*Note to the Reader; Birthday Stories are exactly what they sound like, stories that are created and gifted to family and friends. They are short works of fiction in the raw, no copy edits, kind of like live theatre, what you see is straight from my imagination to you, pure, simple and honest and yeah, sometimes a bit weird - I hope you enjoy. RB
Wendy's pace slowed as she walked between the sliding glass doors; the distinctive neon red EMERGENCY letters cast an eerie and distorted image across the multiple glass wall panels of the hospital. She'd walked the same route to the parking lot a hundred times but it still felt foreign to her.
She didn't want to leave, didn't want to spend a night away from her daughter Kathrine but they were in wait state. Tests needed to be done, consultations to be performed, answers to be found. It looked promising but she didn't want to get her hope's up, the other side of hope was just too familiar.
"So what now Wendy girl? It's too late to sleep, couldn't if I tried anyway," she whispered to herself.
As if in answer a warm gust gently washed over her face and a thousand memories followed. Cotton candy at the impromptu carnival in the mall parking lot, drive in movies, first crushes, first kisses, or just staying up late to read in bed.
"Lights out!"
"Five more minutes, please?"
No reply meant okay, she read the last paragraph of the page hastily, then again a second time because it seemed too wonderful.
"Seeing a mermaid is a sure sign of a violent storm to come. ... However, on occasions, mermaids can also bring good fortune by giving humans cures or granting those wishes. In some tales, they even marry and live with humans."
The memory was so real she could almost hear her own childhood voice repeating the words.
Wendy smiled in spite of how worried she felt but something clicked and suddenly, instinctively she knew what to do. The underground parking was empty and the small beep echoed in the deep. She opened the car door and slipped inside onto the leather seat and started the engine.
The lights of Calgary filled the rear view like a small galaxy, as distant and unfamiliar as anything you've ever seen under the heavens. When the highway descended into one of the valleys that cut through the landscape, the mirror went black and Wendy's mind began to drift back to her youth again; she used to take road trips like this one on a hot summer evenings when anything seemed possible. Adventures in the field adjacent to her home where you became making believe versions of yourself, sharing the most precious secrets with Nikki.
The air cooled suddenly reconnecting her with the present but she didn't want to close off the outside world reaching toward the console instead to turn up the heat.
It was dark but Wendy knew the land had flattened by the distinct silence just past the manufactured wind from travel. Her eyes scanned the horizon. Flickering between the trees in the hills were candlelight blooms, small yellow porchlight flowers that marked the residents of Morley, comforts of home.
Wendy smiled thinking of her own family as the steady rhythm of the highway pulled her back in time.
She lifted her hand subconsciously and breathed deeply waiting for that earthly smell usually left behind after pulling the petals from a daisy to see if who you loved, loved you back. The memory felt so real it didn't matter that it wasn't in that moment, the smell was there and Nikki was too, the warm sun, the breeze and happy barks between squeals of delight.
Wendy heard herself laugh just as a large semi passed making the car push and pull sideways in its wake. Startled she adjusted her posture and sat upright wiping a tear away with an open palm across her cheek.
"Why does it have to be like this?"
It was still dark when Wendy killed the engine of her white Jeep Cherokee at the base of Grassi Lakes. Signature heat pings sang chorus with a few small chickadees. Tensions of a long drive began to soften as a kind of light meditation took over.
Wendy wasn’t sure how long she'd sat in the parking lot but she was confident it had been a while. A chill had entered her bones making her shiver when she moved and the horizon was just beginning to lighten.
"I guess it's time." She said matter-of-factly.
The door clicked open and she reluctantly stretched her leg out.
She put on a light jacket before slipping her arms through the loops of small backpack loaded up with some trail mix, a lighter and firestarter, her dad’s pocketknife and a wheel of Brie and some biscuits. The pack was always in the car, just for emergencies, or impromptu hikes. The trail was covered with Irish moss that carpeted the trail head and provided a welcome blanket underfoot. After a steady climb Wendy stepped into a clearing where a small aquamarine lake was nestled between the edge of a short rock face under a canopy of spruce and birch, affectionately known as Mermaid Lake.
Wendy sat at the edge and slipped a piece of paper from the folds of her little backpack, scribbled a note then began to fold it into an origami flower. She placed an offering of snacks in the center before placing everything on a lily pad.
She took a deep breath and raised her face to the sky and closed her eyes making a wish.
Release, exhale and she pushed off the flower toward the center of the lake. Slender finger tips push into the water and small ripples carried the note outwards.
There was a kind of vacuum in the air, a bridge between warm and cold, then and now, anarchy and peace. A blissful kind of serenity washed over her and she lay back on the warm earth. Sleep was impossible to deny and came easily.
It was late afternoon when Wendy opened her eyes. She scanned the water looking for the flower but couldn't see it anywhere. Not surprised, she assumed it had merely sunk and prepared to leave when she saw a soggy wet flower sitting on top of the backpack. Her flower, returned with nothing else. She trembled with delight and wonder. As she scanned the water again, a ripple began to spread out from the center.
No one can really say what happened or would happen but whatever that was felt good and anything good was welcome.
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