An Unlikely Visit

An Unlikely Visit

“Which shape has three sides?” The way she said “sides” irked Steven, even from the other room. He combed his fading hair with firmness like it owed him money.

“TRIangle,” Miss Brandi exclaimed with the glee only loads of money could muster. Steven never understood how someone so silly could make so much money creating kids television shows. And yet, his son of all people, was in love.

“Tre-ain-der,” a sweet voice echoed.

Alex sat in the living room in sheer awe. He giggled and yelped as if he had not seen those triangles before. It was the fifth time at only eleven o’ clock.

Steven was off for the day while his wife, Alyssa, visited her grandfather at the Shady Lakes Assisted Living. “Shady is right, they’re a bunch of thieves,” she would always say. Alyssa hated visiting him almost as much as he hated being there. Walton

Ford hated just about everything at his age.

Walton was an eighty nine year old whiskey barrel of a man, full of piss and

vinegar. He fought in Korea and barely made it home. Sometimes at night, he wished

he never did.

He spent the majority of his days at Shady Lakes taking walks outside along their

“nature trail” and talking trash about the staff. The nature trail was basically a path that

Walton created from walking it so much. Eventually, they put a sign out front reading:

“Please enjoy our newly added nature trail out back.”

“They could have at least named the thing after me,” he would smirk, usually

before criticizing their cheaply made copy paper “sign”.

Alyssa loved her grandfather but dreaded the visits. The man at Shady Lakes

was not her “Pap-Pap.” He was just Walton. Strokes have a way of doing that to a

person. Yet, she made the trips, bought the supplies, and used that long drive to enjoy

a little bit of peace and quiet. It’s a funny thing, peace and quiet. You don’t realize you

miss it until it’s gone. Yet, you forget how much you hate it after you live in it too long.

Alyssa and Walton knew that all too well.

Steven went into the bedroom to put on some shorts. He could still taste

Alyssa’s kiss from earlier. Cherry-vanilla chapstick. She always put some on just

before she left. It was routine, really. Brush hair, chapstick, kiss Steven, say “love you”,

then give Alex a great big bear hug. He would giggle to the point of wheezing as

Steven smirked from the sidelines, watching someone so petite love on someone so

perfect. All the boxes were checked when Alyssa’s car reversed and exited the

battlefield of toys some might call a garage. Everything was perfect, and yet, something

wasn’t quite right.

THUD! … STOMP! … BOOM! …

Alex looked around the living room for a split second. With an ear to ear grin, he

hopped up. After putting on his shorts, Steven tucked his arms into his short sleeve

shirt so that only his hands and a smidge of forearm were showing, T-REX style. He

stomped down the hardwood hallway in full dinosaur character. He even screeched to

the best of his ability, sounding more like a groundhog with something stuck in its throat.

Alex, practically glowing with excitement, stood waiting for the prehistoric beast

to enter his stone abode.“Rawwwrrrgghh!” could be heard all throughout the house with a consistent,

“Hehehehheee” in the background.

Turning the corner, Steven prepared the biggest, baddest roar he could dig out

from the depths of his chest. He had his white Spiderman shirt peeled up over his head

to hide his face, hoping to increase the illusion that he was in fact a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

It was his favorite, worn out shirt and so old that he could basically see through it,

preventing any roadblocks from jumping out in front of his toes.

“RRRRRAAA–”.

What was supposed to be a gut busting verbal assault from a scaly mammoth

was halted. Alex was still laughing but even he knew something had changed.

Something was wrong.

“Who the,” Steven exclaimed with a shiver in his voice. Rushing to the window

and lifting up the blinds, he peered out as if there had to be someone returning the

gaze. Nothing.

“Ok … what the freak,” Steven murmured under his breath, lifting the blinds a

little higher. In an instant, images quickly flashed back into his mind as if he was reliving

the previous moment over again. Alex, confused, sat softly down onto the floor with a

fading grin, realizing the big moment was gone. What was intended to be a father and

son moment was thwarted by a distraction. A dark, shadowy distraction standing

directly behind Alex just outside the window.

