10

On the other side of the front doors Marith tossed her baggage on the marble floor and squatted down to pet Olive who welcomed her as soon as she stepped over the threshold. The dog seemed to be elated about something as she was panting and toddling in the same overly excited, tiny circles.

“Hi,” Nick greeted her as he entered the hallway. He came from the living area, which was peculiar, since he was usually glued to the Chesterfield in his study during the weekends.

“Hi, how are you?” Marith asked, hoping to sound as natural and unbothered as possible.

“I’m fine. How was your trip?”

“Pretty great actually. Thanks for letting us stay at your place. It’s beautiful and we had an amazing time.”

“Good… good to hear,” he nodded, with his hands in the pockets of his Dockers. “I, eh, may have another surprise for you.”

He scratched his neck and seemed ill at ease for a moment.

“What is it?” Marith asked softly. Feeling the need to stretch after the ride home she rose up again.

“It’s me!” A slender figure in an off-shoulder, jade green sweater jumped into the opening behind Nick.

“Lieke!”

Olive was now running a relay-race between the audience in the hallway. Marith crossed the hallway in an instant and hugged her little sister to inhale the scent of cheap, overly sweet, teenage perfume.

This would surely complicate matters in a way Marith was getting used to. With Nick it was easy. He was at work all day and barely had a clue what she filled her days with, but now that Lieke had flown in, she would have to become more careful.

“When did you arrive?” Marith let go of her sibling to take her in.

Lieke was a vision other women would be envious about until the end of time. She looked breath-taking and Marith hadn’t expected anything less. Her sister had always put a lot of work in her appearance, but even without the fashionable outfits, perfectly styled hair and immaculately applied make up it was clear she had won the genetic lottery that Marith had surely lost.

She was slightly shorter than her older sister, but had a perfect, well-rounded figure and thick, waving, mahogany and caramel coloured hair. Lieke had the same bright green eyes Marith was gifted with, but ones that didn’t require prescription glasses to serve their owner properly.

To top it all off she had full, plump lips that never lacked a modest application of gloss and a smile that was so glamorous she could enchant everyone in her vicinity if she used it right.

Lieke was the kind of girl that could instantly drop a man’s IQ by at least 15 points just by being there and now that she was coming of age she seemed to be well aware of that.

“Like half an hour before you did. I haven’t even unpacked my luggage.” She nodded at the living area that led to the kitchen, where she had apparently dumped her stuff for the time being.

“I will walk you girls upstairs. I had the maids prepare a room for you,” Nick told Lieke.

“You planned this?” Marith asked no one in particular.

“Yes, apparently European high schools have an autumn holiday, so Lieke e-mailed me if she could come over to surprise you and Gene.” Nick took the lead in the conversation.

Marith realized that it was October already and that time had been passing her by at an alarming speed since she had arrived in Sweet Lake. It had only been two and a half weeks. Her stay had felt both longer and shorter than that. Which was the kind of trickery that a disturbed mind could pull on the human brain and body.

All three of them headed into the seating area to help haul Lieke’s baggage upstairs. Which is when Marith’s stomach somersaulted up towards her chest, down towards her pelvis and, after that display of athleticism, back to its original location, more or less.

“That… is a lot of luggage.” Marith eyed the flock of suitcases and bags suspiciously.

She caught a worried look from Nick and understood why he had been uncomfortable before. This was not what he had planned when he had agreed to pick Lieke up from the airport.

Lieke stood amongst her belongings, holding her arms qualmish before her body. An expectant and self-conscious look appeared on her heart shaped face.

“Let’s just carry this to your room and then talk about it.” Marith shook her head, almost unnoticeable, and rolled her eyes at the deceitful young girl.

Nick took the biggest suitcase and a weekend bag and preceded the sisters to the prepared bedroom. They followed each other to the balustrade on the second floor, the heavy luggage banging against the steps of the staircase.

Upstairs they went left. Marith’s room was on the right, above the kitchen. Linde’s room would be above the recreational room with the family portraits.

The bedroom had a similar layout and style as the one Marith had been sleeping in. A four poster bed with fresh and thick bedding, some elegant mahogany furniture, ceiling high closets and an elegant Victorian bathroom, with classic tiling and a bath with brass legs.

