Benjamin Braddock

He held the phone receiver against his ear with his shoulder as he dug for change.  He looked at the thin scraps of paper in his palm and dropped them to the floor.  He put two coins in the phone and the remaining in his pocket where he felt the tip of the folded letter.  He didn’t have to pull it out to know what it was.  He read it many times since he received it from his mother two weeks ago.  Why did she even mention Grace?  She must have known that he wouldn’t have been able to think about anything else if she mentioned Grace, so why did she?  And of all things, why did she have to tell him that Grace was getting married?  That’s why he was carrying the letter.  He put it in his pocket after having read it once more that morning.  He already knew that today was her wedding date but he had to relive the torture by reading it over again.

“Irv is that you?” a voice he recognized as Steve’s asked over the line.

“Yeah, I’m here.  It’s all set. I’m going.”

“Well hurry, the priest is already here.”

“Jesus Christ, I thought I would have had more time.”

“I’ll see what I can do but you better fucking hurry!”  And with that Irving hung up the phone and picked up his tote.  He ran out into the rain to the idling car he paid a local kid to guard.  He had a little trouble popping the clutch, he rarely drove stick shift and wasn’t very good at it.  It wasn’t his car.  He fishtailed in the mud a bit before backing off the gas and letting the wheels gain traction.  This was the second afternoon rain and it’d last for about an hour.  It’d rain at least one more time before day’s end.   

“You never listen to me,”  he could hear her say.  She was always telling him that.  He thought he was listening.  He never thought they had any problems but he knew that maybe that is what she was getting at.  He never noticed when he made her unhappy.  He didn’t like making her unhappy.  He remembered when he went out and bought her a kitten when her cat had gotten run-over by a hot-rodding teen.  He thought he was fixing the problem but instead she got angry that he could be so insensitive to think that her Perrywinkle could just be replaced.  Boy, had he played that hand all wrong.

He reached in the glove box for a cassette tape.  There were few tapes he could play, most of them were in Spanish.  He put in the tape deck The Best of Simon And Garfunkle.  The irony that Mrs. Robinson came on didn’t escape him.  He could picture Ben Braddock running into the church banging on the window, ruining the wedding.  He then picture himself doing the same and an uneasy feeling came over him.  Was he capable of doing such a thing?  He knew that he couldn't love someone the way he loved Grace but could she love someone else more than him?  Sure she was getting married but he knew she was still in love with him.

He slowed to a stop as the rain poured down a bit harder.  A couple of men were trying to lead an ox off the road. but the soft ground made the animal hesitant to move further down the sloping path.

“Come on you fucking beast, move your ass.” he said aloud.  The men waved him by and he maneuvered around them, partially driving up along the side of the hill.  He drove as fast as he could trying not to slide off the road with its many curves and hairpins.  He kept his eyes half on the road and half on the clock.  He had about 30 minutes to go before he finally got there.  Could this get any worse, he thought.  What a shitty day this was turning out to be.  If he didn’t get there in time he didn’t know what he’d do.  He’d freak out for sure, probably even cry.  This isn’t something that most people are prepared for.

All the while counting down the kilometers he had left to drive he thought of Grace.  He imagined himself running into that church and yelling “I do,” when the priest asked if anyone knew of any reasons why these two should not wed.  He wondered how he’d do it.  Would he burst in like a mad man yelling for the wedding to stop or would he sit in the back and wait for his moment to arise?  How would Grace react to him?  Would he read signs of relief on her face ?  Or would he see that vein in the middle of her forehead bulge and her jaw clench?   The prospect of her not being relieved to see him gave him a bout of nausea.  He’d pull over and vomit if it wasn’t for the fact that he was pressed for time.  

Up and down the the road the car went, as he traversed one side of the mountain to the next, deeper and deeper into the thick rural plantations he drove.  He turned the radio off when Sounds of Silence began to play.  It became a nuisance.  The rain had finally stopped and the sun began to shine through the parting clouds.  He sped up, hoping to catch up on lost time.  He could see the hospital down the cobble road as he made it into town,. He zig-zagged between the young men, done with the day’s pick, pushing wheel-barrels heaping with white coffee beans. They waved to him and smiled a little less so than they did on the first day his group arrived. On that day there were greeted as liberators.

