Page 36 of Roses Are Dead
In the dried mud above the high waterline was the imprint of a bare foot—my bare foot.
I walked to where I’d parked Carl’s car and turned to where I’d seen the animal.
“He saw me.”
My knees gave out, and I plopped down on the dirt. A crow called from the meadow. Another answered it.
“Dear Goddess, I hope you know what you’re doing.” Whether I spoke that to my deity or to myself, it didn’t matter. Bear had seen me completely naked. Vulnerable. Alone.
And done nothing but observe.
Sure, I could be reading this completely wrong and it was merely a coincidence, but the signs were everywhere. This was meant to be.
On the walk back, I threaded stalks of chicory flowers into a small wreath. I laid it at the entrance to the path before stepping into Bear’s yard. The day was warm, one of the few clear, bright, and gentle days left for the year. It would be a good day to sit in the sunlight and bathe in nature.
An hour later, I emerged from the house. My freshly washed hair was down. I held a drying towel to catch the drips, and had barely more than one of Bear’s super-sized thermal shirts on. I left a small food offering near my flower wreath for the pixies.
Then, I curled my toes into the deep carpet of grass and clover Bear hadn’t mowed in weeks. The scent of fall was in the air. It was different from the growth and flowering of spring and summer. There was an earthy quality to it. As if the very last molecules of life were lifted into the atmosphere, rich with flavor, but fleeting.
“Whatcha doing?”
I startled. A teenage girl, probably late teens, with reddish-blonde hair and a quizzical cant to one eyebrow stared over the fence at me.
“I was just drying my hair.” I tried to be polite, but hadn’t expected anyone to pay attention to me. This area of the subdivision wasn’t over-populated… yet.
Except of course, the neighbor next door. This must be Kate’s daughter. They looked similar, except for the eyes.
“You have really long hair. That must take forever.”
I laughed. It did. Especially because I tried to let it dry naturally rather than force hot air into it. The latter only made it brittle.
“Days like today help.”
“I’ll bet. I’m Zoe. You must be Bear’s new girlfriend.”
Yikes. I scrambled for something convincing to say. For some reason, I didn’t want to lie. It stuck in my throat. I settled for, “Girlfriend is a relative term.”
“Oh right, fuck bunny, whatever. Same difference.”
I swallowed. That’s all women were to him? “Does your mother know you swear like that, Zoe?”
A voice from the house’s balcony piped up. “She does. And Zoe, knock it off. Don’t bother Bear’s woman.”
“I was just talking. Can’t I talk now?” There was an angry bite to her words.
Late teens. I remember those years… not fondly. I’m certain the people around me then didn’t remember me fondly, either. I waved to Kate who had stepped out onto a balcony attached to the second floor. “Hi, Kate.”
“Hello. We met last night, but I didn’t catch your name.”
“Last night? OOoooOOoo.” Zoe made it sound nefarious.
Which, technically, it truly was. I ignored her tone and addressed her mother. “It’s Roishin.”
Kate barely blinked. “That’s a pretty name.”
“It’s Irish.”
Zoe butted in, “Who named you? My mom named me. At least that’s better than ‘Mini-Me,’ which is what the guys are calling me now because I take after my dad.”