They put the luggage down on the dark wooden parquet and Nick opened the heavy curtains to let some daylight in. Where Marith’s room had blue details, in the wallpaper, lampshades, pillowcases and duvet covers, Lieke’s room had green ones. Even the curtains were a shade of deep forest green. It should have been soothing, but it didn’t have that effect on Marith just yet.

“Spill,” Marith brought out, her lungs still wheezing, after Nick had left.

“I am not sticking around in bloody Antarctica while mom is spawning her next victim,” Lieke hissed.

Marith had to resist bursting out in laughter at her sisters Dutch directness. The things everybody thought, but didn’t say, crossed her sisters lips without trepidation. Nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of such refreshing honesty, but invigorating it sure was. Marith had missed that, but she wasn’t going to admit it.

“How long are you staying then? It’s your senior year and you’ve brought more luggage than I did and I planned on staying here for a while.”

“So did I!” Lieke defended her bearings.

“What?”

“I want to graduate here.”

“What do mom and Kjell think about that?”

To Marith’s surprise Lieke’s pretty face distorted into an evil frown. “Like those two give a flying crap about me,” she spat out harshly.

Their eyes locked in an icy and hollow staring contest, that resulted in Marith being reminded of the many clashes she had had with their mother over the years. She didn’t want it to be like that with her sister.

“I am not going back,” Lieke finally put out there and that seemed to be the deciding statement.

Once again Marith was unpleasantly ambushed by the way her life seemed to be unravelling these days, but she accepted it. Lieke was almost eighteen and should enjoy the freedom to make her own life decisions.

“Just in time for the meteor party,” Lieke beamed.

“That’s next weekend,” Marith started defiant. “You will start school this week.”

“No!” Lieke retorted with a raised voice.

“Yes!” Marith retaliated with a movement of her head that made her ponytail dance around her face. “I will drop you off myself, tomorrow morning. You’re going.”

Marith threw one of the suitcases on the bed to help Lieke get unpacked.

“But then I won’t have an autumn vacation,” she moped, pitying herself like teenagers often did.

“You’ll be free around Thanksgiving. If you won’t get registered at a high school fast you’ll be missing too much. If you want to graduate here you can’t afford to get behind,” the oldest sister answered, walking over to the closets with a stack of clothes.

Lieke was mocking her behind her back, which Marith was aware of and couldn’t care less about.

They spend their time getting Lieke settled, by spreading her possessions over the closets and the bathroom, until lunchtime.

“We should get back to Nick,” Marith said. “If he just heard us he probably thinks the Third World War just broke out,” she continued, referring to their fight in rapid fire Dutch.

“We’re Dutch, not German.”

“Americans can’t hear the difference.”

Lieke giggled. “Have you seen Nick?”

“I have eyes,” Marith murmured, refolding the clothes that her sister had apparently just thrown randomly in the suitcases before leaving. The state of the contents of the bags and trunks said something about the circumstances she had left in.

“He looks like he could be an actor, doesn’t he?”

“He could also be your father.” Marith didn’t understand the attraction teenage girls had to older men. She sure hadn’t experienced that when she was that age. Lieke and Amber would probably hit it off, Marith figured.

“If he had me at eight years old.”

“Ten,” Marith retorted, walking over to one of the opened closets with another pile of clothing.

Not much later they descended from the grand, arched staircase into the light hallway. Following mouth-watering odours they ended up in the kitchen.

“Smells great,” Marith complimented.

“I am sooo hungry,” Lieke shared overweening. “Airplane food it literally THE worst.”

“Poor baby.” Marith sighed sarcastically.

“Panini’s with buffalo mozzarella, pesto and tomato’s,” Nick presented their lunch with flair as he pulled the tray with crispy bread and melted cheese from the oven.

They all got a plate and a panini and sat at the dinner table. The black and white tiles in the kitchen floor and the glass fronts send off a chilly cold. Marith folded her feet between her bottom and the chair to keep them warm.

“How’s Daddy Cool?” Lieke asked blowing at her lunch, folded in a napkin, after having tested the temperature with her tongue.

“Not so cool, I’m afraid, sis.”

