North of Happenstance

  • Chapter 10,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Ten

    Dearest Nanny Moore,   I must apologize for the tardiness of this letter. I know I promised to write weekly, it was, after all, the deal to secure your continued silence as to my whereabouts. I hope you haven’t been worried. It’s surprising how busy life has become in what I’d estimated would be a sleepy little town. This is perhaps because Whestleigh offers a sort of lifestyle I was never prior allowed to partake in. Regardless, I will endeavor to make up for last week’s absence with a longer letter.             I wish you could come visit me. Maybe someday. Not until I’ve had time to fully furnish my…

  • Chapter 11,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Eleven

    As Kate pulled up the church, she was mildly surprised to see that the parking lot was relatively empty. The mixer started in less than ten minutes. Where was everyone? Getting out of her car, Kate reconciled herself to the evening’s fate. Pastor Thayer had called her two nights ago to seek Kate’s in participation in this event. At first, Kate had balked at the idea, and not without cause. She had reminded M.T. that she didn’t actually belong to her church. This had been worded firmly. She was not a member. While she was honored to be chosen for this selective outfit, she also didn’t want to disillusion the…

  • Chapter 12,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Twelve

    Kate took a deep breath, and then another. Her dress felt too tight, but then, modern image had it that Romeo’s Juliet was something of a stunner. Hence, she couldn’t be seen in anything that billowed too loosely. She would have to make do with what little airway she was afforded. The backstage of Whestleigh High School’s theater department reeked of body odor and fear, but Kate wasn’t positive they weren’t side-effects of her own person. Today was the day: the group theatre project for her Shakespeare class; the one-act revival of Romeo and Juliet. Kate looked up at the clock hanging beside the left wing entrance. It was 7:50…

  • Chapter 13,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Thirteen

    Kate swung her clothes hangers sharply to the left, her sigh nicely muffled by the shuffle of plastic hooks over the medal rods. Her work’s Halloween Party was tonight and Kate hadn’t had time to shop around for a costume. She’d spent the majority of the last two days in her college art room, working on a new pottery urn for Madame Penny. Her birthday was coming up and in her not-so-subtle-way she’d expressed hope that Kate would use her creative vision to make her something…this would be especially cool if it fit her new house plant. Kate had messed it up twice but, luckily for her, the art instructor,…

  • Chapter 14,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Fourteen

    Kate barely slept the night after Jake’s Halloween Party. Hell, she barely slept the next three nights in succession. That’s probably why it was so easy for Pastor M.T. to convince her to chaperone the church’s youth lock-in that coming Saturday night. Though, truth be told, it wasn’t just the lack of sleep, or the accompanying knowledge that Penny would be out of town at a psychic’s convention that weekend (Kate could only guess how well news of this would have gone over with her), that prompted Kate’s quick acceptance to this arrangement…. She’d barely been able to take two breaths, barely been given the reprieve of the blinking of…

  • Chapter 15,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Fifteen

    Time: 3:54 p.m. Rushing up the steps to her front door, Kate was tempted to check the time on her watch—a fruitless endeavor. She knew what time it was. She’d never lost track since leaving Cordwyn College. Penny and M.T. were coming over for dinner at 5:00 p.m. It was another of the pastor’s attempts to see her sister and, as such, another of Penny’s provisions that Kate joins them. Somehow, Kate had found herself agreeing once again, and this time, not just to having dinner. She was also hosting the event. M.T. was still living out of a hotel and Penny’s cottage, it had be patently proved last time,…

  • Chapter 16,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Sixteen

    “Kate, can I see you in my office for a moment?” The words, as unexpected as they were forceful, caused Kate to still, her hand suspended over a stack of outdated periodicals placed on a wire holder near the check-out counter of LitLiber. Luckily her back was turned when the command was issued, so the speaker wasn’t able to witness the sudden tightening of her facial muscles, her knee-jerk hesitation. Because the voice which delivered that question belonged to none other than Jake.   It had been weeks since the Halloween party; if M.T. could see Kate now, she’d be so disappointed. She and Penny had worked hard that ill-fated…

  • Chapter 17,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Seventeen

    Kate thought perhaps it was the loud conversation flowing around them, so she spoke up: “If we plan it on a Saturday, I think more people will be able to attend; however, if you want a reservation at the Rejuve Spa, they’re availability is booked until…” Kate’s voice trailed off. Her companion still wasn’t listening. “Hello? Are you there?” Waving a hand in front of Penny’s face, Kate stifled a sigh. This was the third time, in the approximately fifteen minutes since they’d first nabbed a corner booth at the local diner that the psychic’s attention had so obviously wandered. Penny’s eyes flickered at the movement, her gaze shifting slightly,…

  • Chapter 18,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Eighteen

    “Bless me father for I have sinned,” Kate’s voice came out soft, questioning… The metal lattice separating her from the priest on the other side of the confessional was foreign looking, something she’d prior only witnessed in movies—the structure divided into two separate compartments.  She tried to get comfortable but the wooden abode was small, stuffy, her knees jutted up against the door in her seated position. The padding on the chair was thin, no doubt to keep the sinner’s declaration to a minimum. She wasn’t sure how to begin a confession. Was there a certain prayer or a recitation required in the introductory statement of such a sacrament—a manual…

  • Chapter 19,  North of Happenstance

    North of Happenstance: Chapter Nineteen

    “I think you should wear this.” Kate looked over to where Madame Penny was standing half-inside her closet. “Just that, huh?” Kate asked incredulously. The psychic held in her hand a black lacy camisole. She knew what Madame Penny was doing, but it wasn’t going to work. Kate was not going to blush, she was not going to giggle nervously. She was not going to give her friend any more ammunition then she’d already done. “It might be a little too breezy. It is winter after all.” Kate was proud when her voice came out dry, unruffled. Penny rolled her eyes, hanging the silky garment back in the closet. “Whatever. Fine.…