Michele Belcher's Blog: THINGS CHANGE

A faint reddish pink glow emanates from the faded neon OPEN sign onto the dark deserted street, and it is attached to a large wooden sign that is hanging in front of a building sporting a log cabin façade. The neon flickers bright and dim atop its perch on the wood sign which is covered with flaking gold and green paint that is barely clinging on spelling out MURPHY’S TAVERN. The front door is ajar and a colorful group of men and women is revealed through the crack. The men are clad in cowboy shirts and contrasting the women wearing sequined blouses with brightly colored skirts. The group loosely huddles around an antique jukebox and are attempting to sing along. The men pound their feet while the women clap and none of them can hear the sound of their own voices over the top of the noise they are making. The clock starts chiming the twelve chords leading up to the New Year. When the twelfth chime proclaims it’s midnight and it triggers kissing and hugging among the town folk who know each other all too well. In the midst of the reveling an old man stumbles into the bar much to the exasperation of the partiers.

“Old man Anthony is dead! I just heard that old man Anthony has died!”

The group halts the celebration and they stare at the old man. They are silent for a moment and turn to blankly look at each other. An unspoken agreement is reached and they start singing again, this time along to Auld Lang Sine which had begun playing on the jukebox while the old man was making his announcement.

Meanwhile in a different town another New Year’s Eve celebration is in progress in a small apartment occupied by a handsome, but somewhat disheveled appearing, young man and two attractive young women. One woman has on a sequined dress and the other is wearing jeans and a tee shirt. They hold glasses of champagne and make cheery gestures towards each other as the television announces it is midnight. After they finish making toasts the sequined woman gives the man a sly look and the two begin singing Happy Birthday, the other woman gives them a look that reveals little enthusiasm for their song.

“Isn’t it exciting to turn thirty on New Year’s Eve Karen?”

“Not particularly since my birthday has occurred on this same date for the previous twenty nine years before this. You two are making ‘much ado about nothing’ and I feel the same as when I was twenty nine a minute ago. Don’t you wish you were still thirty Tom?”

“Not really, life would still suck just like all the years before so why would I wish to be younger?"

“What a lovely attitude.”

“Can’t you guys be nice to each other for one evening? All you do is fight and it’s getting old.”

“You mean old like me Tina? Besides, if I wanted your opinion I’d give it to you!”

The small party at the apartment indicates they are experiencing hard times and the empty bottles of cheap beer littering the kitchen floor back it up. There are more bottles sitting on the kitchen counter next to a cake that is decorated with children’s toys. The trio starts singing and dancing as the alcohol begins to influence the party.

"Want to hear a joke, why did the chicken cross the road?”

The women glare at him disapprovingly.

“That joke has to be an antique.” Tina flips out.

. "Can’t we skip the lame jokes?" Karen says with a not now look in her eyes.

"Lame you say? Surely you can come up with something more insulting than that. I wasn't trying out for a talk show. I mistakenly thought a little bit humor might be kind of nice for a change but I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt by laughter!”

“Why start thinking now?" Karen challengingly throws out.

“You girls have no sense of adventure. It is a good joke but you'll never know, your loss."

Tina gives him a dirty look and goes to the bathroom. Tom reaches over and grabs Karen's hand.

“This hasn't been that bad of a birthday is it?"

“I guess not.”

“I wish I could afford to give you a decent gift.”

“It doesn’t matter, you really were never that good at buying presents anyway.”

"It’s nice of you to mention that even when I am not broke I was crappy at buying you something you wanted. I must be a pretty poor boyfriend so why are you still with me?”

"Not all gifts cost money, there is something I’ve been wanting but I was waiting until things got better for us before telling you. I may be waiting forever if I keep waiting for that to happen.” She says tentatively.

“Please tell me what that gift is and I’d be happy to oblige.”

“I would love for us to have a child.”

Tom drops her hand as if she was on fire. "You have got to be kidding. Didn’t you just say what a loser I am, and then you jump light years forward to wanting me a child with me?”

“I’m not getting younger while waiting for our situation to improve.”

“I don’t recall any conversations we’ve ever had about having a family. We can barely afford to buy champagne for your birthday, how are we supposed to support a family?” Tom is stunned by the direction the conversation has headed.

“It is stupid of me to think that you would want to get a job like the grown up you should be now. If we wait until you are ready we’ll be old enough to be grandparents before we are parents.”

“That’s ridiculous; you have got to be kidding about wanting for us to have a kid.”

“I should have known better than to bring it up.” Karen gets up from the couch and goes into the bedroom and shuts the door.

Tom can’t believe Karen has suggested having a child given they can’t get along or support themselves. The sound of the toilet flushing brought Tom back to reality, Karen’s sister is still there and has missed the baby conversation.

“Where’s Karen?”

“She’s in the bedroom, the party ended while you were out of the room.”

“Very funny, is that really what happened?” Tom nods yes. Fine, tell Karen I will call her in the morning. I hope things will be better than they seem to be right now.” She grabbed her coat and leaves.

Tom went to the refrigerator and grabbed another beer. He went back to the couch and soon passes out where he sat down.

The next morning the light streams through the apartment and highlights the mess from the previous evening and somehow it manages to make the room look even worse than it did before. Tom is still on the couch in the semi upright and sideways position in which he was sitting in with his beer when he passed out. When he moves to get up he feels a sharp stabbing pain in his neck from the unnatural position he had spent the night in. He stands up, stretches and goes into the bedroom where Karen retreated to the night before but the room is empty. The apartment isn’t very big but he checks the bathroom and when she isn't there he goes in to see if he looks as bad as he feels but he looks worse. The tattered jeans and old sweatshirt do nothing to improve his appearance. He runs a comb through his hair, slips on tennis shoes and grabs a coat and heads out the door. He stumble walks down the stairs leading to the sidewalk and he joins the crowd of people walking by. He weaves his way through the crowd in no apparent hurry to get anywhere. He gets to the first crosswalk and starts across it even though Do Not Cross is flashing. A taxi comes around the corner and barely misses him. The driver slams on the brakes and honks the horn at him. He rolls down the window and yells at Tom for crossing in front of him.

