So Many Questions! Part 2

Here is a link to Part 1, https://joyroses13.wordpress.com/2020/08/10/so-many-questions/

Tristan was at work. It was past time to go home, but this case he had been working on was causing him so many headaches. He finally closed the folder and grabbed his keys. It could wait until another tomorrow. He was anxious to get home and relax. Perhaps he would go for a jog around the lake nearby. Some may not agree, but for him, jogging was relaxing. Especially after a long day of sitting in a chair with his neck bent over papers.

When he got home, he changed clothes, grabbed his water bottle and took off for the lake. The sun was going down, so he didn’t have a lot of time, but a few laps around the lake were enough for him to clear his brain and feel more relaxed.

After his last lap, he hopped into his red jeep, popped in his Pink Floyd CD, and headed home.

Tristan started going through the mail when he got home. He had quickly thrown it on the counter earlier. He caught his breath when he saw another letter with no return address. Was it another letter from her? Would this one answer any questions or just raise some more. Filled with curiosity he sat down, opened it and started to read.

Mr. McFerral:

“I said I would tell you more about me, but where do I begin? Life hasn’t always been easy for me, and I have had many regrets about things I have done. This past year though, has changed me. It has helped opened my eyes and gave me a strength that I didn’t know I had. An inner resolve to get on a better path.

I sound formal with calling you Mr. McFerral, but I do it because I am just not sure where I stand with you anymore. I know I hurt you a lot in the past and I so wish I could turn back time.

I am so very sorry Dad, I want to come back home.  Can I please? I miss you!

Sincerely,

Shauna

Tristan felt his eyes brimming, as the memories rolled down his face. He had given up hope of hearing from her, but not a day had gone by that he hadn’t thought of her. When his wife died, it had hit Shauna so hard and she got so angry. Tristan tried to help her, but he was grieving too and he felt her slipping away. The day he found her note telling him she was leaving was the day he lost another part of his heart.

He had tried to find her. She had contacted him a few brief times letting him know she was safe, but that was it. There was nothing he could do, he only hoped that one day she would find her way back home.

Holding the letter in his hand he walked up the stairs to her bedroom at the end of the hall. It was still pretty much as she had left it. She had grown from a toddler to a teenager in this room. The decor had changed but there was one thing that stayed through the years. One thing that he was surprised she hadn’t taken with her. It was her little stuffed deer laying on her bed. She had carried that thing around with her everywhere and when she grew and started getting rid of her stuffed animals that one was the only one to stay.

He picked it up and only as he sat on her bed, did the thought strike him. Smiling, he shook his head. How did he not pick up on that before?

“Jane Doe” , Jane was the name that Shauna had given her little deer when Tristan had first given it to her.

He walked over to Shauna’s desk and sat down. He had a long overdue letter to write. Fortunately she had included her address at the end of the letter. Now if only he could see to write through the tears.

 

 

 

 

 

So Many Questions!

Tristan walked slowly to the house as he flipped through the mail in his hand. Bills, bills, junk mail, and …. a letter? Who was writing him a letter? Letters were something rarely heard of these days. He was trying to remember the last time he had received one. There was no return address, so he really had no clue who it might be from.

He walked inside and laid the mail down on the counter, as he walked into the kitchen to get a cold drink from the fridge.  Picked up the letter again and walked over to the table and sat down. In his profession one couldn’t be too careful about mail. He was a lawyer, and there were a lot of people sitting behind bars, not feeling too happy with him.

Staring at the letter, he looked at his fish tank across the room and remembered he had to feed them. He loved his saltwater tank, with the clown fish and other brightly colored fish swimming around, darting in and out of the little caves that he had. Dodging around the plants.

Still holding the letter in his one hand,  he walked over to the fish tank and shook the food in, watching the fish swim to the top to eat it.

He walked over to his overstuffed chocolate brown couch, sat down, opened the letter and slowly read it.

Mr. McFerral,

“I am sure you are wondering who this letter is from and I will tell you straight up that once you finish this letter you will have even more questions.

I assure you I am not a stalker and I am not trying to blackmail you.

