Cottage Creep - Chapter 3
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Tom spent the better part of the morning just preparing
himself a place in the house. He selected a bedroom on the second
floor that overlooked the back of the house, where at one time had
been an elegant garden including a fountain and pool. In the time
frame when this place had been built, money was no object for the
plantation owners. Besides, they had all the manual labor they needed
to build and maintain such elegance. Tom realized he would not have
it so easy, and decided he would start out with a minimum of such
frills.
At noon, he made himself a hasty lunch and carried it outside
on the front porch. A light breeze cooled the shaded porch to a
comfortable 72 degrees, and he sat on the top step surveying the front
area where the gravel road meandered between large oak and pecan
trees. All in all, it was an impressive and appealing view. In time,
it would all be a very fine place to spend a week or two for his
patrons.
After lunch, Tom concentrated on sweeping the rest of the
house, and setting out lanterns in strategic places to provide light
in the house. By late afternoon, he had converted the front living
space, the kitchen in the back of the house, and the upstairs bedroom
into quite livable quarters. But, it had taken a toll on him and by
early evening he was so tired, he again just made a hasty meal. He
sat out on the front porch listening to the singing tree frogs and
distant owls, absorbing the beauty of the country night. He was
amazed at how drained he felt and decided to go to bed early. He had
so much to do tomorrow, and he needed the rest.
As soon as he finished eating, Tom turned off the lanterns
behind him in the downstairs area. He wearily climbed the stairs and
now began to wonder if he had made the best choice for sleeping
quarters. If he was going to be this tired every evening, climbing
the steep old creaky stairs may be the last thing he would want to be
doing. He decided that tomorrow he would select an alternative room
downstairs in case he was this tired again tomorrow.
As he reached the top of the stairs, an unidentified noise
downstairs caused him to turn and hold a lantern high overhead in an
attempt to illuminate the downstairs area. He leaned against the
railing, but when he felt it move, decided against trusting it, and
called out. "Anyone there? Hello?" He got no answer, so after a few
minutes said, "Well make yourself at home. We can talk in the
morning." He wasn't sure why he had said that. He decided that as
long as they didn't start a fire, there wasn't much damage anyone
could do, so he would rather they feel unthreatened than to try and
run them off, whom ever they might be. Besides, if they were able
bodied, maybe he could put them to work in exchange for a place with a
roof.
Just to be on the safe side, however, he wedged a chair under
the door handle of his selected bedroom and lay down. He instantly
fell asleep, and dreamed. It was a dream he would not remember the
next day, but he would remember it was a strange dream, a vivid dream,
and he would struggle all the next day trying to remember it.