Uncharted Frontier EZine Issue 12

by Allan Kaspar

Uncharted Frontier EZine Issue 12

  Copyright 2013 Allan Kaspar

  ***

  Table of Contents

  Learning to Fly -- By Heather Christie

  Leaving Van Gogh -- By Loretta Oleck

  Madman in the Woods -- By Richard Lawrence

  Garden Game -- By Loretta Oleck

  Plum Worship -- By Barbara Saxton

  The Apple Falls -- By Elizabeth Archer

  Contributor Bios

  ***

  ~~~

  Learning to Fly

  By Heather Christie

  Hannah, the hot sun beating on her head, hiked down the weedy hill behind her house. The tall dry grass nipped at her bare legs. Her brothers, George and David, and her sister Macy, followed, the four of them scoring a path through the uncut meadow of their sloping yard. Hannah squinted into the bright sky and felt the sweat tickle the nape of her neck. Mr. Hartline’s pond beamed like a mirror, flat and still, waiting for them across the soybean field.

  He’d called this morning inviting them to take a dip in the pond. He called all the time now. Did they want some fresh tomatoes? Should he mow the grass on the long driveway? Could he take the trash down the lane? Mom always said, “No, but thanks anyway.” Except for today, today she’d said yes.

  Swimming in the pond was the last thing Hannah wanted to do. The water was dark and mucky. She preferred the chlorine, the snack bar pierogis, and her friends at the pool. Tommy Watson smiled at her during alligator tag and she wanted to see him again. Plus, it just felt wrong. Dad should be home any day now.

  “It’ll be fun. Just like when you were little, Hannah,” Mom had coaxed unloading the clean plates from the dishwasher and setting them on the countertop. “Perfect for a Saturday. An adventure,” she said in a voice that said one thing but Hannah knew could sometimes mean another.

  Hannah stacked the plates inside the hanging cabinet. “But you said we could go to the pool today.”

  “Maybe later.” Her mother sat down at the computer desk in the corner and began typing on her laptop. “Macy’s never gotten to swim in a pond.”

  “Drop me at the pool first. Everybody’s goin’,” Hannah said in her most reasonable, grownup-sounding voice. Her mother hated it when any of them whined. “Please,” she said, wiping her hands on the blue dishrag.

  “Pond! Pond!” David chanted, a huge grin on his face, his fists thumping the table.

  Shut up, jerk, Hannah wanted to shout, but held her tongue. Mom would definitely say no if she started a fight.

  “Yeah,” George echoed. “The pond!”

  Mom glanced away from the computer screen and looked out the window. “It’ll be fun,” she said, her voice soft and distant.

  Hannah cringed.

  “I’ll get my rod,” George said.

  “No, it’s just a quick swim.” Mom turned and as if suddenly remembering who they were, smiled. “Get your suits on.” Hannah couldn’t quite remember when her mother had started to look different. Her hair was pinned up in a large tortoise shell clip like she usually did on hot days, but for the first time Hannah noticed little gray wisps at her mother’s temple. And she never wore lipstick anymore.

  “Yeah!” Macy squealed. “I’m gonna swim with the fish!”

  The wicker basket near the backdoor was stuffed with week-old mail. Hannah found her Tiger Beat magazine wedged at the bottom under a big, thick white official-looking envelope. She ran her finger over the burgundy embossed letters: The Law Offices of O’Conner, Winton, & Pin before dropping the envelope back into the basket. At least she’d have something to read at the stupid pond.

  “You can put your feet in the water, but no swimming ‘til I’m there. Hannah’s the boss.” Mom gave David, George, and Macy the serious look, her eyes darting from kid to kid. “Listen to your sister.” She handed Hannah a brown lunch bag with four juice boxes inside. “I have to make a call and then I’ll be over.” She gently patted Hannah on the cheek. “You’re in charge.”

  From the cornfield Mr. Hartline, perched on his tractor, waved and smiled over the roar of the engine. Hannah grinned and waved back, trying not to look too friendly. The boys broke into a sprint toward the pond and Macy scrambled after them.

  “Wait up,” Hannah called and started to jog. “Don’t go in the water.”

  Hannah took off her shoes, sat down, and shimmied to the edge of the pond bank, first dipping her toes into the brown water, and then sinking her calves in. A school of minnows darted and nipped at her feet. The spiky dry grass snagged her bare thighs, scratching thin white lines across her tanned skin. The cool water felt good on her feet. She stared at her pig-tailed reflection, a baby hairstyle her mother still made her wear when it was this hot. What twelve and three quarter-year-old wears pigtails? She pulled the strap on her swimming suit, sticky with sweat under

  her tee shirt, and waited. Everybody was probably at the pool by now.

  David and George pulled off their socks and sneakers and tossed them at each other. George lowered his shoulder like a bull and rammed into David.

  “What’d ya do that for?” David punched George in return. Then like nothing had happened, they plopped down next to Hannah, jostling each other, and dropped their feet into the pond too.