Marith brought her up to speed and Nick chimed in occasionally, with all the sensitivity and tact he could muster, which was quite a lot, when necessary. Obviously she let out everything Web and Chain related. She did mention dr. Sybling, in a strictly medical way. Lieke mostly nodded and carefully munched away at her food.

“And how are you?” She finally asked.

When Lieke was with Marith, and even when Lieke was not with Marith, it was always absolutely clear to the oldest of the two that the youngest had no difficulty finding at least a hundred more interesting things to do than spend time with her big sister. It was not unsurprising for Marith to find out that Lieke was genuinely invested.

The first thing Marith did on Monday morning was call the Spectre Lake high school to inquire if they would still accept enrolments for this schoolyear. The administrative assistant Marith was speaking to was on speaker phone on their end of the line and didn’t sound particularly motivated or interested.

“And when will the student start?” The bored voice inquired flatly.

Marith looked at her little sister on the opposite end of the dining table in the kitchen. She seemed to be praying to a higher power that she clearly didn’t have much faith in.

“Right away I assume?” The lady urged.

“Well, eh, she… isn’t in the country yet. She will arrive next weekend.” Marith caved and made the ‘cool’ decision.

Lieke jumped up to hug her, but Marith put a finger over her lips and shot her a warning look. She couldn’t make a sound or the story would fall apart. Instead Lieke formed a heart with her index fingers and thumbs and put it in front of her chest to show gratitude.

Marith went on to pass along all relevant information, such as her sisters full name, date of birth, social security number and the name of the school the was transferring from.

“I cannot believe I just did that.” She rubbed her eyes, after she hung up the phone.

“Me neither!” Lieke yelled, dancing through the kitchen.

After her stroke of generosity she deemed it necessary to give Lieke a stern, ‘adulty’ talking to, about making herself useful this week, by visiting their father, not hindering or annoying Nick and preparing for when she would actually attend high school. Lieke listened and complied with a fake smile on her face and a thorny look in her eyes.

“Can we go check out the lake house?” She asked after breakfast, crouched in the hallway, putting on her shoes.

“No, unfortunately not, unless you want to be arrested for breaking and entering. Nick has the keys to the house for viewings.”

They hiked towards the town to buy flowers and take the trail to the clinic. The weather was acceptable, given the season. For a lack of sun the temperature required them to wear scarfs, gloves and thick coats, but the lack of mist allowed them to gaze far and wide. The lake formed a perfect mirror that reflected the light grey, cloud filled sky and the cliff.

“Did you know that mom just sits around all day while Kjell is out working? She even has a cleaning lady, a window washer and a bloody chimney sweeper. Despite that there is never ever food in the house. On top of schoolwork I have to buy and make my own food and often dinner as well if I want to eat.”

“I believe that,” Marith answered, remembering the times they had all lived under one roof. “What does Kjell think about that?”

“By the time he gets home he has either eaten out with colleague’s or he thinks mom made the food. And mom has the audacity to call me lazy… ME, Marith!”

“Yeah, I heard you,” Marith answered flatly.

What Lieke told her wasn’t any different from what she had faced growing up. She was puzzled with her own inability to have figured out sooner Lieke hadn’t been old enough to experience it the way she already had.

“They demand I excel in school, but when I am trying to they aren’t supportive or enabling me. I am so stressed. You won’t believe it,” Lieke rambled on, while rubbing her face for no other reason than to release tension.

Marith did believe it. She vividly remembered what her little sister was complaining about. Their parents, the both of them, demanded the absolute best from their children, without giving the right example or creating the circumstances needed to be a scholar or caring about their mental wellbeing.

If she ever shared anything she had learned in school she would be ridiculed and the information was either misunderstood by her, the dumb daughter, or she had been lied to by her teachers, as part of some insane conspiracy theory. After a while she had just stopped sharing stuff. Their mother would always find a way to ruin a perfectly good story, so she just kept them to herself.

“She pretends to be weak and sick just because she has a baby in her. She goes to the doctor twice a week to complain about made up bullshit issues. Later she will demand attention for that when she gets home or moans to people about how tough her first world life is. Just ridiculous!”

“Well,” Marith tried to temper Lieke’s ferocious gossiping, “maybe the pregnancy is hard on her. She is growing a new person inside of her.”

