Something new, something borrowed, something old and nothing blue.
That was the deal. Enough of sadness. Only long, messy days, reading till the wee hours, leaving toast crumbs on the counter and using more than one coffee cup… Taking baths without rushing while reading the newspaper. Walking Toto in the rain without an umbrella, just lightly covering her head with the scarf shoved into the pocket of this old coat she found in the house. “The rain sounds like music when the roof above your head is yours”, she realised. There is indeed a big difference between drops hitting the window seal in a shared apartment in NY and an entire roof. As you move from room to room, the sound of rain follows you like a measuring tape. All these square meters of rain-soaking roof are yours. This Upstate brick bungalow was left to her by her great aunt Kiki, a chain-smoking, reclusive socialite. If there was one thing Kiki knew, it was to leave before the party was over and that husbands are a nuisance in any phase of life. Books are where her life was. She wrote more than she read. That was Kiki’s rule. A rule Alma is embracing now. She‘ll realise soon that books are holding her tightly in this moment of her life. Each room is enveloped by the bookshelves, giving her enough room to breathe and reason to be. She turned that extra bedroom into her study room. She has no reason for anything “extra“. She is extra enough.
She glances over to find Toto waiting. The face of a dog that suffers no fools. Brought together by a Kismet. It’s not even been 6 months since that neighbour, who never said a “hi”, dropped him off on her doorstep: “I had enough, I am moving to LA. The rain! It is too much for me!”, he said in a Lawn Guyland accent. While he was spouting a mouthful of descriptions to point out his misery and invite her to feel sorry for him, the dog slowly made his way to the sofa. Climbed on and sank into it with his full weight; he’s been carrying it since he’s been this man’s dog. “ So, yeah, the dawg…” he continues, “his name is Dick, and he will need a home, so since he took a liking to you…”
“ That will not work for me!” she cuts him off. He froze in a moment, eyes as wide as his head.
”The name! The “daaaawg”, I am completely fine with.’’ She ends the unnecessary pleasantries, letting him see the woodwork of her door up close. That was the last they saw of him.
” Toto. You like it?” she directs the offer at the dog. He released a sigh of relief.
” I hope you like Bolognese, because that’s for dinner. There is no stake here, I ain’t no Rocky Balboa. But the bed is big enough for two”
She turns on the Hi-Fi system, blasting Stevie Nicks’ Edge of Seventeen.
He smiles and drops deep into sleep.
And in one instant, life became good.
“ That will not work for me!” she cuts him off. He froze in a moment, eyes as wide as his head.
”The name! The “daaaawg”, I am completely fine with.’’ She ends the unnecessary pleasantries, letting him see the woodwork of her door up close. That was the last they saw of him.
” Toto. You like it?” she directs the offer at the dog. He released a sigh of relief.
” I hope you like Bolognese, because that’s for dinner. There is no stake here, I ain’t no Rocky Balboa. But the bed is big enough for two”
She turns on the Hi-Fi system, blasting Stevie Nicks’ Edge of Seventeen.
He smiles and drops deep into sleep.
And in one instant, life became good.