When he got to the church, he drove around back to the hospital, added on years before by philanthropists from the United States.  When he slammed on the breaks, he slid into the wall.  He was wearing his seat belt but still managed to hit hid head against, the windshield.  The nuns came running out to see if he was okay. He opened the door and rolled out onto the floor.  

“Aw fuck.”  He said, wincing.  

“Are you okay?” one of the nuns asked in broken English.

“Yeah, I’m fine,”  he said pulling himself up on the car door.  He reached in and grabbed his tote.  “I’ve got it sisters, I’ve got it.”  He said as he quickly made his way inside.

“Irving,” Steve said, “you’re finally back.”

“Yeah,” he said, “I’ve got the meds.”

“Irving this is Padre Delgado.” Steve said to Irving.  Irving looked over to see balding priest who looked as if he were blind.  “He delivered that last rites about an hour ago when I got off the phone with you.  It’s too late.  Why don’t you have a seat?”

 

Acorn Parable [333W3C]

“Squirrel Finn is a liar and he doesn’t know what he speaks about,” Rabbit Dorsey said to the wood land animals.

“His proof is not really proof.” Said Rabbit Jack as the other animals listened.

“This doesn’t effect me, why should I be here for this meeting?” Goat Joesph asked.

“I agree,” Deer Bethany said. “Why do we have to get mixed up in your acorn quarrel with Squirrel Finn, Rabbit Dorsey?”

“Because Squirrel Finn spreads his proof around but we know his proof isn’t real proof.”

“Here, here.” Rabbit Jack shouted.

“So what do you want from us?” Raccoon Samuel asked.

“Tell Squirrel Finn that the acorns belong to everyone in the forest and if we want to use them for carrot fires and our rabbit games of brickledumper and kangerdorfen we can.” Rabbit Dorsey said.

“Well I don’t see why not, this has no effect on me,” Said Goat Joseph.

“Then it’s agreed. We can use the acorns as we like and don’t have to agree to any of Squirrel Finns acorn rules.”

The meeting ended on this note and the many animals went their separate ways. Squirrels Jacob and George went straight to Finn’s tree. “They’re saying you are a liar Finn!” George told him.

“Yeah the rabbits have convinced the rest of the animals that you are wrong.” Jacob added.

“But I’m not wrong,” Finn began, “we are running out of acorns. All squirrels know you have to manage your acorns every year or the tress don't grow back. The rabbits use so much and they are wasteful. They can use twigs for the fires that cook their carrots but they want to use acorns because they’re easier to gather. They’re collecting all the acorns before everyone else because they’re so fast and they have more brothers and sister in their litters to help them gather. I had to cross the creek and go close to the edge of the meadow to gather decent acorns.”

“I know, I know.” Jacob offered.

“They’ve been doing it for a long time too. The newer saplings don’t bear acorns yet. The old trees grow barren.” Squirrel Finn pleaded.

The next morning Finn went to the stump and called on the animals of the forests but they would not listen because the rabbits told everyone that Squirrel Finn’s proof wasn’t really proof. Other animals such as the Goats and Deer didn’t care because they didn’t eat acorns.

All summer long, Squirrel tried to save as many acorns as he could but rarely found any because all the rabbits were using them for their games and their cooking fires. Summer was long and dry. Winter soon came, even though it was really cold, it too was really long and dry. Is didn’t rain much only sprinkling here and there throughout the winter. Only one night did it rain really hard, causing the creek to overflow. The creek rose up and washed away Beaver Samson’s dams.

When spring came there was less green grass than there was last year. There were less new oak saplings growing up from the ground. Still, there was enough food and materials for all the woodland creatures. Squirrel went along telling the rabbits and anyone who would listen that we need to stop using all the acorns and use different materials for fires and games. The rabbits didn’t listen and started selling their acorns. They had left-over acorns while almost everyone else had none.

“These are everyone’s acorns, you can’t sell them to us!” Argued Squirrel Finn.

“Yes I can, they are mine. Right Joseph?” Rabbit Dorsey said.

“I don’t care, I don’t eat acorns.” Goat Joesph said.

“See? You’re the only one who has a problem with my using and selling acorns.” Dorsey said.

“You’re always so bossy Squirrel. Isn’t he bossy?” Dorsey asked the forest animals.