“It’s the third. How hard can it be? When she’s due she just sneezes and that baby flies out.”

For the first time in a long time Marith let out a hard and genuine laugh. Her sister possessed the kind of unparalleled savagery that most people would only come across once or twice in their lifetime. It felt good to laugh for real for a change.

“How come all the other women in Scandinavia seem to be able to get pregnant, raise families and hold fulltime jobs to build successful careers? And mom does absolutely NOTHING in a day and claims she is almost dying.”

“You’ve got a point,” Marith had to admit.

“It’s sheer laziness, is what it is, Marith. I can’t believe Kjell puts up with it! How much further is this mad house? My feet hurt.”

“It’s a clinic, attached to the local hospital,” Marith said warningly. “It’s on the other side of the cliff. We are almost there.”

Marith wanted to explain to her little sister the things she had learned in university about narcissism, controlling behaviour, helicopter parenting and how it affects children for the rest of their lives, but she was afraid to get into something with Lieke she was too young to fully comprehend.

“Oh, and did I tell you about the money she spends? Apparently they don’t have money for basics, like food or hobbies for me, but handbags and facial creams get delivered to her doorstep every bloody day. She doesn’t even work for it, so it’s not even her money. I bet she got pregnant so Kjell can’t get rid of her anymore… and even if he does, she’s entitled to child support, so she’ll get his money anyway.”

God knows that’s what she’s done to dad, Marith thought to herself, afraid to throw oil on the fire that was her fuming little sister.

“I am sorry to hear it,” is what she went with instead. “Maybe you can pick up sports or try out some hobbies here? The US emphasizes on team sports more than European countries do. You might want to look into that.”

Marith had always been jealous of her peers that had been allowed to be themselves growing up and pick up hobbies and sports that would fuel their passions without interference from their parents. Kids that were allowed their own feelings and interests, without being shamed or ridiculed for it, were an intriguing occurrence to the Merryfield sisters.

For Marith this whole conversation was a trip down the train wreck that was her own past. She guessed she was lucky her grandfather had introduced her to the cello. If it had been up to her mother she had been never allowed to master an instrument.

Lieke clearly wasn’t allowed to have feelings or needs of her own. Only their mother mattered. Only their mother was allowed in the centre of everybody’s lives. Lieke was just a prop revolving around her and so was her new man. Their mother probably despised her oldest daughter for not subjugating. An evil smile involuntarily played around Marith’s mouth.

She wondered if Kjell realized who he had made pregnant, but then she remembered it had taken Gene almost fifteen year to realize what was happening, what his life had come to. It could take Kjell just as long.

Gene had treated their mother like an absolute queen until he had realized it would never be enough. Kjell was probably still in the phase in which he thought he had the privilege of spending his life with a goddess. What a rude awakening it was going to be for him in a few years from now.

It did hurt Marith a little bit that she was out of the loop. That her mother ignored her, because she had recognized, and rebelled against, the abuse during her own upbringing. But it didn’t bother her enough to contact her mother now.

She was slightly amused that Lieke, now being about the same age as Marith when she found out her mother had a personality disorder, was developing the same issues. It was confirmation that the children were in fact not the problem.

“Do we tell dad? About the pregnancy?”

Marith woke up from her contemplations and hesitated. That was an astute question in the middle of all sorts of palaver that took her by surprise. She hadn’t even considered the implications yet.

“How many months is she along?”

“About six months.”

“Eh, why don’t we wait for now? Until he feels better and won’t relapse after the news.”

Lieke nodded and continued moaning about the length of the walk, their mother and other sorrows and disappointments that young adulthood was introducing her to.

Twenty minutes later they walked into the clean, mint green psychiatric ward with a colourful bouquet, but it was Gene’s smile that brightened the place. He was sitting on a chair at a small table on the opposite side of the bed, reading one of the books Marith had brought him the week before. His arm was still wrapped, but the bondages were not as thick as they used to be.

Lieke spurted across the linoleum floor and hugged her father. He hugged her back, but didn’t get up from the chair. Marith noticed he had lost more weight and his movements seemed weak, even though the look on his face was quite content.

