Story Nann
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
Jeepcats27
Senior Member
Awwwh, what a sad chapter! The twists and turns of life. thanks Kathy!
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you, 
Chapter 67
“Nann?”
I turned to find Mitch staring at the empty corner where the kids’ bed used to be.
I sighed. “It needed to be done.”
“I woulda helped,” he told me.
“I know. But you have your work and I have mine. This is something that didn’t need both of us to do.” Shaking my head I added, “And to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to turn into a sprinkler head again. And if you want to know? I didn’t.”
He finally walked up beside me and gave me a good look. “You didn’t?”
“No. I think … and please don’t laugh … I think I dreamed of Grammy last night and she said sometimes all you can do is to accept things you can’t change because when you try and fight it is when the mistakes get made.”
With a serious look he said, “Won’t laugh. Can’t. I swear I’ve heard Dad whispering in my ears a few times.” He sighed. “And he’s warning that if we’re going to cull anymore animals we need to get to it. Bad weather is coming.”
Refusing to doubt how serious he was I asked, “How bad you think?”
“Bad enough I risked saying something to Cahill. I don’t want them winding up here because they get caught sideways.”
I shuddered at the idea. We were having a hard enough time concealing what we were doing without having way too many up in under us where nothing could be hid. This morning Mitch met Harkness coming from a direction he doesn’t normally use and he had a deer across his shoulders that had been field dressed. Mitch said he asked if we could turn the backstraps into jerky and then save the rest for the dogs … and could we keep it on the downlow ‘cause he didn’t want to have to fight about it with other personnel who’d want a share.
“He said that?”
“Yeah. And I’m already doing it,” Mitch answered. “And don’t start worrying, that line between your eyebrows will get permanent. The guy isn’t soldier material but he ain’t stupid. He was a friend of Turnbridge’s. He’ll keep his mouth shut for the sake of the dogs if for no other reason.”
Shaking my head I said, “I wish he could go home.”
“So do I. Cahill is trying but Harkness isn’t the only man in the outfit with issues and some are much worse off. There were some idiots in charge of the draft boards for too long. Damage has been done and it’s taking a while to untangle things. Cahill’s got a gal with Autism that never should have got into basic much less successfully completed it, most of the time it’s like she doesn’t even realize there are other people in the room. She works in electronics and is damn good at detail work, but if her schedule gets messed with she has a meltdown. Then there’s the guy that has an anxiety disorder so bad he has to walk around with earplugs in or he jumps at every loud noise … and some not so loud ones. Harkness is ADHD. Was on meds for it until high school is my understanding. He should have been given a medical waiver and never been drafted. They managed to get the girl with OCD and something called Trichotillomania sent to the VA in a safe zone. She was down to just a little patch of hair on her scalp, no eyebrows or lashes, and she was pulling the hair off her arms in patches.”
“What? I mean … did she see combat or something?”
“No. I mean the buffer zones aren’t kindercare but she’d never seen real combat. She came in like that. No one noticed at first because of how short she kept her hair. She was able to hide the OCD during basic, though I don’t know how, but for whatever reason she couldn’t once she got sent this close to the border. It triggered something I guess. Harkness shouldn’t be here but he’s not the worst case we’ve seen so won’t be the first one out.”
“We?”
A little like he’d been caught Mitch said, “I’m on terminal leave Nann, but still on active duty until my discharge comes through.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to have any regrets that I sat around on my butt collecting a check while everyone else does their job.”
I rolled my eyes. “As if. But … is ‘collecting a check’ a real thing? I thought … well I don’t know what I thought exactly. You said something about back pay but … well shut me up if it is none of my business will you instead of letting me blather on.”
He put one arm around me and pulled me close. It was nice. Even being inside with our coats on the weather was getting painfully cold compared to normal. “You’re my wife,” he said. “You get to ask those questions. But, I ain’t got an answer for you. Cahill still has custody of that salt that the Clarks brought into the Buffer Zone without permission. His bean counter said that he’s asked permission to turn it over to us in lieu of American currency or military scrip which they really aren’t supposed to encourage in the buffer zones.”
