Genevieve; the Sixth of October by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

GENEVIEVE; THE SIXTH

OF OCTOBER

By

Edward Drobinski

Copyright © 2018 by Edward Drobinski All rights reserved

Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 1

Something had woken Genevieve. She didn’t know what it might have been, but she couldn’t get back to sleep. She tossed and turned, each time producing a little “gropbopop” from Dillon, right next to her.

Genevieve; property of the author.

Rather than continue to disturb his slumber, she got up in the darkness. This was no small gesture, as the arrival of autumn had made the desire to remain under the covers much more attractive than it had been just a month prior.

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Dillon; property of the author.

Dillon was actually awake, but pretended to further drowse as he didn’t want Genevieve to feel badly about having woken him. He also preferred staying under the covers until the sun started to warm things up a bit.

Genevieve shivered her way into the kitchen on a cantankerous little back leg which apparently liked low temperatures as little as she did.

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Genevieve; property of the author.

The little thing was just a nag which settled down after having gotten some attention, as usual. Genevieve did not remind the nag that it had the psychology of a criminal. It was just a victim of circumstance commonly seeking to mildly extend the reach of the discomfort; as without Genevieve’s unknowing step into the rabbit hole things would be entirely different. That may be an insider’s view point.

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Insider’s view from the rabbit hole; the kind courtesy of Pexels,com under their CC0 license.

The nag necessarily and efficiently appeased, Genevieve got the coffee machine going. This simple task became more difficult in the darkness. But just moving a bit slowly and making use of the sense of touch this was done in a few more seconds than it would have in the light. For some silly and difficult-to-explain reason, Genevieve did not want to turn on the electric lights and become highlighted to any unlikely stranger who might be passing by her kitchen window.

However, when she turned on the coffee apparatus, it exuded an unnatural soft light, which appeared much more significant than it was in the relative contrary contrast generated by the otherwise pitch black. When Genevieve put her head above the machine, the window reflected her face exceedingly dimly lit

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from below, much like she remembered Zacherle looking like, when he wanted to be spooky.

Coffee pot illuminated by surrounding apparatus; property of the author.

Dillon entered the room saying the usual “Good morning.”

But Genevieve jumped a foot as having Zacherle and spooks on the forefront of her mind, she said; “Good morning and thanks for the heart attack.”

On a stage in 1980’s Bris Angeles, Australia the seemingly unconnected Church did a moody take on their moody song;

“Destination.” They were told that it was required for the gig.

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Night sky and “Destination” written by Koppes, Kilbey, Wilson-Piper, and Ploog; property of the author, the latter under both the “fair use” and “transformative” doctrines.

Dillon said; “What?”

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Genevieve sighed, smiled and said; “Nothing. You startled me; that’s all. Look, I got the coffee going.”

Dillon nuzzled her and said; “Great.” He quickly backed away from her and pointing to the window, he said; “Spooks.”

This being her second time through the allegedly haunted window reflection, Genevieve stood her ground effortlessly and replied; “Now that you’re here.”

Dillon nodded and reached for his mug, just as the sun destroyed any spooky impressions, with the beginning of its ascent over the Denial Mountains to the east.

Traffic came out of retirement to extend a largely undetected and perhaps generational nuance to their May 1967

debut rendition of “Paper Sun.”

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Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 10

Sun rising through the trees and “Paper Sun written by Jim Capaldi and Steve Winwood; property of the author, the latter under both the “fair use” and “transformative” doctrines.

Genevieve and Dillon were blessed with the shimmering of a nascent, but real sun, which they saw through a window clear of both imagined and unimagined spooks, the latter possibly an incongruity resulting from shifting light.

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Rising sun in the window; the kind courtesy of Pexels,com under their CC0 license.

Dillon said; “Looks a bit like a computer or TV screen.

Doesn’t it?”

Genevieve replied; “Sometimes your humor attempts are not the least bit funny. That is just stupid. Did you ever see a screen with curtains?”

