More activities await for us to experience in this, Part Two of...
The Red Skeleton:
As I was waiting for the movers to arrive, I decided to put away the few groceries that I had brought over from the old apartment. The refrigerator was a plain white, basic model, but it was brand new; a fridge that I didn't have to labor over, or cleaning before stocking was nice. Once the cold things were in their place, I took the few steps to my right, and entered the pantry with my second bag of goods. Rice, pasta, cereals... These deep pantry shelves would absolutely hold everything I had and more. And the convenience of this store room being directly at the back door was a brilliant design. Whoever cooked this idea up, I thought, really had something going for themselves. I would imagine, in the future, to keep this set up in mind.
Suddenly, as I was staring at the tall shelves, wondering about how I was going to arrange everything & how I would need to keep a step stool handy; something bumped my leg. "Aaah!" I exclaimed. Gripping the buttons on my shirt, letting out my gasp in a winded "Oof...". It was just the cat. "I was so stuck in my moment,” I apologized as I reached down to reassure my friend, "You're next, ok...". A couple of long strokes down her back and she scooted back over to her perch at the kitchen window. There were deep windowsills here, and many vantage points to watch birds and people here. She kept a watchful eye on both my activities, and the bushes outside; making sure to not miss a single thing.
After I had everything set up that I brought in the car, I strolled slowly up and down the length of my new home. This "Railroad" layout, was new to me; I had never lived in anything like it. Studying one room to the next, connected by a long hallway. You know I would be entertaining the idea of unpacking my vintage sneaker style rollerskates first; you know how temping the thought is, I mean, before there's furniture, etc... in the way of gliding from room to room... Just as I was fully in fantasy mode, seeing myself being a 1980s skating nymph, floating in my bohemian finery through the spine of my environment while the ethereal soundtrack echoed in the background; there was a knock at the front door.
The movers have arrived!!! Right on time, and they filed in one after another in a seamless parade. Placing containers in a smooth uninterrupted ballet, in an impressive amount of time. I tipped them, expressed my extreme gratitude, signed the release form, and it was done. Oh, My, Gosh, it is DONE! Reality is a dopamine hit! I paid them a little extra for assembling my bed for me, and the bare mattress upon the frame was too tempting to pass up, I flopped onto it. A feeling of shear accomplishment mixed with a little exhaustion, it was all 100% worth it. Before I could linger in this moment too long, there was a knock, just feet away, at the front door.
I hopped off the bed and got to the door, shaking off my fog of whimsy to greet whatever faced me on the other side. It was Maxine, from across the hall. She seemed taller than she was at the last meeting by the parking lot. I looked to see that she had boots on, the scrunchy, earth-toned suede, heeled type that you'd imagine that Stevie Nicks had a closet full of. Funny that she greeted my outside, barefooted? And here, indoors, she had fancy boots. My first instinct was to bust her chops about it, but I liked her, and wasn't sure if our sense of humors were alined yet; so I left that thought alone. She invited me to her Mid October Celebration, as she called it. Skeptical, I wondered if it just happened to be a way of gathering up all of the tenants to do a meet and greet. We will investigate further, because I said "I wouldn't miss it!"
I didn't feign my enthusiasm, although, I was cautiously optimistic that the rest of the characters that dwelled here would seem just as entertaining as Maxine. And the fact that it was October, and anyone that was "celebrating" anything other than just Halloween by giving out sweets was right up my alley. She said, "Come as you are..." as she stepped back to her front door across the foyer. Still half in my trance of being freshly moved in, I didn't ask if I should bring anything, not that I had prepared for any such occasion. I did have a dusty old bottle, I thought suddenly, of Whiskey; was I saving it? I really didn't care at the instance, so I began the hunt for it.
The afternoon had ticked away so quickly, as I unpacked boxes, and tidied myself up to meet my new neighbors. I pieced together a comfy all black outfit, it being spooky season after all; I thought the witchier, the better. Considering the two times I had laid eyes on the hostess for the evening, I didn't think anyone would be in protest. I stood primping, fingering through my fringe and untangling any loose strands. I gave one last glance at myself before heading across to the party. Not half bad considering the state of things... I shifted the slouch of my off the shoulder sweater from one side and back, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, as I gave a huff at the figure in the mirror and swiftly walked away; satisfied, yet cavalier. Said "See you in a bit." to the cat, snatched up my dusted off fancy whiskey bottle, and made my way through the void of the foyer.
I could hear the goings on before the door magically opened before I could knock. "Come in, come in..." Maxine made her eye contact with me and then to the others whom she had been deep in conversation with. She finished what she had been saying, took the bottle from my hands, looked at it, and gestured like "Ooooo, you shouldn't have!" and introduced me to the room. She pointed to people and said their names, but I rarely, on the best of days, had the ability to retain such things. I waved and said, "Hello, everyone..." and waved with a smile. Maxine fled back to the kitchen, with the whiskey tight in her waving grasp. She began addressing someone unseen, who had asked about the recipe for something, & by the intensely seasoned aroma, I understood, that she had not burned whatever she had be laboring over earlier from our meeting outside.