“Wait, they don’t want money in the Buffer Zones? Then how are people supposed to pay their bills and buy things?”
Mitch shrugged. “Crazy complicated. Part of it is designed to force people out of the Buffer Zones so the military doesn’t have to worry about them during action. Apparently bank accounts have been seized until ownership has been confirmed outside the Buffer Zones. And Congress has also enacted some kind of moratorium on mortgages and stuff like that inside Buffer Zones but the arrangements have to be finalized outside the Buffer Zone. Real targeted instead of the indiscriminate stuff that happened during the first covid pandemic. But the flip side is that they are also protecting the lien holders and mortgagees more. Sorta anyway. Someone always loses in these kinds of financial messes. Accounts have been seized for protection but no stimulus funds are is being given away because of the inflation already trying to suffocate the free markets. It’s like stasis. Damned when you do, damned when you don’t.”
In a deadpan voice I told him, “Your college education is showing again.”
He snorted. “You’re not as uneducated as you play at. I caught you reading Dad’s books and you had no problem understanding the articles that were giving me headaches.”
“That’s just reading comprehension,” I told him with a poke that had him turning me loose real fast. “It’s coming up with the explanations to start with I don’t have. If you explain it to me I’ll understand. I just don’t have the discernment to come up with that stuff on my own. That’s why I have to ask so many questions.”
“Well I don’t mind your questions and I don’t mind feeling smart when I can. ‘Cause the truth is I feel dumb as a stump most of the time. Like I wished I would have followed my instincts and done more salvaging early on. No way to do it now and the military has taken a lot of the assets out that maybe we could have used.”
“As long as we don’t catch any blowback from it, let ‘em. Might make this area less attractive to the salvagers down the road. Less of that we have to deal with in the Spring the better.”
“From your lips to God’s ears. Speaking of, got all but the last two rows of dent corn stacked in the silo and the remaining stalks covered with the plastic. I’m happy to say we got feed through the winter but while you’re praying, ask that Spring arrive on time so we can let the animals forage as soon as possible. Got any more of that soup?”
Nodding at him rather than focusing on the fact he had changed the subject in a way that let me know it was a serious problem we faced, I said, “In the oven warmer. I almost overcooked again. The kids weren’t here that long, it shouldn’t have changed things as much as it did. Now I’m having to unlearn bad habits. Leftovers aren’t …”
He shut me up with a kiss. Not that I found his methods disagreeable but …
“Mitch. I’m okay. Really.”
He sighed. “I am too. But you’re right. The kids created a hole real fast that … that got empty real fast and is taking effort to build a bridge over. I know they are with people that … aw hell. I guess we’ve had this discussion enough. I do miss the boy’s help though. He was already on his way to being a good worker that halfway knew what he was doing without me having to explain all the time and worry over him.”
Throwing the day’s plans figuratively out the window and not caring one bit I said, “Let me put my outdoor boots on and I’ll help.”
“Nann …”
“I’m not gonna break and the work needs to be done. You hear me squawking when you offer to help me get jars and stuff or complain if you grind the sausage or …”
He chuckled. “Awright, awright now. You’re gonna make my head so big we can’t move downstairs tonight.”
“You mean if we get to. If you’re wanting to cull the hog I’m thinking of, that thing is going to take all day and into the night to deal with. And why are you sighing like that?”
“’Cause I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I suggested a new way to stay warm.”
“A … a new way? Wellll ….”
He kissed me again. “We’ll take care of the hog today and tomorrow, then if nothing blows up in our faces, we’ll take a day off, day after at the latest. One of these days I’ll take you on a real honeymoon Nannette, but until I can … we’ll have do our honeymoonin’ a day here and a day there as we can fit it in. That … that okay with you?”
Seeing him uncertain bothered me for some reason. To chirk him up I said, “Mitch Quitman Decker, every day with you no matter what kind of day it is, is like honeymooning.”
