Tulpa /\ Ford Pines/OC/Stan Pines

Chapter 3: Spaces In-Between

Over the next few days, Estelle forgot about the encounter with the not-sasquatch that guided her to the Mystery Shack; she was much too busy fielding calls from her publishers and her family, with both trying to get answers as to what she was doing way out in the boonies of Oregon. Her publishers were fairly easy to calm, with a few reminders of how successful her last book had been staying their tempers and threatening deadlines; she promised to send them a mock-up of her next book idea within a few weeks.

Convincing her family - more specifically, her mother - that she was being productive was entirely different, however. The older woman had not received the memo that her daughter was an established author; an entirely intentional outcome. She would balk at the content that her precious angel had deigned to write within the past year.

Estelle had been locked in a vicious cycle over the phone with her for almost an hour, and her temples were pounding with each repeated sentence coming from her shrill voice. Her plans for an early-morning walk with Taro were rapidly disappearing with each degree the temperature outside rose.

"Mom, look, I have plans today and I-"

"I still don't understand why you up and left your job so suddenly, Ellie. It makes no sense. You finally got the promotion; tenure; government benefits! Think of the insurance coverage and retirement plan!"

The younger woman grimaced and tucked her phone between her shoulder and cheek, pulling on some denim shorts and then fumbling with a loose-fitting tee in-between stretches of lecture; Taro was pacing back and forth between both doors to the room, fussing under his breath and wanting to go. Estelle sighed: "Same, buddy. I wanna leave too."

"What?!"

"Could you just- Forget the job for a second, please!"

She couldn't help but raise her voice, tying off the excess of her shirt behind her back with a firm tug to emphasize her irritation. Her mother went silent on the other end.

"Mom. You know as well as I do that that place was sucking my soul dry, and after what happened in January my heart just wasn't in it anymore, if it ever was. Government perks only go so far in making someone happy, and I fucking hated every second down there. I need to relocate for a while."

It had been a very long time since Estelle had spoken to her mother in such a way, but she was tired of the older woman's whining, judging, and criticizing of every choice she made in life when it went against her expectations. For a moment, she thought the rebuttal had gotten through to her, but her mother bounced back as usual with even more bite: "Don't you dare talk to me like that, Estelle Hernandez. I know that you got your heart broken again, but that was your fault for sticking with a loser for six years when I kept telling you to drop him; you can change your job, your name, but you can't change the way you make the same bad choices that you did in high school. After everything I've put up with-!"

"Okay, that's enough! I'll call you later. Bye."

She stifled a shriek of frustration and pain in the crook of her arm after hanging up, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. She might wonder if the two of them were even related, but the constant bickering and one-upping each other as she grew older was evidence enough. At least this argument was finished for the foreseeable future.

"Ha... Okay, sweetheart. We can't do a long walk today, but maybe the kids'll want to play a game with you and Waddles inside. I'm gonna do some research on what else there is to see around here."

If dogs could shrug non-committedly, that is what her fur-child would have done; once she donned some comfortable shoes and took some medication for her burgeoning migraine, Estelle moved to open the inner door to her bedroom, bending down as she did to pat Taro's head affectionately. When she went to rise and step through, her nose collided with something warm and solid, smashing her glasses back into her face and causing her to stumble: "Ah-! Estelle! I'm sorry, I was on my way to see you and didn't mean to block your path."