Gossamer Falls

by European P. Douglas

  Gossamer Falls

  European P. Douglas

  Published by European P. Douglas, 2019.

  While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

  GOSSAMER FALLS

  First edition. November 12, 2019.

  Copyright © 2019 European P. Douglas.

  Written by European P. Douglas.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 1

  The town of Gossamer Falls is so named for the beautiful mists created at the waterfall emptying from the mountains to the south into Lake Clear a mere half mile from the edge of town. On the far side of the mountain to the east lay the large town of Emerson, and to the west the growing town of Centrepoint. Until recently, there had been the small village of Mercy high up in the mountains and a few peaks over, but a huge fire had taken that away last winter, and the scorched mountainside left nothing alive for many miles from the top down.

  On this crisp spring day, Lawrence Karrier ran along the shore as he did each morning towards the waterfall. He usually turned there and went back home, a simple one-mile round run that he felt kept him in trim as his thirties had arrived a few years ago. He hadn’t fallen into poor shape, but thirty had been like a warning bell to him, telling him he had to start looking after himself. You don’t want to end up like your parents, he thought, dead before fifty-five. Heart attacks both about a year apart.

  The sun sparkled on the calm surface of the lake, and small rainbows formed in the mist as Lawrence got closer to the falls. It was so beautiful here; it didn’t matter how many times he made this trip, the views and the spectacle of the place never ceased to astound him. He stopped near the rocky edge formed over thousands of years by the fall and looked down to the crashing water below. It was so loud here, so out of keeping with the scene all around, but if it hadn’t been for this chaos churning below, none of the beauty here would be able to exist. It was an odd world we live in.

  As he stood there, his breath coming back to normal after his exertions, something caught his eye and he looked out over the lake again. At first, he thought he was seeing a cloud, but as he looked closer, he saw it was more like a super-thin tuft of white candyfloss drifting about twenty-five feet above the water. The only thing that convinced Lawrence it was not candyfloss was the sheer size of it. From top to bottom he estimated it was ten feet long, maybe more, like a cloud on its side descending slowly to the water.

  He watched as it drifted lower and lower and then it went into the water, making like a net on the surface for a few moments before sinking down underneath.

  “What the hell was that?” he said out loud as he looked up towards the mountains from where it must have come. He’d never seen anything like it before in his life, and though he knew he was going to tell people about it, already he found himself struggling for words to describe it accurately. Lawrence spent a few minutes more looking at the spot it had landed in the water before reluctantly starting his run home to get ready for work.

  Lawrence worked at the bottling facility, making sure the machine lines ran well and fixing them when they didn’t. The drink was little more than carbonated water made from the lake and sold under the name ‘Gossamer Springs’. It had been a growing business run by the Frendy brothers, and it was now the largest single employer in the town with forty-three staff working over two shifts a day.

  “What do you think it was?” Jake Higgins, Lawrence’s work buddy, asked when told this story.

  “I have no idea, but it landed like something soft and then sank.”

  “It didn’t dissolve?”

  “I don’t think so,” Lawrence said. He was pretty sure it had sank. Maybe beneath the surface it had dissolved but not on top.

  “Sounds pretty strange,” Jake shook his head, “Nothing I’ve seen before.”

  Word spread throughout the day, and people came up to Lawrence from time to time to ask about it. He told them all the same thing, and each time the person he spoke to shook their heads and left no more the wiser than when they came to him.

  Lawrence was glad in a way that no one else had seen this before, and he was enjoying being the centre of attention a little. It wasn’t all that common for him to have so many people coming up and talking to him like this. It wasn’t that he wasn’t liked in town, but Lawrence Karrier was known to like to keep to himself. Still, it was nice once in a while to talk to some people other than Jake.

  At quitting time on Fridays, most of the workers at the plant would head down to ‘Shaker’s’ Bar on the way back into town for a few beers and to blow off some steam after a long week’s working. Lawrence didn’t always go, but he was in a good mood today and thought he’d enjoy a few beers to unwind in the evening.

  The bar was lit night and day by weak indoor lights and neon signs. There were no windows to the outside world, and it gave the bar a sense of always being night. Pa Shaker, as the owner and barman was known, was a heavyset man who’d been seen so few times in natural daylight some thought of him as a vampire. No one seemed to know what his real name was, and if you asked it was a different answer every time, each one delivered as earnestly as the last. It was likely he’d actually told someone at least once, but they had most probably not believed him.

  “Line ‘em up, Pa,” Clinton Scarrow said as he pushed through the doors at the head of the group coming in.

  “Beers and whiskey chasers coming up,” Pa said starting to pull two beers. Clinton Scarrow came here most evenings with his pal, Danny Putch. They would often sit at the bar drinking and then make some trouble later in the evening. Pa put up with them to a point as they were his best customers, but when he drew the line that was the end of it and the guys knew it.

