Chapter 3: Liquid Gold
The following is a work of fiction, and a continuation from the previous posts, Chapter 1-2:
I thought it would take me much longer to figure out who my new neighbors were, due mostly to the fact that I had turned into an extreme introvert. I wasn't the kind of neighbor who would bring in your trash can for you if you were out of town. Or for that matter, I wasn't the kind of neighbor who was ever asked to do a simple task as that. I had kept to myself on the usually vacant street, and I had preferred it that way.
I had woke that next morning, still with no idea what day of week it was, and heard laughter again. It was again like a bullet piercing my chest. Oh how I used to laugh. My twenties and thirties were filled with endless laughter, cocktails, and traveling. My forties had turned a different path. It looked something like a mixture of insecurity, seclusion, sadness, but still endless cocktails.
I had lived here with a constant sense of not knowing what time it was. I lived instead under these four time tables: morning, lunch, afternoon, evening. Since the laughter had woken me from my slumber, I decided to get out of bed and make some morning coffee. The light didn't look as bright as it usually did – I presumed this meant it was earlier than I usually rose, so I turned to the trusty companion of coffee to get me through the morning. That was when I first noticed what time it was, when I opened the coffee maker to pour a cup of water into the black plastic container. Heavens, it was 7:41 in the morning. I probably hadn't been up this early in years. I found some coffee grinds I had purchased when I first arrived in this house, months ago buried in the back of the cupboard, and started the coffee maker after loading it up – not following the instructions on how many scoops were needed.
I saw and heard the coffee maker start dripping, and walked over towards the sink, seeing if I could catch a glimpse of who was outside. Who was outside laughing at the early hours of 7:45? I could make out an image through the trees that divided the two houses. I saw a red shirt dancing around in the trees. Was this person dancing to music? Good heavens, it looked like a rather young person. I caught a glimpse of her outline continuing to move behind the trees, she couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. I sat there seeing this figure dancing through the trees and thought of what I was like at 15. All of the images that danced through my mind could be summed up in one word: adventurous. The woman I saw in the window's reflection looked anything but that. Sure, I had sun marks and some skin damage from my earlier years of adventurous. When I thought back to my 20's and 30's, I feel like all of my fondest memories were outside. Whether I was drinking wine on the beach, eating at a cafe outside with a friend, or touring some exotic country. My fondest memories were outside.
I slowly drifted out of my momentary time lapse of day dreaming, and refocused on the window outside of me as I heard the coffee maker crackling the last of the water. I retreated to the coffee maker and poured what tasted like the heavens into my cup. I hadn't had coffee in ages and it instantly made me feel like I was floating. Half a cup of this liquid gold left me jittery and did just the trick to get me through the morning on my less than usual amount of sleep.
My restlessness moved me to put on my workout gear and head outside. My legs were too antsy for a walk. I couldn't settle for that – I needed to run. So I ran for what must have been five miles and came back walking along the beach, holding my shoe laces attached to my shoes swung of my shoulders, with my damp and smelly socks nestled in their front toes. The cool salty water under my toes felt incredible after a run in this humid weather. My face felt like it was glowing with dark, blotchy crimson circles. A similar reaction happens when I get very nervous too. It had gotten better over the years, but from time to time, my cheeks fill with little red blotchy circles, that no amount of makeup or a scarf can cover.
I was walking towards my house when I saw my mysterious neighbors on their dock. The entrance of the dock must have been only forty feet from the edge of my house's property. In other words, it was close. It was though, a long and beautiful dock that jetted out into the water to hold two boat hangers, two ladders, and for the first time I noticed a diving board nestled there at the end of the dock. A family of just three for that large of a house, with just one daughter. They saw me walking and waved towards me. I heard something along the lines of, "Hi there neighbor", from what I could make out over the motion of the waves in the ocean. I nodded and only slighted lifted my hand in what must have been the most pathetic looking of a wave. 'Good enough' I thought to myself. The parents looked normal. The type of parents that I had seen visit this island before.
I glanced towards the end of the dock and saw a girl turn around and look towards me. It must have been the same girl I saw dancing through the trees earlier this morning. She had been starring off towards the ocean and glanced towards me, where I noticed she was holding a fishing rod, with the biggest grin plastered on her face. She lifted her free hand and waved to me as I started towards the house. From afar I made out that she had long dark hair, pulled into a lose braid, and a bright yellow sundress. I don't know why, but that yellow dress stood out to me. As if it was something important for me that I should remember.
