“Well, aren't we a little mischievous this morning.”
“I would have chosen loving and sexually aroused myself but if you find it mischievous that’s your problem.”
“But not so aroused that you had to skip breakfast though I smell.”
“Breakfast is for you, so you eat and I’ll find other things to do with you.”
Later that afternoon Wren and Norman head out to do some shopping at some of the adult stores that she had visited just a few weeks prior to procure other clothing options for her honeymoon as Wren wanted to have some special things with her to share with Norman on cold evenings and nights alone in an ancient and abandoned city. They find many things that Wren likes and several that Norman couldn’t resist having for her. A few various toys were added even though they felt they would need to pack them into their gear so they didn’t need to be examined by the many security and customs officials along the way. It is nearly five when they start heading back home and they are driving along Brentwood boulevard.
“Norman, have you ever been rock climbing?”
“Rock climbing? Oh yes many times you know us Amish if we aren’t plowing fields and building things out of wood we head for the first cliff we can find and just climb right up it.”
“Alright I didn’t think about the Amish thing, okay? The whole reason for bringing it up is that you will be.”
“Why?”
“We are going to be living in a city on top of a mountain. Having the proper climbing gear in certain situations is just a safety precaution really. But seeing as I would like to keep you around I feel it is a necessity. Swing into REI and we can get what we need there.”
“How much rock climbing have you done?”
“Loads, Dad used to take me when he could. If you remember on our honeymoon I had you go by Devils Tower and I even mentioned that dad and I had climbed to the top of it. I’ve actually done some of my archeological training on the side of a cliff in Chile. Actually spent three nights sleeping up there as well.”
“Three nights sleeping on the side of a cliff, how?”
“There is this collapsible platform you can get and you can set up a bivy sack which is a tent no bigger than a sleeping bag. You sleep there tethered to the rock face. The platform sort of becomes your home during the time you're scaling.”
“You don’t think we will have to sleep like that do you?”
“I don’t think so but one can never be sure. Most of what I’m wanting this gear for is to add safety in maneuvering along the steep sides and for winter.”
“What’s up with winter?”
“It will come early and hard. That’s why you will be in charge of fuel, food and home. Extra ropes can be rigged on poles to guide us to and from the tent. We may not need the extra winter security but I’d rather have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”
The rest of their evening is spent in the store gathering the necessary cams, carabiners, ropes and harnesses, climbing boots and rock climbing shoes for Norman. They load the trunk of the Mustang to the sagging point before they head back to home.
“You know Wren, I’m really starting to wonder just what I’ve gotten myself into.”
“A new and hopefully much more exciting life. You're just going to have to get used to waking up early and grabbing life by the horns.”
“The last time I woke up early to grab life by the horns was the day before my eighteenth birthday and that was my uncle’s bull.”
“Why were you grabbing your uncle’s bull by the horns?”
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so it was either grab his horns and hang on or be his new hood ornament.”
“And here all this time I thought the Amish were a bit dull, all work and no play.”
They arrive back home and empty the trunk with the help of Walter and Margaret just in time to eat some pizza and watch the fireworks.
The next day Wren is up early sitting at her mom’s computer looking over the bus schedules and a phone book carefully planning a route. She is taking careful notes on the back of a list putting it away in her backpack. She sits back down at the kitchen table with her gear list checking off the things they bought last night. She sits and eats breakfast with her Mom and Norman as they both find their way out of bed and off to work. After their departure she heads down to her bike and is off herself. It feels good to be alone on her bike again, just her, the road, and the wind. She has her backpack with her empty but for the list and her purse as she stops at various stores until at last by one in the afternoon the pack is full and she is heading back home.
She eats a quick lunch and grabs her pack, heads to the bathroom and strips down. She sets her hair into a tight French braid lopping and pinning it up evenly on top of her head. Reaching into her bag she pulls out a shoulder length raven black wig and slips it on over her ginger red French braid. She pins it into place, checking again and again to make sure neither the pins nor her own hair show. Next comes a black bra and a black tank top. Then black fishnets inside black combat boots, under a black knee length A-line denim skirt. A black temporary tattoo in the shape of a bat on her left upper arm. Black eye liner with black eye shadow and matching black lip gloss. She steps back looking into the mirror, the image odd for her to see. She is the picture of punk and turns her own stomach with that much black. She picks up a large black bag and heads back to her room.
Into the bag she adds a pair of denim shorts, a pair of socks and tennis shoes along with a red tee shirt. She follows with a sandwich bag of cotton balls a bottle of make up remover and a bottle of nail polish remover. On top of all this she puts in her pistol and jacket gun. Zipping the bag shut she grabs her black leather jacket and heads into the living room and on to the kitchen table where she leaves a note before heading out the door.
“Dear Norman and Mom,
Got some stuff to do on my own in I’ll see you later.
Wren”
No comments:
Post a Comment