"Hey asshole, get some glasses!"

Tom responds by flipping him off and continues across the street. He turns at the next corner and turns again. He enters a narrow walkway which ends near a doorway with a small OPEN sign the word BAR is painted on the side of the building and he continues around the side of the building to another door marked ENTRANCE/EXIT . Tom enters a one room bar with six tables and a counter which extends the length of the room. There is a small but inclusive selection liquor is stacked behind the counter along with a small grill. Tom grabs a newspaper from the counter and sits on a stool. The bartender comes out from the back and looks at Tom and pours a glass of beer and sets it down. Tom is looking at the newspaper while holding a pen in his hand, job searching perhaps?

"When did you learn how to read?" The bartender says with a wry smile.

"Very funny, I can get attitude at home and it's free!"

"Well, considering how big your tab is, what's different with you getting it here?"

"In that case can I get a shot of Tequila to go with my beer and attitude, please?"

"It's been over two months since you've paid me anything on your tab. It seems to me that it would be cheaper just to give you the beer and keep the tequila."

Tom looks at the bartender and his face clearly shows the despair he is feeling.

“Yeah I know, it seems like my luck has got to change one of these days...wouldn't you think?"

The bartender grabs a bottle of Tequila and pours a shot and sets it next to the beer.

"I try not to think too much, it’s too much effort and doesn't do any good.” The bartender turns and walks away.

Tom downs the shot of Tequila and as the warm glow of the booze makes its way through his body he smiles towards the disappearing bartender.

"Thanks man, anymore the only good things I still have to look forward to are straight shots with a beer chaser.”

Tom picks up the beer and downs it quickly, he looks around for the bartender but he is still in the back room so he gets up and walks out of the dark bar and in to the brightness of the day.

Tom walks back the way he came in and when he gets to the sidewalk he turns left and walks along with the rest of the pedestrians and he appears to be walking aimlessly. He stops in front of a small gate that leads into a playground which has a well-manicured lawn and a sandy area with a swing set. There is another area with a small slide and some tables and benches. The day is cold and there are only a couple of people sitting on one of the benches and no kids. Tom walks down a small path that winds through the play areas and ends at a wading pool surrounding a fountain. He picks up some rocks and starts trying to skip them. Tom appears ready to leave but picks up a few more small rocks. Karen appears walking towards where Tom is.

“Sorry I am late but we actually had enough customers for me to get an extra hour of work. After our party went so badly last night I wasn’t really sure you would even show up.”

“Late is not a problem because I didn’t have anything else to do, unfortunately. Unfortunate because I wish I had a good reason not to here, like a job.”

Karen sits down on a bench as Tom tries to skip one more rock.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said last night.”

“And what are you thinking?” Karen implores hopefully, her dark blue eyes were glistening with a hint of tears.

“That having a baby for any reason is a very bad idea and I don’t believe that you don’t know it!”

Tom starts walking a tight circle around Karen keeping his eyes fixed on hers.

“That’s what I figured you would say.” Disappointment is written on her face.

“Why are you taking this so hard? If we aren’t making it without a child how could we be better with one?”

“Our relationship and our lack of money stay the same. I think being a father could be the best thing to happen to you.” Her unspoken words are louder than ones spoken.

“That’s ridiculous Karen, if I can’t take care of myself how can I take care of you and a child? I just don’t buy that you don’t know that deep down inside somewhere!”

“You don’t need to be so negative about my feelings even if you don’t share them.”

“Okay, let’s say for a moment that I share your dream for a child, and I pretend that this is a rational conversation. How do you propose we feed the kid?”

“Our child would have loving parents which is more that most children have these days.”

“Love can’t buy you money and we don’t have enough to raise a child. Being a loving parent is over rated and it is not going to pay the bills. You are not in the real world and since you think I am a loser, why would you want a child with me anyway?”

“I guess I don’t really have an answer for that. I really love you and I think that you love me but maybe I don’t really know what love is. You are correct that I am delusional and have been lying to myself. I think that you will miss me someday but you are right in that I need to get out of here!” Karen leans over and kisses Tom lightly on the cheek and walks away.

Tom watches her walk off, feeling sad and relieved and he walks back to the apartment.

Darkness came and the apartment looks better now that the light is disappearing. Tom is lying on the couch drinking a beer and surfing through the channels. He belches loudly and for a moment he expects to hear a reprimand from Karen but then he remembers if she is true to her word that won’t be happening again. He feels a pang of sadness so he turns up the volume and goes to the refrigerator and returns with a fresh beer.

There is a light knock on the door and before Tom can sit up the door opens and Karen enters. She immediately begins yelling at Tom.

“What a mess! It looks like a pig sty in here!”

“What do you expect? I let the maid take the day off since I was supposed to be home alone tonight!”

“I find it really amazing how lazy you are, you do nothing all day long! You’ve been this way for months. You could at least clean up the place a little since I'm paying the bills.”

“I was going to clean it up after I met you in the park but then when you said you weren’t coming back I lost my motivation.”

“It’s always later! You have the same old excuses every time I think you will change.”

“So what’s your point? You already said goodbye at the park so what are you doing here?”

“Since my stuff here I came to tell you that maybe I was a little harsh earlier but after seeing the same old shit going on I guess I wasn’t harsh at all. I am tired of this why are you so lazy?”

“Why don’t you just leave like you told me you were going to do?”

“I don’t know what I was expecting when I came here this evening.”

“Don’t put things off until later that you can do today, isn’t that what you always tell me?”

She glares at him and leaves the apartment and slams the door.

Tom sits up on the couch and angrily kicks the coffee table which knocks his beer and an ashtray onto the floor. He kicks the table again because he is mad at his stupidity which makes even more of a mess. Instead of cleaning up he takes a shower.

