A Friendly Wave, A Silent Warning
The inability to speak the truth
Sorry, I haven’t written much in the last few months. I have been finishing up the fall semester of college and experimenting with literary fiction. This is a writing world I’m not really used to, but I think fiction has great potential for the Christian imaginary. The following is a short story I have been working on:
As the Lakewood Community Mom’s event came to an end, Sarah made her way over with her son Ralphy to the playground behind the community center. She watched as other children chaotically romped and tripped about the playground like a herd of uncoordinated wild beasts. Sarah looked around, taking in the bright blue sky and the full emerald green trees that marked the edge of the property. They couldn’t stay long; they would need to get home soon for lunch, but they had some time. She was glad she moved to this small-town community.
A scrawny, dark-haired boy moved warily past Sarah toward the playground. He must have been around five or six years old, and Sarah thought he would be the perfect age for her son to play with. Ralphy was looking down the playground rock wall at the little black-haired boy. The boy stopped, turned, and stared up at Ralphy.
“Hi,” Ralphy said.
The little boy warily stepped backward and carefully released the word “Hi” from his lips.
While watching the awkward greeting of two children, Sarah suddenly felt something darken the corner of her right eye. She turned and saw a woman beside her only a few feet away. She wore a long navy blue dress covered in a pattern of light blue stars. The woman spread a warm smile across her face. The kind of smile that made you feel like everything would be okay, even if it wasn’t—the kind of smile Sarah needed right about now. Sarah was glad to meet such friendly people. It was wonderful to make friends so quickly in her new home. Finally, she made the right choice for once.
The woman then looked at Ralphy, smiling and said, “Hello there.”
“Ralphy,” Sarah called, “Ralphy.”
“What Mom,” He said uncooperatively.
Sarah instructed, “Ask him to play tag with you?”
“Looks like they’re making friends,” the woman said shyly.
Sarah replied with laughter, “Yes, it does. Hi, my name is Sarah. This is my first time here,” She gestured toward the town’s community center, “We just moved into Lakewood, literally two days ago.”
“Hello, we are the Draugurs. Say hello, boy,” the woman said, looking over at her son, who was slowly moving back toward his mother. The term “boy” made Sarah’s mind glitch for a second, but only a second. There was no reason to bother such a wonderful day.
“Hello,” He responded just above a whisper before retreating with his head down behind the veil of his mother’s dress.
“Ralphy, can you ask him to play tag with you,” Sarah said to her son. Ralphy sealed his mouth and began climbing further up the rock wall.
Both ladies laughed. “Ugh, what am I going to do with this kid,” Sarah said.
“Sometimes I don’t think I’m going to make it through the day,” Mrs. Draugur sympathized.
Sarah smiled, “Only a few more weeks until school starts back up again.”
Mrs. Draugur sighed, “It won’t matter for us. We homeschool.”
“Oh, how wonderful, what a blessing,” Sarah said as she smiled down at the little boy spying behind Mrs. Draugur’s dress, “I would love to, but I am just not cut out for it.”
“Sometimes I don’t know if it's for me either,” Mrs. Draugur quietly agreed before abruptly stopping any more words from slipping out of her mouth. There was a brief pause, then she carved that comforting smile on her face and continued, “But Mr. Draugur says it’s what’s best for our family. I just wish our son had more kids to play with. It can get so lonely sometimes.”
Sarah gave a comforting smile and looked at her son, Ralphy shooting out of the bright blue curly slide, “Would you like to play with Mrs. Draugur’s son? It doesn’t have to be tag. Why don’t you ask him what he would like to play?” Ralphy shook his head from side to side and said, “Mom can I have iPad time when we get home.”
She said to him brightly, “Go play or no iPad when we get home. You have fifteen minutes, and then we have to go home for lunch. Okay?”
Ralphy dragged his feet back toward the ladder to climb up to the slide again.
“Sorry. I don’t know why he is being such a stick in the mud right now. Kids these days and their devices,” Sarah said, red-faced.
Mrs. Draugur said flatly, “We don’t use technology.”