The smile the slowly lit his face sunshine bright helped push back the sorrow I was likely to feel for longer than I wanted him to know. I’d had some idea in my head, some fairytale, and while I was more grateful for the kids that their circumstances had changed and gotten a bit of fairytale for themselves, I missed the happily ever after that I’d been imagining. I was more determined than ever that Mitch and I were going to get our happily ever after, I just didn’t know what it was going to look like anymore. Or when we were going to get it. The war might slow a bit because of winter, but I didn’t see it ending. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever end.
“Nann?”
I turned to find Mitch staring at the empty corner where the kids’ bed used to be.
I sighed. “It needed to be done.”
“I woulda helped,” he told me.
“I know. But you have your work and I have mine. This is something that didn’t need both of us to do.” Shaking my head I added, “And to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to turn into a sprinkler head again. And if you want to know? I didn’t.”
He finally walked up beside me and gave me a good look. “You didn’t?”
“No. I think … and please don’t laugh … I think I dreamed of Grammy last night and she said sometimes all you can do is to accept things you can’t change because when you try and fight it is when the mistakes get made.”
With a serious look he said, “Won’t laugh. Can’t. I swear I’ve heard Dad whispering in my ears a few times.” He sighed. “And he’s warning that if we’re going to cull anymore animals we need to get to it. Bad weather is coming.”
Refusing to doubt how serious he was I asked, “How bad you think?”
“Bad enough I risked saying something to Cahill. I don’t want them winding up here because they get caught sideways.”
I shuddered at the idea. We were having a hard enough time concealing what we were doing without having way too many up in under us where nothing could be hid. This morning Mitch met Harkness coming from a direction he doesn’t normally use and he had a deer across his shoulders that had been field dressed. Mitch said he asked if we could turn the backstraps into jerky and then save the rest for the dogs … and could we keep it on the downlow ‘cause he didn’t want to have to fight about it with other personnel who’d want a share.
“He said that?”
“Yeah. And I’m already doing it,” Mitch answered. “And don’t start worrying, that line between your eyebrows will get permanent. The guy isn’t soldier material but he ain’t stupid. He was a friend of Turnbridge’s. He’ll keep his mouth shut for the sake of the dogs if for no other reason.”
Shaking my head I said, “I wish he could go home.”
“So do I. Cahill is trying but Harkness isn’t the only man in the outfit with issues and some are much worse off. There were some idiots in charge of the draft boards for too long. Damage has been done and it’s taking a while to untangle things. Cahill’s got a gal with Autism that never should have got into basic much less successfully completed it, most of the time it’s like she doesn’t even realize there are other people in the room. She works in electronics and is damn good at detail work, but if her schedule gets messed with she has a meltdown. Then there’s the guy that has an anxiety disorder so bad he has to walk around with earplugs in or he jumps at every loud noise … and some not so loud ones. Harkness is ADHD. Was on meds for it until high school is my understanding. He should have been given a medical waiver and never been drafted. They managed to get the girl with OCD and something called Trichotillomania sent to the VA in a safe zone. She was down to just a little patch of hair on her scalp, no eyebrows or lashes, and she was pulling the hair off her arms in patches.”
“What? I mean … did she see combat or something?”
“No. I mean the buffer zones aren’t kindercare but she’d never seen real combat. She came in like that. No one noticed at first because of how short she kept her hair. She was able to hide the OCD during basic, though I don’t know how, but for whatever reason she couldn’t once she got sent this close to the border. It triggered something I guess. Harkness shouldn’t be here but he’s not the worst case we’ve seen so won’t be the first one out.”
“We?”
A little like he’d been caught Mitch said, “I’m on terminal leave Nann, but still on active duty until my discharge comes through.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to have any regrets that I sat around on my butt collecting a check while everyone else does their job.”
I rolled my eyes. “As if. But … is ‘collecting a check’ a real thing? I thought … well I don’t know what I thought exactly. You said something about back pay but … well shut me up if it is none of my business will you instead of letting me blather on.”
