In Parched Gardens: Book 1

Chapter 13: There was Not the Lightness of Light

She waved goodbye to the woman behind the cash register as she left the pharmacy. Wearing her casual clothes now, Maria immediately blended in with the people of the street in front of her. Yet, as an outsider to Allbrook, she knew she only partially blended in. She looked at the people around her on the street, in the park, around the Circle, and she wanted to know them, to an extent. Perhaps she wanted to know them, she thought, like someone knows the animals in a zoo - however deeply and regularly you know them, it is a knowing from beyond the glass. And yet, she didn't know which side of the glass she was on.

Regardless, she did legitimately like this town. She hadn't expected to like it. Actually, she was fairly certain when she'd moved there that she wouldn't like it. And yet, she almost couldn't help it. There was something about it, or some things, that made her feel unexpectedly at home. She had figured it would be a long time before she felt that way again - at home. But she was beginning to feel that here. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or if that meant she should move on. Attachment, right now, didn't seem like the best idea. Yet...

She turned and headed toward Mill Lake. It was still afternoon, and the sun was still high and shining, so she let herself try to enjoy the day. Though Allbrook Park was right across the street, and although she used to love parks, she couldn't bring herself to spend any time there. She'd walked through it on a few occasions and it seemed like a lovely place, but she just couldn't. Instead, she walked farther toward the water. She'd always loved water. She loved to sit by it and watch the ducks and the frogs, to feed fish, to swim, to smell the air near it. It had always been a happy thing for her and it hadn't been ruined. One more reason to like Allbrook.

She'd heard that there was a nice pier on the south side of the lake, so she headed there now. She hadn't been to the southern half of Allbrook, south of the lake, much at all. She hadn't been to the farmers' market, the parks and ponds there, the pier, Crow Island, the rolling farmland. A customer at the pharmacy had talked to her about it just the other day and she decided she needed to see it. They'd told her she could walk around the lake either direction and get there. She decided to take a right onto North Lake Road and head west, with the lake on her left. It glistened and glimmered in the summer sun.

Quickly she passed the Wagner River Bowling Alley and Arcade. Its sign was colorful and she could see the tubing for the neon letters it blazed nightly. She passed Cecil's Tavern on the left. Looking through the windows, she thought she could see the glow of Christmas lights from a far wall. Continuing down the sidewalk that followed the edge of the lake, she admired many flowers that lined either side of the path. Park benches occasionally stretched down the sidewalk and many of them were already taken. Joggers stopping to catch their breath, couples and friends talking and looking out across the lake, children planning their adventures for the evening, all reclined on the benches. Past the tavern now, she looked to her right and saw the small square off the road for the town's only doctor's office, dentist, and veterinary clinic. To her left, a small stand was set up. A teenager manned the cart, selling ice cream, popsicles, and coffees. Seeing the sign that showed it was owned by The Creamery downtown, and loving their ice cream, Maria got a small bowl to carry with her and eat as she walked.

Just past the phone and internet store on her right now, and beyond that, up a road running north away from the lake, she saw the steeple of Saint Luke's. All those years she'd lived with her grandparents, she couldn't remember one time her grandmother had missed mass. And she almost always dragged Maria with her. She could still picture the inside of the church vividly. Everyone there knew her grandmother and she walked through the building gracefully, yet there was an authority about her. Maria smiled at the thought.

She continued and quickly neared the North Shore Strip Mall. Barely more than a few stores lined in a row, it was still usually busy. Especially on summer afternoons, there was rarely much open parking at the strip. First she passed the gas station and convenience store just off the end of the strip. Next she passed the Highlands Pub, a popular Scottish themed bar and grill, Clara's Boutique and Clothing, the Allbrook Florist, and a fast food place on the end. Several more stores dotted the road beyond the strip, but the sidewalk cut fairly sharply left here bending just beyond Rapids Mill at the western edge of Mill Lake and crossed the Morninglass River. The water bubbled and burbled near the old mill and its ancient wooden wheel turned slowly in the swift water.