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North of Happenstance: Chapter One
Kate McDonald looked up from the newspaper in her hand to the house in front of her; according to the rental ad, the two bedroom one bathroom residence, located at 257 Eveleth Ave, had a semi-furnished basement, a fireplace in the rustic, high-vaulted living room, and a modernized kitchen. She narrowed her eyes. The price was a steal. She’d paid more for her 750 square foot loft in Minneapolis. Welcome to Whestleigh, Connecticut. Rolling the newspaper up, and sticking it in her back pocket, she climbed the stairs to the front door. It was painted red. She might as well give it a look, despite vague doubts—just what exactly did…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Two
Kate wondered if she didn’t need her head examined. She and that Madame Penny woman had barely stepped inside the LitLiber when Kate was informed that the book the psychic needed was something called: Spiritual Cleansing: Intuit Invocations, Smudging, and Clearing. In other words, Penny explained, the book focused on purifying dwellings of any leftover, lingering spirits and energy. While she had never personally performed a cleansing herself, she felt more than up to the task. Plus, the recent popularity in its practices had convinced her of its necessary inclusion in her professional services. All she needed now was to practice and well, since Kate had just moved to town,…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Three
Kate figured it would be hard to get lost in Whestleigh, Connecticut. Not only was the town set up in a grid pattern formation, the Avenues numbered one through ten accordingly and the Streets arranged alphabetically, but the main shops and stores were all located in the same general area: on Gadbee Street. This was particularly nice for Kate who lived on Eveleth Street—a mere two blocks away. Besides school, she figured her car would probably spend the majority of its life in her garage from now on. Pocketing her house keys, throwing her purse over her shoulder, Kate stepped outside. Turning left down the sidewalk she considered that it was a…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Five
Three days before classes were scheduled to start Kate’s computer crashed. Kaput. It wouldn’t turn on. She’d press her finger against the power button frequently, for varying lengths of time, to no avail. Nada. Zip. Zilch. The demoralized contraption remained lifeless. With rising hysteria, Kate stared desperately at the blank screen. She’d officially run out of troubleshooting ideas. The last time she’d had a computer break down she’d just gone out and bought a new one, but then she’d had a more or less limitless income. Now she was looking down the barrel of a different financial bracket—she was living solely off her familial inheritance. And suddenly, splurging for a…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Six
The day had finally arrived. Waking up to the morning light streaming against the blinds in her bedroom window, Kate groaned. It was the first day of class…and suddenly Kate didn’t feel ready for it. She’d waited impatiently these last weeks and now, now she wanted nothing more than to throw the covers back over her head and hide away from the truth of what was coming. But she couldn’t, and she knew better than to pretend otherwise. So, despite these baser instincts, Kate pulled her body from the comfort of her bed and headed toward the bathroom. Her first class, Romantic Literature, started at 9:00 am. It was…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Eight
Kate dropped out of her Romantic Literature class. She figured it was the lesser of two evils: that or drop out of college all together. Definitely, she couldn’t face the humiliation of that again. Not this year. She still had Art History, the Shakespeare program (so she hadn’t ditched the English language entirely) and a pottery class. Those would keep her sufficiently occupied but not overwhelmed. Absently running her thumb over the glossy length of the novel in her hands, Kate supposed she’d been partially right. She hadn’t been overwhelmed. Not after that. In fact, she hadn’t realized just how underwhelming three classes would be. The raised letting of some…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Nine
Kate stood irresolute, her eyes focused straight ahead on the hotel room door facing back at her: Number 203. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand, and, curling her fingers into a tight knuckle, brought it down against the metal surface before her, wrapping hard. Supposedly, this was Pastor Maggie’s temporary residence. Short-term, just until she found a place—or so she’d insisted at the sisters’ ill-gotten dinner party. Waiting impatiently, Kate wondered, from the umpteenth time, if she was doing the right thing. If Penny found out she was here, if she knew what Kate was about to ask of the Pastor…well, she’d be furious. After seeing how Penny…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
