It Happens Every Day

by Derek A. Murphy

  When he reached the downtown area, he left the tracks and made his way to the block that held the gypsy’s place of business and had a shock; the garish sign had been replaced by one that hinted at respectability. There were no cars outside the building and as he walked closer, the streetlights blinked on one by one and before he reached the door, junebugs had already begun to flit around the nearest light.

  Taking a deep breath, he grasped the doorknob and twisted it, pushing the door as though he heaved a great weight and his steps dragged. The bell over the door tinkled and as he closed it, he took in his surroundings; the place was well-kept and clean, with attractive chairs and tables here and there. Before he was quite done looking around, the door opposite him opened to admit an attractively dressed, mature woman that he recognized nevertheless as the gypsy. He had seen the sign outside and saw that she used a marginally different name here, and addressed her by it:

  "Madam Petrov?"

  The corners of the dark eyes and the mouth crinkled as the woman made a disapproving expression and she corrected him as she said, "I am Mrs. Petrov. You are that young man who was in here the other night with the young lady. What do you want?"

  Taken aback by the unwelcoming demeanor, Brian said, "I’m sorry, that wasn’t me. I-I was told to come see you; that you could help me."

  Pursing her lips, Mrs. Petrov said, "Well, sit down."

  When he had, she extended her hand to him and he stuck his out, not sure why she would want to shake hands after sitting down. The customary thing would have been to shake hands first, then sit down. His confusion was relieved when she took it in both of hers and drew her fingers along the lines in his palm.

  "You are troubled. And confused. You feel lost; this is your home, but you feel a stranger here."

  Her eyes, which had closed as she moved her fingers over his palm, flew open wide as she suddenly stared at him.

  "You are from the other side."

  "Y-yes, I am. The woman that is you in my world told me to seek you out, that you would help me."

  "You have come for the young lady. She has been to see me; she encountered you at sunset, twice, and was confused because of it. The voices in the ether have whispered of you to me and I told her that you would come for her. She awaits you at her home."

  Strangely afraid of what he would find, he asked, "What is she like?"

  The dark eyes appraised him and he felt that she could feel his reserve, and was amused by it. She said, "She is as troubled as you. A great part of her trouble has been caused by the you that is in this world; he is not a nice person to know."

  Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her legs in her trim skirt and her eyes seemed hooded as she added, "I believe that she will be making an improvement in her life when she goes with you."

  "But, what is she like? Is she lively and vivacious? I’m not sure I could stand it if she was very different from the girl I knew."

  The woman stood, as though to indicate that the interview was over and impatiently said, "She is as she has always been. This world hasn’t been kind to her in love, but that will end when she goes to your world. There will be a period of adjustment, but she will come to be as like the girl you knew as if she actually was that girl. Tell me, what happened to the girl in your world?"

  Brian felt a tightness in his throat and had to keep himself from crying as he said, "She died in an accident just days before we were to buy a house. We planned on being married in a couple of months and I’m afraid that her loss hit me pretty hard."

  "Of course. Otherwise, you would not have ever made contact with her across the void."

  Feeling sheepish, he asked, "What do I do now?"

  Pointing to the door, she said, "Go to her home. State your case and if you are eloquent enough, she will leave with you."

  "The other…you, told me that we couldn’t cross back until tomorrow night. What do I do until then?"

  Sighing, the woman said, "That is completely up to you. But I must tell you that there should be no contact between you and this world’s version of you. That could be disastrous; one of you would die."

  Thoughtfully, he said, "Yes, she…you, told me that I couldn’t stay past the twenty-four hour mark, either.

  "Then you know what to do. I am not your guide on this side of the abyss; I am only here to help you when you reach an impasse."

  Waving her hand toward the door, she added, "Go. Leave this place and find her. Do not come back here unless there is trouble."

  Puzzled at the lack of help and sympathy he received from the woman in this world, he rose and exited her place of business. Once back out in the muggy evening, he turned toward Lisa’s house and began walking, listening to the muted sounds of the city. Down the street, he heard the heartbreakingly beautiful sound of someone playing a guitar in the Spanish style. He reflected that it was an improvement over what he had heard from the unknown guitarist in his own world. Maybe the musician had taken a different path here.

  At the end of the block, a car pulled up to the curb beside him and a guy hung half out the window with a bottle of some unknown liquor in his hand.

  "Hey, Briney! What happened to your car? Did it finally give out on you?"

  One of the other occupants of the car, loud enough for him to hear, but not loud enough for him to make out the identity of the speaker, said, "Lisa garaged her little T-yoti cause the cops were pulling her over too often asking for dates. You heard about her ‘pulling-a-train’ with those cops last week, didn’t you?"

  Brian knew the act the wit was referring to but had no way of knowing what might have happened in this world, so he ignored the speaker and said, "Just out for a walk."

  The guys in the car weren’t so easily put off and the one with the bottle brandished it once more, slopping some of the liquor onto the sidewalk, causing a chorus of yells from the others.

  "Come on, Briney-Boy! Have a drink! I know your ‘old man’ drinks up all your stuff when you’re not home! Just like everybody in town ‘taps’ Lisa when she ain’t with you!"