If you think you feel nervous reading this, I feel even more nervous writing it. Many times I started this letter and many times I wadded up the paper and threw it into my wastepaper basket. I lost count as to what number this letter is.

The bottom line is I need your help and that is what gives me the courage to write as butterflies flutter around in my stomach. If you had asked me last year if I would be writing a letter to you I would have said No, but so much can happen in a year. Life is full of the unexpected!

I need to ask you a question and its a question that carries a lot of weight. A question that won’t be asked in this letter. I will be sending my next letter in a few days which will reveal more about me.”

Sincerely,

Jane Doe

Tristan stared at the letter in his hand for a few moments before folding it and slowly putting it back into the envelope. He listened to the gurgling of his fish tank and watched the damselfish swim around.  She had a question for him? What kind of question? Who was she? Thoughts swirled in and out of his head, just like the fish darting in and out of the castle that he had recently put in there. What would the next letter say? photo credit Pinterest

 

Mona Lisa’s Smile!

picture from Pinterest

 

Landon was in his study, ready to bang his head on his desk! Was he really going crazy?

When he was looking at the house and thinking about buying it, there were all kinds of rumors going around that the old house was haunted. He laughed at the rumors, he was a intelligent businessman, he knew there was no such things as haunted houses. The house was sold at a bargain price, for the realtor was so eager to get it off her hands.  Landon felt like the cat that had swallowed the canary with the good deal he had got. It was a beautiful house, and even furnished. Apparently the last owners were certain that any pieces of furniture from the house would bring bad luck to their new house, so they were more than happy to leave everything behind.

The first few weeks nothing had happened out of the ordinary and Landon was feeling very happy with his new home. Whenever he would go out to the bank, or grocery store, he would get questions from people about how things were going.  When he would answer that it was all going well, they would look surprised, but not convinced. He could see the suspicious look in their eyes, as they wished him a good day. He felt the whispers behind his back. Landon had decided they were all crazy!

But now … Now he was beginning to feel like he was losing his mind. The Mona Lisa painting didn’t bother him at first but then he kept feeling like her eyes were following him and it bothered him. He decided to get rid of it, so he took it down and put it in the spare room, not quite sure what to do with it. Didn’t feel right in just throwing it away.

Imagine his shock the next day when he saw the painting hanging on the wall again! He shook his head as he looked at it and figured he must have just been thinking he had taken it down the day before. Perhaps it had been a long day at the office and he was tired, and had meant to take the painting down but hadn’t done it. This time he made sure to take it down and he put it in the spare room once more. The next morning it was hanging again on the wall and this time it was like her smile was mocking him! Again he took it down and this time he put it up in the attic. Now this morning as he came whistling down the hall, he stopped in his tracks when once again the Mona Lisa painting was hanging on the wall!

He had grabbed it off the wall and it was now laying in front of him on his desk. Yes, she was definitely laughing at him!

This was it, he was getting rid of the painting once and for all! Getting up from his desk, he grabbed it and walked out of the office. It was storming outside but he didn’t care. He didn’t even take the time to grab an umbrella or put a jacket on, as he went out the front door. Yes! The garbage hadn’t gone yet. He shoved the picture into the trashcan and walked back inside dripping wet.

After taking a warm shower and changing into dry clothes he grabbed himself some brandy and settled in front of his fireplace. Slowly he began relaxing. Everything would be fine now, he was sure of it. After all there was no such thing as a haunted house he told himself once again.

Legend has it that Landon disappeared , no one knows exactly what happened. All his belongings were still at the house, and his Lexus was in the garage, but he was never seen in the house again.

Rumors really went wild in the town after that, and once more the house stood empty. Then a new couple came to town. They fell in love with the great big house and the wife especially loved the Mona Lisa painting hanging on the wall. There was just something so mysterious about her smile.

 

 

 

The Mysterious Voices

If you missed yesterday’s post. Here is the link to Part 1. The Crazy Adventure

The guys stood frozen, still in shocked silence. They were inside a  museum with no apparent way out and now it seemed that one of the wax figures had spoken to them.

