The Lonesome Traveler Inn

Once Gertrude and Mabel had sold their condo at Proud Snout they bought The Bleakers, an old run down three-story boarding house in desperate need of repair located at the edge of Worcester and oblivion.

"I'm younger than I think," Gertrude smiled. "Still strong enough to drag this seventy six year old butt of mine up three flights of stairs when I have to."

Mabel stood at the second floor landing. She put her dirty mop in the bucket.

"Whoever lived here before was downright messy," she complained. "Took me all morning to clean the grime out that second floor bathroom."

Gertrude took a deep breath. "I love that skylight with the purple tinted glass, especially when the sun hits it just right."

Harry had come in through the front door. He carried his worn black briefcase and a shopping bag containing everyone's lunch. He smiled at Gertrude. "I've got more papers the lawyer wants for you to sign."

"Do you suppose anyone is ever going to want to live here?" Mabel sighed.

"It's almost all fixed up and nothing's been done anything about us finding boarders."

"You don't stand a prayer of getting that booze license you wanted," Harry told Gertrude. He took off his jacket and tossed it over the banister.

"If we're going to serve people a hot supper we should be able to throw in a beer." She frowned.

"Unfortunately City Hall doesn't go along with your with philosophy of life. They were pretty adamant about it too."

"So much for them!" Gertrude sighed. She looked up into the shining purple light. "I guess it's all up to You. You're the Boss. I just help out, sign checks and make the soup."

"You talking to God again?" Mabel asked half seriously.

"I'm proud of you Gertrude," Barney said coming down from the third floor.

"And I'm glad you're just the way you are cause like you always say the way people are is the only way they really know how to be." His sleeves were rolled up. "What I can't figure out is why we're all still here in Worcester? It's such big world. I've lived all over New England all my life. Don't I ever just once get to live someplace else exciting like the Kasbah?"

"And get your throat slit for being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Harry said coming up the stairs. He opened the shopping bag and handed out sandwiches and soft drinks. "Lunch time!"

Barney ignored him. "I've always wanted that little extra out of life."

"That's part of your charm." Gertrude smiled and took a tuna and egg on rye.

"Don't worry, Mabel." Harry assured her. "Like Gertrude said God's got big plans for this place." He'll light it right up on the map."

"What map?" She snipped.

"The map that helps those lonesome travelers find their way here."

"Oh that map." Barney grinned. " For a moment there I was beginning to wonder."

"There's absolutely nothing in the Bible that says anything about God knowing the first thing about maps," Mabel assured them. "And furthermore he doesn't know beans about advertising either. So if you want residents to move in here…."

"Sure he does," Gertrude laughed. "He's just quiet about it. The way a man's quiet when he knows he can take on the whole world and win."

"That kind of man could be quite difficult. I could tell you stories about my deceased husband."

"The Lonesome Traveler Inn," Gertrude smiled. " I like that! Now we got ourselves a name, and I'd say that's a pretty big step forward."

Gertrude was asleep when the feeling of a dog's cold nose against her cheek awoke her. Still half asleep she opened her eyes and there on her bed beside her she saw the green outline of a little dog. Her bedroom clock read 5pm. "Too early to get up," she yawned. "Come on boy." The green form moved even closer to her. She sensed its friendliness.

"Good doggie." She laughed and it wriggled happily.

Gracious me, she thought I'm got a little green ghost dog right next to me here in bed. She reached over and turned on her bedside lamp and immediately the green glow diminished. But she could still sense the little dog's presence.

Later on that morning downstairs at breakfast she experimented and put bowl of water on the floor in the corner of the kitchen. It in few minutes it was empty. "I found us a pet last night," she told Mabel.

"Did you go order some exotic bird on the Internet for Harry to take care of?"

"No!" She explained. "Somehow this little green ghost dog found me and it's here now. Can you see it's green glow?"

"Then it's not a real dog." Mabel buttered her toasted onion bagel.

"I went and put a bowl of water down on the floor and it got all drunk up."

"You pulling my leg?"

"Do it and see for yourself. If the water's gone after you fill the bowl and put it back down then we got a real ghost dog. If it isn't then I guess we don't."

Mabel frowned. Reluctantly she stood up and gave Gertrude an odd look. She crossed the room picked up the bowl. Then she took it to the sink and turned on the cold water.