“I am so happy to have us all back together.” He held both his daughters hands.

Gene’s tears made Marith’s eyes water as well. Her father had become a fragile and emotional person. She looked at someone she hadn’t known growing up.

“Dad, can we afford this place? You staying here?” Lieke looked around, at the room Gene had all to himself, the fresh colours of the interior and the magnificent view over Sweet Lake.

Marith gave Lieke a surprised look. Had her sister actually listened to her when she had attempted to discuss the financial problems of their father over the phone?

“Nick is taking care of it.”

Lieke nodded. “That’s nice of him.”

“I feel like Nick has been taking care of half the town,” Marith muttered under her breath.

“I was thinking, dad… now that I am here again, you don’t have to pay child support to mom anymore.”

Gene smiled faintly at her. “I don’t want you to be concerned with that, sweetheart.”

Lieke nodded at the floor, clearly abashed about her father’s situation and the money issues.

“Lieke, the alimony payments and child support that I transfer to your mother are not the reason for this.” He gestured at the clinic and himself. “I want you to know that. No, I need you to know that.”

She nodded again, tongue tied, and since she was still awkwardly holding the flowers she darted out of the room to ask for a vase.

Gene eyed his oldest daughter suspiciously as soon as his youngest was gone.

“Look! We can see Nick’s house from here.” Marith pointed outside. Opposite the clinic, on the other side of the lake, on higher terrain, stood the massive white mansion, quite smug, glistening in the rays of sun that escaped the clouds.

“Yes, on the brighter days I can see it,” her father confirmed absentmindedly.

“It looks like a scale model from here.” She snickered. “Can you see us? Walking around the house?”

“No, not really. You’re usually behind the trees. Sometimes I can see a car or a truck come and go, but that’s it.”

They were quiet for a while and Marith felt the need to address something. “Dad, I may have mentioned all this and the payments to mom and your apartment in the Bellevue building to Lieke over the phone a little while back. I am so sorry.”

“I figured.” He shook his head. “It’s okay. I don’t want her to stay in the dark. That’s not fair either.”

“It’s not the reason she wants to graduate here, by the way.” Marith realized she was on a slippery slope and continued carefully. “She just didn’t feel grounded in Norway, I guess. She’s moved a lot over the years, of course.”

“You both have…” Gene sighed, thinking about all that had happened over time. No doubt the divorce was on his mind.

“How do you feel?” He asked earnestly.

“Oh, eh, pretty good. How do you feel?”

“Fine, I guess.” He kept taking her in.

“Hey, I flew fourteen and a half hours to be here, first from Oslo to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam to Portland. Why doesn’t anybody ask how I feel?” Lieke asked, like the over-dramatic person that she was, walking to the windowsill, holding a basic, white vase containing the flowers.

“One second, sweetheart.” He made a discarding had gesture in Lieke’s direction, who theatrically opened her mouth in disbelief.

“You feel ‘pretty good’, you said?”

“Yeah, the trip to the shore was nice. I am happy I went.” She took an awaiting stance and became very aware of the dead weight of the clockwork in the left pocket of her coat.

“Good. You look good too.” Gene swallowed with some difficulty and looked her in the eyes.

“Thanks.” Marith frowned. “I am honestly the same person I was last Thursday.”

“Okay,” he nodded, mostly to himself. “That’s good to know.”

What was he hinting at? What did he know? What did he think he knew? Questions weighed heavily on her tongue, but words didn’t leave her mouth.

“And how are you, Lieke?” He finally paid some attention to the deprived teenager.

“Marith almost made me go to school today,” Lieke took off.

“Unbelievable!” Gene answered playfully.

The rest of the week Lieke attempted to violently enjoy her free time, but that turned out to be harder than anticipated, since she was living in Sweet Lake now and wasn’t in the possession of a driver’s license or friends, for that matter. Most of her time she spend looking at stuff she couldn’t afford online, going through the astronomical amount of television networks the US had to offer, only to stare at reality TV in a permanent state of amazement, and occasionally visiting their father.

Marith couldn’t take the dormant condition of her little sister anymore and had arranged for Lieke to meet Amber, before her shift at the Sweet Tooth would start, so Lieke would know someone on her first day of school the next week.

