Page 47 - North Star Literary & Art Magazine

present.
Getting the old Coupe De Ville out of the garage and into town was getting harder
every time she turned the keys in the ignition. Her aching knee wasn’t going to like this trip. The car was her husband’s, but she liked driving it. Nobody was driving a jitney like
that anymore.
The department store she visited was extraordinarily busy for a Tuesday afternoon,
but she spied one of those big stuffed pets. A large golden Labrador with sweet brown eyes and a soft coat.
Maybe the child would like this, since she couldn’t have a real dog.
She went ahead and purchased the toy before the crowds began to swell again, not thinking twice about if it would be alright for the child to have something like this, or what the man and woman would think. But oh well, she had already bought it. No use in taking it back to a madhouse like the department store on a Tuesday afternoon with her aching knee and such. She was sure the child would love it. She even took to putting one of Fifi’s collars around it when she got home—just before she wrapped it. Her mind conceded that even if the man and the woman didn’t want her to have the stuffed dog, she would just have to keep it and bring it for some quick visits. Nothing too strenuous was in order, especially because the child was ill, but that didn’t seem to stop her from catching Fifi and bringing him back to her.
It was a sweltering day in May, and she didn’t really know what to wear. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been invited to any kind of social function, and to top it all off, she was feeling sort of nervous.
The last blouse in her closet that she hadn’t tried on would have to suffice. A flowy, red thing that would hide the weight she’d put on while keeping her cool in the heat.
Now that she was dressed, she grabbed the gift-wrapped dog, leaving Fifi behind, crossing her fingers that all would go well.
She wasn’t superstitious, but she supposed a little extra luck wouldn’t hurt.
The glass house was decorated to the nines, covered in red balloons and streamers that were tied to the mailbox and hanging over doors and windows. She suspected that the party was being held in that sizable back lawn since that was where all the thumping music was coming from.
When she passed through the garden gate, it seemed like everyone in the neighbor- hood was there, causing her palms to sweat. She realized that most of them she hadn’t seen in months, and others, years.
She noticed that couple two houses down chatting with her other neighbor that was from down the road.
Then there were people she’d never met. Perhaps coworkers, or relatives, all chat- ting amongst each other.
If she were lucky, none of them would talk to her.
Her doubts got smaller the longer she thought about it while the days went on and on, one after the other, and then it was the day of the party.
The neighborhood children that were usually playing hopscotch on the sidewalk were now batting around a beach ball. She wondered where the child was, since she didn’t see her playing with the other children, but she supposed the child couldn’t since she was ill.
There were all kinds of spreads that caught her eye, extending from one end of the lawn to
NORTH STAR 45