"This isn't some kind of joke?"

"Not on your life," Gertrude assured her as she poured herself another cup of tea. "I can still see it, kind of a green glow shaped like a miniature poodle."

"Poodles are smarter than we are." Barney overheard her as he came into the kitchen. He unfolded the morning paper and fixed himself a bowl of dry cereal. Then he sat down at the table, He wore his old kakis and a bright new Hawaiian shirt. Gertrude noticed three cigars in his lapel pocket.

"I guess this is going to be a three cigar day," she sipped her tea.

"Maybe! But only if I'm lucky enough to have time to stop whatever I'm doing and enjoy the first two. Otherwise it wouldn't make any sense."

"Nothing makes any sense around here," Mabel said.

Gertrude saw the glowing green form move over to Barney and sniff his leg. "Feel that?" she asked.

"Feel what?"

"Feel our new ghost dog sniff against your leg."

"Is that was it was? I thought there was a draft in here."

Mabel stood at the sink and frowned at them both. "Just fill the bowl and see for yourself." Gertrude said.

Mabel turned on the faucet. When it was full she turned and put it back on the floor and took a few steps backwards. With her hands on her hips she stood staring at it. Right before everyone's eyes the water vanished. "How could that be?" Mabel stammered. It's empty! But I just filled it!"

"Told you." Gertrude laughed.

"What's its name?" Barney asked still not exactly sure what was up.

"Little Green," Gertrude said.

Barney scratched his head and shrugged. "Maybe later on it'll want to keep me company when I go out to smoke my cigar." He laughed.

It was later that same week. The doorbell rang. Mabel got up from the kitchen table, crossed the hall and opened it. On the stoop was a robust woman dressed in black and purple.

"I heard that rooms are available." She smiled hesitantly.

"Sure thing!" Mabel waved her in.

"I'm Sadie," she said as she followed Mabel into the kitchen."

"Gertrude," Mable called up the back stairs. "Possible boarder in the kitchen."

Sadie smiled and sat down at the kitchen table. Mabel put on water for tea. "What a lovely house. She said admiring the crown moldings.

"Built back before The Depression.. Should have seen it when we first got it.," Mabel put some chocolate chip cookies on paper plates. "Closer to demolition than either of us," she smiled. "But Gertrude saw that purple tinted glass up in the skylight and decided this was it."

Sadie nodded. "Yes. We know inside when we finally find our way home. "I'd like to move as soon as I can. It's just too difficult now with my daughter. The two of us," she searched her mind for the right word. "We're just on two very different paths."

Gertrude came down from upstairs and smiled at Sadie. Mabel made introductions, and the tea was poured.

"Every room comes with a comfy overstuffed chair, big TV and DVD player next to the dresser. And a small bedside table with a laptop."

"Why that?" Sadie asked.

"It's a long story," Mabel reached for another cookie.

"And the bed's a good size?"

"Plenty of room to stretch out and be comfy," Gertrude assured her.

"I just hope it's big enough for both of us. Maxie needs a lot of room."

"Both?" Mabel asked. "Then you'd be paying for the two of you."

"I suppose," Sadie said. She sounded a slight bit confused. "When he's here then I like us both to have a big bed."

"This is your husband." Mable asked fearful that any rumor suggesting hanky panky would give their Inn a bad name."

"He must be one of those men who's on the road." Gertrude said.

Sadie nodded her head. "But he's always here for me when I'm trying to balance our checkbook, and he always points out little mistakes in my subtraction." She sipped her tea.

"Just like a man!" Mabel commiserated.

"And sometimes when I'm fast asleep he kisses me and wakes me up." She giggled and stole look at Gertrude.

Gertrude smiled. "Best if they've still got some octane left in the tank."

"You're so understanding," Sadie reached over and put her hand over Gertrude's. "I try to explain this to my daughter and she looks at me like I'm batty." She said in a soft voice.

"Daughters can be a that way." Gertrude said with authority.

"Then you'll be paying rent for the two of you." Mabel said. She knew how to be all business at crucial times.

"Ever since the funeral." Sadie dabbed at her eyes. "He was right there next to me when they lowered his remains into the ground. I could hear him as clearly as I hear you when he said "don't let them overcharge you for this."

"Those were his last words." Mabel asked.