  He felt the burn as his face reddened in anger and as he turned to charge the car, the driver tromped the gas pedal and it peeled away from the curb, leaving him with their cat-calls fading into the night.

  Brian began to wonder what the Lisa in this world was like; there were always rumors about anybody that was in a relationship with someone who was viewed unfavorably, but in his world, Lisa had never been spoken of this way and it took some getting used to. What had happened to her in this world that she was a common subject for such innuendo? He believed that in this world, the man that was ‘he’, was not as respected as he was in his world, and that Lisa’s association with him may be the source of the rumors concerning her. Had his double brought her down in social status? He hated to think that it was true, but until, and unless he knew more about her, there was no way for him to know. He reasoned that if what the gypsy woman had said was true; that she would be adjusted by the Universe to be like she was in his world after she had been there a while; then there was no reason for him to pry into things that she might be uncomfortable with him knowing.

  Stumping on down the street, he worried that things might not turn out the way he hoped that they would and wondered what would happen if he got Lisa back to his world and the Universe didn’t make any adjustments in her. There just was no way for him to know and he tried to push the thoughts from his mind, but had nothing with which to replace them.

  It was in this state that he stepped up onto the curb just down the street from Lisa’s house; well within sight of it, but hidden from anybody outside so long as he didn’t stand under a streetlight. He stopped for some moments and watched the house from his vantage point. He couldn’t be seen clearly by anyone unless they were within thirty feet of him and, feeling a trepidation that he had not felt before this trip to the other world, he dithered on the sidewalk for a while.

  The storm door opened and a female figure in a low-cut sundress stepped out
onto the porch, walking slowly to the porch swing and lowering herself onto it. He was sure that it was Lisa and as the swing began its pendulum motion, he imagined that her face held a pensive expression. Screwing up his courage, he took the first step toward her. As his feet found their way along the dimly seen sidewalk, his heart was in his mouth and the beat of his heart roared in his ears with each step, counting a cadence of its own. With his first step onto the porch, her head snapped toward him, her mouth and eyes rounding into a triplet of ‘o’s, to be replaced immediately with an expression that he could swear was one of consternation and fear.

  Stopping in front of her, he had trouble finding his voice but managed to say, "I’ve missed you so much."

  Lowering her eyes, she said, "I think we’ve been seeing too much of each other."

  Surmising that she thought that he was this world’s Brian, his mind raced as he desperately tried to find something that would differentiate them in her mind. Finally, he said, "I’ve seen you just twice in the past week. Once as I was working on my car and again when you left the psychic’s storefront. When I opened my eyes again, you were gone."

  She lifted her face to stare at him, disbelief and relief both writ large on her expression and she shot up from the swing to lodge herself in his arms. Standing on tiptoe, she brushed his lips with a kiss.

  Babbling, "I thought I was going crazy! I saw you and it just seemed so incredible that two people could be the same person but be different!" she clung to him as though he was the only anchor in her life.

  He stroked her hair and cheek with his hand, tears coming into his eyes as he realized that this girl was identical to his Lisa and that he was less than a day away from taking her back to his world. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he contented himself with simply holding her until she calmed down and he could ease her back onto the swing.

  Taking a deep breath, he let it partway out and said, "We’ve got to talk. You’ve got to come with me. Tomorrow at sunset, we have to be at the brook out at the end of Lynx Lane."

  Her eyes flew wide at his mention of the place and she said, "It’s closed to traffic. It has been ever since last year when those guys kidnapped that girl and beat up her boyfriend. You know that!"

  He shook his head. "No, I don’t know that. I’m from another place, Lisa. Think. It’s different where I come from; that didn’t happen there."

  Subsiding, she thought for a moment, looking puzzled until she brightened and said, "Then we can drive to where they have it blocked off and walk from there. Or, drive around the barricade."

  She suddenly stopped and a frown came to her face as she remembered the things the psychic had told her.

  "Where are you going to stay until tomorrow? You can’t go home; they’ll know you aren’t their Brian. Besides, he’ll be there."

  "The gypsy said that one of us would die if we met. I don’t know exactly what he is like in this world, but I don’t want to be the cause of his death. Nor do I want to die because of him. If he knew about me and knew that you and I had made contact, he could be pretty rough on you; I don’t want that either."

  Clutching at his arms, she said, "He would stop me from going with you if he knew! Oh, you don’t know what he’s like! He was this sweet boy that I fell in love with in high school, but he changed."

  "Is he expecting to see you tonight or tomorrow?"

  "He’s fishing with his friends tonight but he’ll want to see me tomorrow night."

  Frowning, Brian asked, "Doesn’t he work or anything?"

  "He’s lost job after job. I’ve given up on him ever amounting to anything. When I first saw you, I was wishing that he would change back to the boy I knew in school. And, there you were."

  She pulled a handkerchief from between her breasts and unfolded it gently, holding it up for him to see it. An odd, light stain that vaguely resembled the palm and fingers of a hand occupied the center of it and he smelled sweat, carnauba wax and Lisa’s own scent. Frowning, he looked questioningly at Lisa.