It was Thursday afternoon and they were slouching about the town’s square for a little bit, until Amber would be out of school. Lieke was on the high heels Marith had repeatedly advised her not to wear and Marith was wearing her old, ragged hiking shoes.

“Gross.” Lieke moaned.

“What?”

“These people… just littering the streets.”

“I hadn't realized you have become such a snotty little brat.” Marith sighed, crossing her arms, realizing she may had to teach Lieke what their mother had never taught her.

Marith noticed none of the homeless were walking in pairs or were even communicating with each other, they simply couldn’t coordinate such simple tasks anymore. Drifting and wandering about the streets in their own eerie universes, no doubt. The people of Sweet Lake were slipping away into emptiness and it seemed to Marith they were not likely to re-emerge from it by themselves.

“Their lack of a roof can easily become ours, Lieke. It is not like you and I are immune to poverty or homelessness. Neither of us have a fulltime job or a steady income. If it wasn’t for Nick you and I wouldn’t be able to stay in Sweet Lake at all.”

“What about dad’s new apartment?”

“That’s a one bedroom!”

“I find it challenging you always have to be right.”

“I find it shocking you are so short sighted you seriously think living on the streets is a bloody choice! If there had been another way out for these people they wouldn’t be here.” Marith hissed the last part, lowering her voice on the odd chance any of them would pay attention and overhear their discussion.

Lieke rolled her eyes heavenward. Marith hoped they would stay stuck there and couldn't help, but feel that her sister probably needed some adversity in her life.

“Can you even imagine closing the door behind you, knowing the next night you will sleep on the streets, because you can't afford to live in your home anymore?”

“No, and neither can you,” Lieke retorted defiant, under the impression she had made a good point.

“I don’t know what it would feel like, but I can imagine certain events leading up to such a hopeless situation.”

Just like Marith and Lieke these young people were trapped in a system in which they would have to spend at least half their salary on rent or would have to beg a bank or relatives for a loan, only to spend a lifetime income on a heap of bricks and some plumbing, hoping it would artificially gain value over time. That’s what happened to the houses of the generations before them and what got the generation that currently wanted to start their lives the direct object of the Western housing crisis.

These were no doubt the young adults - forced into student loans, with the best intentions for their futures - that had been told that if they couldn’t afford living in the city they should ‘just move’, ‘work harder’ and ‘lose the sense of entitlement’. They had listened to those hollow and outdated recommendations and now they lived on the streets of all sorts of towns, since there were not enough jobs, or even available property to live in, where they were told to go.

“I still think everybody has options and there are other ways.”

Marith had to resist a face palm. “What do you know about other ways? You’re 17 and in high school!”

It wasn't until Marith heard Lieke spew such ignorance that she realized there was indeed such a thing as privilege. When Lieke had left with their mother for Norway she had probably been deeply spoiled to make sure she would love her mother and step-father forever. Until their mother had become pregnant of course. That experience must have been like a cold shower after a bicycle ride on a sunny day for her.

“I didn’t know you worked during weekdays as well,” Marith inquired, as they sat down in the restaurant that was so sweet it looked like the insides of a doll house.

“Yes, well, you know, I am saving up for next year. Do you know where you want to go, Lieke?” Amber asked her new classmate.

Lieke looked as if she got struck by lightning. “What?”

“What college or university you want to attend?”

“Oh, I haven’t really given it any thought yet, to be fair.”

“What are you interested in?” Marith asked her estranged sister.

“Airplanes?”

“Did you just mention a random word from the top of your head?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, you could become a pilot or a stewardess, or maybe even an engineer,” Amber attempted to help.

“Do you know what you are going to be doing next year?” Marith asked Amber, ignoring Lieke’s mood.

The conversation swiftly took off. Especially, because Amber had apparently been dying to share that she wanted to get into architecture and that she had already selected the best colleges and universities to embark on that dream. Her blond bangs and ponytail were dancing around her bright face as she spoke. Lieke and Marith were listening in awe. Amber had it all figured out.

Meanwhile they sipped tea from vintage cups, decorated with pink and purple flowers and golden rims. In the middle of a table stood a étagère filled with European bonbons, petit fours and cookies.

