Read Online Once Upon Another Time by Rosary McQuestion - Free Book Online Page B

canyon.
    The wind was
strong that dreary afternoon, as I pushed against it to open the car door.  My
hair whipped at my face, as the three of us walked toward the house, pitching
our bodies into the fierce wind as if we were leaning forward off the prow of a
ship.  Trudging through a side yard filled with the twisty skeletal remains of
dried tomato plants, the neighbor’s dog welcomed us with a steamy deposit next
to the rotted squash. 
    The house had good
bones, but the interior needed a good amount of updating.  “What were we
thinking?” I said to Matt that first cold December, as we ripped the old kitchen
cabinets off the wall to the tune of Tori Amos singing “Have Yourself a Merry
little Christmas.”  In spring, we planted a Japanese maple in the center of a
large square of bluegrass and slapped a new coat of white paint on the picket
fence in the backyard.  The next year we had an attached garage built on to the
house.     
    The elevator
chimed and snapped me out of my thoughts.  That’s it!   I had to see
Laura and tell her everything.  I managed to elbow my way out of the iron box
and made a beeline straight off to Laura’s office, barging in just as she put a
spoonful of strawberry yogurt to her lips. 
    “I have to talk to
you--right now,” I said like a drill sergeant calling the troops to attention.
    Laura jabbed the
spoon into the yogurt and placed the container on her desk.
    “If this is some
kind delayed reaction from yesterday thinking I’m forcing you to go out with
Jack, who by the way is obscenely wealthy, then fine, if you don’t want to date
him, and I won’t say another word.  I promise.”
    “No, it has
nothing to do with that,” I said, as I collapsed onto the leather chair facing
her.  A large floral arrangement from David, sat on her desk.  Equal in size to
that of a small rhododendron bush, I jutted my head to one side to see around
the grove of exotic wild orchids and bird of paradise.  She pushed the
arrangement to one side, unblocking my view of her.
    “So, what is it
then?” she asked.
    My palms were
sweaty as I cleared my throat.  I was sure Laura could hear my heart beating
like a jungle drum.  And although I felt ridiculous, I had to try and explain
what was going on with Matt, for fear of totally imploding.  After all, what
are best friends for?  Yes, I know.  I tried once and failed, but I just had to
try again.
    “Okay,” I said and
took a deep breath.  “I’m going to warn you that what I’m about to say might
seem a little off-the-wall.”
    “And this should
surprise me?”
    “I’m serious,” I
said, as I set my briefcase on the floor next to the chair.  “Do you remember
when we were in high school and my parents talked about solar activity, lunar
cycles, geomagnetic activity, and, well…parallel universes being on different
planes and frequencies?”
    Laura gave me a
questioning stare.  “I love your parents dearly, so forgive me when I say I
thought that was rather strange.” 
    I tried to speak
again but my mouth felt too dry.  My tongue lay there like a slug.  If she
thought those things were strange, after what I had to tell her, she’d
think I was insane.  After all, my parents never once claimed to have seen a
ghost.  Suddenly, I panicked searching for a way out.  I’d never had a
“shrinking violet” type of personality.  Bold, bordering on offensive maybe but
I was beginning to feel like a wimp!
    “Well?” she
asked. 
    Oh, for pity’s
sake just spit it out .
    I cleared my throat,
straightened my shoulders, and looked at Laura with a steady stare.  “Do you
think it’s possible--or rather do you believe in--?”  I just couldn’t find the
right words.  My eyes rolled upward toward the ceiling, as if the words were
written somewhere overhead.  “Okay, here’s my question.  What exactly are your
thoughts on parallel universes and ghostly beings?  You know like spirits
returning to people they