He walks out of the bedroom wearing clean clothes but his new clothes don’t look much different than his old clothes except being a little less wrinkled. He grabs his jacket off the chair and leaves. He walks down the sidewalk running in front of the apartment building and appears to be aimlessly wandering. The noise is tremendous from the rush hour traffic and sounds of horns being used by frustrated drivers. Tom stands at a corner and is approached by a man who appears to be homeless.

“Hey buddy, can you spare some change? I haven’t had anything to eat for two days.”

Tom doubts the two day part but grabs his cigarettes and holds one out. “You’ve caught me at a bad time and this is all I have to offer.”

The man grabs the cigarette and gestures for a light. Tom lights the cigarette and the man nods his head in a gesture of gratitude. Tom notices that the man immediately hits up another pedestrian. Tom mutters under his breath. “Who knows? Maybe someday I will end up like him.” Tom has a feeling that day might not be too far away considering he is living in an apartment that his girlfriend pays the rent on and he has just run her off. Tom only left the apartment because of the fight so he takes a turn on the sidewalk that leads him back the apartment. He cleans up the beer and ashtray mess he made before he left. He turns on the television and lies on the couch.

Tom woke up the next morning with the television on and the station off the air. He slept on the couch right where he had been sitting once again, the second night in a row though last night had been a choice, unlike the night before. He got up and made a cup of instant coffee and he took his coffee and into the living room near the only window so he could enjoy the morning sun.

There is a light knock on the door and Tina walks in before Tom can get up to open the door. She walks over and sits on the sofa with her back turned to the window. She gives Tom what he perceives to be a disapproving look which he knows he richly deserves. Neither of them say anything for a few minutes.

“So what did your sister have to say? Does she plan on coming back?”

“It is doubtful as long as you are still here. Last night she came over to my house in an extremely bad mood and said you guys needed to take a permanent break from each other. When she went to work this morning she said something about going to our mother's house and that you were a lazy bum.”

“Yeah, I may be a lazy bum but she is totally delusional. She is right about us needing to take a break.”

“You haven’t been very nice to her lately. She asked me to grab some of her clothes.”

“Why does everything seem to be going wrong? I guess I don’t deserve anything good since I don’t do anything good.”

“What happened to those dreams you had about going off to some tropical paradise to live? Weren’t you going to sail across the water and open up a nightclub on some tropical island in the South Pacific?”

“Yeah, right, you know what they say happens with dreams, they are a lot like promises, here today and gone tomorrow.’’

“That’s too bad, your eyes used to light up whenever you talked about it.”

“Well that dream is gone and there is no point in thinking about it.”

“My sister misses the way you used to be, maybe it was only a dream, but at least it was a nice dream.”

The doorbell rings and Tom goes to answer it. Tina walks over to the television and picks up a picture sitting on top. It is a photograph of Tom and Karen in better times. Tina stands there looking at the photo.

Tom returns to the room with an envelope. “That was the postman.”

“Good news or bad news?”

“It’s a certified letter telling me that my grandfather has died.”

“That’s too bad, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s no big deal really, we were never very close and I haven’t seen him since my mother died eighteen years ago. She sent me on a bus to stay with him the summer before she died of cancer and the last time I saw my grandfather was at her funeral, not long after the summer I spent with him. The three months I spent in the country with my grandfather was pretty cool. It was the first trip I had ever taken by myself. This letter says I have to go to the town he lived in to find out what he left me. I have nothing better to do I will go there, he probably didn’t leave me much but anything would be nice. You can tell Karen I won’t be here so she can stay in the apartment since she told you she doesn’t want to see me.”

“A change of scenery might do you good. I’ll tell her she can come and get her own things since your being here is the reason she sent me.”

“It certainly won’t hurt anything for me to get away from here. Thanks for being so understanding. Could lend me a few bucks until I get back?”

She opens her purse and hesitantly hands him some money. Tom takes the money and gives her a grateful look.

“If this turns out to bring me any money I promise I will get this back to you, I know you think I am a loser and I am fairly inclined to agree with you, maybe this is a sign that my luck is changing.”

“Well nobody hopes that more than I do, except maybe my sister, so I will keep my fingers crossed. Have a good trip and I really do hope something good comes of this.”

Tom goes to the bedroom to pack for the trip he is about to embark on and Tina leaves with Karen’s things she has already gathered together.

The bus trip to the small town took about four hours longer than it would have taken by car but it finally arrives in the town Tom's grandfather had lived in early in the afternoon. The bus makes only one trip a day from the northern part of the state to the southern end and stops at every city or town in between which is referred to as the milk run. Tom is the only person to get off the bus when it stops alongside a bench on the sidewalk in front of a small market inside a converted office building. It is the brightest part of the day but the sky is darkening and dust is starting to swirl on the side of the road. Tom’s backpack hanging over one shoulder and his jacket is draped over the other one. The bus stops just long enough for his feet to touch the ground before the driver put the bus in gear and Tom watches the bus vanish into the horizon.

Tom’s hippie appearance is in total contrast to the rural setting he has just arrived in. A young farmer in coveralls drives up on a tractor and stops next to where Tom is standing. His cheek bulges with chewing tobacco and he spits juice on the ground in front of Tom and then revs up the engine and drives on down the road. Three old men wearing cowboy hats are sitting on a bench a few feet away and they are watching Tom with curiosity. Tom figures there probably isn’t much to do in this town so the arrival of someone new is probably pretty exciting. The men just sit and stare at him without saying a word to each other.

Tom approaches them. “Can someone tell me where the county building is?”

No one responds at first and then all three point at the same time to a nearby building. Tom finds this amusing and chuckles. “You guys sure make one hell of a greeting committee, thanks for your help.”

