A Long and Lonely Mile

Chapter 4

Once he was alone with Moxie, Tavington returned to the record player. As Marigold had observed, the music was infectious although most of it came across to him as obnoxious and nonsensical. A highly intelligent man, Tavington extracted a great deal of pleasure in trying to piece together the stories of the musicals based on their soundtracks alone. The underlying reason for his fascination with this strange new mechanism, however, deserves some elaboration:

In less than twenty-four hours, he went from fearing nothing to fearing everything. He dreaded his next encounter with the world outside and spending time with something other than this fear shut his overactive mind down for a while. If the noises from passing cars outside and mighty aircrafts making their descent into Charlestown weren't drowned out by something pleasant, he probably would have suffered a panic attack.

Curiosity got the better of him on several occasions while he was alone in Marigold's bungalow. Moxie watched him like a hawk, so his exploration of the space was limited to the kitchen and living room. The space was cheerfully decorated and it matched the yellow and white exterior of her home to a tee. Potted flowers dominated nearly every surface and the area surrounding the front door housed a large collection of terra cotta planters of summer florals that she'd brought inside to save from the cold. Although his life in the military kept him from pursuing it in whole, plant husbandry always intrigued him.

"Good heavens," he stated wistfully to an uninterested Moxie, "that is the finest collection of orchids I've ever seen. A symbol of fertility, if I'm not mistaken." The herb garden on her kitchen windowsill garnered a great deal of admiration as well. He carefully plucked a peppermint leaf and stuck it in his mouth, causing Moxie to growl. "Between you and me." As he glanced back at the lovingly groomed herbs, a castle-themed wall calendar caught his attention. The erstwhile days were ex'd off with a black sharpie. He saw that today, Monday, was the second of October in the year 2017.

"This still feels like a dream to me," he muttered to Moxie who could be seen crossing the living room and slipping out the doggie door. "Not only are the years startling, but that I died in January and woke up in October. I wonder what is significant about this day, if anything..."

Meanwhile, Downtown

For years, Marigold and her dear friend, Giselle Zipp made a habit of these little Monday morning excursions. No matter what they were going through, their caffeine-fueled conversations allowed them to start the week off on a joyful note. They would walk four blocks from Marigold's bungalow to a small downtown café called "Coffee n' San-tea" and discuss trivial delights while stealing indulgent sips of what was arguably the best hazelnut macchiato in the galaxy. Today shouldn't have been any different. They placed their usual orders and climbed into their usual comfy chairs with the perfect view of the quaint downtown district. The early appearance of autumn foliage was the icing on the cake of this aesthetic. Mere moments after their orders arrived, Giselle saw her friend do the most un-Marigold thing imaginable. Silly as it was, it set her off.

"We got here just in time for you to snag the last almond croissant and what do you do? Instead of shoving it in your face like I've seen you do every Monday since the last ice age... you wrap it up and stick it in your tote for some stupid guy."

Marigold slouched down in the large arm chair and inhaled the macchiato's fragrant steam. "You're very observant."

Ever the instigator, Giselle leaned in, "Don't play nonchalant with me. It's obvious that you were both up all night. No sex is worth the last almond croissant. Even if it was with that blue-eyed buffoon, Commodore Turpentine..."

They shared a quick laugh. "You know that's not his name, Zippy." Marigold teased. If anyone else used that nickname on Giselle, she'd clock them in the nose with such ferocity that their head would spin off their shoulders like a top. "You also know that I would never sleep with someone I'm not-"