“Perhaps we are just hearing things, suffering from jet lag, becoming delusional!” said Jinx.

“Well there is nothing  new about being delusional, for you Jinx! You have been there many times!” replied Alabaster, while laughing. “Just pointing out a fact.”

“Good one!” said Snowball as he gave Alabaster a high five.

“Glad to see you can all keep your humor, at a time like this.” said Jinx.

“We need all the laughter we can get right now, so thanks for providing it Jinx!” and Alabaster patted him on the back. “Now what is our plan to get out of here, before another wax figure starts to talk, and we all start to go crazy!”

“Crazy is the name of the game and you all are in it pretty deep!”  echoed a deep low voice.

Snowball stumbled backwards, tripping over the carpet and falling. Jangle’s eyes got big as his mouth opened wide. Alabaster yelled and Jinx disappeared through the floor!

“Wha… wha…just…happened?” said Jangle, whose eyes were still wide in disbelief!

“Well it looked like the floor just opened up and swallowed Jinx! But….how?” said Alabaster.

Snowball was still trying to catch his breath after falling backwards and then he had an idea.

“Alabaster, why don’t you go stand where Jinx was standing and we will see if it happens again?”

“Now you are the delusional one!” replied Alabaster.

“Actually I think you all are delusional!”

“There’s that voice again! Where is it coming from??”  Jangle asked, as they all looked around at the wax figures who were standing still.

“I have no clue, all I know is that I am really ready for this museum adventure to end, but we have to find Jinx!”  said Snowball. ” I am afraid this may be like the Neverending Story. and we will be stuck here until we wave a white flag of surrender!”

“Do you have a white flag Alabaster?”

“Umm…No, didn’t exactly think I would need one.”

Jangle was looking at a map that he had found of the museum and saw that there was a basement. “I don’t think any of us explored the basement, that is probably where Jinx is and may be how we can find our way out!”

“Well what are we waiting for, lets go!” shouted Snowball as he took off.

Alabaster and Jangle watched him run. “He doesn’t know where he is going, does he?” “Nope!” said Jangle, “I am the one with the map. He has no map and no smartz.”  They started laughing as they watched Snowball stop and turn around.

He walked back to them without saying a word and they headed the other direction, with Jangle and Alabaster still chuckling. They all found the way down to the basement which was very dark and damp. Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness they could see a little better.

Their ears perked up as they heard some muffled yelling and banging. Following the direction of the sound it led them to a big box.

“Let me out!” The muffled voice sounded like Jinx.

“Is that you Jinx?” asked Snowball.

“No, its Mitch!”

“Oh, I don’t know any Mitch, do you know Mitch?” Snowball questioned Alabaster.

“Nope!”

“We don’t know any Mitch, guess we can’t let you out!” said Snowball with a smirk.

They opened the box and let a sputtering Jinx out. They were all anxious to know what exactly had happened to him. How had he got into the box?

“All I know is that I stepped on a certain tile on the floor and the next thing I know I was falling and landed in this box that then shut on me. I felt like I was incarcerated with no way out! Glad you all got here and now lets get out of here!”

“But how!” said Jangle.

“There has to be a way out of here, that we just haven’t found yet.”

“AAAH!!”Alabaster was jumping up and down!

They all watched in shock as they saw a snake come sliding out of Alabaster’s pant leg and scurry away!

They all ran the opposite direction of the snake and smacked right into a rusty door. With some hard pushes it creaked open and they all squeezed out of the door, as fast as they could, breathing in the fresh air.

“I don’t know about all of you, but I am ready to get back to the hotel, and no more museums for the rest of our time here!” said Jinx.

Everyone was in agreement as they headed back to the hotel after their crazy day!

Meanwhile, back in the museum, voices could be heard.

“That was a fun group, I think we scared them pretty good, eh!”

“We sure did!” and laughter echoed throughout the museum.

 

 

 

 

The Crazy Adventure

There was excitement in the air. It was vacation time. Work had stopped at the North Pole and now it was time to kick back and relax! Jinx, Jangle, Snowball and Alabaster had their bags packed and they were ready for adventure.