"More like his first words." Gertrude looked at Mabel. "But oh isn't that so like a man to be always thinking that way." She took another cookie. "Max is always welcome here. Maybe he can even help Harry out when he pays the bills."

"But he's dead!" Mable nearly choked on her cookie.

"So's Little Green for that matter," Gertrude said. "But it doesn't seem to matter so much anymore. I guess God decided its time for the doors to be open."

"I'm not so sure I understand all that." Mabel coughed

"Makes life a lot easier to live when you know there's no stopping it." Gertrude got up and got another bag of chocolate chip cookies and put them on the table.

It was Saturday morning. Harry and Barney were outside making a little garden alongside the driveway. "Have you run into Little Green yet?" Barney asked.

"You mean that cold draft I sometimes feel that Gertrude says is her ghost dog?"

Barney smiled and placed a small green plant in the soil. "Yup."

"If that's what Gertrude wants to think then its ok with me." Harry watered it. "Who am I to question what anybody thinks? Besides thinking about stuff like that maybe could make my mind explode like a volcano."

"Wouldn't want that to happen." Barney smiled." I do feel something brush up against me sometimes. Feels like a chilly little breeze against my legs." He lit up his cigar.

"Sure," Harry smiled. "Don't think I'm going to disagree with you." He took another plant and carefully placed it in the ground. "But like I said my mind just doesn't think that way."

Barney bit down on the butt of his stogie. "You and most of us." He laughed. "I can't help but wonder if we all believed Little Green was real if he'd become more visible."

"Now you're talking beyond anything even biblical." Harry said. "What you have to understand is that when it comes to all that kind of talk I'm a realist. After a long day I like to sit down, relax and read the paper, not wrestle with questions that to me at least don't have any concrete answers. I guess I'm not all that comfortable around subjects too big to fit my mind." He stood up and leaned on his shovel.

" I guess for me to believe in Little Green means I get to live forever. And at my age what could be more comforting to know than that?" Barney picked up the watering can and sprinkled the newly planted seedling. "I'm not afraid of dying anymore."

"If Bessie ever comes back and talks to me, if I ever see her clear as day then you and me will have a conversation about all this." Harry said stoically. "Meanwhile the way I've always seen it is when it's over it's over."

"Well sure, but not over the way you think it's over."

Harry held up his hand. "Sometimes its easier when you don't know all the answers let alone the questions. " Gertrude came outside with paper cups and a pitcher of lemonade. "Good to see them all planted before it rains." She smiled. "Sadie's all moved in. She might even try her hand on the net and get herself a few chat room buddies."

"Harry and I been discussing the eternality of life."

"Better be careful," Gertrude grinned. "That kind of talk can move mountains and cause revolutions. Then everyone gets upset when things don't turn out the way we' think they're supposed to 'cause of what we've been told when we're kids." She looked at the Harry and Barney's little garden and smiled. "Thanks, guys, the plants look really special. After all, what matters is taking care of the here and now while it's here with us! After that the hereafter will take care of itself once it gets here."

Later that week Harry had a hot pastrami sandwich for supper a little later than usual. In hindsight maybe he thought it was the pickle and chips. He had a hard time falling asleep. Late night TV usually did the trick but tonight something seemed to keep him up. On his bedside table was a picture of Bessie with their two sons taken years ago on the beach at Narragansett Pier. Bessie had her usual dark summer tan, her hair cut short in a pageboy. Harry had always preferred her hair longer but who in their right mind would ever argue with Bessie. He lay in bed and stared at the ceiling when he heard her voice.

"You're up late tonight." Startled he sat up in bed and gulped. "I love this house, Harry, especially the crown molding."

"Bessie?" Tears filled his eyes. He began to shake. "Is that you?""

"It's not Mae West honey."

"I want it to be you. I don't want to be hallucinating, or my mind playing tricks on me."

"It isn't."

"I don't know what's going on."

"You don't have to. What's going on is never as important as the love we feel for each other. That love keeps us going. Even when everyone thinks its over."

"And you're there? Really?"

"Always. Remember when you took me to Coney Island and proposed to me way up high on the Ferris wheel. We held hands. You kissed me and told me you felt like you were on top of the world. I told you nothing would ever keep me away from you."

"You're still with me?"

"Now and always. We don't stop being close to one another just because we're not here the way we used to be. It's too complicated to explain it any other way but everything's still the same even though at the same time it's different."