  It wasn’t long before the place was busy, workers from the plant sitting at all the tables and some standing along the bar or over at the jukebox. The pool table wasn’t in use yet, but
no doubt a small tournament for a couple of dollars would break out before the evening was done.

  Lawrence and Jake sat at a table near the centre of the room with Chuck Dollinger, who was a janitor at the plant, a single guy who lived in a trailer by the shore of the lake. Chuck was a nice guy but lazy, and if he could get by in life without working at all he would. They were laughing about one of his recent scrapes in work when he’d nearly been caught sleeping when Tammy Dern came into the bar with a couple of her girlfriends.

  Both Jake and Chuck noticed Lawrence’s attention wane, and they followed his eyes to the trio coming in.

  “Why don’t you just go talk to that girl,” Jake said, “You’re bringing us all down with the puppy dog thing!” Chuck laughed, and Lawrence looked to Jake sternly. Jake grinned at Chuck mischievously. It had been a long running thing with them that Lawrence would never ask Tammy out, despite how much he liked her.

  “Hey Tammy!” Chuck suddenly called, “The place is pretty full, you guys want to sit at our table?” Lawrence could have died at that moment. Tammy and her friend looked over, and for a moment Tammy’s eyes met his and he looked down in embarrassment.

  “Thanks, Chuck,” she said, “But we’re going to play some pool while the table is free. Maybe we’ll swing by in a while?”

  “Whatever you like,” Chuck said smiling back at her. The women walked to the bar.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Lawrence asked when they were gone. Chuck looked at him like he didn’t know what he was talking about.

  “What?” Jake laughed at this and got up to get another round. Lawrence knew better than to say anything more.

  The night wore on and the volume of the crowd rose and rose. Generally, the place was full on Friday evenings as everyone else in town knew the ‘Gossamer Springs’ workers would be there, and the atmosphere would be good. The pool competition started, and some people even danced in what little floor space was available.

  Lawrence went to the bar when it was his turn to buy the drinks, and as he stood there waiting for them, he felt eyes on him. He turned to look, hoping it was going to be Tammy, but instead he found himself looking into the cold eyes of Clinton Scarrow. His eyes wore the gloss of inebriation, and Lawrence regretted looking his way at all.

  “I hear you’re filling people’s heads with bullshit about candyfloss falling from the sky onto the lake!” Clinton said though it was more a growl and sounded like he was somehow affronted by the story.

  “It wasn’t candyfloss,” Lawrence said. He looked back to Pa, who was pulling the beers, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

  “What was it then?” Clinton asked. Lawrence looked back and shrugged,

  “I don’t know what it was.” This seemed to anger Clinton even more, and he leaned a hand on the bar as if to get up.

  “Then what the fuck are you telling people all about it for then if you don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “I...” Lawrence didn’t know what to say to this; he didn’t want any trouble with Clinton if he could avoid it.

  “Take it easy Scarrow or you’ll be having an earlier night than usual tonight!” Pa Shaker warned as he put the three beers down in front of Lawrence.

  “There’s other bars than this one,” Clinton said back.

  “Well, you can feel free to go to them if you like.” Pa looked on Clinton meanly, but the customer didn’t return his gaze. He turned back to his pal Danny and went on as before like nothing had happened at all.

  Lawrence nodded his thanks to the bar man and then made his way back through the crowd with his glasses of beer held high so as not be spilled by the shuffling bodies all around him. He was just about back at this table when through a parting in the crowd he came face to face with Tammy.

  “Hey!” he said completely caught off guard.

  “Hi Lawrence, how are you?” Tammy said. Though they had spoken thousands of times growing up in this small town, he was still always taken by surprise when she said his name. It sounded beautiful coming from her lips.

  “I’m good,” he said barely able to hear his own voice over the din, “How are you?” She nodded a moment and then pointed to one of her ears and shaking her head called out,

  “I can’t really hear you!” Lawrence saw another opportunity slipping away and he leaned in closer and shouted,

  “How are you?” He looked odd with his beers in the air and his neck strained to her and she smiled. She moved closer to him and putting her face close to his said,

  “Get those beers to your friends and we can go to a quiet corner and try to talk.” This was the single most astounding sentence he had ever heard, and he looked at her in surprise and then nodded eagerly, holding up one finger from around his drinks to indicate he’d be back momentarily. She smiled and nodded.