  She said, "When I touched you, I felt a thrill like none I’ve ever felt before or since, and knew that I had to preserve it. Whenever I feel myself getting down, I sniff of it and remember what I felt when I touched you."

  Her hand came up to caress his cheek and as he looked into her eyes, he knew that he didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

  He asked, "Would it cause you trouble if you were to spend the night somewhere besides home?"

  Her eyes went to the front door and she whispered, "My sister is watching. They all hate Brian and watch him whenever he’s here. Dad would like to disown me, but Mom won’t let him; she says that as long as I’m staying here, they can protect me from Brian even if they can’t keep me from going out with him. It would be better if I met you somewhere tomorrow afternoon."

  Hating to leave her, he asked, "Will it cause trouble if I stay here for a while? I don’t need to go in or talk to anybody; I just want to spend time with you."

  Casting a sidelong look toward the door, she said, "They don’t like for Brian to stay longer than a few minutes. In a short while, Mom will come to the door and tell me to come inside."

  Thrown off-stride by this revelation, he said, "They really don’t like him here, do they?"

  Shaking her head, she said, "He’s been in so much trouble that they would just as soon he left town and never came back. Daddy would like to buy him off, but he’s afraid that I would leave town with Brian if he did that."

  He sighed and said, "I’ll leave in a minute then. I’ll have to find someplace to spend the night, though. Is there anyplace in town where they don’t know him?"

  A little line formed between her eyes as she thought a moment, then said, "The Sundown Lodge. It’s a new place next to the Country Club. He always said the place was too fancy for him. Since they’re on the edge of town, they’re used to people spending the night without luggage."

  Almost diffidently, she asked, "You can afford it can’t you? It’s pretty expensive."

  He thought of the two-hundred dollars in his wallet and the credit card and felt confident that the charges for the Sundown wouldn’t break him. Then it occurred to him that the credit card account probably didn’t exist in this world but felt sure that his cash would still be good.

  Just then, Mrs. Carey came to the door and rapped on it, jerking her head at Lisa and giving Brian a dirty look. Lisa jumped up from the swing and bent to kiss him before she fled inside, leaving him on the swing by himself. He suddenly remembered that they hadn’t set a rendezvous for the next afternoon and almost rapped on the door before he thought better of it. He could always call her the next day.

  With slow steps, he descended from the porch and walked back out onto the sidewalk. It would be a long walk out to the motel but he didn’t have anything else to do.

  Chapter Three

  Petra leaned over the saucer with its dried bits of tea leaves and dribbled a little tea from her cup into it, blowing the steam away with her exhalations. She had added the leftover water from Brian’s bottle to the pot and as the fresh tea moistened the bits of leaf, she mumbled a short incantation. An image formed in the dregs and she watched as Brian’s form came into view walking down a darkened street with huge oak trees overhanging the sidewalk, cutting the illumination from the streetlights almost to nothing. Had it not been for the white shirt he wore, she wouldn’t have been able to see him at all. For just a moment, he stepped through a space that received the full light due to a break in the tree limbs and as he came into view, she hissed through her teeth; soon, he would be in a position to come between her and that she feared and then things would be right with her world.

  Abruptly covering the top of the cup, severing the connection with the next world, she rose from her chair and walked to the front door of the little shop. Flipping the switch beside the door, she saw the glimmer of the neon sign showing through the curtain go out and she sighed; it wouldn’t hurt anything to close a little early. Though she had been keeping
up the steady infusion of the herbs that would allow her to remain herself without the Universe making its adjustments, she could still feel the pull of this world. If she wasn’t careful, there was no amount of herbs and incantations that would allow her to function with a clear memory of where she came from. It was too bad that his Lisa had died because of her presence in this world, but Petra wouldn’t let anything stand in her way.

  As she put out the light in the front of the shop, she slipped a hand inside the top of her peasant blouse and moved her fingers over the slight scar just under her left breast. Despite the potations she had imbibed and the incantations she recited every day, the scar was fading and she knew that as it faded, so also did her memories. When they were completely gone, she would be the person this world had known and there was a chance that she would forget what she had come here for. Though she would never forget the person she had fled. She was too close now to have anything go wrong. By throwing one Brian and Lisa after another into his way, she hoped that he would gradually lose the anger and rage that had driven him for so long and become what she wished him to be. She only had to keep him here long enough for the Universe to make its adjustments; maybe then he would lose his memories and become acclimated to this world. Maybe then he would stop hunting her.

  * * *

  As she walked into her living quarters behind the storefront, Marishka slipped out of the suit jacket and lacy top that she wore under it, dropping them on the floor. As her hands went to the zipper at the back of the skirt, she wondered if her doppelganger in the next world was doing the same. With a slight shrug, she thought, "Probably not.", and lowered the zipper, letting the skirt fall in a puddle around her feet before kicking it to the side. Her slip followed it and she stood in the little living room in just her underwear and the high-heels she had affected for this world. She hated them; they were so uncomfortable and made her feet and ankles ache for hours after she wore them.