Getting Weird

Another bizarre Window display.

While Caitlin watched television, and bottle fed Henry, Daniel left the house just after dark to fetch candy bars from Dumm's Corner. He decided to go on foot, and take a peek into Brenda's shop windows. He thought about their recent tryst in her store room, and longed for more time to spend with her. The news about Farleigh had made him nervous and insecure. Farleigh was younger, single, and available. Daniel had a wife, and baby to support for a long time to come.

 Daniel noticed that Brenda had part of her Thanksgiving Day display covered with sheets, but one mannequin held a turkey baster in his hand. A floppy Chef's hat stuck out partially from beneath the sheet, and there were odd looking outlines around the facial area. Daniel would definitely make it a point to swing by and check on the anomaly when the window was completed. Brenda usually closed off the curtains when she hadn't finished with her "Holiday Message," but being one of the busiest woman in town allowed her to be "less than perfect" in his eyes..

When he returned to the tiny house, Caitlin was waiting for him by the door. She made a sarcastic remark about "Miss Grayson"  having a party every night of the week that he could attend, but she, herself, never could. Daniel reminded her that he had simply gone to fetch a book that he needed on Halloween, and that he wasn't costumed, nor did he get onto the society page of the Washington Post, "at least not this year." 

Caitlin bit into her Three Musketeers bar with a rude slurp at the last part of his comment and returned to her TV shows. Little Henry snoozed in his alcove crib with a fuzzy toy horse.

Caitlin and Daniel rarely got along except when she was asleep from ingesting too much wine. Her drinking was sporadic, but he didn't like her to drink at all because she would grow sullen and moody after the first two small glasses. He forbade her to buy hard liquor. He stopped short of threatening to leave with Henry if she didn't curb her drinking. That would have made her drink more just for spite. Caitlin Mackenzie Alexander was becoming a major burden.

Brenda sat upright in her bed, composing a classified ad for the caboose "just in case" it was approved by the society. Prop man Sherman Stokes would be contacted as well, but Brenda had a feeling that the caboose could be found within 20 miles of her house what with all of the train yards, and  dead trains sitting in the weather somewhere.  As a last resort, she could contact a train museum, and offer to buy one of their "rejects." 

The wind picked up, and the house creaked. The windy nights often made her nervous if she was alone. Part of her loved living alone, but the other part held out hope for a compatible mate, and possibly, although not probably, marriage. Would it be practical for Daniel and Henry to ever live with her ? Was Farleigh a better choice, or situation ? She pondered the reality of finding an older gent who wasn't a bore or skinflint too set in his ways. 

She had no idea what any of the senior Blundons looked like. There were a couple of daughters in the vicinity, and a son, Joseph Paul, still living, but for all of her social skills, she had no idea how to approach them. She wasn't even sure what she was trying to find out.

Having them visit the old house that had been the scene of many joys and sorrows could prove interesting, and certainly informative, but she was far more comfortable with the departed spirits. She would have to telephone Fiona, and find out why she felt that way. Meeting Mr. Warren would probably happen during a social gathering, and Brenda was basically a Bohemian. 

Riverdale Park was full of conservative, and very religious people, yet they were not terribly put off by her strange, and sometimes wonderful, window displays. Deep down, she knew that she would never truly "fit in" and she felt that in the long run, that might prove to be a blessing. Riverdale Park was always under the threat of "negative progress" in the form of housing developments, wider roads, trolley challenges, and a surplus of shopping centers.

C J. Marks