  Lawrence didn’t waste any time getting back to his table before planting the drinks down and taking up his own and moving back towards Tammy. Jake and Chuck looked at one another, saw what Lawrence was about and then smiled. Lawrence was terrified some guy would be talking to Tammy now and he would have missed his chance. Thankfully, however, she was still there waiting for him. She nodded for him to follow and he did, like the little puppy his friends ribbed him about. He was looking past her to see what corner she might be heading for, but so far nothing seemed open for them. To his great shock Tammy then pushed out through the doors and they were both outside in the cool evening air. The doors closed behind them, and the noise from inside became a muffled background.

  “Oh God, that’s better,” Tammy said walking away from the building towards some picnic benches that looked out over the lake. Lawrence tried to think of something to say, but anything that came to mind sounded ridiculous. He walked after her and joined her looking out over the water. The air was crisp, but it felt good coming out of the hot, stuffy bar.

  “I love this lake,” he said. She looked at him.

  “I hear you saw something odd out there today?”

  “I did,” he said and then he told her as best he could what he had told many people already today.

  “It sounds like something I’d like to see myself,” Tammy said. There was a brief moment of loud music as the door to the bar opened and the noise poured out, but it was back to muffled background noise when the door slid shut. Tammy was looking out over the lake, and Lawrence was looking at her side profile and didn’t turn to see who it was coming out the bar. He just hoped whoever it was they weren't going to come over here and ruin his moment with Tammy.

  Tammy turned and looked at him then, and Lawrence looked away shyly. She laughed,

  “How long is it going to take you to ask me out?” she said, “It’s been five years by now!” Though he was stunned by this, it was also the greatest thing he’d ever heard in his life.

  “I was waiting for the right moment, something beautiful,” he said and then pointed to the sky over the lake, “A moment like this.” He put his arm around her shoulders as she looked out and saw the thin gossamer of a candyfloss cloud drifting on the last light of the evening high above the water, heading for the town proper beyond.

  Chapter 2

  The moment didn’t last, however.

  “What are you doing with that loser, Tammy,” the drunken drawl of Clinton Scarrow came from behind them. “Why don’t you come over here to a real man?” he jeered. Lawrence tensed at this jibe, but he felt Tammy’s hand on his arm and knew she didn’t want there to be any trouble. They turned to face Clinton who stood with his feet planted a few feet apart and bottle in one dangling hand.

  “You get thrown out again, Clint?” Tammy asked. He ignored her, looking to Lawrence again,

  “Why don’t you run along and chase some clouds, Karrier.”

  “I think I’m fine where I am,” Lawrence said. He was nervous but didn’t think his voice had betrayed him. He couldn’t believe the moment he’d so longed for was being ruined and in such a huge way. Clinton’s eyes screwed up and a
mean look came over his face,

  “I wasn’t asking,” he said, and he swigged hard on his beer bottle like it was some sort of challenge to Lawrence.

  “Leave him alone, Clint,” Tammy said, “You’re making me miss the show in the sky,” she turned to look, but there was no sign of the puffy drift anymore.

  Lawrence didn’t see any good end to this situation. His choices were stark, lose face in front of Tammy by backing down, or possibly be shamed by getting a beating by Clint if he didn’t. The two men were around the same size, Clint maybe had an inch on him, but Clint was by far the more experienced fighter. A month rarely went by without him being in a tussle with someone, and now with tourist season on the horizon that number would jump to two or three or more a month until the fall.

  “What’s the matter, pussy?” Clint said to Lawrence, “You can’t talk for yourself?”

  “Why don’t you just leave us alone,” Lawrence said, “We’re trying to talk here.” Something ran through Lawrence as he spoke, and he was able to maintain eye contact throughout. Perhaps it was the alcohol running through his veins or maybe it was the euphoria of what was happening with Tammy, but at that moment he wasn’t afraid of Clinton Scarrow.

  “You’ve just...”

  “Look!” Tammy suddenly called out as Clinton with the meanest scowl yet was about to answer Lawrence. There was such urgency in Tammy’s voice that both men looked out over the lake where she was pointing.

  The sight was amazing. Dozens of the large bilious formations drifted in the sky on the stream of the breeze.

  “What in the hell?” was all Clinton could say, but his voice was awed.

  “What are they?” Tammy asked, grabbing hold of Lawrence’s arms excitedly once more.

  “I don’t know,” he said. The last of the daylight coming over the red horizon caught in the clouds as they passed, giving them a pinkish/orangish hue for a second, which only added to the beauty of the scene before them.

  Just then there came a slight whooshing sound, and one of the clouds drifted right over them and away over the top of Shaker’s bar. More followed on and still more came over the lake too until the number had to be close to one hundred. By this time someone must have alerted the people inside, and to a man everyone stood in the gravel car park looking at the strange event. Even Pa Shaker was outside, though few noticed this fact such was the spectacle in the sky.