Snowball almost made them all late, for he had overslept, but they made it to the airport in the nick of time. As they were running to the gate, Alabaster tripped while running and  dropped his carry on bag. It opened up spilling the contents everywhere. A red faced Alabaster picked up everything as fast as he could and they at last made it to the gate.

They drew straws on who got the window seats. Poor Jinx and Jangle got the short straws. so they just put their headphones on to listen to music as they closed their eyes.

Snowball got out his writing tablet, he was busy writing his life story, as he looked out the window from time to time. Alabaster stared out the window and snapped pictures of the beautiful sky.

Several hours later the plane landed in warm, tropical temperatures. Such a nice break from the North Pole. This is why every summer they visited Hawaii!

Jinx and Jangle had been to Hawaii before, but this was the first time for Snowball and Alabaster. All of them were eager to explore, but first they were very hungry. After going to their hotel to change clothes and drop of their luggage, they headed for a nice restaurant and filled their stomachs.

Walking out of the restaurant, they were discussing where to go first.

Alabaster was dragging behind a little bit.

“Feeling a little too full?” questioned Jinx to Alabaster.

“I wouldn’t doubt it if he did.” said Snowball. ‘He sure did eat a lot of rice! He said he had a craving for it and he wasn’t kidding!”

They all laughed as Alabaster made a face at them.

“So are we all in agreement? We are going to visit the Aquarium?”  asked Jangle.

“Yes!” They all replied.

it was just a few blocks from the restaurant and the weather was lovely, so they all enjoyed the walk, and didn’t mind going a little slower for Alabaster.

The building was huge and they had a great time exploring the Aquarium. They saw manatees and jellyfish, sharks, and sea turtles. The sea turtles were Alabaster’s favorite.

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Jinx really liked the Mola-Mola fish. The others thought it was a little strange looking though.

photo credit -pinterest

Snowball’s favorite fish was the Clown fish of course, though, all of them liked that one as well and there was one for each of them!

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“Oh look there is Candy Cane’s favorite fish!”  The Angelfish!

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After a couple of hours of being there they decided they would return to their hotel and call it a early night, for they were feeling pretty tired.

They were walking back to the hotel when Snowball said, ” Look! There is a Wax  Museum, why don’t we go in for just a little bit.”

They agreed and walked in. They thought it strange that when they walked in no one was at the desk to greet them and in fact they didn’t see anyone! Well perhaps it was soon time to close. They decided they would just look around a little and then leave. They were impressed, the wax figures really did look real! They half expected them to start talking.

Jinx was walking and started to trip over a piece of carpet on the floor. He put his hand out against a wax figure to catch himself, and the figure began to wobble!

“We better get out of here, before Jinx touches something and it breaks!”

They all made their way back to the front entrance, still finding it a little strange that no one else was in the building.

Snowball pushed on the door and ….

“Umm guys its not opening!”

“What do you mean its not opening!” said Jangle, “Let me try.” He jiggled the handle and sure enough the door didn’t open.

“Being the modest person that I am, let me just point out the fact that it was not my idea to come in here!” said Alabaster and all eyes looked at Snowball.

“Hey! All you guys agreed with me.” said Snowball.

“Well lets be logical about this now, I am sure that there is probably another exit out of this building. We just have to find it.” Jinx said.

They all went different directions looking for another exit, and they all returned to the entrance with the same conclusion. There was no other way out of the building.

“So Mr. Logical, now what do we do?” asked Snowball.

“Well if you ask me, it looks like you all got yourselves in quite a predicament!”

They all looked at each other in shock. Had they just heard what they thought they heard?

“Oooh that wax figure didn’t just say what I think it said, did it?” said Jangle.

The rest nodded their heads in silence, wondering what may happen next!

