The Choice ( a serial work of fiction) Part 4

I must have dozed off, for though I was vaguely aware of the turns - I only opened my eyes when I felt the Volvo finally stop. A medium white wooden Cape Cod style house with dark red decorative shutters and door loomed before me. Tall juniper bushes flanked both sides of a cement set of stairs. I turned to look at this place to which I had willingly gone. No other house shone even a single interior light. The world was asleep and I stood in the darkness miles away from where I had been only that morning.

My Uncle left the car door open and the headlights shining.. I watched as his feet climbed the cement stairs onto the small wooden porch, unlocking the red door. Reaching into the house, he flipped on the entryway light, went in,and then another light further in the house snapped to life as well . It seemed like seconds until he returned.

" Good, you are awake. Go on inside and I will bring the bags. " He sat once more in the driver's seat. shut off the headlights and shut the door. He was at the trunk before I was out of the car. I wrapped the throw around my shoulders , and trudged still drowsy , up the cement stairs . I entered the foyer and was faced with a white walled set of oak stairs and banister that lead up to an unlit second floor. I turned to the left and walked into the living room.

The room was average for the middle part of the 20th century. I sniffed and could tell that it had recently been cleaned and aired. We were expected. A grey green radio sat on a small mahogany half moon table with some minor scroll work. A bronze statue of an Indian slumped forward onto his horse beside it. Behind the Indian, three books, between a pair of bronze babyshoe bookends,
sat. The rug was a color called champagne. The furniture was well balanced- a gold chair at either end , with a sofa , also gold against the far wall. A fireplace well cleaned , end irons polished
sat between the two chairs , but there was no wood. I wondered if it worked. I heard the light for the stairwell click on , footsteps up the stairs , more clicking of switches, and my uncle's feet on the upper floor to the right of where I stood on the first. I sat on the couch , placing my purse on the dark wooden coffee table with a glass insert- ball and claw legs merged into the table beneath more of the tastefully discrete scrollwork. A large painting of a three masted schooner hung above the fireplace, whose white mantel held more than eight Hummels. My uncle returned to me.

" Come on, I will give you the five cent tour of the house. You can explore later as you will. " He entered the black doorway of the room facing me, light revealed its secret to be a kitchen.
I followed behind. Red roosters on yellow wallpaper surrounded the breakfast nook. The cushions were a complimentary print. The kitchen was compact with stove and backdoor at one end, refrigerator in a recessed area in the middle. I walked over , there was a double stainless steel sink . I lifted the tap and water flowed. No rust. We were expected.

" I wish that I had longer to do this today. Perhaps later this evening, when I return..." he frowned as he glanced at his watch whose alarm had just sounded.

" Return? You are not staying here".

He shook his head. " No, but this place is safe for you. Look around as you will. There is nothing beyond the ordinary to get you into trouble. I bought some groceries and they are in the cabinets and refrigerator. Its a little old fashioned but the owners were very kind to me when I explained that I would not be travelling alone. Your room is at the top of the stairs to the right . The bathroom is next to it. There are linens in the closet next to the bathroom . Feel free to use what you will. Washer dryer in the basement. I believe that the owner's wife has made up the bed with fresh sheets and blankets. She was worried that you would be very tired and and some what overwhelmed by the time that you got here. " The watch sounded urgently a second time-he handed me a set of keys and a small envelope .

" Its not much but you are allowed to leave the house. I thought that you might need some money if you did. You know the Rules- no one else in the house while I am gone. Certainly not any boys..."

" I don't know any." I sniffed in return.

" Sleep as long as you want - there is a television on the sunporch but they donot have cable , I am afraid. I will see you in the evening. Oh , before I forget, the phone doesnot work except for 911 service. " He briefly glanced through the back window over the breakfast nook table, took my head in his cool hands and kissed my forehead . I followed into the living room. He smiled once as he left, pulling the front door closed behind him. I threw the top lock, the chain and , taking a key from a cuphook near the living room, locked the deadbolt. The volvo pulled out of the driveway and into what remained of the night.