Dillon said; “Not of the physical sort. Come on. You know that if you try sometimes it doesn’t work. But that’s no excuse to quit.”

Nuzzle, nuzzle, as cups were overflowing during their transport to the kitchen table.

Stevie Winwood was re-incarnated as a member of the short lived Blind Faith of 1969, and was temporarily quite joyful.

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Sunrise at the sea and “Sea of Joy” written by Steve Winwood; property of the author, the latter under both the “fair use” and “transformative” doctrines.

Dillon’s expressionless, poker face belied his natural sensation of joy, conceivably as the result of an expectation for precisely such or more likely it was just one of those post-lexical letdowns discussed in the likes of “The Paris Review,”

and said to have been experienced by poll respondents seeking to enhance their incomes while at university. Genevieve thought that her old passive dog’s posture was as cute as a font still archaically characterized as being unsuitable for printing, closest match to be substituted.

Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 14

Dillon; property of the author.

Giggling the slightest, Genevieve said; “Up to another?”

Dillon replied; “Not just yet, hon. ‘Against the Day’ is quite a lengthy, meandering trip, and that ending just blows one away.”

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Fabricated cover of “Against the Day” by Thomas Pynchon; property of the author.

Genevieve said; “Don’t get me wrong. That heavy duty stuff is quite fine with me. But, it doesn’t always have to be that way. In fact, if it was, it would become monotonous and boring, like those hominid repeats all over the media. Let me suggest the next one. Okay?”

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Genevieve; property of the author.

Dillon agreeably and complacently shrugged and said;

“Sure.”

Genevieve said; “I saw this one a few years back. “Are You My Mother?” was both simple and entertaining and profound. I guess that’s three things.” She leisurely and deliberately pawed her mouth, in a seemingly overt attempt to hide another giggle which she actually wanted to highlight.

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Stylized cover of “Are You My Mother?” by PD Eastman; property of the author.

Genevieve looked Dillon straight in the eye and continued in the seriousness indicated by an immobile snout. “A baby bird goes in search of his mother. It’s a comedy of errors in that when a mother bird’s egg starts to jump, she hurries off to make sure she has something for her little one to eat. But as soon as she’s gone, out pops the baby bird. He immediately sets off to find his mother, but not knowing what she looks like makes it a challenge. The little hatchling is determined to find his mother, even after meeting a kitten, a hen, a dog, and a Snort.”

Dillon said; “What’s a Snort?”

Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 18

Genevieve said; “You’ll find out when you read the book.”

Dillon said; “Now I’m hopelessly compelled. Do you think that Amazon has it?”

Genevieve said; “Amazon has or will soon have everything for which there is any market; even two Dalkey books. Sign on.”

Dillon said a faux emphatic; “No. Under no circumstances.”

Genevieve said; “You always choose to be difficult.”

Dillon said; “No. I will not relinquish my right to be a cyber rebel. If the local book store carries it, I’ll be happy to make a purchase.”

Genevieve said; “The last local book store remaining specializes in best sellers, “New” age, how-to’s, and coffee table picture books of hominid celebrities.”

Dillon said; “We have reached an impasse; indeed an invisible crossroads.”

Genevieve said; “I’ll buy it from Amazon myself, simultaneously and lazily donating fifty cents to the forces of hominid evil. And if you don’t bury your snout in it, you will be punched more often than an IBM360 card.”

Dillon said; “You’re scaring me. You look serious.”

Genevieve said; “Just try me, buster.”

Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 19

Genevieve; property of the author.

A distraction distracted. Dark clouds scooted in and the rain came down as if it was propelled from a heavenly cannon.

The duo looked skyward. Dillon was stoic, while Genevieve sighed and shrugged, almost spilling her coffee cup.

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Autumn cloudburst; property of the author.

Dillon said; “Don’t despond over a little water.”

Genevieve said; “Little? This is Poochville and that’s enough to make a Seattle hominid come indoors.”

