25. The Catbird's Seat
1,187 words. Approximately 5 minutes, 56 seconds. Audio version here.
Well, it’s finally happened. The “For Sale” signs have finally reached my little corner of the neighborhood, and in spite of my best efforts, my husband believes that we, too, should sell.
He gives me reasons that sound all well and good on the surface. Reasons like, “We’ve got close to fifty grand in equity on this place,” “We ought to strike while the iron is hot and people are buying up houses in this neighborhood,” and, “Haven’t you been constantly complaining about the state of the neighborhood over the past few months? I thought you’d be excited to get out of here.” Yes, yes, on the surface, these sound like good, even great, reasons to go ahead and put our house on the market.
The problem is that no one has been listening to me, least of all my husband. He doesn’t listen at all. When I tell him that I’m concerned that I haven’t seen our neighbors in months, he handwaves it away and insists that he’s seen them walking around. Or he says things like, “Of course they have been mostly staying inside,” and mentions something about the news as though that covers it. He’s just trying to shut me up, I think. Of course I don’t pay attention to the news; who does these days? All the news is is lies to try and keep everyone under the thumb of… well, God knows what, but the point is that there is no reason to watch, read, or believe what the news is telling us. And the fact that my husband points to my so-called ignorance of the world around me as some reason why I don’t understand what’s happening in my neighborhood is just… I mean, I’m concerned about him, and I think that anyone that’s in their right mind would be.
I’ve been keeping a close eye out of the windows, and I just don’t see anyone. Somehow everyone’s grass is mowed, and the houses don’t look to be in disrepair or anything like that, despite the fact that I believe all of my neighbors have been spirited away by some dark force that’s taken over the neighborhood. Those that haven’t been spirited away have put their houses up for sale and moved out of the neighborhood; I’m sure they’ve seen the same signs as I have, but they’re more concerned with their own safety than the general well-being of the neighborhood, like I am. That’s fair; we can’t all be heroes, after all. I just am not ready to give up on this place.
The few times that I’ve ventured out into the neighborhood (I tell my husband that I’m going to walk the dogs; he doesn’t like it when I go outside for “recon”), my husband’s made me put on some sort of face covering. I can’t understand it; it’s like he knows what’s going on but refuses to tell me. He says that the face covering is for keeping myself protected, but mostly it’s for keeping other people protected if I happen to run into them out on the street.
Well, I have two problems with that: one, who am I going to run into out on the street since everyone has been disappeared, and two, what do I (and other people) need protection against?
Through my recon-excuse me, my dog walks-I have discovered one thing that both doesn’t surprise me and also fills me with dread: Angelica’s business seems to be doing well. Her little sign outside her mailbox appears to have reproduced since I saw it last; there is another, smaller sign just next to her original one that says, “Yes, I’m open for business! Face masks required, please!”
Face masks.
Now, I wonder why Angelica could possibly be requiring face coverings while in her presence. If my husband is to be believed, she desires protection from… something. I don’t know what, and it’s driving me crazy, but I’m still convinced that this “something” has to do with her in some way. There wasn’t a problem with “something” before she showed up. I didn’t have to be afraid of “something” when I left my house. My neighbors didn’t pack up and leave en masse because of this “something” until she came around.
I don’t know. I’m at a complete loss, if I’m being honest with you. My husband has already put the “For Sale” sign in our front yard, and the house has been listed. I don’t know why anyone would want to buy this house, though. I don’t know why anyone would want to live in this neighborhood, with this dark cloud hanging over everything, with this monster just a few doors down, keeping herself safe from the very thing she unleashed on us all.
So then you’re probably wondering why I’m not excited to pack up and leave. After all, if my neighbors are also starting to feel the “something,” shouldn’t that be proof to me that I’m right? Shouldn’t I just go the way of the rest of the neighborhood and get the hell out of dodge, leaving Angelica to her victims?
No. As I said, I understand that not everyone can be a hero, but I love this neighborhood. I love my neighbors, even if I don’t know their real names, even if I’ve only seen them through a crack in my blinds, even if they used to give my house the side-eye every time they walked past. And I can’t bear to see what Angelica has done to them. And I can't bear to think about what Angelica may do to the people that are now moving into those old houses.
Here I am, at an advantageous position in the whole thing. I know Angelica’s secret. I know what’s happening in this neighborhood. I don’t believe the lies that my husband is telling me, the lies he is hearing from the newspapers and the internet. It’s up to me to put a stop to all of this, in spite of Angelica, in spite of my husband, in spite of that nauseating “For Sale” sign sitting in my front yard, leering at me every time I try to find some sign of life outside of my house.
And put a stop to it I will. I may not know exactly what this “something” is; I may not ever find out Angelica’s plan (and really, I expect that I won’t, as long as I’m allowed to see my own plan through to the end). But I will not stop until I have taken back the neighborhood, until people are free to step out of their houses without living in fear, until people are free to enjoy the sunlight or walk down their block without having to cover their faces, to keep themselves safe from…
It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I have a plan. I will take care of Angelica once and for all. I will take my neighborhood back. I will rip that “For Sale” sign from my yard and from every other.
The only real question I have left is, what sort of weapon does one equip in order to vanquish an ultimate evil?