Bygones

Chapter 3

Life is not a voyage to the grave with the purpose of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body. No. Instead, everyone reaches the end with scars--- some seen, some unseen. And everybody dies a little bit each day, whether physically or emotionally. But the beautiful thing about death is the power to be reborn.

Life can be hard, but there are opportunities for it to be sublime and marvelous. Sometimes it requires burning the old self to the ground in order to rise like a phoenix from the ashes into a new one. That takes time and effort, nothing short of hard work.

That is Harley. She is the phoenix. And the fun has been in building her life from the ground up. It started four years ago when she accepted the teaching position at Westover Hall and only grew from there. The fourth-year teacher still works at the girl's school, but things have changed since those early years.

Those times are thought of fondly. For one, it took great courage to tackle another hefty decision after a string of them had been met. Once the new hire paperwork was finalized, Harley moved hotels from the one in Gotham to one closer to work. How far money can go when leaving a massive metropolitan area is amazing. A top-floor hotel room in Blüdhaven is half the cost of the lower-story one during her stay at Gotham.

After the first paycheck came in, Harley relocated again. But this time, it was permanently in a brownstone townhouse. With pretty grey and mint-colored walls in various rooms, shelves adorned with trinkets and decorative objects that stimulate her soul, a kitchen as farmhouse as anything you'd see on the home network, and an overabundance of living space. The townhouse is a haven from students and work at the end of a long day.

But the closet... Oh, the closet is the most fantastic thing a girl like Harley has ever had. It's humongous and bursting with frills, frocks, sparkles, and of course, shoes. Rack after rack of pretty things fills the blush-colored walk-in space. Harley could live in the closet alone, but the bathroom is a close second.

The previous owners had redone the entire master suite, enlarging it and updating all the finishes, especially in the bathroom with a clawfoot tub, stand-alone shower tiled with subway tiles, and a huge marble vanity area with bronze-oiled faucets and handles. The floor is fantastic, too, using tile arranged in a herringbone pattern.

While the bedroom area is lovely, Harley's favorite room is the second-floor study, where her addiction to reading has been taken to a whole new level. Book after book lines bookshelves on one wall with a reading area in the middle of the room. There's an oversized soft blue armchair that she's dubbed "the reading chair" and a circular coffee table. This space is much more Harley than any of the other areas, with a mix of eclectic and vintage furniture and items spread around. The focal point is the barnwood ceiling and chandelier she installed two years ago. It adds a coziness to the space.

Another thing that transformed after moving to Blüdhaven was Harley's transportation situation. One Thursday afternoon, Glinda asked what she would do about getting to work each day. Harley replied, "I'm not sure. It's a little silly to take a taxi all the time, but I also don't have a driver's permit. It expired a long time ago."

Without waiting, Glinda used the cane to stand and put her purse on her shoulder. Once her knee had healed, the woman no longer needed the wheelchair or walker. She looked at her friend and said, "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Confused, Harley followed, and the Senior center's shuttle van took them to a rental car agency where Glinda rented a vehicle for the day. The woman told her, "I try not to drive if I don't have to. So buckle up."

The two found themselves at a mall parking lot, where Glinda started re-teaching Harley how to drive. It was scary in every sense of the word because the girl was rusty behind the wheel. After catching her breath, the elder of the two declared, "Your heart's in the right place, but I don't know where the heck your brain is. Now start slow."