Cottage Creep - Chapter 7
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Tom returned early Sunday evening with a trailer loaded with
materials and tools. He was tired from both the drive and from
loading the trailer earlier in the day and had decided to make a very
short evening of it. He had brought a small portable TV with him as
well to keep up with the evening news and for some occasional
entertainment, though he suspected the latter would be rare since he
had such a great amount of work ahead of him. Still, 'All work, no
play,' as the saying goes.
Tom just parked the car and trailer out front deciding to
unhitch tomorrow and begin unloading. He went straight to his room
and lay down. The house seemed to welcome him back with an air of
tranquility. A feeling absorbed perhaps from the years of history in
this old structure. Tom fell asleep quickly and he dreamed.
It was a deep sleep, and his dream would fade quickly from his
memory. But now as he dreamed, he languished in the pleasure he felt.
It was an erotic dream. It was a dream of a beautiful woman. He
would remember that and only that by morning. And he would remember
the woman was happy that he was here, and wanted him to stay forever.
By morning, Tom felt refreshed, and he felt a new sense of
belonging. He felt like this was home now, and not just a building to
house his future business. He made a quick breakfast and went
straight to work on unloading the trailer. There was a large bedroom
downstairs in the back of the house and this was where he stockpiled
his load. It was large enough to allow him to lay the load out in an
orderly manner giving him easy access to all the tools and supplies.
Being a neat freak, he stacked everything in groups. This would of
course also facilitate easy retrieval later while he was working.
Before noon he had finished and had parked the trailer behind
the house. He made a quick lunch and sat on the front porch eating
while he scanned the treed frontage. Only then did he notice the new
installed electric company's poles marching a line from the road to
the house. He had ordered electricity and was pleased to see that the
electric company had begun to work on his property. It also set a new
priority for him to set up his breaker box.
After lunch, he went to work on that project and decided to
begin wiring the house as soon as he could. He wanted interior
lighting to allow him to continue working into the evenings. It would
also allow him to heat or cool the building as was necessary. He
mounted the breaker box and the necessary fixture for the power
company to connect him, and then began laying out conduit. In an old
house, it seemed a good idea to go with the more flame resistant
wiring, even though it would be more expensive and harder to install
than 'Romex'.
He spent the day chalk-lining and drilling for passage of the
metal piping. On occasions he ran across some gas lines and some kind
of soft conduit that seemed full of fluid. He knew there was no water
lines in the house, but decided to leave all the current fixtures
alone until he could get some advice. Besides, he could use the gas
lines, originally set up for lighting, to help heat the house. His
father was a contractor and would know the best route. He resolved to
invite the family up for the following weekend. That meant he had
even more work to complete.
The next morning, he went into town and found a well digger,
and a septic tank company. Both agreed to come out and survey the
place for facilities, and set an appointment. He also bought food and
water for the week. Tom was feeling pretty good about the way things
were going. The work was hard, but somehow, things seemed to just be
going right. Tom felt a kind of elation as he thought about his good
luck so far. And each time he thought about the house, he felt a
slight tingle curse through his nervous system.
By the end of the day, Tom had run conduit to one room
completely, and had started on his bedroom. He had hurried the
project a bit knowing that as soon as he had lights he could work
longer into the night. The lanterns just didn't provide comfortable
lighting. Besides, he feared a fire might be set by one of them in
the old building. He had never been quite so afraid of fire before,
but somehow, he just sensed the old place would burn easily, and his
own fears seemed enhanced by this knowledge.
By Wednesday, Tom had completed most of the bottom floor and
was running wiring when the electric company pulled in with a big
truck laden with a huge spool of heavy wire. After he signed the
necessary papers, they began to string the wire from pole to pole and
to the house. They informed him that an electrician would have to
connect it to the actual breaker box, and sign off before they would
connect him to power.
Disappointed that he still wouldn't have power for another few
days, he decided to call a friend for help. "Sure, go to a library or
something tomorrow, and I will fax you a few diagrams. You wire it,
and I'll fax in a sign off to the power company. We'll have you
running before the weekend," he was promised.
Doing as he was told, Tom found the wiring diagram very easy
to follow, and he completed the required grounding and wiring before
noon. He called his friend again who agreed to fax over a sign off
immediately. Tom went to work on pulling wires, and hooking up
switches and fixtures. Two more days he believed would finish the
downstairs lights and plugs.
He had postponed the invitation to the family, feeling he
needed more conveniences before having a group of people over.
Besides, the septic system would be installed next week, and he hadn't
yet plumbed anything. The well digger had also located a likely spot
for water, and was to begin drilling next week. Hopefully, within the
month, he would have water, lights, and sewage. Ahh… civilization at
last.
The following weekend and week, Tom spent plumbing. This went
much slower than did the wiring. It took most of the week just
getting the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom, carved out from the
back backroom, ready for hookup. As Tom worked on these improvements,
he felt a warmth from the house. Like the house approved. Also, his
dreams were becoming more vivid. He was remembering more, and it was
a recurring dream. It was always the same beautiful woman. Other
than that, he could remember little.
The days went by quickly, and Tom, immersed in his work barely
noticed. He worked hard, he slept harder. And he dreamed his
refreshing dream each night.
Besides the nuisance of the old gas lines and the still
unidentified soft lines, the wiring and plumbing went well. Tom was
beginning to lay conduit out for the upstairs area when he walked past
his bedroom and saw, shining for the first time, a light bulb! The
electricity was on! He had lights. Tom did a small dance in the
middle of the room, and then ran through the house turning on lights.
Most worked, a couple didn't. He was a motivational speaker, not an
electrician, 'so shoot me,' he thought. Still, he was excited by the
measure of his success.
He noticed a wet place on the kitchen floor and traced it to a
pressure leak on one of the faucets. Again, elated to see the water
spaying from the loose fitting, he did a little jig. The house was
coming alive! He tightened the fitting and cleaned up the water.
When the electricity came on, the pump had pressurized the plumbing
and now he had to check all his fixtures for leaks.
The next day, the septic tank installation was complete and he
was informed he could hook up. So, he rented a ditch digger and dug a
ditch between the tank and the house. This too would be completed
this week. And next weekend, he would invite the family.