Steven stepped back from the blinds as they fell back to place. Nothing. There

was something there … I know what I freaking saw, he thought. No matter how many

times he looked out the window, he couldn’t make what he saw reappear.

Alex sat on the floor, looking up. Confused, he thought and hoped that just

maybe the dinosaur daddy might return. His gaze went from his father back to the big

window that stole all the attention. Then, he followed the movement of the t-rex turned

human to the doorway of the living room.

Steven slid into the other room to get a better angled view of the outside.

“Maybe they went in the driveway,” he murmured. Wrong again. He backed away from

the window from the guest room, dumbfounded. His pace back to the living room was

almost as gentle as Alex’s sleepy hugs. Turning the corner, he slowly peered through

the doorway toward the window as if to catch something. Nothing. Whatever he

thought he saw was no more.

He plopped down on the couch, not really knowing what to do. Scenario after

scenario went through his mind. Salesman? On this road? Do Jehovah’s Witnesses

travel solo? Neighbor? Why were they just standing there like that? So still … so

lifeless.

Staring at a coffee stain on the rug, Steven felt a tug on his bare leg. Alex had

made his way over and uttered a gentle, “Daddy” with that cute tone only a child can

create. Snapping out of his quick trance, he picked up his only son and gave him a

great big ole monster hug. His eyes closed as his chin rested over Alex’s shoulder.

That was his happy place. The giggling proceeded as if it was glad to be back. Must

have been nothing at the window.

“How … about … a SNACK?!” Steven exclaimed.

“Yah, yah, SNAAACKA,” Alex shouted. If there was one word he knew, it was

“snack.”With the tv going, Alex shifted his head towards the shapes and bright colors as

his dad migrated toward the kitchen.

“Let’s see here … what to eat, what to eat,” he said, humming an Otis Redding

melody.

In the living room, Alex had turned his attention back to the TV, awaiting the

goodies his dad was about to deliver. After a few seconds, Alex was mesmerized.

Music had a way of doing that to him. It didn’t matter what kind, he was infatuated with

it all. Listening to every note carefully, he rocked back and forth with his little hands

hovering in the air, barely off the ground.

“The itsy, bitsy spi–”

The song was interrupted abruptly by the gentlest of knocks, almost as if Alex

himself was knocking. With an uncontrollable full body jump, his trance was

immediately broken. He looked around slowly, as if someone was close.

Knock, knock, knock.

This time it was slightly firmer but not hard enough to alert Steven. He continued

to cut up grapes in the kitchen, almost on the last chorus and oblivious to the other

room.

After the knock, Alex knew where it came from. He looked at the window. A tall,

lanky shadow figure stood still as if it was waiting for a response. Not knowing to be

alarmed, Alex waddled over to the window and shifted the blinds, fully exposing the man

standing outside.

“Walton?” Steven gasped as he entered the room, dropping grapes and

bar-b-que chips all over the floor. The plate nearly jumped from his hands in fright.

‘Wha… what the he-”

“Pap!” Alex hollered in excitement.

How the heck did he get here, he don’t drive. Alyssa is gonna flip. His thoughts ran loose as he scurried over to open the door to find out what was

going on. Passing by the junk table in the hallway, he noticed his phone light up.

Five missed calls?! Bet I know what that’s about. Old man on the loose.

Steven’s thoughts relaxed some in the quick, passing moments. He redialed

Alyssa to ease her mind and let her know where Walton was. The phone

stopped ringing, but only silence answered. “Hello?” Steven said, softly.

“Alyssa?”

“Hey,” she sighed. “Pap-pap is gone.”

“Yeah, I know and you”ll never guess wh-”

“I just wish I had more time,” she said, falling apart.

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

“When … when I got here, there were two ambulances. Apparently, he …

he had just had a massive heart attack and … and now he’s –”

“Dead?” Steven interrupted as the hairs stiffened on the back of his neck.

Silence rang on the other end once more as Steven jumped to the side to peer

out the window. Walton was gone … and so was Alex.`