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Mary #8

If anyone does Saturday Centus you might somewhat remember this story started as a centus.  In  June of 2010, I wrote a few chapters on Mary and then stopped.  I had so much to write about her, writing weekly for centus wasn't enough.  I then wrote and wrote until I had over 30,000 words so far.  In writing it though as I got further and further my original premise somehow got blown out of the water, ha, ha. I stopped writing her story in March of 2011.   I still haven't quite figured out how I'm going to work this out but I thought I would put out what I have so far.   Please remember this is a really rough draft and when I wrote it, I had no chapters.  Before I decided to put this on the blog I had to go back and figure out where I could make them.  I would suggest this is a terrible way of doing it lol.  The first chapter started on March 23rd, 2012.

8

Mary got back to cleaning.  Lulu was sitting on the couch watching Mary. 

"I just don't know what comes over me sometimes.  My mouth just works faster than my brain.  I love Jimmy, he's my brother and what happened wasn't his fault.  I have to stop thinking he could have done something and grow up already.  It wasn't the end of the world.  I survived.  I'm the manager of a big hotel in New York City.  My life is pretty darn good.” 

 Lulu jumped from the couch and rubbed up against Mary's leg. 

Mary went back to work, polishing all the furniture and dusting all the knick knacks in the dining room and living room.  She vacuumed the old rug that was there since she was a child.  She thought before we sell we should really pull this rug up; I bet there are beautiful hard wood floors under it.  People love that nowadays. 

When she was done, she looked at the roses on the table and they still looked fresh and beautiful with the white linen tablecloth.  

She chuckled and said to Lulu, "I'm really going to freak Johnny out and set the table with Ma's good china.  It will be beautiful.  I'm even going to get the candlestick holders out of the buffet and put candles in them and light them.  I remember Pa buying Ma those candlesticks one Christmas.  Every year we kids would buy her candles for them but she would never light them.  She was always waiting for a special occasion that she thought worthy but one never came I guess.”  

Mary looked at the time and thought she better get going, she wanted to do the kitchen yet, get a bath and change clothes before Johnny came. 

Mary went in the kitchen and she could smell the aroma from the crock-pot it was intoxicating.  She went and got a glass of wine or two and started cleaning.   She washed the stove, refrigerator, shined up the sink, wiped down the counters and swept the floor.  She even got the old mop and scrub bucket out and washed the floor.

When she was done in the kitchen, she surveyed all the cleaning she had done and was happy with how clean and sparkly everything looked.  She looked at the time and it was only 7:00.  She still had time before she needed to get in the tub so she lay down on the couch and turned the TV on.  The local news was on and she wanted to see what they were saying about the weather.  From the sounds of it outside it was still raining hard and now there was much more thunder and lightning.  It was pretty dark in the living room too but the glow from the still going fire and the TV were all she needed for now.   Mary could barely keep her eyes open.  She thought I'll take a power nap and be up in about a half hour then I'll take my bath and get ready.

Mary heard a banging on the back door.  She got up groggily, went to the door and she saw Johnny standing all wet.  She opened the door and he came in.  

"Aren't you early?” 

"I don't think so.  In fact, I'm my usual prompt self" as he shivered from the cold and rain.  

Mary looked at the clock it was 9 o'clock he was right.  Her power nap had turned into two hours.  

"All that cleaning I did today had me exhausted.  I was going to take a nap and then get cleaned up.  I must have been more tired than I thought.' 

"You don't have to worry about cleaning up for me Mar.  You look fine.  I'm surprised you still have one of our old high school sweatshirts.  When's supper going to be ready, I'm starving?”

 "I'll just put the biscuits in the oven and then we'll be ready" Mary said. 

"I'm going to go up to my old room and see if Ma has any of my old clothes in there so I can change.  I got soaked just from coming from the car.” 

"Okay, I think I'm going to throw a salad together too so take your time.”

"I'll be back.”  

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Nature

So, I'm sitting on the patio minding my own business when out of the corner of my eye I see  what looks like a BIG bird fly into the evergreen.  I get up and look out the window to see if I could see it.  Then I see a hawk on the roof and it flies away when it spots me. I go in and tell hippie and he looks out and sees the rabbit in our yard.  I didn't even notice it was there.

I think that hawk was scouting out his next meal. UGH!!!

I felt like I had to stay out there and watch the rabbit.  Hippie said I have to let nature take it's course.  So I left grudgingly.

