THE SHELTERING SKY
A SHORT STORY BY RICHARD (RICK) SWAIN
The Austin Healy was a battered 1961 roadster held together with bolted sheet metal and four inch hard rubber hose for bumpers front and back. A good guess had the original color as white, or perhaps green based on the left rear fender.
The nimbostratus clouds, so thick and black, unleashed pelting rain that obscured both sun and any chance Ronald would glimpse an approaching obstacle before a swift and inglorious meeting. What remained of the tattered ragtop flapped furiously at the mercy of wind gusts, while the aluminum struts rattled against the plastic side windows causing his migraine to find a deeper meaning of violent pulsation.
The country road suddenly took a sharp right turn coupled with a decline that would challenge a skilled driver on a clear day. Unfortunately, Ronald was neither so skilled or aware of his speed until the car rose up against the newfound hillside, went momentarily airborne before arcing right, banging down on the lower road and skirting into a deep grass field that acted like a harness snaring a jet landing on an aircraft carrier.
Sitting motionless, as if stuck in a field of green jello, his first sense was the cold rain sticking to his clothes and uncontrolled shivering. Senior moments should not strike a thirty-three year old, but Ronald could not muster a thought as to his circumstance, so he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Hey mister, are you dead, or just plain scaring me to death?” Cloaked in a bright yellow rain slicker with a matching broad brimmed hat, she peered down through the now open car roof as a border collie jumped on the hood, scratched paws against the windshield and did a cannon ball into the passenger seat. Ever so slowly, Ronald leaned back his head, opened his eyes and with a broad grin said “Hello everybody.”
She said her name was Ina, the dog Oliver, he said no broken bones and the car was his brothers. Her farm was set back from the road and reminded Ronald of a scene from The Hobbit, with curling smoke rising from the crooked brick chimney. A bubbling brook meandered along the driveway and the scent of wet sage filled the air.
The grey flannel warm-up was her brother’s, and she was quick to say he died in an unnecessary war. Anger and betrayal was Ronald’s medicine for the past year, and he felt an immediate connection to the pain her eyes revealed. “I’m sorry for your loss” was his response, and he immediately regretted what sounded so superficial, and looked away. She took hold of his arm, and with an ever so slight squeeze said she appreciated his words.
He held the basket as Ina gathered eggs. Picking one up, Ronald marveled at the warmth, and she laughed saying he must be a city boy who finds his eggs in the dairy section of the supermarket. The egg salad sandwich was surely the best he had ever eaten, and she freely laughed when he repeated himself for the third time. “Milk, eggs, lettuce, probably steak from the rib section, you have it all.” She rolled her eyes up in mocked horror saying she was a vegetarian and only a farrier trimming hooves would touch her cows.
The Austin Healy did not survive, and Ronald’s brother Roy considered the final act a fitting end to a storied life. Suggesting he could drive out to pick him up, the younger brother said he was quite OK at the moment, and without giving details, quickly ended the call with “I’ve had the best day in months, keep me in your thoughts.”
Oliver jumped up on the bed and immediately rested his head on Ronald’s pajama clad thigh. The guest room window looked out toward the hillside and a faint rainbow was fused between light rain and distant sun. Stretching his sore limbs was a reminder of just how fortunate he was with the car accident and Ina’s appearance. During the past difficult year, he had dabbled in half hearted prayer for better days, but never felt he deserved goodness, yet what was this?
He picked up the empty wine bottle and glasses off the coffee table, found the recycle bin, washed and wiped. They had talked for hours in the warmth of burning white birch. Ina and her older brother were born on the farm. After college and two years in the big city, she came back to care for her aging parents and chose to stay after their passing. She and Buck were as tight as a brother and sister could be, and his death sent her into a deep depression, that only nature and tranquility were starting to repair. To his surprise, perhaps aided by the company and the wine, he spoke of his wife and daughter. It was great aunts who died at child birth, not his wife in today’s modern hospital. He cried for the first time in many months as he spoke of losing her. Their daughter Gretchen was now thirteen months old, and well cared for by his brother and sister-in-law. Both families agreed that Ronald needed time before assuming his fatherly role, and he accepted their position with a grief that stunted his emotional consciousness. His smart phone photos were entirely of Gretchen and his wife. Ina’s tears were a balm to his parched soul.