“Oh, I’m with you,” Sarah said quickly, “I totally agree. I don’t all the time either, it's just… when you’ve got to get some work done as a single mom—”
“No. I mean never. We don’t use technology at all. We abstain from cell phones, TV, tablets, video games, or screens of any kind,” Mrs. Draugur recited, “ It’s the light. We believe children should play outside, it's good for them and so much cleaner. Like Mr. Draugur always says, ‘Clean air and play keeps the devil away.’ That may sound strange in today’s world, but it is quite liberating not to have to worry about all that stuff.”
Sarah asked blankly, “You don’t have a cell phone?”
“Nope. Mr. Draugur,” she said carefully as if repeating a creed, “Believes that technology tricks the body by creating false star-light that degenerates and corrupts the flesh. We keep our son clean of any of it.”
“Wow, that’s admirable,” Sarah said, “I think that’s great if you can do it. Honestly, I think if I didn’t mention the iPad, Ralphy would forget all about it. Ralphy loves being outside. I can hardly get him to come in sometimes.”
“Can we go home? I wana play on my iPad,” Ralphy whined as he got off the slide.
Sarah gave her son a sharp look and spoke quickly over her son’s laments, trying to continue the conversation, “So, what does your husband do—for work, that is? ” she asked timidly.
Mrs. Draugur lifted her head proudly, “He’s a very talented man. He’s a genius. I’m so lucky to be married to him. I don’t deserve him. He’s an intersectional astrologist at Rochester College. He works in a lab and has made all kinds of breakthroughs with his experiments.”
Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Draugur leaned over, put her hand out, held Sarah’s hand tightly, and said, “It’s hard to find people who understand the desire to live a holistic and harmonious life. You know what I mean?”
“Right, definitely. You are so lucky to live in such a wonderful community here. In the city, people are a lot less friendly,” Sarah said, her hands covertly retracting into her pockets. Mrs. Draugur nodded.
Mrs. Draugur looked off toward the tree line beyond the playground, “It isn’t always so lovely here though. We had such awful and dirty people next door to us for a while. Small things, but they build up, you know, and they can be so upsetting,” Mrs. Draugur continued, “all day long, so many lights.”
Sarah paused and said, “Lights?”
“Mr. Draugur cannot bear artificial bright lights. Our neighbors knew it. I know they did. They would shine their dirty lights as much as they could, especially those LEDs. Their curtains were always open to let their degenerate cold light pour out the windows and pollute everyone around them. Our very souls were at risk. We sorted it out though,” Mrs. Draugur said, “As Mr. Draugur always says, ‘A dark house is a happy house’ and ‘The only true light is starlight.’ The artificial and soulless lights people these days fill their houses with get in the way of our astrological connection—You know we’re made of stardust? Scientific fact.”
“Right, absolutely.” Sarah said as her stomach began to feel unsettled,“ Stardust… Yeah, I do think I heard that somewhere.”
Mrs. Draugur paused, examing Sarah’s face, and laughed uncomfortably with a trailing shrill, “I don’t explain things very well. I’m probably making him sound off his rocker.”
“No, not true,” Sarah said quickly, “I have heard somewhere about the problems with artificial light and the need for blue light for our eyes or something like that. Actually, my oldest nephew uses blue light glasses—”
“Well,” Mrs. Draugur interrupted and then trailed off quietly, “there’s the color yellow, too. It’s evil.”
Sarah’s mind finally acknowledged the warning bells that were ringing in her brain; it was the way she used to feel when her ex-husband, strangling the neck of his Guinness, went to lock the door after knocking back a few too many with the boys or that cold night when she couldn’t find the keys to her car but could hear footsteps closing in on her in the parking garage…Mrs. Draugur stared absent-mindedly at the children running around the playground, “Geminis are a plague upon this world. Yellow is their color, and it makes them especially dangerous,” She said, looking around anxiously at Sarah.
“Geminis?” Sarah said, wondering where Ralphy was in the maze of bright blue metal.
“You know, the Zodiac signs?” Mrs. Draugur began to speak with the rapidity of an oncoming freight train, “Knowledge that has guided humanity for thousands of years. Although, now it is treated like a joke. My husband has spent his life fighting the rampant stigma surrounding astrological studies. How many social ills and lives could be saved if people took astrology more seriously. One of my husband's studies revealed that most people who commit crimes are Geminis. Also, before their crimes, there was often found a connection to the color yellow that precipitated the events that led to their crime. It took him two decades, but he’s proved it, not that his program director will listen. Did you know the major assassinations of JFK and Abraham Lincoln were done by Geminis too, as well as most school shootings? The evidence is undeniable: Geminis are the root of all major evil in this world.”
