Tangents, vol 1

by Rae Agatha

  “Maybe it’s better to ask not where?” She replied looking ahead at the fields.

  “I think I prefer my question, it makes me a bit less nauseous. Anyway,“ he said and lay on the wooden construction, “it’s not the worst place to be.”

  “No? The gigantic snakes, aggressive insects and deadly plants did not shake your faith in this wonderland?” she smiled and lay back as well.

  “Well, that was awful, scared the shit of me, but if I am supposed to wander around some strange lands, having no idea why and what for, nor how I got there in the first place, I definitely prefer it to be warm, sunny, with fresh fruit and vegetables around and a hut to hide from the rain. Or anything we’d need to hide from in the future, for that matter.”

  Anna sat and looked at him.

  “What if this is the reason we’re here?”

  “What do you mean?” He was looking at her covering his eyes with his hand to see her better.

  “I mean,” she said lying down again, “during the day it’s safe here. There’s food, the climate is friendly, it’s peaceful, it’s quiet around. Maybe it’s supposed to be a shelter?”

  “A shelter that turns into a deadly trap once the two moons appear in the sky? That doesn’t seem too safe.”

  “No. But maybe we’re just not supposed to be out at night? We were attacked by all those things because we were out. The insects got us when we were outside, when we hadn’t reached the plane yet. The snakes came after Matylda, who was out at night. Then the trees – again, we were outside at night. Perhaps we’re not supposed to be.”

  “Says who?” He asked looking at her.

  “I have no idea. Nature? Superior being? Bad luck? I don’t know.”

  Matylda came to the lake with a jug. She dipped it in the water and filled it up.

  “How’s Rick?” Anna asked when she saw her at the shore.

  “He’s better,” she replied and went back to the hut.

  “She’s original,” Anna said. “The way she talks, I mean, she seems like a very straight-up-to-a-point person,” she added pointing her finger in the air in a very concrete matter as if she was enlisting something.

  “True, she seems reserved and kind of tense, but on the other hand, who wouldn’t be here?” Dan replied, his eyes closed. Even though he had slept for many hours, the temperature, the sun, the delicate breeze from the water made him sleepy. It was the same kind of feeling one would have while spending a lazy summer afternoon in the garden.

  “I think I’ll have a bath,” Anna said, got up and took off her top and jeans. Dan looked at her surprised.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yeah, I really need it, and the water is perfectly warm.”

  Just as she said it, she jumped splashing the water around on the pier and on Dan.

  “Hey!” He said and sat, “careful there, will ya?” He laughed.

  Anna dove and appeared about ten yards away. “Sorry,” she laughed.

  “It’s wonderful, not too deep, I don’t think it’s more than, maybe, seven feet. It’s so clear I can see the bottom,” she said and lay on the surface of the water.

  “I don’t think it’s too clear, otherwise you’d see the eel swimming right behind you,” Dan said and pointed to the water.

  “Oh God,” she screamed and moved aside in panic, splashing the water around her. Dan was laughing out loud. “Just kidding, oh, you should have seen your face,” he said. Anna sighed, spit some water from her mouth and swam toward him. She grabbed the edge of the pier with one hand and reached out the other one.

  “Come on, Dan, help me up,” she said.

  “That’s it? You have enough already?”

  “Lost the mood,” she replied.

  “Oh, come on,” he said and grabbed her hand. At that moment, Anna leaned her feet on the stilt under water and, still holding the edge of the pier, pulled Dan right into the water. He screamed and fell down making a gigantic splash. Anna couldn’t stop laughing.

  “Got’cha!” she said.

  “Seriously, this is how you wanna play?” He said pretending he was angry while brushing his wet hair off his forehead and eyes. “I’m coming for you,” he said and started swimming toward her. She started screaming and swimming away pretending she wanted to escape him.

  Rick heard them having fun in the lake and when he finished washing himself in the bowl, he decided he needed to get outside. He wanted to take a look at the area, to see where they were. He put his shoes on, did not lace up the right one though. He looked at it and thought it reminded him of golumpki, cabbage rolls he and Mon liked eating in a Polish restaurant. Rick laughed under his breath and clumsily hopping he left the bedroom. Matylda was walking toward him carrying a shovel.

  “Look what I found in the storage room, it might be useful for you,” she said and walked inside her bedroom. She sat on the bed, took out her Swiss Army Knife and unfolded its mini screw-driver part. Rick watched her while leaning on the doorframe. In about two minutes, the metal part of the shovel fell off and Matylda gave him the handle. It had a convenient top, looking slightly like a letter “T”. He took it and it fit perfectly.

  “Thank you, Matylda,” he smiled broadly. “I’ll be able to walk on my own now,” he said. “You’ve really taken good care of me, thank you so much,” he came to her and embraced her. She got a bit stiff; the gesture was visibly uncomfortable for her. He felt it and slightly moved away.

  “No problem, Rick, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said.