Traffic displayed a surreal form of unruffled disregard.

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Shanghai and “Shanghai Noodle Factory” written by Winwood, Wood, and Capaldi; property of the author, the latter under both the “fair use” and “transformative” doctrines.

The hard and sudden rain must have been much cooler than the earth, as when it made contact with the warm ground, it produced a misty steam confined to surface level and just a bit more than a pooch’s height above.

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“Ooooh;” said Genevieve; “Visibility has plummeted.”

In the Paris of 2008, Bryan Ferry was still on hiatus from Roxy Music, and sang “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”

Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 23

Smoke and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” written by George and Ira Gershwin; property of the author, the latter under both the “fair use” and “transformative” doctrines.

Dillon said; “We’ll be fine. We’ll take my big umbrella for our walk.”

Genevieve recalled the big magical umbrella which shielded the puppies and kittens in the book; “The Umbrella.” By Joe Newton, it was a favorite of hers as a pup. She wondered how it had been allowed to disappear. Like so many other things, it had vanished with passing time. “Sure, let’s go,” she said.

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Puppies and kittens playing in the rain with a feral umbrella; property of the author.

Dillon held the umbrella over both of them, and off they went.

Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 25

Dillon; property of the author.

Genevieve said; “The sound of the rain pelting against the umbrella nicely breaks the sky’s silence.”

Dillon replied; “Yes. Reminds me of ambient music turned up to full volume.”

Genevieve said; “If it gets any harder, it will start to sound like a continuous drumbeat from a zillion drummers.”

Dillon said; “That’s okay with me if the number stays under a million.”

Genevieve said; “Numerical considerations have their way of popping up. Don’t they?”

Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 26

The duo trod on down Pacific Lane; their paws soaking wet, while the rest of them got only an occasional, mild spray.”

Genevieve and Dillon; property of the author.

As they approached Maureen’s house, Genevieve said; “We haven’t seen her for the longest time. She gets so reclusive with that computer and her fractals.”

Dillon replied; “There’s no one to look out for her. Let’s make sure she’s all right.”

Genevieve said; “Maybe she’d like to walk with us. This umbrella is large enough for three elephants.”

Genevieve; The Sixth of October Page 27

Maureen; the kind courtesy of Pexels,com under their CC0 license.

Maureen answered the door after a few knocks, and seemed surprised to see them. She also did her best to not convey that she had delayed answering her door, in the hopes that any uninvited intruders would go away. She overdid it, thereby confounding her own intent.

After the cordialities, undaunted Genevieve said; “Come on for a walk with us.”

Maureen said; “It’s raining!”

Dillon said; “Yes, and it hasn’t melted us yet, and most likely neither will it you.”

Genevieve said; “Dillon’s umbrella is large enough to cover all of us, and then some. Come on.” She refrained from saying

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anything about Maureen’s “need” to get out, and hoped that Dillon would too.

Maureen said; “Maybe. Why don’t you come on in and I’ll show you some of my new fractals first.”

Maureen’s fractal #1; property of the author.

When fractal #1 hit the screen, Dillon said; “Looks like the fan if a bird flew into it.”

Genevieve said; “He sometimes thinks that he’s being funny when he’s just being gross.”

Maureen smiled and said; “I was thinking of a circle which has begun to fragment with a magnifying glass trained on the

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center. Like the hominid world of today. But, it could be that shredded bird too. Let’s try #2.”

Maureen; the kind courtesy of Pexels,com under their CC0 license.

Maureen’s expressive face could not help, but look perplexed. She was sharing her thoughts, and would not have appreciated them being made sport of. She had known Genevieve to be a kind hearted pooch for years, but didn’t know about this Dillon guy. Ultimately, she trusted Genevieve’s judgement and went on.

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Maureen’s fractal #2; property of the author.

Genevieve said; “Oooh. Looks like the ripening pineapples at the communal pantry as seen at night. ....... Well, I suppose most of us haven’t seen that.”

