Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: CALL (01/14/16)
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TITLE: One last Number | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
01/16/16 -
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A single feather drifted onto the newly finished deck glistening with fresh walnut stain. It danced with the breeze which carried it there for a moment and then stuck in place like a mouse in a sticky trap. The breeze continued to tug at the barbs anchored to the quill and finally one afterfeather loosened and skipped off to play.
I knew Barb waited for my call but this deck had been my final promise to Cindy. At least, that’s what I told myself last week after our latest argument.
That feather was annoying, ruining my perfect work. I laid the phone down. ‘Barb can wait a few minutes’ I reasoned. ‘I’m not leaving Cindy with one more thing hanging over my head.’
It really was ironic. Cindy had nagged and nagged about getting a new deck now that the boys were old enough to play in the back yard by themselves. There always seemed to be a football game on when the weather was good but she was incessant in her irritating demands.
I finally escaped the volley of suggestions one October day as the maple leafs skittered into piles along the fence. I stopped at the Home Specialty Shop and that’s when I met Barb. Her red hair flowed like a dancing stream over firm shoulders. She had it tucked back behind one ear with an artificial daisy. Her laughter echoed off the concrete walls in a way that drew my heart like a magnet. Her eyes glistened with a sparkle and I couldn’t look away, even when she winked.
After I found the words to describe my dream project she escorted me around the store and taught me more things about craftsmanship than I could imagine. She half bounced, half glided, along in front of me pointing out all the options I should consider. She dreamed my dream with me and showed me how I could make it better. She gave me her number to call if I ever needed anything else. “I’m always available,” she said.
Cindy must have wondered why I had to make so many trips back to the Specialty Shop but I’m sure she appreciated the results. I don’t think she even dreamed that the carpenter I was calling to get tips from, to help me through the rough parts, was another woman. The trips away from home got longer and the work days at home got shorter but the nagging stopped. Cindy took the boys to their soccer games and left me on my own.
I think one thing that kept her from being suspicious is that I kept going to church with her every Sunday. I still said grace before meals when I was there. I even called her once a day to let her know when I’d be home. I didn’t really plan on leaving Cindy.
The problem came when her friend Doris saw me a little too cozy with Barb at a coffee shop near the Specialty Shop. I could feel the glacial effect the moment I walked in the door. She did wait until the boys went to bed before she started the interrogation. Of course I passed off the incident as nothing.
When a third friend reported my tryst with ‘the redhead’ a few weeks later I began to suspect she was spying on me. I arranged to meet Cindy somewhere else. Somewhere in those times I crossed a few boundaries. I still didn’t intend to leave but then the arguments at home began. Sometimes, even in front of the boys.
Today was the day I intended to step away from it all. I was one number away from completing my final call when that feather landed. I began to scan the craftsmanship and recognized the time invested in creating something solid and lasting. I started thinking about my marriage in that light. The rot had definitely set in through neglect.
I looked back at the phone. Maybe I had been calling the wrong number. A different carpenter seemed to whisper in my ear “I made you better than that.”
I snatched up the phone and walked out the front door to the car. “Hello, hon!” I said when she answered. “What are you and the boys doing after the game?... Yes, I want to take you all out for dinner and then I want to show you the finished deck.”
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