“Yeah stop being so bossy Finn.” Raccoon Samuel said.

“Besides, your proof isn't really proof.” Said Chipmunk Dennis.

Squirrel stopped talking. No one believed him or listened to him any more. He collected all his acorns for the season anyway. Other rabbits had to go to Dorsey to get their acorns to start their fires and play their rabbit games. Chipmunks had to get the acorns from Rabbit Dorsey too.

Again the winter came and like last year the creek flooded, washing away Beaver Samson’s dams. The spring came and it was green but less so than last year. In fact, there was only new grass this season. The were no new saplings. Samson beaver said he was going to move away because there were no new oak saplings for him to use in his damns. Th green saplings are the most flexible and he uses them to tie important pieces of his damn together. So the forest animals threw him a big party before he moved away.

The goats and deer fought over who got to eat the grass because there wasn’t enough green growing plants for them all to eat. Squirrel Finn would still say that we need to stop using up all the acorns but no one would listen to him.

When the winter came it again brought floods but this time there was no damn for it to wash away. It did however wash away a lot of the rich dark growing dirt where the grass once grew. The roots of the grass would hold all the good growing dirt in place like a net but because it was all eaten, there was not a net of roots to hold the dirt in place. The floods washed a lot of the good growing dirt away.

When Spring came, the forest was a lot different. The floods took away a lot of the smaller tress and washed away planes where grass one grew. The grass that grew was very little. The creek dried up because there were no dam to slow and control the water. It moved further away from the forest now. It was obvious to all the animals in the forest that something needed to be done.

“We need grass!” Said the deer.

“So do we.” Said the Goats,

“Why should I care if you need grass?” Said Finn to the Goats and deer, “you didn't care about my acorns.” The deer and goats were too embarrassed to answer.

After much discussion. Squirrel Jacon spoke, “I have the answer to your problems, we need Beaver Samson to bring water back to us.”

“But he can’t build the dams without the saplings to tie them off.” Said Raccoon Samuel.

“We’ll just plant some acorns to grow the saplings.” Jacob said. “Rabbit has the acorns to plant, Rabbit will you give them to us.”

“No, you have to buy them, you all have to buy them from me. I only have a few left so they will cost you a lot.” Rabbit Dorsey said defiantly.

“But rabbit we will surely die if we don’t bring water back to the forest.” Goat Joseph pleaded.

“How is that my problem?” Rabbit said. This caused the animals to get very angry at rabbit. They wanted to attack the Rabbit Dorsey and all his other rabbit friends.

“”Wait, wait!” cried Finn. “I have saplings. I’ve tended to my tree and no one else has. I’ve planted what little acorns I had last year so that the sapling would grow this year.”

“Why didn’t you say so? Why didn’t you tell Beaver Samson before he moved away.”

“I tired but he would never give me the time of day, he would just ignore me.”

“Well we must find him quickly to divert water back to the forest.” Deer Bethany said. “Climb on my back Squirrel Finn and we shall ride to the ends of the forest to find Beaver Samson.

Deer and squirrel brought Beaver back to the forest and all the animals except the rabbits helped Beaver build the new dams to help bring the creek back into the forest. The water soon brought in new grass and animals planted the acorns to grow new trees. Rabbit Dorsey and all his rabbit friends were kicked out of the forest into the meadow and not allowed to use the acorns any more.

All the animals agreed to no longer be wasteful but instead use less and work together to make sure that the forest kept growing new tress and grass. They made sure they managed the water with Beaver so that it didn’t disappear but also that it didn’t wash away the dark growing dirt that they needed to keep growing plants and tress.

The animals found that working together actually made everything easier for everyone. If the animals weren't greedy or wasteful, then all the animals could live together without ever starving again.

Santa Croce

I kept looking at the timetables and fares and still thought that going straight to Paris would be the best plan economically. I did the math in my head as fast as I could.

“Terrence!”

“Yes?” I answered looking up from my trance.

“We’re going to Venice and that’s final,” Stephanie informed me. I looked over at Brenden who nodded reluctantly. Sighing defeat, “okay, okay.” I said. Stephanie wanted to go to Venice to see San Marcos square or Piazza or was it San Mateo? I couldn't recall. I didn’t really care about Venice. I just wanted to get the hell out of Italy. I wanted to get to Paris. I wanted decent food. I wont argue about the quality of Italian food because I don’t think it was all that great and that’s my conclusive opinion.

