Drown #10: the mouse, part 1

January 2086. Stephanie Nova is 26, Justin Kim is 25. Willow is 4, Lily is 3. Sharon Coolidge is 32. 

* Err, so Sharon the innkeeper and Colette the realtor are different characters, just FYI, since they look pretty similar. I should have given one of them different hair or something, lol! 

** briefly NSFW

Copper Hill was a full day's drive away from Lakeside Heights. Stephanie and Willow had long since fallen asleep, but Lily fought off her nap. She was too excited. "Dada, is that our house?"

"Nope, Lil, not yet."

"Is that one?"

"No, not that one. Why don't you take a nap?"

"I not tired. And 'cause then you'd be all alone."

Lily fought sleep for a few more minutes, but then she finally closed her eyes and napped. As Justin drove the last quiet hour into town, he didn't feel alone. He felt dutiful. He was the transporter and provider and protector of his whole sleeping family.

He stopped at a stop sign, though there was no traffic coming, no traffic in sight at all, and he took in the snowy landscape. The road to the left, Bramblewine Lane, went to their house. But at the close of a short January evening, the sun was setting fast. They would see the house in the morning, but for now they had to get to the hotel for the night.


They all put their coats back on and prepared for the cold.


"Whoa, our house is so big!" Willow said.

"Sorry, girlie, this is just the hotel."

"Oh. Is our house gonna be big?"

"Not too big," Justin said. "Just right for us. We’ll see our house tomorrow, but it's too late tonight. Tonight we need some dinner and a place to sleep."


Their host had asked for an estimated arrival time so that she could make sure dinner was ready for them. "I’m so happy to have you all, Sharon Coolidge said. I haven't had any guests since before the invasion. People stopped traveling, as you can imagine. But I have the air filters inspected and certified, so you have nothing to worry about. It’s required by law in the hospitality business. What brings you to the area?"

"We're looking at a house," Justin said.

"How great," Sharon said. "If you like it, we could be neighbors."

Stephanie and Willow were still half asleep, eating with their eyes closed. Lily was disappointed that she wouldn't see her house tonight. Justin hadn't spoken to another awake adult in hours, so he was happy to talk to Sharon.


Sharon told him about the town, which once thrived around an old copper mine which had been abandoned and forgotten with time. Her family had been in the area for ages. The school was small, but dedicated. She'd attended there herself as a child. It was quiet here in the winter and busy with tourists for the rest of the year.

Justin enjoyed the stories, but the rest of them were ready for bed.

"I'm sorry if we're not better company," Justin explained. "I think we’ll probably just eat and go to bed tonight."


The girls fell asleep without even taking off their coats.

It had been a long drive. Justin didn't think any of them had expected what a toll it would take. They were exhausted. Could they really do this every other weekend to bring Willow back for visitation? "Steph, do you think it'll be too far? Steph?"

Justin thought Stephanie was hugging him, but then she started to snore lightly near his ear.

—

In the morning, everyone was refreshed and in much better spirits. Sharon had a hot breakfast of french toast with sliced mango laid out for them in the dining room. They all devoured their meals, except for Stephanie. The french toast smelled wonderful, in theory. The idea of it sounded wonderful, in theory. But when she raised an actual bite to her mouth, when she smelled the pat of butter on top, melting, so pungent and oily, it set off her nausea, bubbling like an imminent volcano of morning sickness.


"You don't like it?" Sharon asked. "Can I make you something different? Some fruit? Some toast?"

"No, thank you," Stephanie said, feeling her face burn hot with embarrassment and wanting to hide. "Can we not talk about food, maybe?"

Justin looked concerned. "Steph, you don't look so good."

Stephanie sprinted to the bathroom, but she didn't make it quite in time. She thought she should aim for her own shirt rather than to mess up Sharon's lovely antique rugs, so that was what she did. She puked on herself. It was okay, though, since she hadn't eaten breakfast yet. There wasn't very much vomit, and what was there was mostly water.

Stephanie climbed into a warm bubble bath to clean herself up.


"Oh, God, she thinks I'm so rude, now, doesn't she? She's going to be our neighbor and she's going to hate us forever. Or just me. She's going to hate me forever."

"Probably not, Steph. She seems nice. I'm sure she'll understand."

"I swear I wasn’t being rude! I was just trying so hard not to vomit."

"Don't they say it just means the baby is healthy?"

"This must be the healthiest baby anyone was ever pregnant with," she said. "Your super sperm made a super human baby that’s eating me alive from the inside."


"Sorry," he said. "But on the bright side, your boobs are so big."