The men stare and the only movement they make is to put their arms down after pointing out the building. As Tom walks to the building a strange feeling comes over him that feels as if someone is watching him. As he glances around he notices an older woman staring at him. She is leaning partially out of a window in a building ahead and it appears as if she is trying not to be noticed as she is partially hiding behind a curtain. An involuntary shudder runs up his spine as he makes eye contact with her when he passes by the window and she quickly pulls the curtains closed. Tom hasn’t felt very welcome from anyone he has encountered since his departure from the bus. The town he remembers from when he was a teenager was of a much larger place than the one he has seen so far. It does appear that there a lot of empty buildings that look like they had been recently occupied. The building the old woman is in looks as if it is vacant also as well as the one next to it. There is a sinister aura radiating from the woman, she is all dressed in black and he feels an ominous sense of foreboding exuding from her. Tom enters the building and inside it is like a large warehouse with a small office inside. While Tom stands just inside the door a man appears who appears to be in his early sixties comes out of the office.

“What can I do for you Sir?”

“I think I should be the one calling you Sir. You have just spoken the most words I've heard from anyone in this town since I arrived. I am Antonio Vargas’ grandson and I received a letter that I am to see someone here about his will.”

The building is fairly empty with odd pieces of office furniture placed about and several rows of file cabinets line one wall and many more loose files are stacked on shelves. The man motions Tom over to a conference table and walks to one of the cabinets. Tom sits and watches as the man retrieves a folder and brings it to the table. He opens it up and looks at Tom briefly and then looks at the papers in the folder.

“I, Antonio J. Vargas, residing in Phoenix, Oregon, being of sound mind and body do hereby declare this instrument to be my last will and testament. I give all of my estate which consists of a bank account, a twenty acre ranch with a house, a barn and one hundred acres of land, adherent with the enclosed conditions; to my grandson, Thomas L. Simonsen.”

The man looks at Tom, who looks shocked, and continues. “There are some conditions listed in the will but what I read aloud is the major intent of what is written here, except to describe the property in more detail. I doubt you want to hear the ‘fine print’ so to speak, do you?”

“Only what you think it is necessary.”

“Your grandfather made out this will about two months ago, so as far as I know these are his final wishes.”

“Oh, I am not complaining.” Tom whistles leans back in his chair. “Why he left all this to me is a surprise since I haven’t heard from him for about eighteen years, neither of us has been in contact with each other. I am surprised anyone even found me, which is usually a good thing, but I certainly am glad I got ‘found’ this time! Nothing like this has ever happened to me.”

“I can’t tell you why your grandfather has named you his heir but since he is gone it will be his secret forever.” The man says this with while giving Tom what he perceives to be an odd look.

“I remember he had a very nice ranch when I stayed there many years ago.”

“It’s a beautiful ranch with some of the finest grazing lands in the entire valley which are presently being leased out, and to which you are entitled to receive the rent money from, should you decide to stay there.”

The man took a deep breath and continues reading, “There are two conditions established in the will.”

“Well go ahead and tell me what they are?”

“First, you will not be able to sell any part of what has been willed to you, this includes the house with the twenty acres known as the PARADISE RANCH and the adjoining property that is leased out, for twenty years. At the end of that period the beneficiary of the will becomes the official owner and will be allowed to keep or sell any part of the properties.”

Tom starts laughing. “So I guess it really isn’t mine for twenty years then, is that correct?”

“I am not sure what you mean but it is yours only you can’t sell any of it. Secondly are responsible for Ignacio as long as you live on the ranch. The last item is your grandfather’s money, it is set up at the bank in a trust with a monthly stipend that is more than enough to live on and you can withdraw a set amount every year to cover any repairs to the house or vehicle expenses. I will go get the information you will need to get the account information from the banker. There is a lawyer that has paperwork with all of the details if you should ever need them.” The man gets up and leaves the table.

“So what is Ignacio, is it my grandfather’s dog?” Tom receives no answer and the man has his back turned as he retreated into the small office and is getting something out the desk. He returns with two envelopes. He takes a key out of the smallest envelope and hands it to Tom.

“There may be more keys at the ranch but this is the one your grandfather had put with his will. When you go out of the office door take a left and keep on the main road until you get to a wooden sign over the driveway that has PARADISE RANCH carved into it. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding it.”

“It has been a pleasure doing business with you.” Tom stretches out his hand to shake hands. The man handed Tom a larger manila envelope.

“Here is information about the bank account that is already set up so you can go make arrangements to access the account when you are ready.”

Tom takes the envelope. “Thanks for everything. I can use some money to get a good meal and a stiff drink to celebrate my good fortune!”

“I guess the good part will be up to you but it is indeed a small fortune.”

The man talks in the same monotone voice that he has had from the very first words they exchanged.

Tom walks out and heads in the direction he was told to go. He is anxious to revisit the place he has so many vague and happy memories of. He remembers a large house, a barn and a pond but not much more. Maybe he should have asked how far down the road since he may have inherited a ranch but all he has to show for it is a house key and his car is the shoes on his feet.

As he passes back by the store the bus let him off in front of and he goes inside and buys a few things to eat and drink to take to the ranch. He hasn’t eaten since before he got on the bus which feels like a long time ago and as if it happened on a different planet. The road starts out as asphalt but it turns into gravel fairly quickly and before too long and he is walking on a dirt road. He gets to a wooden fence alongside the road and can sees a driveway with a sign up ahead that is most likely his new home. There is also a large field with cattle grazing on it surrounded by some large oak trees lining the driveway. The wind gusts are getting stronger and shaking the branches of the huge trees. At the driveway there is a small gate with a small faded sign hanging on it which reads Welcome just before the large wood sign hanging over the top of the gate. Tom walks through the gate and there is the beautiful log cabin home and the yard that surrounds the house seems to be well taken care. He also notices the barn that he remembered behind the house and from inside the barn he can hear a dog barking at him. He thinks this is a little strange considering his grandfather is dead and there doesn’t appear to be any one else nearby. Maybe a neighbor has been taking care of his grandfather’s dog, he was told that he has to take care of Ignacio so after checking out the house he will go out to the barn. To the right of the house there is a garden with a tall fence and rock partitions that have been arranged to keep the rows of plants separate. Behind the house there is a small hill barren of any plants or trees covered in clover. The wind swirls the smaller branches of the trees in a circular motion, they dance wildly around as if a giant is inside shaking them. Tom retrieves the key and walks up on the porch and slips the key in and opens the door.