We had been in Rome far too long anyway. We spent a whole week there, doing lots of walking, seeing a bunch of old shit in a city struggling to balance the Old World with the modern. It was like any other modern city, dirty and full of assholes.

So now, instead of taking the trains necessary to get to Paris, we were stuck in a cyber cafe trying to book rooms in Venice all before we had to be on the train to take us there. I hated rushing but Stephanie was the one plotting the course. Granted, not everyone was computer savvy, or internet literate in the late 1990s but she didn’t know how to search the Internet for her life.

“Can I help you?” I would ask and she would always say “no,” insisting she knew what she was doing. She did not. To be fair, web pages then weren’t as clean and easy to navigate as they are now. There weren’t the numerous travel websites then as there are now either. We had actually booked the trip through a travel agent. The last time I ever used a travel agent.

“Right click.” I instructed.

“This one?’

“No the one on the right.”

“This is the one on the right?”

“No it’s not.” I said.

“You want to do it? Fine!” She said in a huff and tossed the mouse onto the desk. I looked at Brenden who gave me an exasperated look and then, as if pointing with them, he raised his eyebrows telling me to take the helm of the internet browser.

I could feel Stephanie’s eyes burning over my shoulder as I took the mouse in my hand.

“See? Right click, right click!” she yelled from behind me.

“I did,” I said as I pulled away from her yelling.

“That’s what I did.”

“No you didn’t,” I said as I picked up the mouse. ” You kept clicking this button, I meant this one,” giving her tutorial of the mouse’s nomanclature.

“Oh, so right click doesn’t mean click it with your right hand.?” She asked.

It was cold on the train and we knew we had another one to catch. I sat alone next to the cold window while Brenden and Stephanie sat together laughing about God knows what. I didn’t give a shit, I had been out-voted. Stephanie swayed Brenden to vote for Venice. I didn’t want to spend my money on booking a room in Venice, nor the train tickets to get there, when that money could have went to a sleeper train en route to Paris. Two birds, one stone and a city I was more apt to want to chill in.

I mean Venice is beautiful with all it’s canals and shit but what did I care? Those gondola rides are expensive and I wasn’t in the mood to spend that kind of bread for a saccharine novelty better suited to a young couple. Granted, I was was trying to fuck Stephanie but so was Brenden and neither of us wanted to have to be romantic about it. It’s not that we were all that into Stephanie, it’s just that being Americans who didn’t bother to learn the native tongue wasn’t really winning us any Italian chicks. Any American girls we met where smitten by the dark-haired, blue-eyed Italian boys they saw. We didn’t stand a chance. Well, not a good one anyway. Stephanie was our “fall back bitch,” the girl we fall back on if we couldn’t pull any birds from the clubs or bars. This was a term and concept she did not find amusing.

I looked over at Brenden and Stephanie who were looking into one of the many guide books that Stephanie had brought. I could feel someone looking at me. I raised my head and met the eyes of a guy with an orange scarf staring at me. He’d been watching me. He then looked at Stephanie, then back at me and shook his head. I remembered the guy from when we first got on this train, when it was still crowded. We were running late to catch the train because Stephanie mixed up the schedule thinking that train left at 4:30 when it actually left at 4:05. A fact I had known and stated butt she dismissed me, she was the one holding the train timetable book after all. We also lost some time when the two of them argued over whose turn it was to pay for the hotel. It was Stephanie’s turn but she wouldn’t pull out her credit card to make the payment, so after five minutes of pleading, Brenden finally relented and gave me his card to use.

We barely got to the train’s platform as the doors closed and began to pull away but Stephanie dropped her bags and ran to the door pounding and screaming to let us on. Of course we picked up her bags and followed. The train stopped and the doors opened. Inside it was packed full of people; commuters and holiday travelers, all standing.

“There’s room,” Stephanie insisted and started throwing in our bags at the legs of the many standing in the entryway. You could hear the people moan as our huge 75 lb. bags struck their shins and knees. Stephanie barged her way through and commanded Brenden and I to follow. Both he and I sheepishly climbed aboard trying not to meet the eyes of the Italians who were just assaulted by our compatriot. Our smiles begged for forgiveness as we shrugged our apologies. The guy wearing the orange scarf is the one who held the door into the main compartment open for me, as I passed I nodded and mumbled “grazie”.