Oliver raced around the pasture and artfully herded the four cows into the barn. Ronald, having mimicked the dog, was bowed over trying his best to breathe as Ina could only shake her head, remembering the similar antics of her dear Buck. Later in the morning, the trio dropped off the milk at the local dairy, picked out cheese in trade, and ended up at the village tea shoppe for scones and a hard boiled egg. Trading stories in rapid succession, both gain insight into the other’s life. Ina had studied dress design in college and worked under Marc Jacobs as a junior assistant’s junior assistant. Ronald could work anywhere with a laptop tucked under his arm. Cybersecurity being such a hot topic, his knowledge and consulting skills kept him as busy as he chose.
“We should talk.” It was Ina who broke the ice. Both broke out in uncontrolled laughter as talk was the centerpiece of the past seven days, yet, again both knew the rushing river they were ready to cross. Living in what seemed an otherworldly magnetic field, the week sped by as if they had known each other a lifetime. Hand touching, kisses on the cheek, separate bedrooms, and deep emotional caring for the other. Ronald was the first to step in. “I can leave, but I don’t want to.” Ina tried to speak, but choked on her saliva from not swallowing and holding her breath. Her eyes were moist and her nose started to run. “I’m suddenly a mess, but thank God, I don’t want you to leave.” Emotionally holding hands through a swift current they reached the other side. That late evening, Oliver, positioned outside Ina’s door, stood and walked into the kitchen as Ronald crossed the hallway.
The pink and yellow balloons floated above both entrance posts and bounced lively with the soft breeze. “Here they come” shouted Ronald as the dark blue SUV crested the hill down toward the farm. Sensing excitement of some sort, Oliver darted out onto the road but turned back on a dime with the command “Home.” Roy gave five rapid horn honks, paused, and then the final two as the car slowed for the turn. Wife Sharon had rolled down her window and was leaning out with a broad grin and waving a large bouquet of flowers, “Hello you two, family arrives!” Even with tinted rear windows, they could see the sleeping little one nestled in her car seat facing to the rear. “What an angel” whispered Ina to Ronald as she grasped his waist in a tighter hold.
Gretchen, now fifteen months old and gifted with a carefree disposition was happy to be passed back and forth between Ronald and Ina, as they repeated any sound she made and added a few of their own. Every few seconds it seemed, she was leaning down to see Oliver laying on the floor with his swishing tail, and staring back in anticipation. Ina sat her down on the thick pile rug and she immediately crawled to face the new black and white playmate. His ears perked up in curiosity, and with belly stuck to the ground, scooted forward until his nose touched hers. While it was only seconds, eight eyes stared down in amazement as the two nuzzled each other. Placing her hand on his head for leverage, she pushed herself up in a standing position only to immediately plop down on his side and roll onto the rug. Sensing he now had a new rollicking playmate, Oliver jumped up barking, raced around the living room in dancing movements before laying spread eagle before the curly haired girl with the yellow bow.
Roy could only shake his head in amazement as his nerdy brother could now milk a cow without spilling a drop on the hay covered floor. He spoke, “Two months have done more than a therapist could accomplish in two years.” Ronald reached up and was pulled off the stool. “It feels right, it really does” was the response. The two drove off in Ina’s truck to visit the dairy.
The house seemed eerily quiet after the family left. Little was said and chores were completed in rote movement that invited no interaction. Each picked at their dinner in silence until Ina looked up, “Ronald, I need to know what you’re thinking, say something.” He slowly folded his napkin and set it on the table without looking up. “I don’t know what I’m thinking. It’s as if I have fallen into a hole, and can’t climb out. Can you help me by just talking, I want to close my eyes and just hear your voice.” He could hear her draw a deep breath and exhale. She spoke, “I think we both feel scared at the moment, and I think it’s natural. We have spent two months building and living in a private cocoon, and now the real world has entered our space. I don’t mean what we have created is not real, but it couldn’t last. A beautiful little girl, your little girl has come knocking and wants to come in. I’m scared that somehow I’m the square peg hovering over the round hole that gets left behind.” He snapped his head up and looked directly, “No, you’re the perfectly shaped round peg that everyone first fits into place before reaching for others. Yes, I am scared that somehow I screw things up, but this I know, Gretchen loved you. We both love you.”