He put one arm around me and pulled me close. It was nice. Even being inside with our coats on the weather was getting painfully cold compared to normal. “You’re my wife,” he said. “You get to ask those questions. But, I ain’t got an answer for you. Cahill still has custody of that salt that the Clarks brought into the Buffer Zone without permission. His bean counter said that he’s asked permission to turn it over to us in lieu of American currency or military scrip which they really aren’t supposed to encourage in the buffer zones.”
“Wait, they don’t want money in the Buffer Zones? Then how are people supposed to pay their bills and buy things?”
Mitch shrugged. “Crazy complicated. Part of it is designed to force people out of the Buffer Zones so the military doesn’t have to worry about them during action. Apparently bank accounts have been seized until ownership has been confirmed outside the Buffer Zones. And Congress has also enacted some kind of moratorium on mortgages and stuff like that inside Buffer Zones but the arrangements have to be finalized outside the Buffer Zone. Real targeted instead of the indiscriminate stuff that happened during the first covid pandemic. But the flip side is that they are also protecting the lien holders and mortgagees more. Sorta anyway. Someone always loses in these kinds of financial messes. Accounts have been seized for protection but no stimulus funds are is being given away because of the inflation already trying to suffocate the free markets. It’s like stasis. Damned when you do, damned when you don’t.”
In a deadpan voice I told him, “Your college education is showing again.”
He snorted. “You’re not as uneducated as you play at. I caught you reading Dad’s books and you had no problem understanding the articles that were giving me headaches.”
“That’s just reading comprehension,” I told him with a poke that had him turning me loose real fast. “It’s coming up with the explanations to start with I don’t have. If you explain it to me I’ll understand. I just don’t have the discernment to come up with that stuff on my own. That’s why I have to ask so many questions.”
“Well I don’t mind your questions and I don’t mind feeling smart when I can. ‘Cause the truth is I feel dumb as a stump most of the time. Like I wished I would have followed my instincts and done more salvaging early on. No way to do it now and the military has taken a lot of the assets out that maybe we could have used.”
“As long as we don’t catch any blowback from it, let ‘em. Might make this area less attractive to the salvagers down the road. Less of that we have to deal with in the Spring the better.”
“From your lips to God’s ears. Speaking of, got all but the last two rows of dent corn stacked in the silo and the remaining stalks covered with the plastic. I’m happy to say we got feed through the winter but while you’re praying, ask that Spring arrive on time so we can let the animals forage as soon as possible. Got any more of that soup?”
Nodding at him rather than focusing on the fact he had changed the subject in a way that let me know it was a serious problem we faced, I said, “In the oven warmer. I almost overcooked again. The kids weren’t here that long, it shouldn’t have changed things as much as it did. Now I’m having to unlearn bad habits. Leftovers aren’t …”
He shut me up with a kiss. Not that I found his methods disagreeable but …
“Mitch. I’m okay. Really.”
He sighed. “I am too. But you’re right. The kids created a hole real fast that … that got empty real fast and is taking effort to build a bridge over. I know they are with people that … aw hell. I guess we’ve had this discussion enough. I do miss the boy’s help though. He was already on his way to being a good worker that halfway knew what he was doing without me having to explain all the time and worry over him.”
Throwing the day’s plans figuratively out the window and not caring one bit I said, “Let me put my outdoor boots on and I’ll help.”
“Nann …”
“I’m not gonna break and the work needs to be done. You hear me squawking when you offer to help me get jars and stuff or complain if you grind the sausage or …”
He chuckled. “Awright, awright now. You’re gonna make my head so big we can’t move downstairs tonight.”
“You mean if we get to. If you’re wanting to cull the hog I’m thinking of, that thing is going to take all day and into the night to deal with. And why are you sighing like that?”
“’Cause I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I suggested a new way to stay warm.”
“A … a new way? Wellll ….”
He kissed me again. “We’ll take care of the hog today and tomorrow, then if nothing blows up in our faces, we’ll take a day off, day after at the latest. One of these days I’ll take you on a real honeymoon Nannette, but until I can … we’ll have do our honeymoonin’ a day here and a day there as we can fit it in. That … that okay with you?”