The train arrived at our transfer station finally. We sat on the platform waiting for the train to take us from the mainland to Venice.

“Terrence I’m hungry, go buy me something, please.” She asked.

“I’ll miss the train,” I told her.

“No you wont, we’ve got ten minutes.” She said.

“Yeah about nine minutes.” Brenden said and I shot a look at him that made him recoil and tighten his mouth.

“Well, here, give me some Lira, I’ll get us something to eat.”

“I’m fine.” I said.

“Yeah me too,” Brenden said. “Why don’t you just wait until we get to Venice, we’ll eat at the hotel?”

“Because I’m hungry now Brenden that’s why!” Stephanie shot back. “Just give me like a hundred Lira,” Stephanie insisted.

“Why do I have to give you money?”

“Because I’ve used all mine, I have to cash my travelers checks.”

“Fuck, fine,” I said pulling my wallet from out the inside pocket of my leather parka. “Here.”

She walked off to the McDonald’s at the main platform. Brenden and I smoked our cigarettes watching her, counting the minutes until the train arrived. An announcement was made overhead in Italian, which none of us spoke. “Wait, what did she say about Venice?” I asked Brenden regarding the female voice overhead.

“Platform two?”

“Yeah, I think she said it moved to platform two?”

“Yeah let’s go.” Brenden said as he pointed to an approaching train off in the distance.

“Stephanie,” I shouted from platform nine, “meet us on platform two.”

“I'm waiting for my food.” She shouted back as she stepped out from the McDonalds.

“Fuck your food, let’s go!”

“The train to Venice is on nine.”

“They moved it to two.”

“Terrence, stay there, they said it’s on nine!” she insisted.

“This bitch,” I said to Brenden.

‘Well, she does speak better Italian than us.” Brenden offered.

“No she doesn’t, she speaks shitty Spanish. These people are insulted she keeps speaking to them in Spanish. She’s better off speaking in English, at least she has control of the language.” I argued.

We watched as passengers boarded the train. It slowly pulled away from platform two. Stephanie was no longer in sight.

“What the fuck?” Brenden said.

“Did that fucking bitch get on that train?” I yelled at Brenden

“What fucking bitch?” Stephanie asked as she walked up from the stairs onto the platform.

“Oh, we couldn’t see you, we thought maybe you got on the train.” Brenden said.

“I told you, it’s on platform nine, see,” she said, pointing to the train that was approaching our platform. We got on and I chose to sit by myself again. The first two stops came quickly, it was the final stop that took the longest, about 25 minutes before we finally stopped. We then noticed that not only were we the only passengers in the car but we were the only passengers on the train. The conductor noticed this fact as well. He looked shocked to see three stupid American kids standing in the middle of the aisle, confused because they had now found themselves parked in a train yard.

Lugging our shit through the dark of the train yard was by far the most interesting, if not shitty, part of the night. My bag was a bitch of a burden just rolling through a train station, now I had to carry the heavy motherfucker along the rocking grounds of the rails. There was a small station there that had a train bound to the transfer station. We met a couple of guys at this station who took an instant liking to Stephanie which means Brenden and I instantly disliked them. I believe they said they were Moroccan. We told Stephanie in quick whispers to stop talking to them. She wouldn’t listen of course, telling us to be cool and stop being such assholes.

We got on the train and two of the guys boarded the train with us, even going so far as to sit in our cabin with us. Brenden and I really didn’t like this but Stephanie wasn’t our girlfriend so we couldn’t say anything. At the first stop, one of the Moroccans got off and exchanged handshakes and smiles with his pal. Stephanie was confused.

“I thought you said you lived together?” She asked him.

“Yes but tonight, you me, Venice.” He told Stephanie.

Aghast, “What? Absolutely not.” Stephanie said. They had some words and neither Brenden nor I said much. We both stood guard but he didn’t get physical. He simply walked out of the cabin. We saw him get off at the next stop.

“Why didn’t you tell him something?” Stephanie asked us.

“Why should we, we told you not to talk to them.”

