https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYHxGBH6o4M
Disco was over, no one did the hustle, Sara Bell wanted to go to
bed and pull the covers over her head. That would mess her hair and ruin her make-up
and Eric could still come.
Picking up the newspaper to read, that damn dog downstairs was
yipping.
Stomping to the refrigerator and back, Sara makes an angry burst
of stomps.
Old lady Mauldlin hits the ceiling. Sara
walks into the bathroom, turns on the shower and focuses the water so it will
leak in Mrs. Mauldlin’s bathroom.
Taking a triumphant stomp, the floor collapses beneath her right
foot. Steam envelops her.
Kneeling in pain, willing herself not to cry, tears flow.
She told Mrs. Mauldlin if she had a BB gun she would shoot her
yapping dog this morning.
Mrs. Mauldling called her a “trumpet”. She told her mother later
that afternoon.
“Sara, why would she call you a “strumpet”.
“I don’t know. She is a mean old bag.”
“Are you having multiple sex partners.”
“What? Why would you think that?”
“She’s not calling you a trumpet, she’s calling you a strumpet.
She’s saying you’re promiscuous.”
“I’m not a freak.” Sara slammed the phone down.
Something sharp prevented her from pulling her leg from the floor.
Mrs. Mauldlin and the building manager talk.
“There’s her foot. She’s not responding.”
Sara talks to them but they cannot hear.
Mrs. Mauldlin says call 911.
The building manager says, “We don’t need to do that.”
The door closes downstairs. Mrs. Mauldlin speaks to 911.
The floor isn’t sturdy under her left knee. Water was trickling
down the wall to puddle on the linoleum under Sara.
The manager argued with the firefighters.
The firefighters removed a section of the floor. “We’re going to
lift you on three.”
The bruises faded to green, her knee aches before it rains, the
long angry scratch healed. Sara helped Mrs. Mauldlin move. Sara hung up on Eric
when he called.
I love the return to Eric at the end. This was a really interesting piece. It feels incredibly sad. Thanks so much for linking up.
ReplyDeleteI like the sense of routine in the neighbors' acts against each other, and then the break from that routine at the end.
ReplyDeleteClose quarters with neighbors we dislike can be challenging. I'm glad she got rid of Eric in end, and that she found enough peace with her neighbor to help with the move.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I live in a home surrounded by plenty of grass to buffer and eliminate this interaction. Dealing with the wife and kids is enough excitement.
ReplyDeleteSara is having a bad day, it seems. :) I'm with Draug - I like the almost comfortable ill will between the neighbors.
ReplyDeleteI love the detail of her pointing the shower so that it leaks on Mrs. Maudlin (great name).
ReplyDeleteBrings home "do unto others" in a unique way. You have a lively character in Sara!
ReplyDelete