I went out a couple hours later afraid I would see rabbit fur all over the back yard but hippie said he had seen it in the garden.  I stayed and waited for a half hour and finally I saw the rabbit on the other side of the fence. I think it was going to come back in our yard.

I have a feeling the hawk will be back.  I just hope I'm not around if the hawk gets the rabbit.  That would be so not cool.

Mary #7

If anyone does Saturday Centus you might somewhat remember this story started as a centus.  In  June of 2010, I wrote a few chapters on Mary and then stopped.  I had so much to write about her, writing weekly for centus wasn't enough.  I then wrote and wrote until I had over 30,000 words so far.  In writing it though as I got further and further my original premise somehow got blown out of the water, ha, ha. I stopped writing her story in March of 2011.   I still haven't quite figured out how I'm going to work this out but I thought I would put out what I have so far.   Please remember this is a really rough draft and when I wrote it, I had no chapters.  Before I decided to put this on the blog I had to go back and figure out where I could make them.  I would suggest this is a terrible way of doing it lol.  The first chapter started on March 23rd, 2012.

7

The next morning, Mary was getting out of bed and without even opening the curtains she knew it was raining.  She could hear the raindrops hitting the bedroom window.  She wanted to crawl back under the quilt since she wasn't going to be able to do the weeding she had planned but instead, decided to get dressed.  She could tell that it had cooled off considerably so she put on jeans and one of her old high school sweatshirts she had brought.  It was a little tattered but she still loved it.  Then she and Lulu went downstairs. 

When she looked out the kitchen window, she could see it was really pouring outside.   "It looks like an inside kind of day Lulu.  That's okay, we've got plenty of things we can do.  I think later, I might even start a fire in the fireplace since it’s so chilly in here.  Are you hungry" as she went to get some food for her.  Mary fed the cat and then started the coffee.  She went to the pantry and got some oatmeal.  When it was done, Mary put some blueberries in the oatmeal and sat at the kitchen table and contemplated what she would do that day. 

She could hear her phone ringing.  "Lulu if that's Sadie again, I'm going to scream.  She's my best friend forever but she can be such a worry wart about me.  Hello?” 

"Mar, I was just wondering are you okay?”

“I'm fine Johnny, why shouldn't I be?”

 "Have you been watching the TV?  They said with this storm there could be a tornado.” 

"It's weird at home I always have the TV on but since I've been here I haven't turned it on once.  I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.” 

"Do you want me to come over and sit with you" he asked.

Mary thought for a moment with the dreary weather she could use someone to talk to.  "I don't need you to come now but if you'd like I could throw a pot roast in the crock-pot and you could come for supper tonight.” 

"I'd like that very much.  How about we eat a late supper and I'll be over around 9?” 

"That would be great" Mary said.  "See you later.” 

I better get hopping if I want this pot roast to be done by the time Johnny gets here, Mary thought.  As she was getting the stuff in the crock-pot she felt excited to be having her brother come to dinner.  Once she left home for good, she never got that much of a chance to know Johnny as an adult and she was looking forward to getting to know him that way.  When she had come home after graduating, he was already married.  She had a lot of questions about why he and his childhood sweetheart were divorced.  Hopefully, he wouldn't have too many questions for her.  She plugged the crock-pot in, went into the living room and opened the curtains on the big picture window. 

"Lulu it's just nasty out there.  I can hardly see the road and it's starting to get colder in here.  I better get the fire started.” 

After starting the fire, Mary decided she would clean the downstairs before Johnny came.  She took the rest of her luggage upstairs and put it in the closet.  Then went to the cleaning cupboard in the kitchen and got some rags and furniture cleaner.  Just as she sprayed the dining room table, her phone rang. 

Mary thought, I should have kept the phone in my luggage.  This time when she answered she heard "Hey, Sis.  Are you all right?”

 "Yes, Jimmy I'm fine.  I know there's a tornado alert out, Johnny already called and told me.” 

"Yeah, I figured but I just wanted to make sure". 

"You know I'm a grown woman now and I don't need my older brothers to watch out for me anymore, not that you ever did.” 

"What? What's that supposed to mean" Jimmy asked confusingly.   

"Oh, nothing" Mary said, realizing she put her foot in her mouth again.  Hesitantly she said "Johnny's coming over around 9 tonight for some pot roast would you like to come?”  Not really wanting to face him but she figured it would seem less suspicious.   

"I would like to Mary but we've decided to leave bright and early in the morning for Canada.  We're meeting Mitch and Elizabeth at 6 in the morning.  When I get home from work, I’ve got to load up the van and get to bed early but thanks for including me.  We'll do it when I get back okay?” 

