HOME AGAIN, BUT NOT SO ALONE

For background, please read my blogs, Home Alone, Home Alone Part Deux and Grand finale, however, that reading isn’t necessary to appreciate this short piece.

The mass of the wet snow overcame each branch of the fir trees, causing their sad droop almost to the ground, reminding me of how I neglected them in the summer, but it was only a brief thought, because I knew, like a cherished dog, the springy green branches would be there for me during the spring thaw. I devoured the crisp artic air that at once cleared my previously clogged nostrils while aggressively invading the previously safe sanctity of my faithful lungs.

Each shovel full of the white lead caused me to stop, bending only with my legs and heave it to the side of the driveway, tapping the handle hard to jar the cold wet nuisance from the inside of the shovel.  But, the exhilaration of fresh mountain air pushed me to work harder and with increasing enthusiasm, despite the bright rubicund skin of my ears and flaring nose.  But the aromatic memory of hot chocolate conquered my snowy task with an energy infusion while I walked into the warmth of my house, job complete.

With the mostly yellow and slightly orange flames of my fireplace dancing behind me, caressing my cold back with warm fingers of air, I drank the hot chocolate and tried to read my book, The Dancing Wu Li Masters.   But I found my attention quickly reaching away from the pages as soon as that scent entered my nose.  I knew the scent immediately and my heart sprang into action, as if the starter of the 100 meter dash just said, “set” and my soul was ready to follow my heart where the scent would lead. I smelled it before and it was the sultry scent I detected from my bedroom window the summer before, and she said it was Cartier.

She called herself the Serene Wind, and as a tease, entered my computer, writing an IM on my computer screen back then, and she led me downstairs where I found her after all those years of absence.  We never said goodbye, but I prayed Kim would come back again because young lovers with so many plans together and love to share, needed to say goodbye before one goes to heaven, much too unexpectedly.  She said she was at peace now that I was safe, then she vanished, floating through the walls back to her peaceful heaven.

Like last summer, I followed her scent through the house, and of course, I went back downstairs to the furnace room where she previously showed me her feminine form, briefly, floating towards me, but I couldn’t find her this time.  I tried to remain calm when I realized she wasn’t there and went back upstairs, sat back down in front of the fireplace and then, the scent hit me again,  She was there, in the fireplace! I stood rigidly motionless, almost flying with the experience of her Cartier scent, and then I felt it, but I didn’t jump because I had no fear, just love.  I felt not the warm feeling of the fireplace wind, but instead, the distinct feel of feminine fingers, caressing the sore muscles of my neck and back.

“Kim, you came back!”  I started to tremble.

She continued the caress as she replied.  “I am always here with you Carson and there is only peace and overwhelming love where I am.”

I felt a soft wet touch on my lips, and I imagined that it was her lips, but I saw nothing while a sense of peace and love caused me to float into a realm of other consciousness, that I have felt only once before. “Kim, I wanted to ask you so many questions…”

I turned around, looked into the flames of the fireplace and saw a smoky outline of a heart, slowly ascending up, and the Cartier perfume lingered on my clothes.  I never washed them again but kept them in a box, preserving the scent, at least, I hoped, until next time.

SRC