“I was being friendly, meeting different people. We’re in Europe for Christ’s sake.” Stephanie argued.

“True but don’t be so fucking naive. You can’t even speak their language, in what way could you be interesting to them other than to fuck?” I told her. She didn’t like that comment and didn’t speak to me much after that. She stood by Brenden holding his arm and resting her head on his shoulder when she could.

After all the trains and transfers we made it to Venice, where it was now past midnight and the water level rose above the side walks. As soon as we were outside I immediately started hailing a water cab.

“Watch my bag Brenden, my passport is in the front pocket. I’m going to go back in the station to see if I can find a map of the city.” Stephanie instructed just as the taxi was approaching. When she was inside and the cab pulled close enough for me to put my foot into it I looked at Brenden and he gave me a nod. He picked up our bags; handing me my bag, then his bag and then he picked up Stephanie's and threw it into the Grand Canal. The cab driver turned and looked at us at the sound of the splash.

“Santa Croce.” I told him as Brenden and I settled into our seats. He shrugged his shoulders and began to pull away.

The Fold & Jay

Both Boris and Pickles never really understood the curmudgeonly attributes of Cole. True they were different than Cole, both Boris and Pickles were females, years older than Cole. The other main difference was that Cole was a cat and Boris and Pickles were dogs.

Boris, a lovely Rottweiler of calm disposition, was the first family pet. She was named Boris because her young masters were boys and wanted a tough name for their tough dog. The masculine aspects of it escaped them for they were only nine and seven years of age. Pickles a long-haired chihuahua/dachshund mix was quite calm too. She was young and had more energy but because she took her cues from Boris, she often laid around a lot, wishing someone would play with her.

They never said much to one another about Cole except that he seemed so grumpy. He paid them little mind anyway. He reserved no reverence for Boris, not for her being his elder, the family guard or even to the fact that Boris could eat him.

“You want to play tag?’ Pickles asked Cole.

“No,” Cole said.

“How about fetching the ball with me.”

“No.”

“Want to play strings? You pull one end, I pull the other?” Pickles asked circling Cole, bouncing.

“Leave me alone mutt.” Cole said as he stretched and walked off toward the window sill for a nap.

Disheartened, Pickles slowly trotted away.

“Pay him no mind, he is unlike us.” Boris told Pickles in comfort. “He only bothers with our masters because they feed him. He truly only cares for himself. From now on, don’t bother with him. He wont care one way or the other about it and you wont get your feelings hurt.”

Pickles accepted this advice albeit with some sadness.

It had been a week or so of pure bliss for Cole. Neither Boris nor Pickles bothered him with any questions or requests. He enjoyed the silence and peace. As he purred in the sunlight that painted the window sill he heard “hey, whatcha doing?”

To the human ear this question sounded like bird cawing but Cole being a cat knows the language of birds as do all Cats and all dogs and vice versa.

Cole opened on eye and looked outside beyond the window screen and saw standing on a telephone wire a young, fit Blue Jay.

“I’m Jasper.”

“Go away.” Cole said with little effort.

“Go away? But I just got here," Jasper said. “I’m new to the area so I’m trying to make friends.”

“Make friends elsewhere.” Cole said turning on the window sill facing away from the outside world.

“But I live in that tree right there. You’re my neighbor. We should be friends.”

“I’m a cat.” Cole said, his patience growing thin.

“What does that matter? I’ve been friends with dogs and raccoons and...”

“It means I eat you!” Cole said as he whipped around in a leap, ,jumping in the direction of Jasper. He was stopped by the window screen and ended up falling on the floor. He shook his head and looked out the sliding door.

Jasper flew to the ground to speak to Cole through the glass of the sliding door, “Are you okay? Man, that was a big fall.” Jasper said looking back up at the window sill. “You landed right on your side. That’s funny most cats land on their feet. Hmm, I wonder why you didn’t. Well I doubt it is because you are inferior. Even an inferior cat would have landed on his feet.”

Cole didn’t answer, he just turned and walked into toward another room. Jasper stood talking to him through the glass door. He was in the bedroom of his youngest master and jumped on the bed to get to the window sill.

“Is this window better?” He heard someone ask.

“Huh, what?” Cole asked looking up at Jasper staring at him from outside.