Tom throws the door wide open and walks through the house. He turns the light switches on even though there is plenty of light. Turning the lights on and having no one to tell him not to fills him with a sensation of power. He spends a bit of time exploring the house and then goes to the barn to locate the dog.

The barn is close to the house and he enters it through a small side door. The dog is inside the first stall and when he opens it the dog almost knocks him down he is so excited to see him. There is an almost full bowl of dog food and a completely full bucket of water and he has been recently taken care of even if he does act like he hasn’t had any attention for a week. Tom leaves the dog in the barn since he is going to walk back to the town and go to the bank try to find a bar to get something to eat and drink. There are a few other animals in the barn that he will check out later.

He returns to the house, wipes the dust from his jeans and goes in to the living room and sits on the leather couch.

“Man I just won the lottery!”

Tom wakes up still sitting on the couch where he had sat down.

“I can’t believe I keep doing this!”

He looks at his watch and he has only been asleep for an hour so he still had time to walk to town and to go to the bank. He springs up from the couch and grabs the envelope with the bank information. The clouds have moved back in and the wind is blowing even harder. He is almost around the side of the house to the driveway when he notices someone standing outside the window on the living room. It appears they are trying to look inside of the house. Tom figures he is probably who the person is trying to spy on. Whoever it is can’t be much of a threat since they haven’t noticed the person they are trying to look at is outside the house watching them. Tom can’t see the face of the stranger since he has his back turned to him. Tom tries to walk quietly so he can sneak up on the man but he steps on something that makes a loud cracking sound. Since there is no longer any chance he can sneak up on him he yells out instead.

“Hey, what do you think you are you doing?”

The intruder takes off running towards the small hill behind the house without ever looking back. Tom has no hope of catching him and so he watches as the figure disappears behind the hill. He walks back to the front door and locks the door just in case the visitor decides to come back. He turns and starts walking towards town again and wonders why the dog isn’t barking this time.

As Tom walks back to town the weather continues to get more miserable. He notices when he arrives there aren’t any people out but he soon notices the lady who had been dressed in black when he first arrived was watching him once again. Tom feels like she disapproves of his presence by the way she stares at him. Tom sees a crow fly overhead and this sends another involuntary shudder up his spine, the feeling many people describe as “someone has just walked across your grave."

Tom continues towards the end of the block and sees a sign over a doorway with the name of the town on it and after it the word "Bank", this must be the place. Tom walks up to the building and enters. There is only one person inside and he motions Tom towards a chair next to a desk.

“I’ll be with you in a minute.” The man says and gets up from his chair and disappears through a door in the middle of the room. A few minutes later the man emerges and walks back to the desk and looks at Tom with a bit of curiosity.

“I took the liberty of setting up a checking account already with the name provided to me by Mr. Peters. I have been waiting for you to show up ever since Antonio died and I was told that his heir, you of course, had been located. Mr. Peters came over here after you were in his office today and told me to expect you this afternoon.”

“Boy, I have heard that secrets are hard to keep in a small town but I have only been here a few hours, does no one in this town have anything else to do?”

“Not really, I don't see why you are surprised given that the population of this town is maybe two hundred people that live within fifteen miles of here. Why don’t you think you wouldn't be the talk of the town?”

“When you put it that way I guess you have a point, I haven’t ever been this big of a deal to anyone in my entire life. I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing. So how much money do I have in my bank account?”

“Well, as I said, I already put it in your name. Your grandfather had the account set up as a trust fund. So every month there is a set amount of money automatically deposited into your account to ensure that the money he left will last for the time it was intended to last for. You will receive four thousand dollars each month to spend as you wish unless you break the stipulations in the will regarding the inheritance.” The banker then hands the checkbook, a debit card and an envelope to Tom and extends his hand.

“Is there anything more I can help you with today? I imagine you would probably like some real money as long as you are here wouldn't you.”

Tom is stunned and he shakes the banker’s hand and he mumbles a quick thank you and yes to wanting cash. He watches as the man goes and opens a cash register and comes back and hands him money. Tom smiles and takes the money and and walks out and heads down the street towards the sign MURPHY’S TAVERN

Tom arrives at the tavern quickly since every place in this town is located close together. He is feeling dazed and it seems like he has been pushed from the bank to the tavern by the wind. He can’t believe the amount of money he is going to have to live on every month. He enters the tavern and the patrons seem to be made up of mostly men, they are scattered around the bar but the main interest is a noisy game of pool in the middle of the room. Tom walks towards a table at the corner opposite from the front door. The place becomes quiet as everyone turns to check him out so he walks directly to the bar instead which has a large selection of liquor and sits down where the bartender is standing.

Tom has the attention of everyone in the place and after he sits he looks around and addresses the patrons.

“Good afternoon.”

Nobody acknowledges his greeting. When the bartender asks him what he would like to drink Tom tries to strike up a friendly conversation.

“What’s with this crazy weather, the wind hasn’t stopped blowing all day, is it always this way in the afternoon?”

The bartender also seems to be ignoring him. Tom loses his patience, “Is everyone in town mute or just plain rude?”

Once again there is no response. The men continue playing pool but they are playing a bit more quietly. Tom faces the bartender and lays a twenty dollar bill on the bar.

“Young man, how about pouring me a beer and then give me a shot of whiskey to go along with it. I need a pack of Marlboros as well, please?”

The bartender pours a beer and grabs a shot glass and a pack of cigarettes and places all three items in front of Tom and walks away. He grabs a bottle of liquor and is getting ready to pour some into the shot glass he set on the bar in front of Tom. Tom quickly snatches the bottle out of the bartender’s hands before any liquid has started to flow out of the bottle.