***Part 2 will be coming***

 

 

Return to the Castle

If you missed Part 1 of Olivia’s story here is the link. Castle of Dreams

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Olivia was sitting in her room trying to read. The book was intriguing, but not intriguing enough to stop her mind from returning to the castle. It had been a week since she had ran away from the castle. She tried to distract herself with other things and forget about the abandoned castle that she had come across on her walk. The one she had visited, dreaming about her Prince. What had caused the crash of the wine bottles that day she was there? What caused the shadow that she had seen, as she ran out of the castle in fear? She was one to not let go of questions easily, so she knew what she had to do. Putting down her book, she went to take a walk.

Inside she was shaking as she knocked on the door of the castle. She waited and started to turn the knob as the door suddenly opened, causing her to jump! In front of her stood a young man who she guessed to be in his 20’s, like her. He had sandy brown curly hair, and a smile that made her speechless.

“HI! May I help you?” the man asked, as Olivia  stood there with her mouth open.

Quickly she shut her mouth, but still no words came out.

“Are you Okay Miss?” The man was still smiling, but beginning to look a little concerned.

“I….I….just didn’t expect anyone to be here?” Olivia said.

The man looked at her, a little perplexed, “Then why did you knock?”

“I mean, I didn’t expect you to be here!”

Oh what was she saying, Olivia’s cheeks were starting to blush, she was always having problems with her words getting her into awkward situations!

“I am sor…sorry…I really should go.” She turned to leave, but the man reached out and touched her on her shoulder.

“No need to run off, I was just getting ready to eat, you are welcome to join me. My name is Brantley, what is yours?”

Olivia thought for a moment, dare she really go in? It wasn’t like her to just say Yes to lunch with strangers but Oh that smile! She did know karate, and wasn’t afraid to use it, so she gathered her courage and replied. ” My name is Olivia, and thank you, I would like that.” and she walked in the door.

She followed him down the long hallway to the table that she had seen before. There was one bottle of Chardonnay sitting in the middle of the table.

“I didn’t fix anything fancy, didn’t expect company. Especially not someone so pretty.”

Olivia felt her cheeks grow warm and she smiled.

“Not too many people show up here, its usually animals that I see. They are fun to watch, but don’t exactly make great conversationalists!”

They sat down at the table to eat some Strawberry-Avocado salad with ham and cheese sandwiches.

Olivia was talking when something brushed up against her bare legs, making her gasp!

Brantley laughed. “I see that Midnight came to say Hi! I hope you aren’t allergic to cats.”

Olivia looked down and saw the a coal black cat with emerald green eyes looking up at her.

“He can be quite the troublemaker sometimes! The other week he broke my wine bottles sitting on the table.  He is lucky that he can also be so sweet when he purrs and just wants to lie on my lap. He keeps me company. This big castle does get lonely at times. Being out in the middle of nowhere enables me to be able to leave the door unlocked when I go out a lot, but loneliness can be a drawback.”

They talked well into the afternoon as they moved outside to a beautiful garden. Sat on the patio and shared some Chardonnay.

Olivia smiled to herself as they talked, and a warm feeling began growing in her heart.  She laughed to herself remembering how he had tripped as they walked out to the patio. He said he felt like he had 2 left feet a lot. When he poured their drinks he accidentally spilled some on Olivia’s hand, while she was holding the glass. The poor guy apologized shaking his head.

“Being graceful is not a strong point of mine!” he claimed.

Who said that a Prince couldn’t be a little clumsy, thought Olivia. She was enjoying his company, feeling very relaxed and thinking that sometimes fairy tales do come true!

 

 

Castle of Dreams

Another day, and still her Prince hadn’t arrived. Not that she really expected him too, but it was fun to dream. Dream that she was Rapunzel and that one day her Prince would appear, climbing up the trellis to her. He would take one look into her sea green eyes, be drawn into its depths and like all fairy tales, they would live happily ever after!

She had found this old castle along her stroll one day in the countryside. The flowers struck her eye and her curiosity drew her to knock on the door. There was no answer as she waited. She then tried the door and it was unlocked, dare she go inside? Her curiosity got the best of her and she bravely opened the door and stepped inside. Her footsteps echoed as she walked down the long halls gazing all around. Olivia saw a table with bottles of wine on it. Was someone living here or had they been left here as the residents of the castle had to quickly flee the castle due to …. her imagination was going!

