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smackenzieThe next morning Oscar woke Marya up by sitting on her. She shoved him off, rolled out of bed, and shuffled into the bathroom to pee. The light didn't go on. Crap. The electricity must have gone out. Marya was so glad she had a battery-operated alarm clock, and not one she had to plug in. She was also glad the sun was out, so she could see.
She let Oscar out after she peed - at least the toilet still flushed, which meant there was still working plumbing - heated up the last sausage and poured herself some cereal for breakfast. The fridge was still reasonably cold, which meant the electricity hadn't been out that long. She should finish the milk and the cheese anyway, and there was a yogurt left that Oscar might eat. She opened it, sniffed it, realized it had gone bad, and threw it out. The remaining milk went into her cereal, with a little more cereal on top to fill the bowl.
She gave Oscar kibble and fresh water, and found her lists from the night before. She ate her cereal and the last sausage while she went over things again, what she wanted to pack to take with her and what she wanted to pack up to leave and what else she had to do before she could take off. Get gas, find the windshield wiper fluid, see if she could find a garage on her way out of town that had a tire that would fit her van. She had the doughnut spare that came with the van, but she couldn't drive far on that and on the off chance she busted a tire, she knew she’d need a real tire in the back of the van to replace it with.
That was last on her list, though, because she had so much to do in the house before she could even think of leaving town.
She washed her dishes, got dressed, and dragged up the suitcases and all of the traveling cases for her drums and cymbals from the basement. She figured she'd do the drumkit first, so she could load it into the van and see how much spare room there was for her other stuff. She was only planning on taking clothes and shoes and toiletries and some knicknacks, things of sentimental value, the boxes of her grandma's stuff that she'd brought from the assisted living complex, her CDs, her laptop, Oscar’s harness and leash and kibble and chew toys, and she should bring the backpack/saddlebag thing her dad had bought him, with one bag for food and another for water, so Marya could bring her dog hiking with her. Not that she did a lot of hiking, especially not the kind of long trips that necessitated the dog bringing his own food and water, but it was a nice gesture. And it might come in handy out in the wilderness.
Actually, before she started disassembling and packing up her drums, she should replant the plants. Her grandma had had kind of a black thumb, so when Marya moved in the house there was only a spider plant hanging off the front porch and a jade plant in the kitchen. Her grandma could kill anything else that flowered inside a week. But Marya kind of liked green growing things, so she'd bought another jade plant to keep the first one company, a couple of rubber plants, and a miniature ficus. She’d had to replant one of the rubber plants twice, and the jade plant her grandma had left her had been replanted once.
She couldn't bring them with her, though, and she didn't want them to die, so she replanted them in the front yard. She didn't know how the spider plant would do in the ground, with nowhere really for its fronds to go, but she couldn't just leave it hanging. She had a trowel and some potting soil in the garage, from her repotting efforts, and she let Oscar out to keep her company. She planted the spider plant and the ficus by the front steps, and the rubber plants on the other side of the steps. She thought they might do better together than separated by the walk. She wasn't quite sure where to put the jade plants - they didn't like a lot of direct sun and she didn't want them to get too wet, but she didn't want to put them in too much shade either. She didn't want to try and keep her plants alive only for them to die a week after she left. It was a pity one of them was too big to bring with her. She figured they'd like southern California - it was nice and dry.
"Can you believe I'm worried about killing my plants?" she said to Oscar, who was too busy sniffing around the shrubbery in front of the house to pay attention. "I think I'll put them near the tree. What do you think?" Apparently Oscar thought he'd lift his leg against a shrub to mark his territory.
Marya planted the two jade plants near the base of the small maple tree between the front walk and the driveway of the house next door. (Not the little old lady's house, but the house on the other side.) They wouldn't get over-sunned or over-wet, and hopefully they wouldn't start dropping leaves and stems and take over the yard. She didn't think jade plants grew as fast as, say, kudzu, but you never knew.
In reality, they'd probably be fine and wouldn't crowd the maple at all, and if anything Marya should worry about the maple covering them with leaves in the fall. At least it wasn't a very big maple.