Sarah began to pull the loose thread at the hem of her shirt, “Wow, I had never heard this before. That is really something.” She fingered her phone in her right pocket. Surely, it was time to head back home and get lunch ready.
Mrs. Draugur’s eyes widened, a vein rising on the side of her temple, “ If only the public knew what kind of danger they were in. If informed, people could take some simple precautions, like removing anything yellow from their property. We make sure not to have so much as a dandelion pop up on our property. Mr. Draugur has all the research on this; it's quite overwhelming. Despite his research, it is difficult to change society, but we do what we can. One day, my husband will be remembered as a great man.”
Sarah churned her brain, looking for something to say. Her thoughts were flying erratically about her.
Mrs. Draugur’s eyes began to grow cold, but her mouth kept moving, “Mr. Draugur almost considered aborting our son had the pregnancy gone too long. It would have been pointless having it— knowing it was going to bring more suffering to the world. What would be the point, right?”
“Yes, right,” was all Sarah could put together as she looked nervously at Mrs. Draugur’s son, sifting woodchips through his fingers beside his mother. It was getting hard to breathe. Sarah paused and quickly scanned the playground for Ralphy, who was hanging from the monkey bars, “Ralphy,” she called emphatically, “It’s time for lunch.”
“Well,” Mrs. Draugur said, “it was nice meeting you. We better get going as well.”
Feeling as though she had been rude, Sarah said, “Sorry, we have to go, but I have enjoyed meeting you and your son. Thank you for making us feel so welcome.”
Mrs. Draugur held out her hand, and she took it, “I hope we can come and visit again,” Mrs. Draugur said, “It's so wonderful to meet really thoughtful people who get it. It's been such a struggle. Thank you.”
“Yes… yes… absolutely,” Sarah said, and then came back to herself abruptly, “Perhaps we can set up a play date for the kids and get together again?”
Mrs. Draugur said, “I look forward to it. Thanks so much for all your kindness.”
Ralphy walked over, kicking woodchips while wiping some snot away that he had smeared down the side of his cheek.
“I’m so glad we moved here,” Sarah said, “Well, we better head out. Goodbye.” The alarms faded from her mind, and they began to part ways. The air began to fill her lungs again. The trees were so green. The sounds of children and the laughter of the trees were so comforting. Sure, Mrs. Draugur was a little different, but everyone has been nothing but welcoming and friendly. What a lovely place I have moved to.
“Oh, if you don’t mind me asking, What street did you move to?” Mrs. Draugur asked.
“136 Chestnut St,” Sarah stated quickly as she grasped her son’s hand.
“Well, bless my lucky stars, that’s right next to us! So you’re the new neighbor,” Mrs. Draugur said with a wide, toothy smile, “Looks like we’ll be seeing you soon! Have a wonderful lunch. Goodbye!”
With her arm around Ralphy, she began to walk toward the parking lot. Mrs. Draugur and her son stood there and waved, and Sarah and Ralphy waved back. The warning bells began to toll.
“Can I have iPad time now,” Ralphy said, trying to keep up with his mom, “please, mom?”
“What,” Sarah said, her son’s voice barely audible among the cacophony of pounding in her head, “Oh, yes, sure.”
I drew inspiration for my short story from the famous short story Of Course by Shirley Jackson.
I created this blog to exercise the ideas that have haunted my mind. This blog will discuss and contemplate story, imagination, formation, Christian education, icons, symbols, pictures, and poetry. Journey with me as we delve into the deep cavernous thoughts of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Malcolm Guite, James K.A. Smith, N.T. Wright, Charles Taylor, and The Holy Scriptures.
Interesting story and nice tension. Ideology can seem so harmless until you clash with fervent believers, very thought provoking.
Great atmosphere created with this simple life encounter. It developed nicely. Having moved numerous times, these uncomfortable connections are inevitable. Most folks could envision themselves in this situation. Way to go!