"Come sit here." said a small woman, who looked bookish in a hipster sort of way. "Has anyone told you anything yet?" I had a slight tilt of head on this question... "Like... Trash pickups and the mailboxes...?" her question, being met by mine. "Oh, so no one has told you about the house yet." she looked a little surprised. My eyes began to look back and forth to some of the faces in the room, I was puzzled, and a little anxious to get some information. "The house is built by the famous Bloody Brook." She revealed. I blinked, with a bit of amazement, and asked for more details. Really hoping that it wouldn't affect my honeymoon feelings with my new abode. At the same time, it is October, and a tale about an ancestral battle, I gleaned from the murmurings around the room, at least that's what I could make out though the wall of sound that was Maxines music choice.
"Ignore her!" Maxine shouted, as she appeared in the door frame. She waved at me to come to the kitchen and meet more people, and as I reached her side, she put a delicately etched low ball glass in my hand. Two fingers of the whiskey I brought with two ice cubes. I don't remember her asking how I took my whiskey, but that'd about do it... We must be kindred spirits. "Elsie is an Historian, and she will go on and on if you let her." she told me. I nodded, and found the prospect of being able to 'pick her brain', as they say very, intriguing.
Maxine guided me by the elbow into the smokey kitchen. She steered me to a long tall table where there was so many yummy offerings that you couldn't see the tables top, at all. Charcuterie, sweets, hand made pies, anything you could be in the mood for, she had an abundance. "Wow!" I exclaimed, "You don't do things by halves!" and grabbed a glossy red grape that was sublimely sweet. She gestured at a tall man standing at the end of the table enjoying its bounty. “This is Eric, He lives upstairs on the right, he's Elsie's boyfriend..." She beamed at the notion that this building was the catalyst to their meet-cute. "Hello." Said Eric, taking his focus off his plate full of goodies for a moment, "Nice to meet you." He completed as he swallowed his mouthful of Maxines offerings. "If you want a good ghost story, you should ask this man right here." Maxine went on, "he's a student of the Paranormal". She nodded in affect to his possession of a wealth of knowledge, that could, and probably had, provided much entertainment in context to these gatherings.
We all ate and chatted until the wee hours. As I couldn't ignore my exhaustion any further, I said my thank yous and goodbyes, and made my way back through the foyer. I had enjoyed that so much, it was, in fact very rare in this part of New England to be embraced by a new community so. I guess, if every community/household had a Maxine, it would be a more inviting place.
My thoughts were of how lucky I felt to have found this place as I closed my door, locked it and wistfully made it to the bed. Thankful that I had the forethought to make the bed earlier. I addressed the kitty, who was eager to see me, with a short baby talked acknowledgement. I then kicked off my little black suede flats, checked the time, 4:08 am, chortled while shaking my head, & got under the blankets. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.
The next day was bright and sunny, which made waking up easy, despite getting in from the party late, or in fact early, & having a really strange dream. Hopefully I will be able to use one of the dream in an amusing anecdote with one of my new neighbors. If/when we bump into each other during our comings and goings; I thought this, especially due to its subject: the house we all lived in. These thoughts amused me as I put down my coffee and proceeded with my hanging curtains & unpacking boxes.
Another knock at the door, this time, it was the back door. A distinctly different sound; the hollow foam core of the aluminum barrier, carried a very faint sound. In fact, I barely heard it. I stopped, I listened, then got off of the chair I was using as a step stool to mount my long white curtains in the tall living room window. I made my way through the apartment saying, "I'm coming!!!". Past the bathroom, through the dining room, into the kitchen and turned the corner to step down into the pantry and face the back door.
It was my new landlord, carrying a gift basket, and an envelope. "Hi!" we said in unison, and giggled a little at our timing. She looked past my left shoulder to see that the kitchen looked completely set up. "You're already looking settled in!" she was pleasantly surprised and seemed impressed. "I've always had an easy time imagining where everything should go..." I said, and I wanted to say more because I was in my element. "Would you like to come in?" I gestured her in, and she accepted. "I heard you met everyone last night, Maxine said you fit right in. I had hoped you would." she seemed very pleased as she put the gift down on the kitchen counter and rested her hands into her beige barn coat pockets.
"Everyone seems so interesting, I had a great time at Maxine's" I confirmed her suspicion that all had gone well. "We have a good group here, an eclectic mix, eccentric, smart, odd sometimes, but everyone is a good egg." I agreed, and we both had a chuckle over the fact that Elsie brought up the Bloody Brook History. Apparently, she tells everyone who will listen about the battle that happened back in 1675. I told her that I had looked it up as I drank my coffee, & that I was interested in walking around the block to get a glimpse of the monument that was placed there. She encouraged me to do that, and we carried on for a bit. She was about to head out to collect rents, and check in with her handy man. She told me about her constant efforts to touch base on what seemed like many projects that were happening simultaneously. But I felt compelled, with what I’m sure felt like a palpable element of urgency, & I stopped her at the door.
I was so excited to tell this dream to someone, and having had maybe too much caffeine to know what was funny and what was not, I told her. Her eyes went wide and her head bowed, as if she was at fault of something... I told her that in my dream, she had been giving me the apartment tour. And we eventually made our way to the basement. When she was pointing out which hot water heater was mine, the mechanism, the whole appliance, began to hop up & down, and spin around. And in my dream, she explained that it was because it was haunted by someone who had died in my apartment....
That was when her gaze became blank...
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