"Okay, Jimmy. I'll see you when you get back and don't worry about me.  I'm fine.  Talk to you soon, Bye.”

When Jimmy hung up the phone, he wondered what she meant that he never watched out for her. He knew Johnny and her were always closer but wasn't he the one that always reigned Mitch in when he would start teasing her.  She must have forgotten about that.  Too bad he was leaving in the morning; he would have liked to have had dinner with her and Johnny.  It had been a long time since the three sat together and talked.  He quickly got back to work so he could leave early. 

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Mary #6

If anyone does Saturday Centus you might somewhat remember this story started as a centus.  In  June of 2010, I wrote a few chapters on Mary and then stopped.  I had so much to write about her, writing weekly for centus wasn't enough.  I then wrote and wrote until I had over 30,000 words so far.  In writing it though as I got further and further my original premise somehow got blown out of the water, ha, ha. I stopped writing her story in March of 2011.   I still haven't quite figured out how I'm going to work this out but I thought I would put out what I have so far.   Please remember this is a really rough draft and when I wrote it, I had no chapters.  Before I decided to put this on the blog I had to go back and figure out where I could make them.  I would suggest this is a terrible way of doing it lol.  The first chapter started on March 23rd, 2012.

6

The music had stopped and Mary was just finishing up the last of her meal when in the faint distance, she heard a phone ringing.  What's that she thought?  That must be my cell phone.  She had forgotten that she had shoved her phone in her luggage when she was getting on the plane.  As she opened it up to get it the phone stopped ringing.  She took it out and saw she had 15 missed calls and some messages.  Oh boy, gone from the city for a few days and you forget you have a cell phone she thought.  As she clicked through the missed calls, they were all from Sadie her best friend.  She decided to listen to the messages, again all from Sadie saying she was worried, asking if she was okay.

Mary picked up the phone and dialed Sadie's number.  

She picked up on the first ring.  "Mary" Sadie asked.

 "Yeah, it's me.  What are all the messages about?"

 "I was worried about you.  I knew you weren't looking forward to going back home.  I thought you would have called to tell me that you got there all right.”

 "Sorry, everything's fine.  Just don't expect to hear from me too much, okay? I've got a lot of things to do.  How's everything going at the hotel?” 

"It's great.  No one even misses the head honcho" and Sadie laughed. 

"Oh now I see, while I'm gone you’re going to try and get my job and move up the ladder.” 

"No one could do as good a job as you can Mary and we both know it.  Believe me your job is safe even with you taking time off.  Remember you’re the Girl Wonder around here" and they both howled with laughter.  Then Sadie said "I'm a plane ride away Mary if you need me.” 

"Thanks Sadie, I'll talk to you in a few days" and hung up.

Mary cleaned off the table and started doing the dishes.  As she looked through the kitchen window at the blackness of the night, she thought about how she first met Sadie.   

After four years of college in New York, she came home for a year and put in applications everywhere for a job in Hotel Management.  She remembered when she finally got the call for her dream job to come in for an interview in New York.  Her Ma and Pa were disappointed that she would apply for a job out of state but that didn't deter her from going.  She went there on a Monday and briefly saw Sadie as she was entering one of the interviewing rooms. 

Months later, she got the call that she got the job.   On the first day, she saw Sadie there.  They talked for a bit and Mary mentioned that she had seen her the day of her interview.

She remembered Sadie laughed and said "Yeah, I didn't get the job you did, but there happened to be another job and I was perfect for it.”  

“Lulu that was my friend, Sadie that called” and Lulu looked quizzically at her.  “Where would I be without Sadie always having my back?” 

 

Mary headed up the stairs.  When she got to the top, she looked at her parent’s door and started to go to it.  She put her hand on the glass handled knob but didn't turn it. 

 "Nope, not ready yet" and headed down the hall.  

She put on her nightgown and jumped into bed.  Lulu was right there with her.  As she drifted off to sleep, she thought to herself she would soon be strong enough to enter that room.  She just knew it.  

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Mary #5

If anyone does Saturday Centus you might somewhat remember this story started as a centus.  In  June of 2010, I wrote a few chapters on Mary and then stopped.  I had so much to write about her, writing weekly for centus wasn't enough.  I then wrote and wrote until I had over 30,000 words so far.  In writing it though as I got further and further my original premise somehow got blown out of the water, ha, ha. I stopped writing her story in March of 2011.   I still haven't quite figured out how I'm going to work this out but I thought I would put out what I have so far.   Please remember this is a really rough draft and when I wrote it, I had no chapters.  Before I decided to put this on the blog I had to go back and figure out where I could make them.  I would suggest this is a terrible way of doing it lol.  The first chapter started on March 23rd, 2012.

