Chuck has put up 10 titles, and asked us to pick one. Now, my folks are in the throws of selling their house, and I thought to jump into the one which jumped at me first. This one is a little naughty, but I thought it was fun!
enjoy.
“Are we allowed to take our belongings with
us?” I looked around our living room and found I had that inane attachment to
my furniture I had promised myself I would never get.
“Of course.” Edward smiled, “You’re going
into another estate, not off the grid.”
“Right, right.” My husband nodded, grimly
reading over the contract again, “But it’s just that it’s so different to how
we live now.”
“In the middle of the city amongst the
pollution, traffic noise and so very close to everyone around you?” he looked
around as a police screamed down the street, “Oh yeah, who’d want to leave all
this?” he fidgeted in his suit, “Look, you’ll have an acre of land to yourself,
with a gorgeous house on it, and your things will come with you. It’s going to
have electricity, hot and cold running water and all the mod-cons. The only
thing you’ll be away from is the city.” He sat back in the seat, “You’ll be
free to do as you please.”
Roger and I exchanged glances.
This was exactly the type of life we had
been wanting for a long time.
We both worked from home; and we rarely went
out anymore to buy food or socialise – or well, do anything.
Yes, computers and the internet was a huge
thing in our lives.
Thanks to verbal commands, everything
changed in modern homes. Our stoves turned on by themselves, there’s no light
switches, our televisions will change channels when we ask them to and our
house actually has a ‘Holiday Mode’ for the lights when we go on away for more
than three days.
But, it’s getting to a point where Roger and
I have lost our way.
I love him dearly, but really, when we enter
the room at the same time, we just seem to look at each other in wonderment –
as though we’ve never met before... and we’ve been married for over a decade.
Yes, we’ve lost touch with the small things
about each other.
So, we have decided to move out into the new
estate called ‘Raw’ and it’s exactly what it means – we go out into the raw
elements of the country and start our lives again.
I work from home; and Roger does too.
We learn how to work a good-sized piece of
land, and learn about animals.
And the best thing is that we learn about
ourselves and each other – we learn about how and why we’re together; and if we
want to be with each other for the next decade.
This means we sell up and move everything
there.
On the day of the move, we arrived at the
house before our furniture at daybreak and watched the sunrise together over
the ridge. We were truly alone for the first few hours and totally enjoyed our
time there looking around the place – and it was a huge place!
As the sun warmed the valley below, I
spotted a car and two trucks snaking along the road towards our house: one was
Edward’s car and the two trucks had our furniture in it. We had been told to
pack our clothes and some of the things we just couldn’t live without into a
U-Haul and arrive early – and we did.
Edward pulled into the driveway, followed by
the two trucks, which pulled up and opened the backs. He got out of his car and
smiled, “Sorry we’re late, but the drivers got lost.”
“Lost? You said to be here early.” Roger
said.
“Oh yeah, I did.” He smiled, “Did you unpack
your U-Haul?”
“Yeah... we did.” I nodded, “It’s ready for
you to take back.”
Everything was unpacked and put into all the
right rooms. Nothing was broken and we were left alone at our new house. It
took about three weeks for us to put things where we wanted them, and settle
in.
One morning, Roger stood at the wardrobe
looking in at his clothes, holding onto his garden shirt, “There’s really
nobody around.”
“What do you mean?” I turned to him.
“We have an acre of land at the top of a
mountain ridge, and have this place to ourselves.” He hung up the shirt again, “Has
it crossed your mind why it’s called Raw?”
“Not really. Just that we’re out in the
middle of country in the raw countryside, and that’s the meaning of it.” I
smiled, “I didn’t really read into it.”
“We can get around with nothing on if we
wish.” He rushed from the bedroom and to the home office and dug out the
contract, reading it, “Yeah, it says here: ‘... not only are you in the raw of
the countryside, but you’re far enough away from everything to be your true
self.’” He looked up at me, “It’s practically encouraging us to strip off.”
“It doesn’t mean we have to.” I turned back
to our bedroom shaking my head, but I heard him put back the paperwork and head
downstairs in his birthday suit, “My god, he’s nuts on toast.” Pulling open the
wardrobe, I pulled out a nice dress and looked at my underwear. Ditching the
underwear, I pulled on the dress and went downstairs to join my husband for
breakfast.
“Aaw, come on.” He teased, “It’s fun.”
I smiled a little, “No. I’ve still got my
dignity; but you can get around like a Neanderthal if you wish, just remember
to shower at the end of the day.” He headed outside with his cup of coffee and
sat down in a chair, where I went to join him, but found him standing at the
back door, “Hey, you okay, Rog?”
He turned and looked at me, “I thought I
could do this.”
“Stand out there in the buff?” I grinned, “Of
course you can.”
Doubt crossed his face: “But what happens if
our neighbours are closer than we think?”
I peered through the screen, “Well, we’ll
never know until we go out there.”
“But you’re clothed!”
“Am I?” I opened the screen and walked
outside where the breeze caught the skirt of my dress and blew it up reminiscent
of ‘The Seven Year Itch’.