Plants taken care of, she put the potting soil and trowel back in the garage, hauled Oscar inside, washed her hands twice, drank some water, and went to look at her drumkit. Disassembling it was a pain in the butt, although she'd done it enough times that she had a good system, and as long as she did things in order, it shouldn't take too long. She didn't want to start packing the van until she had everything ready to put in it, so maybe she'd just pile all the packed cases in the living room or leave them in the guest room until she was ready to go.
words: 1069
total words: 19,978
She let Oscar out after she peed - at least the toilet still flushed, which meant there was still working plumbing - heated up the last sausage and poured herself some cereal for breakfast. The fridge was still reasonably cold, which meant the electricity hadn't been out that long. She should finish the milk and the cheese anyway, and there was a yogurt left that Oscar might eat. She opened it, sniffed it, realized it had gone bad, and threw it out. The remaining milk went into her cereal, with a little more cereal on top to fill the bowl.
She gave Oscar kibble and fresh water, and found her lists from the night before. She ate her cereal and the last sausage while she went over things again, what she wanted to pack to take with her and what she wanted to pack up to leave and what else she had to do before she could take off. Get gas, find the windshield wiper fluid, see if she could find a garage on her way out of town that had a tire that would fit her van. She had the doughnut spare that came with the van, but she couldn't drive far on that and on the off chance she busted a tire, she knew she’d need a real tire in the back of the van to replace it with.
That was last on her list, though, because she had so much to do in the house before she could even think of leaving town.
She washed her dishes, got dressed, and dragged up the suitcases and all of the traveling cases for her drums and cymbals from the basement. She figured she'd do the drumkit first, so she could load it into the van and see how much spare room there was for her other stuff. She was only planning on taking clothes and shoes and toiletries and some knicknacks, things of sentimental value, the boxes of her grandma's stuff that she'd brought from the assisted living complex, her CDs, her laptop, Oscar’s harness and leash and kibble and chew toys, and she should bring the backpack/saddlebag thing her dad had bought him, with one bag for food and another for water, so Marya could bring her dog hiking with her. Not that she did a lot of hiking, especially not the kind of long trips that necessitated the dog bringing his own food and water, but it was a nice gesture. And it might come in handy out in the wilderness.
Actually, before she started disassembling and packing up her drums, she should replant the plants. Her grandma had had kind of a black thumb, so when Marya moved in the house there was only a spider plant hanging off the front porch and a jade plant in the kitchen. Her grandma could kill anything else that flowered inside a week. But Marya kind of liked green growing things, so she'd bought another jade plant to keep the first one company, a couple of rubber plants, and a miniature ficus. She’d had to replant one of the rubber plants twice, and the jade plant her grandma had left her had been replanted once.
She couldn't bring them with her, though, and she didn't want them to die, so she replanted them in the front yard. She didn't know how the spider plant would do in the ground, with nowhere really for its fronds to go, but she couldn't just leave it hanging. She had a trowel and some potting soil in the garage, from her repotting efforts, and she let Oscar out to keep her company. She planted the spider plant and the ficus by the front steps, and the rubber plants on the other side of the steps. She thought they might do better together than separated by the walk. She wasn't quite sure where to put the jade plants - they didn't like a lot of direct sun and she didn't want them to get too wet, but she didn't want to put them in too much shade either. She didn't want to try and keep her plants alive only for them to die a week after she left. It was a pity one of them was too big to bring with her. She figured they'd like southern California - it was nice and dry.
"Can you believe I'm worried about killing my plants?" she said to Oscar, who was too busy sniffing around the shrubbery in front of the house to pay attention. "I think I'll put them near the tree. What do you think?" Apparently Oscar thought he'd lift his leg against a shrub to mark his territory.
Marya planted the two jade plants near the base of the small maple tree between the front walk and the driveway of the house next door. (Not the little old lady's house, but the house on the other side.) They wouldn't get over-sunned or over-wet, and hopefully they wouldn't start dropping leaves and stems and take over the yard. She didn't think jade plants grew as fast as, say, kudzu, but you never knew.
In reality, they'd probably be fine and wouldn't crowd the maple at all, and if anything Marya should worry about the maple covering them with leaves in the fall. At least it wasn't a very big maple.
Plants taken care of, she put the potting soil and trowel back in the garage, hauled Oscar inside, washed her hands twice, drank some water, and went to look at her drumkit. Disassembling it was a pain in the butt, although she'd done it enough times that she had a good system, and as long as she did things in order, it shouldn't take too long. She didn't want to start packing the van until she had everything ready to put in it, so maybe she'd just pile all the packed cases in the living room or leave them in the guest room until she was ready to go.
words: 1069
total words: 19,978