5

"I wasn't expecting anyone.” Mary said as she came down the steps in denim capris and a white t-shirt with her hair still in a ponytail. 

" I knocked but no one answered.  I brought you some groceries but I see Johnny beat me to it.”

 "That's okay, I remember Pa saying you can never have too much food" and then she bit her lip for bringing up their Pa.  "Johnny said you, Donna and the kids are going on a trip.  When are you leaving?”  

"In a few days." 

"You want a glass of wine?” 

"Sure but not much, I've got things to do when I get home.”  

As she went into the kitchen, Jimmy thought about Pa.  Why did she have to even mention him?  I've got so many questions about the time she spent with them last Christmas.  Everyone was so upset at the funeral there wasn't any time for that then.  Since Ma and Pa wanted to be buried in the Appalachia's of West Virginia where they came from, we all were just in an out.

"Jimmy. Jimmy?"  she could tell he was far off somewhere in his mind.  "Here's your wine" as she finally got his attention.  "So, tell me, how are Donna and the kids?” 

He brightened up “Donna’s doing well.  She is still cancer free.  Jake and Hannah, what can I really say about them both being teenagers and driving.  They're hardly home.  That is why we're looking so forward to this vacation.  We'll have a captive audience" and they both laughed. 

He finished up his glass of wine and said "I better hit the road." 

Mary walked him to the car.  "Thanks for bringing the food Jimmy that was very thoughtful of you.” 

He laughed "Not my usual self, eh? Do you want me to give Elizabeth a message from you?" 

"No please don't.  I said I didn't want anyone to know I was here.”  

"I know you said that Mary but I didn't think that applied to Elizabeth.”

 "Well, it does.  Please just do this for me Jimmy!”

"Okay, I said I wouldn't tell anyone and I won't.  I didn't even tell Donna and the kids you were here.  I still don't understand what the big secret is but I'll keep my promise. You take care and I'll see you when I get back.  Oh I almost forgot, nice job on the flowerbed” and with a wink he started his car and took off.

Mary went back into the house and felt light as a feather as she went and sat at the kitchen table.   

She said out loud "That went pretty well except for the slip up about Pa.   Now I can have some peace and deal with other stuff around here now that I'm sure he won't be telling anyone I'm here.” 

She got up and started emptying the grocery bags.  She was getting hungry since she hadn't eaten since breakfast.  These are nice pork chops he bought, she thought.  She decided to fry one up and make home fries just like her Ma used to do. 

She got out the cast iron skillets, found an old apron and started cooking and putting the rest of the groceries away.  

 Mary went to the buffet in the dining room, got a white linen table cloth out and put it on the dining room table.  She took a place setting of her Ma's good china and silverware and put it on the table.  She always loved it but her Ma only used it for special occasions which were rare.  She remembered opening the drawer on the buffet and just looking at the China when she was a kid.  How the delicate little pink flowers surrounded the edges.  

She glanced up and said  "Ma, I'm using your good stuff.  I hope that's okay.” 

Then she noticed the old turntable sitting in the corner.  She wondered if it still worked  Whatever was on there she decided she would play because it's the last thing her Ma and Pa would have been listening too. 

She ran outside in the dark, and clipped some roses off  her Ma's prized pink rose bush.  Went in the kitchen, put the flowers in an old Mason jar and put them on the table.  Then she took the plate and put her food on it.  Grabbed a bottle of wine and wine glass and she was ready to sit down except for getting up one more time and turning the turntable on.  As she sat back down she heard familiar voices and smiled.  After all those years they still listened to Simon and Garfunkel. 

 

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What a show

This evening around 7, I was sitting in the patio enclosure with all the windows open.  It was a gorgeous day (finally again).  It was in the high 70's but very breezy.

I don't know if I mentioned, before winter came, Hippie hung the bird feeder out again right next to the garden.

Anyhow while I was sitting there, the birds (sparrows, blue jays, cardinals) were eating out of the bird feeder.  There was a squirrel underneath the feeder eating the seed the birds flicked out of it.

Then lo and behold, the bunny rabbit came into the backyard.  He went and checked out the garden where the squirrel was but didn't find anything.  He ended up staying on the grass and eating the weeds.

I wanted to go get the camera but I knew if I did everyone would scatter so I just sat and watched.  I felt like I was in my own little nature preserve LOL.