Olivia was intrigued, she kept finding her way back to the castle. Today was the 7th day that she had come to this magical place. Always being sure to knock, but more and more convinced that the castle really was abandoned. She found a piano and enjoyed letting her fingers dance among the keys. It had been a long time since she had played, but it was all coming back to her. Her favorite songs that she had memorized by ear.

She gazed out the window, the aroma of the sweet flowers filling her senses. CRASH! Her heart jumped into her throat as she turned around and started running. What had caused that noise? Then she saw the spilled wine and the shattered bottles, and gasped at the shadow that she saw slink around the corner and out of sight. It didn’t take her long to make it out of the castle and she kept running. Running and not being able to stop the questions circling around in her mind. Did someone know she was there? What had caused the crash and what made the shadow on the wall? Would she be brave enough to come back and find out the answers?

**pictures from Pinterest**

 

The Animals Save the Day

Tamara was in the grocery store, and she once again had the strange feeling that she was being followed. She glanced behind her but saw no one. What was going on with her, more and more she felt herself feeling nervous when she was out. Was that mysterious lady really following her and if so, why?

She quickly gathered up what was on her list, checked out and headed out of the store. All she wanted was to get home and relax in her pool. It had been a long day at work, and then she made a few stops on the way home. The grocery store was her last one. She needed to get her Banana fudge ice cream and Coffee ice cream home before they melted.

Who was that standing by her car? It was her! The mysterious lady must have been following her, she was standing by her car! Tamara picked up her pace, she was determined to get to the bottom of what this lady wanted with her.

“Excuse me Ma’am, why are you standing by my car?”  Tamara asked as she walked up to her car.

“HI! I am Tanya” , and she put out her hand.  ” I am new to the area and now my car has a flat tire.  Sorry, to bother you, but I have seen you in the neighborhood and you looked like a nice person so I was hoping you could help me.”

Tamara’s heart was pulled. She did have a kind heart and was always quick to offer a helping hand. She didn’t know a lot about cars but she did know how to change a flat tire. Her Dad had taught her well.

“Sure, I can help you, where is your car?”

Tanya smiled, as she led the way to the next row of cars. Her car was parked away from the other cars in the far corner. They got to her car and Tanya popped the trunk.”I think everything you need to change it is in here.”

Tamara looked in and suddenly she felt something hard hit her in the head. She screamed as everything went black.

Tanya slammed the trunk shut. Well that was easy enough, she thought. Patrick’s girlfriend is pretty gullible. Now to pay Patrick a surprise visit, she had some unfinished business with him to take care of!

They were almost to his house when…. Tonya slammed on her brakes! What was that blasted cow doing straight ahead of her in the middle of the road and…!

She pounded the steering wheel. Patrick and Luke were standing on either side of Betsy!

There was no room for her to turn around, plus Luke and Patrick were walking to her car now. Tanya smacked her head on the steering wheel as she heard Patrick’s voice.

“Well, well, well, I see we meet again! Didn’t expect to meet up so soon again, guess you just couldn’t resist wanting to see my handsome face again?” Tanya made a face! “I don’t understand, how did you know?”

Luke said, “We will explain, but first I think you have a trunk to open!”

Tanya pulled the lever to pop the trunk and Patrick pulled out Tamara who had a throbbing headache, and was shook up, but found comfort in Patrick’s strong arms.

It didn’t take long to arrest Tanya and send her off to prison once more. This time there would be tighter security, Luke would see to it! He took Tanya,  while Patrick took Tamara back to his place to help her recover from her frightening experience.

Tamara laid on the couch with her head in Patrick’s lap, as he gently rubbed it.

“Explain to me again how everything unfolded.”

“Luke had called me about Anna escaping from prison. It seems that Betsy had come back to his farm one day and told him everything. She had thought she wanted to escape the farm but then started feeling guilty for Luke had always been really good to her. Apparently Luke has some very special animals, for they all helped put this plan into motion.