Stephanie smirked at him. "Maybe if I can stop puking for five minutes, you might even get to touch them."

Justin brought her some dry toast to nibble on in the bath, then Stephanie felt a little better.


She found Sharon in the dining room, still sitting at the table with her abandoned french toast.

"Sorry about breakfast," Stephanie said. "I’m really not as rude as I seem. I swear. I'm just pregnant. The bed was so comfy and the bath was so nice. The french toast really smelled so good. See, maybe it's a good thing that I didn't eat it because it would have been a real shame to have to throw it up."

—

They arrived at the cottage before their realtor did, so they sat in the car and waited. "I wish we could get out and walk around," Stephanie said. "When the air is fixed, this will be a really nice place to walk around. Do you think we could get out for a minute and walk?"

"I don't know, that might not be good for the baby. You'll have to get out in a minute already to walk to the door."

"What's wrong? What are you thinking about? Do you hate it? Do you think it's too far away? Are you worried we won't get internet here. I'm pretty sure we can get internet here, even if it's not hooked up already."


"I don't hate it, Steph. We haven't even seen it yet."

"But we've seen the front," she said, grinning. "I like the brick. I like the door. I like the tall windows in the dining room. I think they're in the living room, too, but I can't quite tell. Do you like the windows?"

"Yeah, I like the windows," he said.

Then she wondered if this little two-bedroom cottage looked so disappointing to him compared to the giant house he once shared with Keri, that sunny palace on the lake shore. This little cottage would have fit entirely inside just the three-car garage of that mansion. Would he hate it here?

She didn't have time to worry about that for very long, though, because then their realtor arrived.

"Stay here for a minute," Justin said. "I want to check the air levels before you guys come in."


As he opened the door, Stephanie could see straight through to a tall panel of windows. And yes, they did match the windows on the dining room. Such good, sunny windows. For a minute, she thought she could see all the way down across the valley through them.


Inside, the home was much less exciting than the windows. The floors were bare, splintered wood. The kitchen counters were Formica, and they'd have to buy a refrigerator because the house didn't come with one. The wallpaper was dingy, but at least it wasn't peeling. The realtor had brought a portable air filter that would run for seventy-two hours. Those could be refilled at any home store until they could install a central system. The house was basic, but structurally sound. She used lots of hype words like "possibility" and "location" and "make it your own!"


"It's so pretty here," Stephanie said, looking out across the valley through the tall windows. "Three minutes, please? Time me?"

"Okay," Justin said. "Two minutes, because you're breathing for two."

"Okay, fine."

"Go."


It was really true. You could see all the way down across the valley from here. There was a waterfall there, somewhere, frozen probably, underneath the snow. They would find it in the spring. There were shops in the town center, a market and an ice cream cafe, and a school just up the road for the girls to attend. Town was thirty minutes away where they’d find doctors and Justin would be able to find work here. Any lingering sadness about selling her Aunt Abby’s cabin in Three Lakes was quickly washed away, because this cottage was perfect.

This month, for the first time since Reclamation Day, the oxygen content of the air had increased. Eight and a half percent. The world was healing itself. The future was going to happen and it looked incredible.


This isn’t like before, Stephanie thought. This isn’t just what I do, running away to hide from my problems.

This wasn’t like before when she ran off to the wilderness in Three Lakes because she didn’t know what to do about college. This wasn’t like before when she eloped with a man she hardly knew because Justin wanted to marry someone else. She tried to tell herself that this time was different.

She looked across the sunlit valley, glowing golden-pink on the fresh snow, and she felt like she had taken something that didn’t belong to her. This whole life, this man, these children, this cottage with the frozen water fall and the view of the valley, this peace. It was like she’d cheated her fate. Could she really have everything she ever wanted? Could she keep it, or would she have to give it back?


Justin found her behind the house. "Okay, back inside now," Justin said. "Two minutes are up."

"Maybe by next winter, we could build snowmen out here," she said.

"We'll build lots of them, Steph."

"But you don't really love it, do you?"

"I'll love it if you love it," he said. "We'll make it our own and then I'll love it. Right now, I like it. Okay?"

"Are you worried about what Keri will think?"

"No, I'm not worried about Keri. What about you? Do you love it?"


"Yes, yes, yes," Stephanie said. She squealed and bounced, giddy with all of the possibilities. When she opened her eyes, he actually looked excited, too.


They went back inside and told the realtor, "We'll take it!"


"Great!" she said. "You guys are going to love it here."


Then, after a few clicks on the realtors phone and two digital signatures sent, this little cottage on the hill belonged to a new family.

—

footnotes: new house spam and tour