House Upon the Hill—With Burgers!

Welcome to The Spot Writers.

Prompt for April: write a story using the following words: boat, flowers, snow.

Cathy continues with her Melvin saga. She believes this may be the last segment. To be published as a novella in the very near future, after much editing, additions, deletions. Stay tuned!

 

Along with several short story collections and books of poetry, Cathy has published two novels: WOLVES DON’T KNOCK, a psychological drama, and MISTER WOLFE, the darkly dark sequel/stand-alone novel. She has also written two volumes of grief poetry in memory of her son Matthew that she hopes might help other grieving parents: MY HEART IS BROKEN and BROKEN HEARTS CAN’T ALWAYS BE FIXED.

 

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House Upon the Hill—With Burgers!

by Cathy MacKenzie

 

Marie yanked apart the heavy living room drapes. “Look at that, Melvin. The sun is shining. Flowers are blooming. It’s a gorgeous day! Not a speck of snow.”

Melvin looked up from the paper. “Marie, the sun’s glaring into my eyes. Close them. Please.”

She sighed and stared out the window.

Ignoring me, he thought. Just like she always does.

He tossed the paper onto the floor. “If it’s such a great day, I’m gonna go out in the boat.”

Marie turned around. “Now?” She glanced at her watch. “It’s three o’clock. I thought we—you—could put on the barbeque for din. We have those frozen sirloin burgers and—”

“Yeah, I can do that. I won’t be long. I’ll be back before five. We can eat at six.”

“Six? You complain if I don’t have dinner served at five on the dot.”

“Yeah, well, like you said, it’s a sunny day. I should take advantage of it. I won’t be long. Just gonna take the kayak for a quick spin.”

His wife sighed again and faced the window.

Inside, his gut heaved. He didn’t need to be that nasty, did he? No matter. Time to soak up the sun. First nice day in May. Had Marie opened the drapes earlier, he might have gone earlier. Her fault.

 

***

 

Melvin grabbed his life vest from the hook on the wall in the cabin. He’d taken the kayak out of storage a few days previously but hadn’t yet had it in the water.

Kailani flashed in front of him. Her gorgeous face. Svelte body. Long blonde hair. “Ah, stuff dreams are made of,” he mumbled.

His promise to his wife from several weeks ago came to mind, but he quickly ignored it. He was due for some excitement. A bit of pleasure in his otherwise mundane life. It was hard—and annoying—to continually provide for a needy wife and son. His deceased daughters had never been like them; they’d been perfect—just as Kailani was. Is, he thought. Is! Kailani is still here—somewhere! “Unlike my daughters,” he muttered, almost as if it were Kailani’s fault they’d died.

He donned his life vest and hauled the kayak, along with the oar, down to the water. The lake was calm, and the sun glistened on its glass-like surface. So unlike the tragic episode when the lake had been possessed by some sort of underwater monster that gobbled up his kids—well, except for William, of course. He didn’t want to remember the details. Had tried many times to block the entire incident from his mind; easier said than done. It had become a topic he and Marie never discussed, but he could see the hurt in her eyes when a trigger caused her to remember. He did have some sympathy and empathy, no matter what she—or anyone else—thought.

He eyed the islands in the distance. One jaunt back and forth, and then he’d pack it in. Cook Marie’s dratted burgers. He licked his lips. Those juicy thick burgers. Great idea to get the barbeque going.

He barely made a sound in the water as he paddled across. Every couple of minutes, he looked to the sky. Kailani, where are you? He’d yell, but he didn’t want to disturb the quiet. Mustn’t bother the mallards, which without a care in the world, floated along, seemingly unaware of his presence.

When he reached the closest island, he pulled in to the rocks, which lined the shoreline.

“I’m here, Melvin. I’m here.”

What? Was that Kailani? He scanned the area. No sign of her—or anyone or anything.

“Over here.”

He gripped the oar. His heart raced. “Where?”

And then he saw a form, high upon a tree. Had to be her, materializing as a good fairy would in time of want. But—

It had been her voice; that was certain. He blinked and peered. Focused on the figure gazing at him. It was her, but...

The “good fairy” swept down to one of the bigger rocks near the kayak. Nearer to him.

“Kailani? Wha—what happened? You look... Different.”

“It is me. Yes, indeed. It’s all to do with time, Melvin. Time takes us all, little by little. Turns out we part-mermaids age faster than other mythical creatures. I’ll be going, very soon, to my forever home.”

“Your forever home?”

“It’s somewhere, Melvin. Not quite sure where. It all depends upon one’s beliefs, right?”

“Like if God really does exist?”

“Correct.”

Melvin adjusted his ball cap. “So... Ah... How much time do you have left?”

Kailani smiled, revealing more wrinkles.

He examined her more carefully. Her hair, though no longer blonde, was still long, still thick, still drifted gently past her shoulders. He could still run his fingers through the white strands, lose them in the thick silkiness. She wore more clothing than previous times. Ostensibly, he thought, to hide a myriad of imperfections. He shook his head to shake away the memory of Marie’s naked bod.

“I can’t believe your time will soon be up.” How could she have aged this fast?

Her bright eyes shone with life. “We go when we’re healthy, Melvin. Before the ravages of time. It’s best this way, for if there’s another world in store, we’re able to enjoy it. Who knows, maybe my next world will be one of eternal life.”

“I can’t go there, though, can I?”

“No, Melvin, humans cannot, not even you. Don’t even ask something so stupid.”

Okay, he thought. I’ll shut up. But—

“Will this be the last time I see you?”

“I’m afraid so.” She swatted at a fly. “Toodle-oo, Melvin. Toodle-oo.”

And she was gone. He had no chance to say goodbye, to say how much he’d loved knowing her, that he wished they could meet again, that he was sorry she was leaving to “who knew where.” He hoped her life “ever-after” would be a good one. He hoped his would be, too!

“Bye, Kailani,” he mumbled, knowing he spoke needlessly. But who knew, right?

He turned, looked at his house upon the hill overlooking the lake, and felt an odd satisfying relief. Marie awaited. So did his burgers.

 

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The Spot Writers—Our Members:

Val Muller: http://www.valmuller.com/blog/

Catherine A. MacKenzie: https://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/

Phil Yeats: https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com

Chiara De Giorgi: https://chiaradegiorgi.blogspot.ca/