched as his Dad exited
from the car, and eyed the old building. He could not read the
reaction but it didn't seem complementary. "How was your trip?" Tom
asked and hugged his Mom.
"Long and arduous, my Dear," she said. "Long and arduous,"
she repeated. "What a beautiful place you have here," she added
finally with little inflection.
"Dad, welcome," Tom said holding out his hand.
His Dad took his hand and shook it twice. "Hmmph," he
muttered. His eyes roamed over the entire front of the structure.
"Hmmph," he muttered again.
"Well, come on in," Tom motioned to his brother and his wife
and kids getting out of the second car. "Ron, you won't believe the
space here."
As the family filed in, there were "Ahhss.." there were
"Wow"'s and there were "Hmmmph"'s as the family members surveyed his
progress. Tom was proud of the work he had achieved to this point,
but he was at the limits of his experience and he hoped the visit
would help both in advice, and perhaps result in some help on the
labor.
After eating over loud and animated conversation, Tom brought
the discussion back to his existing challenges and asked his brother
and father to join him in a "man tour." The women laughed and ushered
them out of the living area so they could clean up. His brother was
intrigued by the old place and by how much work Tom had accomplished
on his own. His dad summed it up with "Hmmph."
Later that night, Tom took the family to a clearing in the
back of the land, and set up a small telescope. He attempted to get
everyone interested in the views since the night sky here was so dark,
not destroyed by gigawatts of misdirected night lighting so common in
the cities. His brother and sister in law followed along with him,
his mother simply stating "That's nice, Dear", and of course his
father added his own personal "Hmmph."
Sensing defeat, Tom suggested they all go back in for an early
evening. They had driven all morning and were likely tired out, and
he was tired from the continued labor. Tom had arranged sleeping
quarters for everyone earlier that week, and he pointed these out as
he ascended the stairs to his own room for tonight.
That night, as usual, he dreamed. But it was different. The
woman was not happy with the other people here, and though as usual
she said nothing, he was certain the next morning that she preferred
the place be for the two of them only. He found this troubling
considering his plans for the future.