Maureen said; “Can’t you see the face? It’s a bewildered Poseidon rising with a Cowardly Lion countenance.”

Dillon said; “I can see the Bert Lahr similarity.”

Maureen said; “Good. Sometimes I think it’s just me. No Poseidon though?”

Dillon shook his head; “no.”

Maureen said; “The blue. ........ A sense of rising from the waves. ........ Guess not.”

Genevieve said; “Isn’t Poseidon supposed to have a trident, pitchfork, or something?”

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Maureen said; “Not always. And besides, this is only his head. You usually carry those things in your hand.”

Genevieve said; “Well, I only have paws, so if I carried a trident it would be in my mouth.”

Maureen said; “Time for #3. Vivid color.”

Maureen’s fractal #3; property of the author.

”Far out,” intoned both Genevieve and Dillon simultaneously, producing an echo effect which matched the fractal’s point of view, positioning, and hue.

Maureen said; “Now, you’re getting it. This is my favorite of the three, too; one might easily have surmised. Similar eyes approaching drawn lines which are disintegrating.”

Dillon said; “I was thinking fish.”

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Genevieve said; “That’s probably because we were looking at that Brautigan book.”

Dillon replied; “It was ‘Willard and his Bowling Trophies,’

not ‘Trout Fishing in America.’”

Stylized cover of “Willard and His Bowling Trophies” by Richard Brautigan; property of the author.

Genevieve said; “No matter. It’s connected.”

Maureen said; “Almost all; but not yet completely.”

Dillon said; “I’m sure we’ve lost the point here.”

Genevieve looked to Maureen and said; “He’s such an optimist.”

Maureen said; “But is his umbrella really that big?”

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Dillon said; “Not when it’s in here all folded up.”

Maureen led them to the front door and said; “Then it is outside that we shall go.”

When they got outside the Hollies sang “Bus Stop” somewhere overseas.

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Bus stop and “Bus Stop” written by Graham Gouldman; property of the author, the latter under both the “fair use” and “transformative” doctrines.

Instinctively, the three of them did a little playful dance as no more wet than was absolutely unavoidable, they frolicked down Pacific Lane.

Maureen said; “Bet all the neighbors are watching.”

Genevieve said; “Me too.”

Dillon said; “So what? Maybe they’d like to join us.

There’s more room.”

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Maureen said; “Ooooh. Just imagine all of Pacific Lane under the umbrella.”

Genevieve, Dillon, and Maureen share an umbrella; property of the author.

The trio walked under the ambient drumbeat until their paws were tired. They circled back to Maureen’s house, where they silently departed. Maureen went back in and raced to her computer, oblivious to everything else other than the nice, calming feeling she had after having seen Genevieve and Dillon.

Genevieve and Dillon were more mentally alert than their paws would have liked for a while, both thinking that a rain this hard should have ended by now.

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Genevieve; property of the author.

Utilizing tired eyes they scanned the Brautigan book, which Genevieve took out and opened, to primarily and wordlessly complete the connection she had previously referenced; “Trout Fishing in America.”

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Stylized cover of “Trout Fishing in America” by Richard Brautigan; property of the author.

They dozed contentedly. When they awoke they saw that not only was it still raining hard, but that there was a sheet of water five inches deep flowing across their back yard.

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Genevieve and Dillon; property of the author.

Wosslins normally found at the river flowed or swam through the yard.

Wosslin going with the flow; property of the author.

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They didn’t want to look out the window anymore, for fear of watching an impending catastrophe. Catastrophes are like that. If watched they get worse. If ignored, they usually go away.

Dillon and Genevieve looked into each other’s eyes as they snuggled, neither seeming overconfident. Then they saw now young adult Sunshine sort of navigating through their backyard on his rowboat.

Sunshine; property of the author.

From his half submerged position, Sunshine called out;

“Don’t worry. Me and my magic umbrella will have this all straightened out in a second.”

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All appearances to the contrary, Genevieve and Dillon believed he would.

The End

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