“Am I going to be poor if I drop this?” Lieke held the English porcelain with caution.

“These are replicas of expensive tea sets. You’ll be fine.” Amber smiled.

Marith inquired about the sporting facilities and options for other extra-curricular activities at the Spectre Lake high school on Lieke’s behalf. Amber explained it all and soon she was sharing what subject-matter they were working on in each class. It comforted Lieke to learn she would probably be ahead of her fellow students when she would attend.

“The school bus doesn’t pass Nick’s house, but I could pick you up, so you won’t have to walk to the bus stop. We probably end up in the same classes anyways, so we will have more or less the same schedule.”

Marith and Amber exchanged a quick glance, filled with the image of a large, leathery specimen of a colossal bat. Although it was debatable whether or not the Kid and the Birdman would have any interest in her Marith felt like she couldn’t take the risk.

“Thanks! That would actually be really helpful,” Lieke responded.

Marith was relieved that Lieke seemed to have thawed somewhat during their conversation with Amber.

“I should bring her the first day in case there is trouble getting administered.”

Amber nodded.

“Are there any fun things to do around here, before I enter prison again?” Lieke inquired, with a dramatic sigh.

“Well, the meteor party is tomorrow night!” Amber drummed the table in anticipation. “You guys should come!” She urged with big eyes.

“We were planning to.” Lieke nodded.

“What’s the weather forecast?”

“Well, you know, it’s Sweet Lake.” Amber shrugged. “So not great. I can tell you that much, but we won’t know how bad it is until we are there.”

“Where?” Lieke frowned.

“Here, on the shore of Sweet Lake, of course,” Amber answered flustered.

“Amber, could I hang this, before we head home?” Marith showed her an advertisement she had made on Nick’s computer and printed to hang in the establishment.

“You think anyone would take cello lessons?” Lieke snorted, still mad about the reprimand about the homelessness in town.

“No, but I feel the need to at least try. I want to feel useful… and don’t say it like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like learning how to play an instrument is a punishment.”

Amber now just stood smiling, next to the table, not wanting to leave, but also not wanting to get in the middle of what was happening.

“It isn’t.”

“Good.”

“Having you teach them is the punishment.”

Marith glowered at Lieke simultaneously holding back laughter. She had missed the occasional roast her little sister would throw her way. Lieke apologized by making an excusing arm gesture, lifting her hands up in the air.

“Sure, just take a pushpin and put it on the board,” Amber instructed, before saying goodbye and putting on her apron to get to work.

On the other side of the lake Vanessa was about to have dinner with Gene. She had bought a tray of Indian food in the cafeteria and now they were waiting for Gene’s tray to be brought to his room. She had placed her dinner on the table across the bed and turned around to take a look at her troubled boyfriend. Once the towns well respected attorney, now one of the many that had fallen in the constant struggle with Sweet Lake’s spreading shadows.

Her mind was a whirlwind of things that had taken place already and stuff that had yet to be done, especially before the meteor party. Vanessa was not looking forward to having to enter the Corridors again and face Keymaker, the man that had been hectoring her and preventing her from fulfilling her duties.

She was bewildered by his behaviour, but she wasn’t allowed an opinion on it, since she didn’t have offspring of her own yet. Remarks like that made her feel lonely and disconnected.

Like she didn’t want to come home to a warm house with a happy and vibrant family after work. Lately it seemed as if a normal, steady life wasn’t in the cards for her. Each night she came home to an empty apartment in that shabby building feelings of becoming unhinged were creeping up on her. Right now she didn’t want to think about how her life was slipping away from her, she just wanted to feel loved.

With a sigh she crawled in the bed, next to her lover. He didn’t ask what was on her mind. He already knew to some degree and didn’t want to force her to talk about the things that stressed her out when she was visiting him.

“You can start eating if you want.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to. I want to be with you.”

She stroked his grey temples. She knew he was insecure about that, but she was wildly captivated by his maturity. Then she unbuttoned the upper part of his shirt and played with his chest hair. Most young men would shave it off, but to her it was the most manly part of a man.

The Mist would have to wait. After all, it would still be there after spending the evening with Gene. One bottle that was. Keymaker was hoarding - no, hiding – the others in a desperate attempt to control her actions.