“It is probably a good idea if you just leave the bottle here with me because I have a feeling that this could be a long afternoon and I might need this bottle to keep me company.” Tom laughs.

The bartender gives him a startled look and takes the money off the counter where Tom set it and returns with the change.

“I didn't answer your question about the weather earlier because I have been inside this place all day so I don't have any idea what the weather is like outside. I wasn't being rude I just didn’t have an answer for you."

"That's alright, I really didn't care about the answer I was just trying to be friendly. Thank you for giving me an answer, since no one else seems to be willing to talk to me around here." Tom pushes the change the bartender put in front of him back towards him picks up the bottle, the shot glass, the cigarettes, and then he winks at the bartender and makes a growling sound and heads to the table he originally was going to sit at. It is a small distance away from where the rest of the customers are sitting, in front of the fake fireplace, but close enough that he can watch the men playing pool.

“Howl!” He announces to the room again.

Tom notices that his howling seems to make the bartender nervous but he doesn’t say anything and keeps himself busy behind the counter.

Tom fills the shot glass with whiskey and quickly drinks it. He spends the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening alone at his table drinking the rest of the bottle and watching the men play pool. The ashtray in front of him becomes full of cigarette butts and the bottle of whiskey becomes empty and the hands on the clock keep advancing. The men eventually stop playing pool and gather at a table in the middle of the room and start playing cards. This continues throughout the evening until there are only a few embers left glowing in the faux fireplace and most of the customers have gone home. Tom notices that very few new customers have come in to replace the ones that have left and they have dwindled away. Tom gets up from the table to leave after he has emptied the bottle of whiskey. It is dark outside time to head back to the ranch, he also has a good buzz from drinking on an empty stomach. He carefully walks to the door, he is staggering and can feel the eyes of the men in the bar watching him. They continue to ignore him as he walks by on his way to the door. He is almost to the door when a colorfully dressed man brashly walks in. He is drunk and Tom has a bad feeling as he observes the man’s swaggering gait upon entry. He looks to be around twenty five and is wearing a very gaudy outfit of an alligator skin jacket and ostrich hide cowboy boots with gold tips. He has a large gold cap on one of his front teeth and when he smiles it looks more like a snarl than a smile. The remaining men in the bar are playing pool and Tom observes their responses to the man seem more perfunctory than sincere. Tom isn't sure how he should react to this dandy but in his inebriated condition he hopes he will not have to react at all. The bartender is busy pouring him a drink out of a bottle of liquor that he has retrieved from under the counter.

The man looks at Tom with disdain. “Well look what we have in here now.”

Tom tries to take a menacing step towards him but isn't stable enough to take any steps without staggering. “What in the hell is your problem? You are the only guy in this place that can talk and you turn out to be an asshole, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

The men stop playing pool and tension fills the air.

“Randy, you should be more selective about who you let drink in here. You shouldn’t serve losers.” The man says to the bartender after he is handed his drink.

Tom moves closer. “From where I stand the only loser in here I see is you.”

There is silence as the men standing around the pool table watch the confrontation unfold.

“You should watch what you say jack-ass. You don’t know who you are talking to."

“I know exactly who I am talking to asshole!” Tom replies and stumbles towards the door.

“I have some advice for you; you need to get out of this bar and leave town, because if I see you around here again you will regret it.”

Tom stares at the man and glances at the bartender, then at the group of men, “Growl, Howl!” He laughs and stumbles out the door.

The man is infuriated and turns to the men watching him. “I had better not see any of you hanging out with that guy or you will be sorry!”

The men try to avoid making eye contact with him and then they notice Tom has returned to the bar and is standing in the doorway. The men try not to look at Tom as he waits for the man to notice him standing behind him.

“Possibly you are the one who should watch what they say since you obviously don’t know who you are talking to.” Tom says softly.

“You had better leave this bar right now because you are not wanted in here!”

Tom stares at him, turns around and makes a final exit.

The wind is much calmer than when Tom first walked back to town. The daylight has been replaced by the light from the moon. Tom tries to navigate the bumpy country road and slowly staggers his drunken way back to the ranch. The trip is accentuated by a great many brief encounters with the ground. He arrives at the gate leading to the front door and as he approaches he hears a strange sound coming from behind the house. He walks around back and can vaguely make out a shadowy figure on the hill in the dark. He hears strange throaty sounds that seem to be coming from that silhouette and as he approaches the shadow and suddenly he starts being yelled at and then he feels objects hitting him.

“Get away from here. Leave!” These words come from the moonlit apparition.

Tom is too drunk to deal with a “ghost throwing rocks” though he doesn’t actually know if the “ghost” is really throwing anything but it sure feels like it. He becomes frightened and he loses the ability to behave rationally and runs to the front door and after a great deal of difficulty manages to get the key for the door out of his pocket and quickly slips inside the house. Once inside he struggles to get the door locked again and leans against the front door breathing way harder than he should be. He can hear the sound of someone approaching the house. He yells out to the figure he imagines is standing outside the door. “Leave me alone, you lunatic.”

He goes into the pantry and rummages around until he finds something to use as a weapon, all he can find is a baseball bat. He calms down a bit but continues to stumble about and eventually he works his way up the stairs to his grandfather's bedroom. He enters it without turning on the light and immediately goes to the window and opens the curtains. He looks behind the house but the silhouette is gone and there aren’t any sounds coming from outside any more. All he can see is the full moon providing a backdrop for the dark hill. He goes to the bed and takes off his shirt and jeans and sits on the bed. He keeps the bat close in case the stranger comes back. As soon as he lies on the bed he feels the room start spinning and he makes a mad dash for the window and throws it open. The liquor he has been drinking all day makes its exit from his body in a violent upheaval and fortunately Tom gets his head out of the window in time. He returns to the bed, slips under the covers and quickly loses consciousness.