“This window, is it better than the last window? Is that why you moved? I do that sometimes, sometimes I like that wire better than the other wire. Or this branch better than that branch. I prefer the shaded branches and wires. You seem to like the sun.”

“Go away,” Cole begged with a drone.

This type of exchange happened daily for weeks. From minutes before the sun’s rise to when the first stars pierced the darkness of the night sky, Jasper would stay within speaking distance of Cole’s many windows asking questions and requesting friendship.

Once in a while when withing earshot, Boris or Pickles would jump at Jasper, in an attempt to swallow him whole and silence him. They too were bothered by his constant talking every once in a while.

That didn’t stop Jasper from coming by. He would just fly up and perch himself anywhere out of reach from both Pickles and Boris. Cole was annoyed at the dogs for their failures. If he didn’t have a screen and was allowed outside, he’d surely catch that gabby Blue Jay.

Being that they were easy going, both Pickles and Boris stopped trying to eat Jasper and let him come by freely. Because they were older, they could easily fall asleep on Jasper if his talking became too much for them. Cole would curse the dogs for entertaining this burden of his. Sometimes Jasper would bring by other Blue Jays, like Jones and Jackson. Sometimes he’d talk with the Doves who stood guard from boys with slingshots or the Crows who worked the fruit trees.

Cole got annoyed to see him talking to the other animals because he knew that eventually Jasper was going to come bother him. He wished he’d just come and get it out of the way instead of making him wait.

“I notice your ears flop. Are you bad luck? I heard black cats are bad luck. But why do your ears flop? Hound dogs ears flop. Harry, he’s a hound dog six houses over. his ears flop all kinds. I can only go there and talk to Harry when the Doves stand by. His masters try to shoot me with slings. He’s very wise he is. Sometimes he tells me tales of his expeditions.”

“I’m a Scottish fold,” Cole said finally. The first time he ever said anything to Jasper that was in the form of a conversation.

“Huh?” Japser asked with surprise.

“A Scottish fold, that is why my ears flop, I’m a Scottish fold.”

“Oh, I’ve never heard of a Scottish fold before. Persians and tabbys. Are you bad luck?”

“Well, you haven’t been eaten so I guess I am. Bad luck to myself but good luck for you.”

“I don’t understand?’ Jasper said.

“Forget it,” Cole said, laughing to himself.

“Jasper!” Desmond shouted. Cole looked up to see a dove on a tree branch.

“Yes Desmond?” Jasper answered.

“The boys are home from school, quickly move along.” Desmond cautioned.

“What does he mean?” Cole asked.

“Your young masters,” Jasper began, “they both got BB guns last winter just after the solstice. A bird is a wonderful prize for them. There are many young boys in this neighborhood.”

“BB guns? My masters?”

“Yes.” Jasper said as he fluttered off.

The next day Jasper came by and for the first time ever upon arriving, Cole did not ask him to leave or jump at the screen. Jones and Jackson too began coming to the window sill to ask questions of Cole. They would stay until Desmond or Darrell would come by and warn that they had to leave.

Cole stretched one morning and noticed that the sun was rising earlier and earlier now and realized the summer solstice would be upon them tomorrow. He was going to enjoy the long summer days, the hours of sunlight. He sat and stretched upon the sill and slowly fell asleep, he didn’t wake until noon when he noticed the sounds of a lawn mower off in the distance and the hissing of a water sprinkler. The buzzing of insects and the hot heat made him a feel a little woozy. Had Jasper been there he’d have woken a lot earlier.

He woke the next day and heard lots of conversations amongst the early working crows, picking off the last of the fresh figs. They had to finish work early he overheard them say. It seems all the birds had somewhere to go to. Cole cursed his masters for never allowing him outside. He wanted to know what all the commotion was about.

“Hey Jackson, what’s going on with you birds, all flying off? Winter isn’t for six months.”

“You don’t know?” Jackson said down to Cole through the window screen. His tone stirred worry in Cole. “Jasper went to go talk with Harry.” Jackson began.

Cole didn’t even hear the rest of what Jackson said. It’s as if the folds of his ears prevented him from hearing. He looked forward to the many minutes that this day would bring, filled with sunshine and warmth. Now it was filled with an empty coldness Cole had never known.