dimension
i had agreed to house-sit for this guy i knew out in the country. his place was this small shanty with a huge outdoor covered porch... like a workshop space. the property was right on a rural three way intersection. there were a couple of houses close enough, where you couldn't scream or walk around naked without getting someone's attention.
the owner had set up his tent for me before he left, a tan insulated dome tent... a four weather, two person deal with a reinforced internal pole setup. i had never been in a more sturdy or expensive one.
before he left he told me a story of a problem he had been having with what seemed like a stray dog. it would come around at night and eat his onions. he never said whether he was growing them or just kept them laying around, but he knew it was a dog because he caught the same one doing it, and it would run off with a big mouth of onions.
he called the sheriff and he knew there was a man who kept a culdron of onions boiling, 24/7, not far away. the sheriff didn't know why he was always boiling onions, but after he talked to the man he learned he had a dog and advised him to feed it more.
these were the only instructions the owner gave me, "look out for an onion-hungry dog" and then he left.
that same day i was in the tent reading, and i had to go pee. i crept into a thicket, close to the intersection to do my business, despite there being an outhouse, when a car came shambling along. i knew the occupants wouldn't be able to see me so i watched them as they blew the stop sign, sort of excititedly chatting.
didn't catch what they were saying, or get a great look at them but i finished up and headed back to the tent. along the way back, out in the sun on the lawn were two young men in their 20s sitting next to each other looking directly in the direction where the car went. by the one's voice i recognized he was the passenger of the car but how could that be? the car had left a trail of dust down the road and nobody had gotten out.
i sat down in the mud sort of in front of them so i could see their faces as they talked...
"what does he expect? my college was in a dry county, middle of nowhere. couldn't get beer!" *chuckles from driver* "there was nothing going on... i couldn't get excited about going back to the most boring place i had _ever_ been to... grades slipped... lost interest... now dad's blaming himself because he convinced me to go... which sucks. he's the one who took out the loan and i blew it. he's blaming himself for everything."
they're staring straight ahead not looking at one another when they speak and they definitely can't see me. i'm in their field of vision and they're sitting there on the lawn clear as day.
i move to sit behind them as if i'd be in the back seat of their car, and decide to try and communicate. i wanted them to turn the car around, so i can convince them i had been psychicly eavesdropping on them.
"hey guys i heard you talking and..." their upper torsos fly forward. the driver must have hit the brakes hard. they both turn around real slow like they just heard a ghost. then they make eye contact with me and they get even paler. "... if you would just turn around and drive back up to that three way intersection... the stop sign you blew. there's a creek there... and..." they turn to face each other in fight-or-flight, total panic in their eyes when i hear some kind of inward gasp to my right.
there is a woman just across the road sitting in a beach chair reading a book... but she looks really disturbed, trying to make it seem like she wasn't watching this scene unfold on the lawn. i walk over to her immediately and say, "sorry mrs. wemberly... i know that must have looked and heard odd, but i didn't see you over here." now she's looking at me like _she's_ seen a ghost because we had never met before now, and i knew her name... and as far as she knows i'm some drifter talking to myself on her neighbors lawn, and now i'm talking to HER.
i explain that i'm house-sitting next door and she looks relieved. the connection in her head that her neighbor must have told me her name sinks in and she looks almost calm. i decide not to tell her about how nobody ever told me her name, and start wondering what was up with that.. my eyes drift away to where the young men were sitting. they're not there anymore.
explain the whole story about peeing and seeing and hearing the young men in its entirety to mrs. wemberly and she says, "... i've had things like that happen to me sometimes too. strange things..." she smiles real big at me, like she's still struggling and coping with the weirding, or maybe she's lost in a moment... then i wake up.
the owner had set up his tent for me before he left, a tan insulated dome tent... a four weather, two person deal with a reinforced internal pole setup. i had never been in a more sturdy or expensive one.
before he left he told me a story of a problem he had been having with what seemed like a stray dog. it would come around at night and eat his onions. he never said whether he was growing them or just kept them laying around, but he knew it was a dog because he caught the same one doing it, and it would run off with a big mouth of onions.
he called the sheriff and he knew there was a man who kept a culdron of onions boiling, 24/7, not far away. the sheriff didn't know why he was always boiling onions, but after he talked to the man he learned he had a dog and advised him to feed it more.
these were the only instructions the owner gave me, "look out for an onion-hungry dog" and then he left.
that same day i was in the tent reading, and i had to go pee. i crept into a thicket, close to the intersection to do my business, despite there being an outhouse, when a car came shambling along. i knew the occupants wouldn't be able to see me so i watched them as they blew the stop sign, sort of excititedly chatting.
didn't catch what they were saying, or get a great look at them but i finished up and headed back to the tent. along the way back, out in the sun on the lawn were two young men in their 20s sitting next to each other looking directly in the direction where the car went. by the one's voice i recognized he was the passenger of the car but how could that be? the car had left a trail of dust down the road and nobody had gotten out.
i sat down in the mud sort of in front of them so i could see their faces as they talked...
"what does he expect? my college was in a dry county, middle of nowhere. couldn't get beer!" *chuckles from driver* "there was nothing going on... i couldn't get excited about going back to the most boring place i had _ever_ been to... grades slipped... lost interest... now dad's blaming himself because he convinced me to go... which sucks. he's the one who took out the loan and i blew it. he's blaming himself for everything."
they're staring straight ahead not looking at one another when they speak and they definitely can't see me. i'm in their field of vision and they're sitting there on the lawn clear as day.
i move to sit behind them as if i'd be in the back seat of their car, and decide to try and communicate. i wanted them to turn the car around, so i can convince them i had been psychicly eavesdropping on them.
"hey guys i heard you talking and..." their upper torsos fly forward. the driver must have hit the brakes hard. they both turn around real slow like they just heard a ghost. then they make eye contact with me and they get even paler. "... if you would just turn around and drive back up to that three way intersection... the stop sign you blew. there's a creek there... and..." they turn to face each other in fight-or-flight, total panic in their eyes when i hear some kind of inward gasp to my right.
there is a woman just across the road sitting in a beach chair reading a book... but she looks really disturbed, trying to make it seem like she wasn't watching this scene unfold on the lawn. i walk over to her immediately and say, "sorry mrs. wemberly... i know that must have looked and heard odd, but i didn't see you over here." now she's looking at me like _she's_ seen a ghost because we had never met before now, and i knew her name... and as far as she knows i'm some drifter talking to myself on her neighbors lawn, and now i'm talking to HER.
i explain that i'm house-sitting next door and she looks relieved. the connection in her head that her neighbor must have told me her name sinks in and she looks almost calm. i decide not to tell her about how nobody ever told me her name, and start wondering what was up with that.. my eyes drift away to where the young men were sitting. they're not there anymore.
explain the whole story about peeing and seeing and hearing the young men in its entirety to mrs. wemberly and she says, "... i've had things like that happen to me sometimes too. strange things..." she smiles real big at me, like she's still struggling and coping with the weirding, or maybe she's lost in a moment... then i wake up.