Well, she’s here.
Didn’t get
much sleep last night. Rain drummed on the
deck and the wind kept the boat banging against her bumpers just
hard enough to keep me lurching in my bunk.
Finally decided I wasn’t going to get any sleep on board, threw on rain
gear, and trudged to the office in the downpour. Tried to coax Butkus into coming along, but
he’s smarter than that.
Managed to
get a few hours sleep on the couch in my office, and was still there with my
face buried in the cushions when banging shattered it again. First thought was that the rain had
increased, but was the wrong kind of banging.
Took a couple of minutes for me to remember that I was in the office,
and realize that the noise was someone knocking on the glass of the front door.
Managing to
rise off the couch took no small effort, making it to the front door was
accomplished by pinballing off several pieces of furniture. I pulled the blind aside, ready to yell at
whatever face was on the other side. But
my annoyance dissipated immediately when I was confronted with a sad looking,
young female face framed by rain-slicked hair and supported by a tiny body
clothed in sopping gear. I smiled and
opened the door.
“You must
be Evo-line.” Says I.
“Evoleeene”
came back with the firm weariness of someone practiced in making the
correction.
“Eeeenter”
Being the
galoot I am, I launched into a lecture about her being late and not picking up
her phone and making everyone worry and representing a lazy, the world-owes-me,
non-committed generation. I even managed
to sustain the rant for several minutes despite the expression of astonishment
on her face. Then, gently and in slow
motion, she too my hand and placed it on top of her head. She left it there treating it like a detached
appendage, until finally her message got through.
Damn, your
head is wet.”
Evoline’s
response was to roll her eyes and tilt her head to one side. But she still didn’t
say anything.
It was at
this point that I noticed the puddle growing at her feet. “You’re wet all over!”
“No shit
Sherlock.” She said calmly.
“How did you get wet?”
“Rain.”
I looked
past her to the window, and out at the sunlit street. “But…”
“Last
night.”
Frown
“In the
forest.”
Deeper
frown
“I slept in
the forest last night.”
“Ahhh.” A nod-turned-frown. “Why did…”
At this
point she held up one hand, like a traffic cop, “I need a hot shower and some
food.”
And that took
care of the rest of my day.
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