I thought it would take me much longer to figure out who my new neighbors were, due mostly to the fact that I had turned into an extreme introvert. I wasn't the kind of neighbor who would bring in your trash can for you if you were out of town. Or for that matter, I wasn't the kind of neighbor who was ever asked to do a simple task as that. I had kept to myself on the usually vacant street, and I had preferred it that way.
I had woke that next morning, still with no idea what day of week it was, and heard laughter again. It was again like a bullet piercing my chest. Oh how I used to laugh. My twenties and thirties were filled with endless laughter, cocktails, and traveling. My forties had turned a different path. It looked something like a mixture of insecurity, seclusion, sadness, but still endless cocktails.
I had lived here with a constant sense of not knowing what time it was. I lived instead under these four time tables: morning, lunch, afternoon, evening. Since the laughter had woken me from my slumber, I decided to get out of bed and make some morning coffee. The light didn't look as bright as it usually did – I presumed this meant it was earlier than I usually rose, so I turned to the trusty companion of coffee to get me through the morning. That was when I first noticed what time it was, when I opened the coffee maker to pour a cup of water into the black plastic container. Heavens, it was 7:41 in the morning. I probably hadn't been up this early in years. I found some coffee grinds I had purchased when I first arrived in this house, months ago buried in the back of the cupboard, and started the coffee maker after loading it up – not following the instructions on how many scoops were needed.
I saw and heard the coffee maker start dripping, and walked over towards the sink, seeing if I could catch a glimpse of who was outside. Who was outside laughing at the early hours of 7:45? I could make out an image through the trees that divided the two houses. I saw a red shirt dancing around in the trees. Was this person dancing to music? Good heavens, it looked like a rather young person. I caught a glimpse of her outline continuing to move behind the trees, she couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. I sat there seeing this figure dancing through the trees and thought of what I was like at 15. All of the images that danced through my mind could be summed up in one word: adventurous. The woman I saw in the window's reflection looked anything but that. Sure, I had sun marks and some skin damage from my earlier years of adventurous. When I thought back to my 20's and 30's, I feel like all of my fondest memories were outside. Whether I was drinking wine on the beach, eating at a cafe outside with a friend, or touring some exotic country. My fondest memories were outside.
I slowly drifted out of my momentary time lapse of day dreaming, and refocused on the window outside of me as I heard the coffee maker crackling the last of the water. I retreated to the coffee maker and poured what tasted like the heavens into my cup. I hadn't had coffee in ages and it instantly made me feel like I was floating. Half a cup of this liquid gold left me jittery and did just the trick to get me through the morning on my less than usual amount of sleep.
My restlessness moved me to put on my workout gear and head outside. My legs were too antsy for a walk. I couldn't settle for that – I needed to run. So I ran for what must have been five miles and came back walking along the beach, holding my shoe laces attached to my shoes swung of my shoulders, with my damp and smelly socks nestled in their front toes. The cool salty water under my toes felt incredible after a run in this humid weather. My face felt like it was glowing with dark, blotchy crimson circles. A similar reaction happens when I get very nervous too. It had gotten better over the years, but from time to time, my cheeks fill with little red blotchy circles, that no amount of makeup or a scarf can cover.
I was walking towards my house when I saw my mysterious neighbors on their dock. The entrance of the dock must have been only forty feet from the edge of my house's property. In other words, it was close. It was though, a long and beautiful dock that jetted out into the water to hold two boat hangers, two ladders, and for the first time I noticed a diving board nestled there at the end of the dock. A family of just three for that large of a house, with just one daughter. They saw me walking and waved towards me. I heard something along the lines of, "Hi there neighbor", from what I could make out over the motion of the waves in the ocean. I nodded and only slighted lifted my hand in what must have been the most pathetic looking of a wave. 'Good enough' I thought to myself. The parents looked normal. The type of parents that I had seen visit this island before.
I glanced towards the end of the dock and saw a girl turn around and look towards me. It must have been the same girl I saw dancing through the trees earlier this morning. She had been starring off towards the ocean and glanced towards me, where I noticed she was holding a fishing rod, with the biggest grin plastered on her face. She lifted her free hand and waved to me as I started towards the house. From afar I made out that she had long dark hair, pulled into a lose braid, and a bright yellow sundress. I don't know why, but that yellow dress stood out to me. As if it was something important for me that I should remember.
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