  They walked out of the house. It struck him how hot the air was, if it wasn’t for the gentle wind blowing from time to time it’d most probably be difficult to stay outside. Rick walked toward the pier, where he spotted Anna’s and Dan’s shoes and her clothes lying on its edge. He heard them swimming in the lake and one more time looked at his bandaged foot with a regret; the weather was perfect for swimming. Rick walked toward the end of the pier, leaning on his stick. Matylda was walking behind him.

  “Fancy that! You look like Sherlock Holmes!” Dan shouted smiling, Rick laughed and started walking a bit hunched, scratching his chin as if he was intensely thinking about something.

  “Or House MD!” Anna added.

  “Who?” Rick asked, but Anna only waved her hand in an “it doesn’t matter” gesture.

  “You’ll see a few years from now,” she said.

  “Jump in, Rick, the water is amazing,” Dan said as he swam closer to the edge of the pier. He smiled when he realized he used Johnny’s expression.

  “I realize it’s amazing, since you couldn’t wait to swim so much you jumped in without taking off your clothes,” he said pointing at him with his stick, “elementary, my dear Watson,” Rick winked.

  “Holmes indeed!” Dan replied and they laughed.

  “Unfortunately, the newest asset to our small gang here had just bandaged my foot with some cabbage, so I don’t think it’d be wise of me to swim now,” Lawrence said light-heartedly.

  “Not now, but later on you’ll even have to and one doesn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to know that,” Anna added and they all laughed.

  “That’s what the cabbage was for?” Dan asked Matylda who was now also at the end of the pier. She took off her shirt, leaving the gree tee shirt on, was unzipping her cargo pants around her knees; changing them into shorts within a minute, and put the halves of the legs on the pier.

  “Yes,” she said.

  Dan was waiting for her to say something more, but, apparently from her perspective, she already answered.

  “How does it help?” He specified his question.

  “It helps decrease the swelling and works kind of like an antibiotic, so it should help.”

  Dan lifted his eyebrows in a gesture of recognition.

  “So, what do we do now?” Anna asked, swimming toward the edge of the pier feeling a bit cold after being in the water for so long. “What’ our plan?”

  “Did you walk around here?” Rick asked and helped Anna get o
ut of the water.

  “Yes, we saw fields of vegetables and strawberries and also some fruit trees with hundreds of peaches and sweet cherries on them. All of them looked quite neglected, nobody has taken care of them for some time now, that’s for sure.”

  “Okay, I think it’d be a good idea to pick some of it and take it as need to have some food in there.”

  “So, you also think we should stay inside for a night?” Anna asked.

  “Of course, we’ve been attacked every time we’ve been outside; the nights are obviously far from friendly. I mean, I’ve had like, enough of adventures for my whole life after the last night we had.”

  “Okay, we’ll pick some fruit, put it in the basket and the boxes from the storage room,” Anna said. The water was dripping down the curves on her body. Dan realized he was looking at her perhaps a bit too long.

  “I can’t go, I can more or less move because I have this stick,” Rick said, “but any longer distances are not for me.”

  “Dan and I, we’ll go.”

  “I will pull some potatoes out. We might make a fire later on and bake them, what do you think?” Matylda asked.

  “Sure, good idea. Do you know how to make fire?” Anna asked her.

  Matylda didn’t answer, she only took out her knife from her pocket and pulled out a small magnifying glass from its body.

  “What if there’s no sun?”

  “Then there are other ways to deal with it.”

  “Okay,” Anna said while she was putting on her jeans. Once again she rolled up the legs, so it would be at least a bit bearable to be outside in such heat. Rick thought it was a good idea and did the same. He looked down and picked up her watch. “Don’t lose it, it’s the only control over time and day we have,” he said and handed it to her. She nodded and put it on.

  “The weather is going to change,” Matylda said looking at the sky.

  All of them looked up and spotted some fluffy clouds.

  “It looks fine, why do you think it’s going to change?” Anna asked.

  “The clouds. Right now they’re cumulus type, which is fine, but look,” she pointed ahead and spoke, “those over there are piling up, that means they might change into cumulonimbus type, and I’m pretty sure they will.”

  “What does it mean?” Rick asked.

  “They usually bring lightning, gusty wind and hail,” she looked at them, “I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a storm today. Which makes sense, it’s just too hot, too muggy.”

  Dan walked out of the water and his clothes weighed a ton. He had huge problems taking his shirt off, which was mercilessly sticking to his body, and then started wringing it out. It must have had gallons of water in it.

  “So, should we go now? If Matylda’s right we may not have as much time as we thought,” he asked.

  “Nah, there’s still some time, it’s a process. Besides, we can observe the sky, see how rapidly it changes,” Matylda said.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Anna said and smiled. “Wait, give me a second,” she ran toward the hut.

  “Seriously,” Dan said standing on the pier and looking around,

  “under different circumstances, I’d say it’s a perfect place for summer holidays.”