Seeing him uncertain bothered me for some reason. To chirk him up I said, “Mitch Quitman Decker, every day with you no matter what kind of day it is, is like honeymooning.”
The smile the slowly lit his face sunshine bright helped push back the sorrow I was likely to feel for longer than I wanted him to know. I’d had some idea in my head, some fairytale, and while I was more grateful for the kids that their circumstances had changed and gotten a bit of fairytale for themselves, I missed the happily ever after that I’d been imagining. I was more determined than ever that Mitch and I were going to get our happily ever after, I just didn’t know what it was going to look like anymore. Or when we were going to get it. The war might slow a bit because of winter, but I didn’t see it ending. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever end.
Jeepcats27
Senior Member
Thank you for the new chapter!
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Very big thank you Kathy.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Gads, the wait, lol But I know you must be busy, busy.
I just need some brain space for this story. The kid thing took me on a path I didn't expect. I had the story outlined and then the muse said, "The kids aren't staying." Hmph. Will try and get to this one as soon as I finish being irritated at the muse ... or my imagination which is the same thing. I know what I want to happen but I start writing and ZAP! Left turn happens and I go, "Wait! Wait! That's not supposed to be that way!" LOL
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
Mom told me you come by children and not always the ones you give birth to. Given the backdrop to the story, Nann may find surprise additions to her family one way or another. Either way, getting ready for an isolated winter using roughly 1930 technology is going to be a challenge.
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Odd how the story takes over sometime, isn't it?
Time for a break maybe; if you get the Gus & Little Bear thing done (which I'm enjoying a ton, thank you very much) perhaps your muse will get right w/ you again - worth a shot maybe.
Having said that, Nann has the potential to be one of your best.
You do what's best and less stress for you; we win anyway you choose to go so, you pick.
Take care
G.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
I know what you mean. I started with a little 3000 word short story then the muse sank a hook , tied it to a truck and took off when I wasn’t looking! Dang muses or is it musi?
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
I remember that; been going like mad to keep up w/ you ever since
plural noun: Muses
But you're not being graded on this so .....
G.
Laurane
Canadian Loonie
Your Muse can be compared with how my one of my paintings suddenly "takes off" totally unplanned in another direction when I am working on a landscape, and it turns from a mountain into a reflection in a lake, and ends up being all good at some point.
Just one brush stroke can make a whole different view, but it also can be better than imagined.
And some paintings are still being worked on after years - just hope Nann comes together more quickly than that. 
Just one brush stroke can make a whole different view, but it also can be better than imagined.
And some paintings are still being worked on after years - just hope Nann comes together more quickly than that.
WildOliveShoot
Contributing Member
I am searching for zucchini recipes on TB2K and found this. Did the recipe ever get posted? Sounds perfect for my bump crop of zucchini.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Reread this . Waiting for more someday in the future when other things are done and your not do busy.
. Waiting for more someday in the future when other things are done and your not do busy.
beaglemama
Contributing Member
Bumping up for those that haven't already read it
feralferret
Veteran Member
Kathy,
I saw this get bumped and had to go back and reread from the beginning since It had been about a year since I had read it and needed a refresher. It is a mighty fine story.
I know you have several in progress stories and appreciate them all. I would love to see this one continue. I'm grateful for the occasional postings for Up On Hartford Ridge and Gurl also.
I saw this get bumped and had to go back and reread from the beginning since It had been about a year since I had read it and needed a refresher. It is a mighty fine story.
I know you have several in progress stories and appreciate them all. I would love to see this one continue. I'm grateful for the occasional postings for Up On Hartford Ridge and Gurl also.
20Gauge
TB Fanatic
bump
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Like he needed encouragement OGM!!
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
I never thought he'd take it as a challenge!?!
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
He lives for challenges like that.
Don't fret; we'll survive. (He's gonna take that as a challenge too!)