They devised a roadmap with a primary route, but with numerous alternatives as life’s traffic often intervenes, sometimes in least expected ways. Sharon spoke of the zoo reopening after two years of renovation that included a twenty acre expansion for the roaming animals. She was a docent and the two women bonded over all creatures great and small. They agreed that a zoo outing would be ideal for the next get together in five weeks. Ronald said it was time to purchase a sedan or midsize SUV with a car seat professionally installed.
The sky darkened suddenly in the early afternoon and windows shook from blasts of wind. Looking at the back porch from the kitchen window, Ina saw cushions blowing off furniture and tumbling further into the yard. A tremendous cracking sound like a nearby lightning strike woke her out of a trance. Looking up and seeing nothing, her eyes trailed down to the pasture. A huge limb had splintered off the big oak and the cows were running in panic. Ina ran out the door instinctively counting one, two, “Oh Ronald help, there’s only three!” Buried under the massive branches, and bellowing painfully, Nellie was trying to move, and further adding to injury with each attempt. She turned to see Ronald running toward her, and Oliver chasing the others. “Call the vet, it’s Nellie, she can’t die. Bring the chainsaw, we need to cut away the largest branches.”
All four were brown Jersey’s with white markings, and considered by most farmers to provide the highest quality of milk. Like a zebra where no stripes are the same, Ina could tell her girls apart from a great distance. It was her father’s life insurance that originally covered the cost, and from day one they thrived on being pasture fed. For weeks, Oliver was puzzled to herd only three, but eventually accepted a changed order, and fell back into a comfortable routine of duties.
Rain drops pelting the bedroom window woke Ronald out of a disturbing dream. Sitting up he saw the bed empty, laid back, and waited for Ina’s return. After five minutes, he rose, found slippers, and went into the living room. Oliver came out of the kitchen, and went back barking and pawing the door. Moving across the pasture at a quickened pace, he could see Ina’s humped body under the oak tree. It was a warm rain, and she seemed to show no sign of discomfort in her soaked thin nightgown. The normal black curls now resembled knotted strings that glistened in a silvery moon peaking through rain clouds. Ronald sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her slender body. “Wanted to come out and see if a cup of hot tea would be welcomed.” Ina laughed as she leaned into his body and kissed his cheek. Oliver laid by her side with his head in her lap while the two spoke of love, loss, and new beginnings.
Ina fastened Gretchen into the car seat as Ronald watched how the various buckles and snaps intertwined. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel green with cheeks and lips a matching light rosy color. She clutched the tiny soft brown Jersey cow they brought, and with help, brought forth moos, and with moos, laughter. Ina sat in the back seat and glowed with a mother’s warmth as Gretchen held her finger and Ina softly sang nursery rhythms she remembered as a little girl sitting in her mother’s lap. From time to time, Ronald would look up to the rear view mirror and watch with amazement, the connection unfolding.
Roy and Sharon encouraged Ronald’s suggestion they take Gretchen home with them for a week, and hurried around the house to pack a large suitcase with the necessities for an extended stay. One week became two, and two more weeks brought a month. The sides of the inflatable kiddie pool were a rainbow of colors while the inside was all blue adding luster to the water from the warming afternoon sun. Each wore a sun hat, and with dark glasses it was like a scene from a Hollywood movie. Gretchen stretched out over Ronald’s chest while her feet splashed water at his sides. Ina strummed the ukulele from her youth while blowing the kazoo. Ronald led each stanza of Old McDonald, and Gretchen laughed each time she could squeeze any sound out of a soaked Nellie.
Who would have thought there was such a short cut on that road map of life. The sunset was a spectacular splash of reds, yellows, and for an instant, that brilliant green flash. The hidden sun sent rays of light up to accentuate the shape of each cumulus cloud, giving a heavenly array of fluffy white cotton balls. Lying back on the double lounge, Ronald pointed out the first sighting of both Venus and Jupiter with Gretchen extending her arm upward in imitation. The wedding would be in Roy and Sharon’s living room, followed by adoption papers ready for submission.
The sheltering sky had favored three chosen people, reached down and brought them together at a time that was meant to be. Could there be a promise to follow their days ahead? A shooting star crossed before them to answer.