The morning sun shines brightly through the window and Tom slowly wakes up with a greatly deserved hangover. He hears a noise and he springs up and grabs the bat. “Who the hell is here? I can hear you in the hall so show yourself.”

As commanded a figure appears in the doorway, it is a boy whom Tom is sure he hasn’t ever seen before though for some reason he seems familiar. It is a teenager who has the features of a child with Down syndrome. He is standing quietly staring at Tom when Tom makes a threatening gesture with the bat and the boy takes a couple of steps backwards.

Tom stands up next to the bed holding the bat.

“Who are you? Answer me and how did you get in here?”

The boy glances towards the open window and Tom remembers his quick run to the window the night before. He realizes how stupid he must look threatening a boy with a baseball bat while only wearing his underwear. He sits down on the bed and puts the bat down. He reaches over the side of the bed in search of his clothes but can’t find them. All of his clothes as well as his backpack are missing. “Where in the hell are my clothes?”

The boy yells angrily. “Get away from here, this house is not your house. Leave!”

The boy turns and runs down the stairs. Tom runs after the boy and watches as he runs out the door. By the time Tom gets there he can see no sign of him. He starts to go out outside but realizes there is no way he is going to catch him. He hears a noise out by the barn and spots the boy running past it and up the hill behind the house. Tom feels foolish and notices his clothes and backpack are scattered on the other side of the fence.

“You little jerk; you could have just hit me with the bat while I slept!”

He then gets hit with a heavy dose of nausea and feels a strong urge to go lie down so he can stop the spinning inside his head. He doesn’t wish to experience what happened the night before so he gathers his things from out in the yard and heads back to bed. He will deal with the boy later, much later with the way he is feeling.

Tom wakes up after having recovered from being startled awake and leaves the house in search of the boy. He walks past the hill the boy ran behind earlier. He continues to go further from the house until he comes to a pond hidden beyond the crest of the hill behind the house. He finds the boy sitting on top of a large rock above the water. When Tom approaches the boy starts nervously looking around for a way to escape. He is trapped on the rock unless he comes down the trail he walked up on because Tom is standing at the base of the trail. He is afraid the boy might jump to avoid having to walk down the trail. He waves his hands to get the boy’s attention to stop him from jumping. “Get away from there! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

The boy moves to the edge of the rock and yells. “Leave! This is not your place.”

“You are mistaken about that, I am the new owner, my grandfather owned this place. Do you know Antonio?”

The boy stares at him attentively and he no longer looks as fearful as he did earlier. Suddenly it dawns upon Tom who this might be.

“Are you, is your name Ignacio?”

The boy keeps staring at the water below. Tom has been pretty stupid not to have figured out who the boy was from the first time he saw someone looking into the house. “Damn it!” He picks up a rock and throws it across the water. “I’m sorry I should have known who you were and I shouldn’t have yelled at you, come down from there and talk to me please?”

The boy appears calmer and speaks slowly. “You, you are Tom?”

Tom nods and the boy smiles. “Uncle Tony said you would come here and help me take care of the ranch and then he went away. Is he coming back?”

“I was told that you are right that the man you call Uncle Tony, who was also my grandfather, is not coming back. That’s why he sent me a letter asking me to come here.”

The boy is still standing up above him on the rock and looks at the end of the pathway where Tom is standing. Tom walks to the edge of the pond and looks out at the water. He watches Ignacio from the corner of his eye but the boy is still not moving. “Ignacio, get down off of that rock up there and walk back down the trail. You are making me nervous up there.”

Ignacio obeys him and stepped back a few feet and then jumped onto to the ground below the rock and starts down the trail. After Ignacio has walked all the way down the trail Tom makes a suggestion. “What would you say to us going back to the house and having some lunch and start getting to know each other?”

“I am hungry since I haven’t eaten any food except for when you left for a long time yesterday and didn’t come back until it was very late. I was going to eat breakfast this morning but when I went in to talk to you in Uncle Tony’s bed I thought you were going to hit me with that stick so I left and didn’t get to eat.”

“Sorry about that. I didn’t realize who you were and I acted very stupid. I apologize for yelling at you and threatening you. Will you forgive me?”

Ignacio watches him warily. “Okay.” He walks towards the house and Tom walks alongside him.

"Tom, Uncle Tony called me Nacho and not Ignacio. Can you call me Nacho like Uncle Tony did?"

"Of course I will."

Threatening the boy with baseball bat was not one of his finer moments but he can’t take it back but can only move past them hopefully.

“I have to go let Paco out of the barn before I come in the house.”

Tom starts to ask who Paco is but goes on into the kitchen. A few minutes later Nacho enters the house with the dog from the barn on his heels and walks past where Tom is sitting at the table and he sits in the chair nearest the wall. Tom sees the wood burning stove and remembers it from when he spent the summer with his grandfather. He had found it a little intriguing though he remembered that he never was able to master cooking on it. Tom looks at Nacho who is intently watching him as he stares at the stove.

"Do you want me to put some wood in the stove so we can cook some breakfast?" Nacho cheerfully asks.

"Sure that would be great, the last time I used this stove was probably before you were born and I didn't do very well so I can definitely use your help."

After having woken with a ferocious hangover after having spent the previous evening drinking, as well as not eating his head and stomach were now telling him how bad an idea that had been. He went to the refrigerator and took out some of the items he had purchased the day before on his first visit to the ranch. He looks through the cupboard and manages to find a frying pan which he put on the stove next to where he had placed the food. Tom had noticed there was already some food in there yesterday when he put the things he had bought at the store in it but he assumed they were left over from when his grandfather was alive so he didn't check the food out very closely. Now that he knows Nacho has been living there it was quite likely the food is good.

“So how hungry are you Nacho?”

“A little.” He started to rub his belly. “Well, maybe a lot.”