  Rick had to admit he was right; the place was beautiful. Anna came back holding an empty wine bottle. “Who wants to be fifteen again?” she shouted.

  “Oh come on,” Rick laughed, “Really?”

  “What, you’re a chicken?” She looked at him and winked.

  “Okay, let’s do it,” Dan laughed and clapped his hands.

  “I’m not doing that,” Matylda said.

  “Why not?” Anna asked.

  “I don’t feel comfortable with it, I’m not going to kiss anybody, or anything,” she said.

  “No, no, it’s okay, we won’t be kissing,” Anna said. “I mean we have two married men here, hot, I admit, but married, so no kissing. We’ll just play and ask each other some questions, like you know, more or less serious ones and if anyone doesn’t feel like answering, it’s fine.”

  “Come on, Matylda, it’ll be fun,” Dan said.

  “Okay, guess I can try. But no kissing!”

  “Cross my heart,” Rick said pretending to be serious.

  They all sat on the pier and Anna put the bottle down.

  “Okay, I’ll go first,” she said and twisted it. It was spinning for a few seconds and stopped pointing at Dan.

  “All right, Dan,” Anna smiled, “tell us how you met your wife,” she asked.

  “In a pub,” he answered.

  “And?”

  “What?”

  “That’s it? In a pub?” Anna asked amused.

  “Yeah, I’m learning from Matylda, I’m giving straight-to-the-point answers,” he said cordially and the three of them laughed a bit looking at her. Matylda did not say anything, it looked as if she had no idea how to react, but at the same time she didn’t seem too pleased with Dan’s comment.

  “It’s okay,” Rick said and put his hand on her shoulder.

  “Sorry, Matylda,” Dan said apologetically, “I was just making a stupid remark,” he smiled at her.

  “No, it’s okay. I know I am not the most social person in the world, I’ve never had any ambition to be one,” she replied.

  “All right, the pub. How did you meet?” Anna asked.

  “Kate was sitting alone, stood up by her date, drinking a mojito and lazily smoking a cigarette and I just went over to her and asked her if I the seat next to hers was taken. That’s how I met her,” Dan said and discovered there was hardly any trace of sentiment in his voice. It seemed ages ago when he saw her for the first time, when he talked to her in that pub. Time flies, he thought.

  “Anyone else want to share the beginnings of their love stories?” Anna asked.

  “I met Monica in high school at first and then again at our friend’s New Year’s Eve party years later. We had a seven-year-long break when she moved to Chicago to college. It was a pretty nice reunion, the New Year’s Eve party,” he said and winked.

  “Brian was my student. We met during my lecture, where he came by mistake.”

  “So, I guess it’s my turn now, right?” Dan asked and twisted the bottle. It stopped pointing at Matylda.

  “Okay, so, why Madrid? There is like a ton of Poles in London now, since the EU accession. ”

  “To have more sunshine, like you said,” she smiled. “And I’m from January 2004, we’re not in the EU yet, we’re supposed to become one of the members on May 1st.”

  “Okay,” he replied seeing she wasn’t feeling like giving personal answers “Well, that and also I have a girlfriend there,” Matylda added a bit quietly.

  “Cool,” Anna said. “Is she Spanish?”

  “She’s Polish, we’ve been together for almost two years now. First we did go to Liverpool,” she looked at Dan, “but then we moved to Madrid.”

  “How did you meet?” Rick asked.

  “You need to spin the bottle first,” she laughed.

  “Okay , fair enough,” he said.

  MATYLDA

  Matylda was sitting on a chair at Liverpool airport, waiting for the boarding of her plane to begin. She was waiting for her plane to Madrid while listening to some music; the playlist which was created by Dorota,especially for her. It wasn’t exactly the kind of music Matylda liked, but she already got used to the fact she didn’t have too much to say once Dorota decided to do something. Besides, it wasn’t that bad either, it was bearable. Enough to make it through the cheap airline flight.

  She was looking through some old pictures she kept on her wallet. Once she took the one with her whole family in it, she took a longer look at it. The photo was taken years ago, Matylda must have been about seven years old then as she had two ponytails on her head, a fashionable hairstyle for little girls at that time. She was sitting on her dad’s lap. To their left was her mother and between the parents there was her brother Adam, smiling and proudly showing two bi
g gaps between his teeth; Matylda recalled he had lost two baby teeth two days earlier. They seemed happy. She was wondering if they really were, or if perhaps they were just pretending to look nice for the sake of the photograph.

  Matylda was looking at the picture and thinking that not years, ages must have passed between the time when it was taken and that very moment. She sighed.

  I

  Matylda Nowak was living in the south of Poland, in a small town hidden in the mountains. Her father, Piotr, was the owner of a sawmill and a carpentry, one of the bigger ones in the area. Her mother, Ewa, was a teacher in a local elementary and middle school. Matylda had a brother Adam who was three years older than her. The main topic at home was he Church, in all possible meanings of the word; the congregation, the community, the building.