RICHARD SWAIN
A SHORT STORY BY RICHARD (RICK) SWAIN
The Austin Healy was a battered 1961 roadster held together with bolted sheet metal and four inch hard rubber hose for bumpers front and back. A good guess had the original color as white, or perhaps green based on the left rear fender.
The nimbostratus clouds, so thick and black, unleashed pelting rain that obscured both sun and any chance Ronald would glimpse an approaching obstacle before a swift and inglorious meeting. What remained of the tattered ragtop flapped furiously at the mercy of wind gusts, while the aluminum struts rattled against the plastic side windows causing his migraine to find a deeper meaning of violent pulsation.
The country road suddenly took a sharp right turn coupled with a decline that would challenge a skilled driver on a clear day. Unfortunately, Ronald was neither so skilled or aware of his speed until the car rose up against the newfound hillside, went momentarily airborne before arcing right, banging down on the lower road and skirting into a deep grass field that acted like a harness snaring a jet landing on an aircraft carrier.
Sitting motionless, as if stuck in a field of green jello, his first sense was the cold rain sticking to his clothes and uncontrolled shivering. Senior moments should not strike a thirty-three year old, but Ronald could not muster a thought as to his circumstance, so he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Hey mister, are you dead, or just plain scaring me to death?” Cloaked in a bright yellow rain slicker with a matching broad brimmed hat, she peered down through the now open car roof as a border collie jumped on the hood, scratched paws against the windshield and did a cannon ball into the passenger seat. Ever so slowly, Ronald leaned back his head, opened his eyes and with a broad grin said “Hello everybody.”
She said her name was Ina, the dog Oliver, he said no broken bones and the car was his brothers. Her farm was set back from the road and reminded Ronald of a scene from The Hobbit, with curling smoke rising from the crooked brick chimney. A bubbling brook meandered along the driveway and the scent of wet sage filled the air.
The grey flannel warm-up was her brother’s, and she was quick to say he died in an unnecessary war. Anger and betrayal was Ronald’s medicine for the past year, and he felt an immediate connection to the pain her eyes revealed. “I’m sorry for your loss” was his response, and he immediately regretted what sounded so superficial, and looked away. She took hold of his arm, and with an ever so slight squeeze said she appreciated his words.
He held the basket as Ina gathered eggs. Picking one up, Ronald marveled at the warmth, and she laughed saying he must be a city boy who finds his eggs in the dairy section of the supermarket. The egg salad sandwich was surely the best he had ever eaten, and she freely laughed when he repeated himself for the third time. “Milk, eggs, lettuce, probably steak from the rib section, you have it all.” She rolled her eyes up in mocked horror saying she was a vegetarian and only a farrier trimming hooves would touch her cows.
The Austin Healy did not survive, and Ronald’s brother Roy considered the final act a fitting end to a storied life. Suggesting he could drive out to pick him up, the younger brother said he was quite OK at the moment, and without giving details, quickly ended the call with “I’ve had the best day in months, keep me in your thoughts.”
Oliver jumped up on the bed and immediately rested his head on Ronald’s pajama clad thigh. The guest room window looked out toward the hillside and a faint rainbow was fused between light rain and distant sun. Stretching his sore limbs was a reminder of just how fortunate he was with the car accident and Ina’s appearance. During the past difficult year, he had dabbled in half hearted prayer for better days, but never felt he deserved goodness, yet what was this?
He picked up the empty wine bottle and glasses off the coffee table, found the recycle bin, washed and wiped. They had talked for hours in the warmth of burning white birch. Ina and her older brother were born on the farm. After college and two years in the big city, she came back to care for her aging parents and chose to stay after their passing. She and Buck were as tight as a brother and sister could be, and his death sent her into a deep depression, that only nature and tranquility were starting to repair. To his surprise, perhaps aided by the company and the wine, he spoke of his wife and daughter. It was great aunts who died at child birth, not his wife in today’s modern hospital. He cried for the first time in many months as he spoke of losing her. Their daughter Gretchen was now thirteen months old, and well cared for by his brother and sister-in-law. Both families agreed that Ronald needed time before assuming his fatherly role, and he accepted their position with a grief that stunted his emotional consciousness. His smart phone photos were entirely of Gretchen and his wife. Ina’s tears were a balm to his parched soul.