  “Oooh, feels good,” George said. “I’m gonna cannonball off that when Mom gets here!” He pointed to the dock on the far side of the pond with glint of a wild man in his eyes.

  Macy kicked off her flip-flops, one sandal landing on the grass and the other splashing into the pond.

  “Uh-oh,” she giggled, covering her hands over her mouth.

  “I’ll get it,” David offered and stood up.

  “Sit down!” Hannah said with a sharp edge in her voice and grabbed his arm. “We can’t go in the water ‘til Mom gets here.” Or I’ll twist your arm behind your back until it pops.

  “It’s floating away!” Macy cried. “My flip-flop.”

  “Just wait,” Hannah put her hand on Macy’s shoulder. “We’ll rescue it when she gets here.”

  “It’s gonna sink. Help my flip flop!”

  “Stupid, Macy,” George whispered and pulled a clump of grass out of the ground. “It’s not gonna drown. Just shut up and sit down,” he said a little louder.

  “Yeah, be quiet,” David added.

  They sat on the pond bank and waited, watching Mr. Hartline drive the tractor back and forth across the field, the sound of the engine softening as it moved away and then growing louder on each return pass. It was hot. Little beads of perspiration formed on the crowns of Hannah’s cheeks and her armpits grew wet. Tommy Watson was at the pool today - she just knew it. She hoped he wouldn’t notice that new girl, Olivia. She was so pretty with her long blond hair and hot pink bikini. Everybody looked at her, even the girls.

  Overheated from the trek through the blazing sun, Macy’s red cheeks made her look like an apple. The boys took off their shirts, cupped the water into their hands, and poured it over their scrawny, bronzed chests.

  “Man, come on, where’s Mom?” George said. “It’s sooo hot. I wanna go in.”

  “Shit, it’s hot,” said David, practicing his newly discovered swear words. He kicked his feet in the water, splashing the little bits of algae onto George and Macy.

  “Yuck!” Macy rubbed the green guck off her thighs. “I’m telling. You said a bad word again!”

  “Shut up, Macy,” said George.

  “Let’s go in!” David leaped to his feet.

  “Sit down!” Hannah warned. “Mom said not till she gets here.” Or I’ll tell Dad, she wanted t
o threaten, but knew that didn’t carry much weight anymore.

  “But, we’re good swimmers,” David protested. “Just a quick dip and then we’ll jump right out.”

  “Please, just let us go in,” George said. “We can swim.”

  Hannah glared at her brothers, giving them the meanest look she could muster, a look that said don’t mess with me. “No. Just be quiet. It won’t be long now.”

  They shut up for a few minutes. In the silence, Hannah watched Macy’s flip flop float toward the middle of the pond. It was the biggest pond of all the farms around her house, a perfect circle and deep in the middle, twelve feet her dad had told her. When she was really little they’d come here to get away from the crying babies. She couldn’t remember why they’d stopped coming to the pond. She would ask him when he came home. Maybe they’d come sit by the pond again.

  George pulled a stem of stiff overgrown grass out of the dry dirt and jabbed it into David’s ribcage. “Knock it off,” David warned and then punched his brother in the shoulder.

  “No, you!’ George said, whacking David across the arm and shoving him backward.

  “Both of you settle down.” Hannah wiggled her toes under the water. “Let’s have our drinks.” She reached for the crumpled damp paper bag at her side and pulled the juice pouches out, giving one to each of her siblings. Macy’s pouch, wet with condensation, slipped between her plump fingers and fell into the pond, sinking immediately.

  “Hannah, get it.”

  Hannah stood up in time to see the silver foil pouch fade into the brown water. “Too late. Sorry Macy. It went bye bye,” she said brushing off the dry grass stuck to her skin.

  “Where’d it go?”

  “To the bottom. To the deep down bottom where you’ll never see it again.”

  “But my flip flop didn’t. See it’s way out there!” Macy squinted and pointed to the lone lime green flip-flop floating on the shimmering glassy surface. “I want my juice box!”

  “Here, have mine.” Hannah handed her sister the drink. “Anything to make you shut up,” she said under her breath.

  “Thank you, Hannah,” Macy said, grinning.

  “Loook!” George screeched and pointed to the dock.

  “What?” David asked.

  “It’s a snake! There’s a snake on the dock!”

  “Liar! I don’t see anything,” David insisted and punched George square on the shoulder again.

  Hannah raised her hand to her brow and squinted. Nothing. There was nothing on the dock.

  George glared at Hannah, his eyes teasing her, testing her. “I saw a snake.” He jabbed his pointy finger on her chest. “Go check. You’re the oldest.”

  “Okay, I’ll go. You guys stay right here.” Hannah turned, careful not to step on any twigs, and started toward the opposite side of the pond glad to get away from them for a minute. A snake. She hated snakes. There better not be a snake. What’s Tommy Watson doing right now? Hopefully not talking to blond hair, hot pink bikini Olivia.