"I miss you so much!" Tears flooded his eyes. "All these years and I never stop thinking of you." He felt her small soft hand brush against his cheek and then he saw her. She looked the same way she had the day they were married.

"I want you to fall in love Harry." She told him. "You deserve that. I don't want you being alone anymore."

"How can you tell me that if you still love me?"

"Because I do love you. And I can't do for you the way I would if I could."

"Oh Bessie." He felt cold, discombobulated, frightened, confused. "I don't understand. This has to be a dream. There's just so much, so much." He couldn't say anything else.

"And I want you to promise me you'll stay away from pastrami," she said. "You know you shouldn't to go near that much salt. It's no good for you." She said as her voice and image faded. Harry closed his eyes and sighed..

Next morning at breakfast Harry said, "Bessie came and talked to me last night." His voice cracked and tears filled his eyes. Gertrude and Sadie smiled and nodded. Gertrude stood up and went over to him, bent down and gave him a hug. Mabel came in. "Are you all right?" she asked Harry. "You look like you seen a ghost."

"He's fine." Gertrude said. "And what if he had. Where's Barney?"

"Putting the finishing touched on the upstairs bathroom. "He discovered we have copper pipes."

"So why can't they tell us about all this in church." Harry stammered. "Isn't that what church is supposed to be about?"

"Too busy organizing bingo and picnics." Gertrude said. "Besides who'd believe it anyway?"

"I'm still not exactly sure what's going on around here," Mabel said. She and Gertrude were outside looking at the flowers Harry and Barney had planted.

"What's not to be sure about?" Gertrude replied. "True love lasts forever."

"I loved my husband." Mabel said somewhat indignantly. "But what's done is done. We have to go on."

"He probably knows you feel that way and has better fish to fry."

"Let's hope so. The last thing I'd want is his coming back some night and criticizing me about the color of my bed sheets." Gertrude sensed Little Green sniffing at the plants and smiled. "Bet you wouldn't mind Cary Grant or Burt Lancaster if stopped in for a nightcap, but I know what you mean about husbands. Some men act like they own their wives, that we're some sort of deluxe sedan that serves sandwiches."

"He was always a starched white collar kind of guy," Mabel grouched. "He'd wear his tie and jacket down to breakfast even if he had nothing better to do that day. Then all day long he'd follow me around and find fault with everything I did." Gertrude nodded "Let's face it, men complain! It's part of their nature, especially husbands."

"Always the big ideas! Once when the washing machine finally died and he had to get us a new one he kept on insisting I take in people's wash so as to pay it off faster."

"Should have talked him into running for public office. Sounds like he'd have made a great politician." Wouldn't wish him on the voters. Oh, hi, Sadie," she said as the new tenant joined them. Sadie was carrying a tray of chocolate chip cookies and a pitcher of lemonade. "Guess what," she smiled. "Harry's going to go to dancing school and learn to tango. Isn't that wonderful. And tonight Maxie and I have a date to go see a movie." She smiled shyly. Mabel frowned, shook her head and continued to look confused. "As long as you're happy. That's what's important. Anyone who sits down next to you might get the surprise of their life though." Her throat felt dry. She reached for a glass of lemonade.

"It's still a little hard for Mabel to catch on." Gertrude said. "I'm glad you and Maxie still have each other."

"Something about being here makes us both feel very happy. What do you suppose it is?" Gertrude shook her head. "Personally I think it's that bright purple glass skylight. Something about the color purple helps you see the visibility of life eternal."

"That's it? That's all it is? A purple light?" Mabel sounded perplexed. "They used to burn women at the stake who'd talk about what they'd see going on in those invisible places."

"Best to keep quiet then." Gertrude smiled, her eyes twinkling.

"I want you to meet my daughter," Sadie said. "Maybe she'd understand me better if she met you and could see where you're coming from."

"And you could meet mine too, as well as my wonderful grand daughter who gave me my laptop. Let's all have a party. Then Maxie and Bessie and even Little Green can rub shoulders with the rest of us."

"As long as my deceased husband doesn't suddenly decide to show up and try to sell me on one of his big ideas." Mabel said. "That man never knew how to leave well enough alone. And in the end it finally cost him."

"I hope someday you fill us in about that." Sadie said curiously."

"Oh sometime," Mabel said and changed the subject.

The End, For Now