Oliver raced around the pasture and artfully herded the four cows into the barn. Ronald, having mimicked the dog, was bowed over trying his best to breathe as Ina could only shake her head, remembering the similar antics of her dear Buck. Later in the morning, the trio dropped off the milk at the local dairy, picked out cheese in trade, and ended up at the village tea shoppe for scones and a hard boiled egg. Trading stories in rapid succession, both gain insight into the other’s life. Ina had studied dress design in college and worked under Marc Jacobs as a junior assistant’s junior assistant. Ronald could work anywhere with a laptop tucked under his arm. Cybersecurity being such a hot topic, his knowledge and consulting skills kept him as busy as he chose.
“We should talk.” It was Ina who broke the ice. Both broke out in uncontrolled laughter as talk was the centerpiece of the past seven days, yet, again both knew the rushing river they were ready to cross. Living in what seemed an otherworldly magnetic field, the week sped by as if they had known each other a lifetime. Hand touching, kisses on the cheek, separate bedrooms, and deep emotional caring for the other. Ronald was the first to step in. “I can leave, but I don’t want to.” Ina tried to speak, but choked on her saliva from not swallowing and holding her breath. Her eyes were moist and her nose started to run. “I’m suddenly a mess, but thank God, I don’t want you to leave.” Emotionally holding hands through a swift current they reached the other side. That late evening, Oliver, positioned outside Ina’s door, stood and walked into the kitchen as Ronald crossed the hallway.
The pink and yellow balloons floated above both entrance posts and bounced lively with the soft breeze. “Here they come” shouted Ronald as the dark blue SUV crested the hill down toward the farm. Sensing excitement of some sort, Oliver darted out onto the road but turned back on a dime with the command “Home.” Roy gave five rapid horn honks, paused, and then the final two as the car slowed for the turn. Wife Sharon had rolled down her window and was leaning out with a broad grin and waving a large bouquet of flowers, “Hello you two, family arrives!” Even with tinted rear windows, they could see the sleeping little one nestled in her car seat facing to the rear. “What an angel” whispered Ina to Ronald as she grasped his waist in a tighter hold.
Gretchen, now fifteen months old and gifted with a carefree disposition was happy to be passed back and forth between Ronald and Ina, as they repeated any sound she made and added a few of their own. Every few seconds it seemed, she was leaning down to see Oliver laying on the floor with his swishing tail, and staring back in anticipation. Ina sat her down on the thick pile rug and she immediately crawled to face the new black and white playmate. His ears perked up in curiosity, and with belly stuck to the ground, scooted forward until his nose touched hers. While it was only seconds, eight eyes stared down in amazement as the two nuzzled each other. Placing her hand on his head for leverage, she pushed herself up in a standing position only to immediately plop down on his side and roll onto the rug. Sensing he now had a new rollicking playmate, Oliver jumped up barking, raced around the living room in dancing movements before laying spread eagle before the curly haired girl with the yellow bow.
Roy could only shake his head in amazement as his nerdy brother could now milk a cow without spilling a drop on the hay covered floor. He spoke, “Two months have done more than a therapist could accomplish in two years.” Ronald reached up and was pulled off the stool. “It feels right, it really does” was the response. The two drove off in Ina’s truck to visit the dairy.
The house seemed eerily quiet after the family left. Little was said and chores were completed in rote movement that invited no interaction. Each picked at their dinner in silence until Ina looked up, “Ronald, I need to know what you’re thinking, say something.” He slowly folded his napkin and set it on the table without looking up. “I don’t know what I’m thinking. It’s as if I have fallen into a hole, and can’t climb out. Can you help me by just talking, I want to close my eyes and just hear your voice.” He could hear her draw a deep breath and exhale. She spoke, “I think we both feel scared at the moment, and I think it’s natural. We have spent two months building and living in a private cocoon, and now the real world has entered our space. I don’t mean what we have created is not real, but it couldn’t last. A beautiful little girl, your little girl has come knocking and wants to come in. I’m scared that somehow I’m the square peg hovering over the round hole that gets left behind.” He snapped his head up and looked directly, “No, you’re the perfectly shaped round peg that everyone first fits into place before reaching for others. Yes, I am scared that somehow I screw things up, but this I know, Gretchen loved you. We both love you.”