Luke brought Betsy and a goose along with him about a week ago now. We had the goose trail Tanya, and she would report back to Betsy who told Luke. The goose was in the parking lot at the grocery store, she saw everything that happened and we flew into action when we heard the news.

Tamara sighed, “I have never been so grateful for animals before as I am right now!”

Patrick leaned down and gave her a kiss.

“I can’t imagine what I would have done if something would have happened to you. Betsy the cow and the awesome Goose are our heroes! I heard that Luke has a Gnu on his farm now too. Oh and an extra cow named Bessie. Anna loves them all!

They all have brought Luke comfort, as he was sorry to lose his pig and Charlie the Chicken. He still has never found out what happened to them, they disappeared the same day as Betsy did and they never came back!

Yes, Luke has his extra special animals and I have Myrtle the turtle, who just eats earthworms and….”

Patrick stood up quickly, letting Tamara’s head drop on the couch.

“Myrtle, Where is Myrtle? How did her lid get knocked off?”

 

 

A Time to Dance

Patrick had his place all cleaned up and looking pretty nice he thought. Myrtle had her head in her shell when he was vacuuming but she was poking it out now as she stared  out of the glass.  It was 5:30, Tamara was due to come at 6, perhaps he would take Myrtle out of her for a little and let her roam around.

He took off the lid and gently lifted her out. When he put her on the floor he felt like she smiled at him. Just then his doorbell rang. Was Tamara early? He opened the door to find a child selling Girl Scout Cookies. Patrick did have a sweet tooth, so he ordered some Thin Mints and some of their Coconut cookies. He closed the door and walked back to the couch to watch Myrtle explore some more, but where was she? He got down on the floor and looked under the sofa, but didn’t see her there. The little girl at the door had been chatty but he didn’t think they had talked that long. Myrtle was a turtle, how could she disappear so fast!

He kept crawling around but couldn’t see any sign of her, where did she go? He was feeling really confused when the doorbell rang again. Looking at the time he realized that now it would be Tamara. What a way to start off a date night, searching for his missing turtle.  He got up with a sigh and went to open the door.

Tamara was standing there smiling and looking nice in her bright yellow top and sunflower leggings.

“Hi there handsome”, she said, but then her smile changed as she saw the worried look on his face.

“What is wrong?”

“I can’t find Myrtle! I took her out of her cage and then the doorbell rang and …OH NO! What if she slipped out the door?

“She isn’t that speedy of a turtle, she probably just found a nice place to curl up and hide in. She can fit into some pretty small places. Myrtle, Myrtle, Where are you?”

Patrick started laughing. “She is a turtle, she isn’t going to answer you back. The last I knew turtles couldn’t talk.”

Tamara made a face at Patrick and continued calling as she looked.

“Found her!” Tamara shouted.

She had slipped underneath Patrick’s baseball glove that he had lying in the corner of the floor.

Patrick breathed a sigh of relief as he picked Myrtle up and  put her back into her terrarium.

“I thought you were a detective, and you couldn’t even find a missing turtle?” Tamara joked.

“Well it was kind of fun watching you crawl around on the floor.”

Tamara looked at Patrick’s twinkling eyes and she didn’t say a word.

Patrick walked over to the stereo and turned on some music. Tamara was sitting at the table and he came up behind her kissing her gently on her neck. He breathed in the soft fragrance of her sweet perfume and for a moment forgot about the food that he had prepared for them.

He had made his specialty,  Manicotti, with Tiramisu for dessert. He brought it over to the table and then poured them each some wine before he sat down.

“This smells delicious! I am impressed!” said Tamara.

“Hopefully you are still impressed, after you taste it. My Mom was a great cook and I was able to learn a little from her. I am also really good at ordering pizza, for when some of my dishes don’t turn out!”

They were enjoying a nice dinner until Tamara brought up how at times she had a strange feeling that someone was following her whenever she came to see Patrick. The only person she ever noticed around her though was some  lady with a broad rimmed hat on her head, and dark sunglasses.

