Fireworks began on the free beach, and some lifted from small boats offshore. The trio sit cross legged on the deck watching the distant display of aerial beauty. Sue is the only voice to break the silence. “I remember when the world was that pretty.”
Finishing the grocery sorting and making a tuna salad, conversation circles back to how it was when they were young and the changes they sense are approaching. Reasons emerge for their current place near the beach. Aislinn has been silent listening to voices speaking her language and asks. “When we were watching the fireworks, Sue you said, ‘when the world was beautiful’. Tell me you’re thinking?”
“I made a life and screwed it up, moved back home to the same house where I grew up. I thought I would see the same neighbors. Wrong, new neighbors locked in their houses. Glued to the TV and phone. Coming and going to a workplace unknown. My cashier job will soon be taken by AI. Social media has nosedived into sex and cult beliefs like it’s ok to be however you want to be as long as it being just like me. Truth is becoming bendable. The past rewritten. So, maybe here I can drop out of the race to win, succeed, and live life now before it is gone. I know that is simplistic but for now the present is where I want to live.”
“Sue, you’re speaking my language. I hear you. Your shoes fit me. Lilly, do you agree?”
“Yes, Sue and I don’t know for sure if this is the place to de-stress and live for the now, but it is worth a try. With what we see, and we could be wrong, saving for retirement with our current jobs will never work. Besides we will be too old to enjoy retirement.”
“What if I want a share of your plan girls? Can I buy in?”
“Aislinn, we are just on the 4th day into figuring the plan, so help us set some rules of the road and where we want the road to go.” Lilly suggests.
“Seems I have inserted myself as a roadblock in you lady’s way, so to remove the blockage first rule would be anyone that says you have to go away, you must go away. Harsh, but you two started the journey, and I must be subject to your acceptance of my presence.”
Lilly responds with, “Woah, that is harsh, however it needs to work for all of us, and we have to remember we are going to be somewhat dependent on each other.”
“Acceptable rule.” Sue says and adds, “If one of us wants or must leave the hut it is ok even if it is hard on the others.”
“Rent, utilities, rental insurance split evenly between us. Paid on time or you’re out. Groceries and supplies for the hut split evenly. Booze, cigarettes, female supplies are to be paid individually. No men in the hut, ever. If you bum a ride, you pay the gas.” Lilly directs, laughs, and relates, “here we are thinking up rules and not a job among us. Somewhat bold, I’d say.”
“Hell, we don’t even have a long-term rental agreement!” Sue admits.
The mountain of obstacles facing the women planning the future and how to plow the way and take responsibility for their decisions drags past midnight and into Saturday morning with agreements on the easy part. No TV, no politics, no religion, no condemnation, no pets, no animal rescue department. Sleep, followed by a trip to Richmond and Rosenburg for clothes, reassuring moms, and picking up Aislinn’s car.