  The air was so hot and thick that it somehow softened the edges of everything, blurring the distinct lines of the trees and melting the horizon of the grass and sky together. The pond glittered, echoing toward the sky. She wanted to jump in the water, even if it was gross, even if there was a snake. She just wanted to be cool. Cool and at the pool. But they had to wait for Mom. There’d be no chance of going to the pool if Mom found out they went in the pond without her supervision.

  The baked gray wood of the dock was hot on the soles of her feet. But there wasn’t a snake or a hint of a snake in sight. Hannah tiptoed to the end and peered across the pond, squinting into the bright sun. Mr. Hartline’s tractor roared closer and Hannah couldn’t hear her siblings. George, David, and Macy pranced around playing a game. George, his fists in his armpits like a bird‘s wings, flapped his arms wildly up and down and ran around in a circle. David did the same and then Macy joined in, beating her arms in the air and running, her chubby legs hurtling round and round. They looked like crazy chickens circling each other.

  As the tractor pulled away, Hannah heard George yell, “Harder, harder, that’s right Macy, flap your wings.”

  “Faster, faster” David chirped. “Fly! Fly!”

  George, his arms slicing the steamy air like a frantic bird, a big smile on his face, sprinted into the pond and broke the still surface with a loud splash. David ran after him, wings flailing, feet kicking, and as though frozen in the air for a split second - flying - and then he too slammed into the water. Hannah, lost in the suddenness and fun of her brothers, laughed again. The boys’ heads popped above the surface, grinning ear-to-ear, and they immediately chanted. “Fly, Macy! Fly!”

  With a look of fierce determination, Macy barreled toward the pond, her arms waving, and jumped, landing a few feet from the edge of the pond. Hannah lurched forward as though to lunge into the water and catch Macy, but stopped. A quick dip won’t hurt her. Macy had taken swim lessons this past winter.

  “Hey, I see a snake!” Hannah yelled, snickering. George had gotten his swim after all.

  “Yeah, right,” George shouted back mischievously. “I can stand!” He poked his chin just above the surface of the water and stretched his hands above his head. “Look at me.”

  David, treading water, splashed his brother, “Barely! It’s deeper over here.”

  George swam over to David and dunked him. David came up, throwing punches and spitting water. “Jerk!!”

  Macy, all smiles, her plump arms thrashing the water stroked a sloppy crawl toward the center of the pond. “My flip flop. I’m gonna get it!” She sputtered.

  “No, Macy. Go back,” Hannah shouted. “It’s too deep out there!”

  Macy, still beaming, her wet hair plastered over her eyes, shouted back, “I’m gonna get it,” and gulped a mouthful of water. She spit it out, but her head bobbed under the water. She’s okay, Hannah thought and sure enough, Macy bobbed up again.

  Then Macy slid under the surface. Hannah froze, a prick of panic tickled her stomach. Macy frantically grabbed the water as though a handful of water would keep her afloat. Hannah opened her mouth to scream.

  “Hannah!” George screamed instead. “Get Macy!”

  Hannah dove into the pond. The cold water surprised her and for a moment the only thing she felt was relief from the heat. Wet, her tee shirt and shorts created a heavy drag, but she swam hard, pounding the water, keeping her chin up and her eyes on Macy. Mom is going to kill me. She focused on her sister, not hearing the slap of her hands on the water or the groan of Mr. Hartline’s tractor. Macy went under again.

  Hannah reached for Macy, grabbing her tank top and the two sisters locked arms. She pulled Macy close and for a moment her sister calmed – the rank scent of the stale pond water filling the small space between them. Macy latched her arms around Hannah’s neck and wrapped her legs around Hannah’s waist and instantly they began to sink. Hannah kicked with all of her might trying to push them above the water. Her heart ricocheted against her chest, her lungs screamed for air. Macy’s ragged fingernails dug into her shoulder, her grip tightening. Hannah closed her mouth trying to hold her breath and opened her eyes under the water. It was clear - then dark. She pumped her arms, pushing toward the surface, but Macy’s panic, like an anchor, pulled them down. Hannah looked up. The sun bore through the ripples of the water and the blue hint of the clear sky called from another world. She wanted to walk on the hot cement at the pool, smell the clean chlorine, and later sit in the cool shade under the pavilion with her friends and eat a just-fried pierogi. Most of all, she wanted to see if Tommy would ask her to be his partner in alligator tag. Macy hugged harder and tighter. Hannah couldn’t hold her breath any longer; the water filled her ears and forced its way into her nostrils and mouth as her sister clamped to her like a vice grip. Her last thought was of that envelope in th
e mail basket and the crisp, red letters etched so prettily in the return address block.