Patrick started to say that he hadn’t noticed anyone before, but then he remembered the other day when he was backing his car out of the garage.

“I am sure its probably nothing, wouldn’t know why some lady would be ….” he paused.

Tamara looked at him, “Yes?”  Would be… what?”

Patrick took a gulp of wine, ” I don’t think you need to worry, but I will see if I notice her tomorrow when I go to work.”

Through the rest of dinner, Patrick had a nagging thought in his head, that he tried to dismiss. Would Anna really come looking for him??

He shook his head, watching Tamara clean off the table. When she went to take his plate, he took her hand. “The dishes can wait.”  he said.

He stood up and led her into the center of the room. “May I have this dance?”

Tamara smiled, laying her head against his chest as they swayed to the music, and all thoughts of Anna left Patrick’s mind.

 

 

The Unexpected Twist!

Patrick was drinking his latte as he sat out on his back deck in the early morning hours.

He was thinking about last night and how magical it had been. Life was starting to look very bright for him. After catching Anna, who had been living under the false identity of Tanya,  and putting her in jail, he had received a promotion at work. Then a few weeks after that he bumped into Tamara. Quite literally bumped into her! He was at a pet store, for he had decided he needed a pet. It had to be something though that didn’t require lots of time and attention due to his chaotic work schedule.

He was trying to decide between fish or a turtle or he did really like the guinea pig in the corner of the store. Finally he decided that the turtle would be the least amount of work and he thought its painted shell looked pretty cool, so he bought the turtle and left.  When he got to his car he placed the aquarium on the floor and then noticed the time. He had spent more time in the pet store than he had thought, he had to hurry to get home and get ready for work. Put his car into reverse and “BAM!” he hit another car! He got out of the car feeling mad at himself and embarrassed. The lady whose car he hit was very nice and understanding as they exchanged insurance information. The damage wasn’t that bad thankfully.

Patrick had been mad at himself for the rest of that day, but it turned out in the days to follow that hitting Tamara’s car led to something very good. Patrick had called her the next day  to apologize again and they ended up talking on the phone for quite awhile. They had several more phone conversations after that and then they started meeting on his lunch break. It was the best time of Patrick’s day.  He felt at such ease around her, conversation flowed easily and he felt himself falling more and more with each date that they had.

He was beginning to wake up in the morning with her face in his mind. Thinking of her smile stirred his heart. Her hair was strawberry blonde and she had it cut in a cute pixie style. He loved to see the way her green eyes would light up when she laughed. The feel of the warmth of her hand in his, when they would walk along the water. He laughed at the memory of the squeal she made as he put his arm around her waist, teasing her about taking a little dip in the cool water.

Last night he had taken her to a little more fancier restaurant than usual, for their dates. There was candlelight at the table and in the corner of the room 2 musicians were playing, a cellist and a violinist. The music was very nice, but Patrick was more intent on feeling himself getting lost in her eyes,as he noticed the faint blush that came across her cheeks, when she felt his eyes on her.

Well, enough daydreaming, he had to get himself ready for work. The bluebird was singing his song from the top of the Maple Tree and Patrick felt like singing as well, while thinking about seeing Tamara tonight.  He finished his latte and checked on his pet turtle, Myrtle. She seemed to be content with her new home, as she happily ate some earthworms that he had put into the aquarium for her.

He was glad that the sun was shining. He decided to ride his bike to work today. In the summertime he enjoyed doing that as much as he could. It was only a couple miles to work and it was good exercise.

Whistling a happy tune he got his bike out of the garage and headed out of his driveway. He had taken no notice of the lady standing on the sidewalk. She was dressed in a simple turquoise sun dress with a wide brimmed hat and dark sunglasses, and was very intent on watching Patrick.

Patrick was going through paperwork on his desk when his cell phone rang.

“Hi Luke! What’s up?” Patrick said with a smile on his face.

His smile quickly faded when he heard Luke’s words. “Anna escaped from prison!”

Patrick smacked his head! The day had started with such pleasant thoughts, but now there were two questions in the forefront of his mind.  Where did Anna flee to  and what name was she using now?