They devised a roadmap with a primary route, but with numerous alternatives as life’s traffic often intervenes, sometimes in least expected ways. Sharon spoke of the zoo reopening after two years of renovation that included a twenty acre expansion for the roaming animals. She was a docent and the two women bonded over all creatures great and small. They agreed that a zoo outing would be ideal for the next get together in five weeks. Ronald said it was time to purchase a sedan or midsize SUV with a car seat professionally installed.
The sky darkened suddenly in the early afternoon and windows shook from blasts of wind. Looking at the back porch from the kitchen window, Ina saw cushions blowing off furniture and tumbling further into the yard. A tremendous cracking sound like a nearby lightning strike woke her out of a trance. Looking up and seeing nothing, her eyes trailed down to the pasture. A huge limb had splintered off the big oak and the cows were running in panic. Ina ran out the door instinctively counting one, two, “Oh Ronald help, there’s only three!” Buried under the massive branches, and bellowing painfully, Nellie was trying to move, and further adding to injury with each attempt. She turned to see Ronald running toward her, and Oliver chasing the others. “Call the vet, it’s Nellie, she can’t die. Bring the chainsaw, we need to cut away the largest branches.”
All four were brown Jersey’s with white markings, and considered by most farmers to provide the highest quality of milk. Like a zebra where no stripes are the same, Ina could tell her girls apart from a great distance. It was her father’s life insurance that originally covered the cost, and from day one they thrived on being pasture fed. For weeks, Oliver was puzzled to herd only three, but eventually accepted a changed order, and fell back into a comfortable routine of duties.
Rain drops pelting the bedroom window woke Ronald out of a disturbing dream. Sitting up he saw the bed empty, laid back, and waited for Ina’s return. After five minutes, he rose, found slippers, and went into the living room. Oliver came out of the kitchen, and went back barking and pawing the door. Moving across the pasture at a quickened pace, he could see Ina’s humped body under the oak tree. It was a warm rain, and she seemed to show no sign of discomfort in her soaked thin nightgown. The normal black curls now resembled knotted strings that glistened in a silvery moon peaking through rain clouds. Ronald sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her slender body. “Wanted to come out and see if a cup of hot tea would be welcomed.” Ina laughed as she leaned into his body and kissed his cheek. Oliver laid by her side with his head in her lap while the two spoke of love, loss, and new beginnings.
Ina fastened Gretchen into the car seat as Ronald watched how the various buckles and snaps intertwined. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel green with cheeks and lips a matching light rosy color. She clutched the tiny soft brown Jersey cow they brought, and with help, brought forth moos, and with moos, laughter. Ina sat in the back seat and glowed with a mother’s warmth as Gretchen held her finger and Ina softly sang nursery rhythms she remembered as a little girl sitting in her mother’s lap. From time to time, Ronald would look up to the rear view mirror and watch with amazement, the connection unfolding.
Roy and Sharon encouraged Ronald’s suggestion they take Gretchen home with them for a week, and hurried around the house to pack a large suitcase with the necessities for an extended stay. One week became two, and two more weeks brought a month. The sides of the inflatable kiddie pool were a rainbow of colors while the inside was all blue adding luster to the water from the warming afternoon sun. Each wore a sun hat, and with dark glasses it was like a scene from a Hollywood movie. Gretchen stretched out over Ronald’s chest while her feet splashed water at his sides. Ina strummed the ukulele from her youth while blowing the kazoo. Ronald led each stanza of Old McDonald, and Gretchen laughed each time she could squeeze any sound out of a soaked Nellie.
Who would have thought there was such a short cut on that road map of life. The sunset was a spectacular splash of reds, yellows, and for an instant, that brilliant green flash. The hidden sun sent rays of light up to accentuate the shape of each cumulus cloud, giving a heavenly array of fluffy white cotton balls. Lying back on the double lounge, Ronald pointed out the first sighting of both Venus and Jupiter with Gretchen extending her arm upward in imitation. The wedding would be in Roy and Sharon’s living room, followed by adoption papers ready for submission.
The sheltering sky had favored three chosen people, reached down and brought them together at a time that was meant to be. Could there be a promise to follow their days ahead? A shooting star crossed before them to answer.
RICHARD SWAIN