Tom starts to work on the task of cooking for him and his housemate. He puts the skillet on a burner and pours in some oil. He starts cracking eggs into a bowl, but the eggs are a lot harder to break open than he remembers them being the last time he did so and ends up with a lot of egg shells in the bowl. He usually has problems when he cooks and he continues to screw up the egg mixture he poured into the skillet starts to explode and throws hot bits of raw egg from the pan that land on his hands and burns his skin. He curses and pulls the pan off the burner and throws his hands up in a gesture of surrender to the eggs. He steps back and surveys the unfolding disaster on the stove trying to decide if it's worth trying to salvage the rest of the eggs. The mixture that remained have actually started cooking while he had contemplated what to do next and were beginning to burn so he grabs a plate out of the cupboard and scrapes the eggs onto it and sets the plate in front of Nacho who has been quietly sitting at the table watching his performance. Tom grabs a fork out of a drawer and hands it to Nacho who just stares at the plate of eggs that Tom placed in front of him.

“Would you like a glass of milk?”

“You’re a pretty weak cook, huh?” Nacho innocently says.

Calling his cooking weak is a polite understatement. Tom pretends to be angry and snatches the plate from in front of the boy.

“Well then I guess I will take this plate of eggs and you can make your own and we’ll see how much better you do, smarty pants! I am sure the dog will be happy to eat the eggs I made for you.” Tom turns away from Nacho and takes the plate over to where the old dog is lying on the floor and when Tom set the plate down on the floor his tail starts thumping in anticipation of the treat that Tom has just set down. A few egg shells won’t spoil the eggs for Paco.

Nacho gets up and grabs the frying pan, wipes it out with a paper towel and neatly cracks an egg into it and does the same with three more. Nacho does a successful job of cooking them and scoops them onto a plate. “Want me to make some more for you?”

“I’m not hungry anymore.” His hangover is in full force and he doesn't feel like being a good sport.

Nacho voraciously eats the eggs he has cooked.

Later in the day Tom is sitting on the front porch in a big rustic wood rocking chair, which he discovers is quite comfortable, and he watches as the sun begins to disappear behind the row of trees that line the outer border of the wood fence. The weather is amazingly warm down in the southern part of the state Tom has noticed, there would have been no way he would been this comfortable sitting outside where he came from just a couple of days ago, he is currently admiring this little slice of paradise.

Nacho is sitting on a big decorative rock a few feet away underneath one of the many enormous oak trees.

"What are you doing buddy?”

“I’m looking at the sun in the trees, it looks really pretty.”

“Yes it certainly is pretty, what you are thinking about?”

“I am just looking at the grass and the trees with the birds in the sun. Uncle Tony and I used to sit out here together a lot.”

“I see, those are some pretty bitchin’ birds all right and it is a very nice view!”

“You talk dirty.”

“What do you mean?” Tom said defensively.

“You swear a lot.”

“Yes, I probably do, especially when compared to you. Who died and made you the head of the grammar police? I didn’t see the rules posted in the house anywhere Señor Cervantes.”

Nacho looks at Tom and is clearly confused. “Who is Cervantes?”

“He was some guy who wrote a book called ‘Don Quixote’, it is about some crazy fool who ran around fighting windmills as I recall. Have you heard of him?”

“Well, I don’t know him since I have never been out of town. I don’t know about the windmills. Why was he fighting with them? Are windmills bad people?”

Tom realizes that it he is being too sarcastic. “No, forget about what I said. I was just being a bit ornery for no good reason.”

“Do they live in town?”

“I said to forget about it, I was stupid to say what I did. I was just being a jerk because you were right about my using bad words and I will try to do better.”

“I don’t know how to use bad words because Uncle Tony said that it wasn’t polite to say them. The only place I go to is to the church on Sunday. Uncle Tony told me that there are some mean people in town and those people might use bad words.”

“My grandfather was right that there are some mean people in this town, just like in the other towns. They don’t always use bad words but they sometimes do bad things when you don’t expect it which might be worse.”

“I don’t understand you are saying. What bad things are they going to do?”

“Nothing, I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s change the subject, whatever you are cooking for dinner sure does smell good, what is it?”

“I am making soup the way Uncle Tony taught me to.”

“If your soup tastes as good as it smells it is going to be delicious.”

The beautiful evening ends with both of them sitting under the oak tree enjoying the beautiful golden sunset. “How about we go to bed right now? I drank a little too much alcohol last night, there was some strange creature creeping around here last night that kept me from getting enough sleep.”

“I am sorry I threw those rocks at you but I was afraid that someone was trying to steal this place since I was all alone here, I won’t ever do anything bad to you ever again.”

“It’s alright Nacho, I am just teasing you. I know you were just scared. I am not mad and you don’t need to apologize since it was my fault more than yours. Tomorrow we start out as friends and you can show and tell me about everything on the ranch.”

“We are going to be very busy.”

“How long have you been living here on this ranch with my grandfather?”

“I don’t know, I only remember always living here. I really miss him. I loved him very much and he said he loved me.”

“It sounds like you had a good life here with him. I hope you will as happy here with me as you were with him. Good night Nacho.”

“Good night Tom.”A faint reddish pink glow emanates from the faded neon OPEN sign onto the dark deserted street, and it is attached to a large wooden sign that is hanging in front of a building sporting a log cabin façade. The neon flickers bright and dim atop its perch on the wood sign which is covered with flaking gold and green paint that is barely clinging on spelling out MURPHY’S TAVERN. The front door is ajar and a colorful group of men and women is revealed through the crack. The men are clad in cowboy shirts and contrasting the women wearing sequined blouses with brightly colored skirts. The group loosely huddles around an antique jukebox and are attempting to sing along. The men pound their feet while the women clap and none of them can hear the sound of their own voices over the top of the noise they are making. The clock starts chiming the twelve chords leading up to the New Year. When the twelfth chime proclaims it’s midnight and it triggers kissing and hugging among the town folk who know each other all too well. In the midst of the reveling an old man stumbles into the bar much to the exasperation of the partiers.