Eleven
n
I never thought much about my father, I had only ever dreamed of my mother. I had dreams of her dark hair and teardrop brown eyes. I dreamt of her watching George Bailey offer to hang the moon while she stroked my hair until I was asleep. My favorite dreams were of her voice, and if I held on tight I could almost hear it even after I’d woken up.
I read Gina’s journal entries until each word had burned into my permanent memory, only to be left wanting more. It was as if part of her was with me in 1949, and as if I’d been with her in 1924. I walked the island from north to south searching for Luna Road envisioning her next to me through every step.
Halfway down Main Street, on the sound side of the island, I eyed a piece of large driftwood sticking out from an unruly bush. I walked past without thinking much of it only to do a double take seconds after, I took a few steps backward to look again. On the corner of the jagged piece of wood the letter A peeked out.
I ripped off the vines that had grown over revealing an engraved LUNA hidden underneath. We carved Luna into a piece of driftwood and staked it into the ground near Main Street by our inlet. The same piece of wood Louise had discovered in 1908 was in my hands.
Like I was a spy, I stepped into the woods that grew horizontal to the inlet and ran through the thick row of trees. When I reached the end, I saw it. The house on Luna Road.
Like a flipbook of photographs, every memory I had of that house fell out. I’d wondered since the day I left if it was nothing more than a dream, but seeing it in the flesh assured me that it was all very real.
Next to Gina’s house was a newly built home with a FOR SALE sign in the yard. I need you to search for the house on Luna Road. I believe that when you see it, you’ll know. Buy that house.
The words, you’ll know, kept repeating.
I could feel my five year old self waking up cozy in the bed, watching as my mother peeked out of the bedroom curtain at the same house that was for sale. I could feel the pain that radiated out of her as she stood staring at the house next door moments before we ran away. The mystery behind her longing to be inside with the laughter escaping from the open windows lingered in the 1949 air.
She sent me to buy that house before anyone else could.
I sat in the woods watching the pair of homes from the sidelines. A soft breeze danced in the trees and sailboats floated on the quiet water until a squeaky porch door broke the silence.
My body perked up as I watched Louise walk down the steps from the porch to a wooden swing hanging from a tree. She sat for a long while in a classy blue dress watching the water with her head leaned against the rope. A hard gust of wind flew past pulling her head up from its sideways position. She pushed herself back as far as her legs would take her and swung forward.
When the wind calmed, she planted her feet down for a firm stop. She stood up, smoothed her dress off and shook her shoulders out until they stood tall. She grabbed her purse and began walking down the gravel walkway toward Main Street. I scrunched myself down as far as I could making sure I was out of sight.
j
On the second day of walking to Luna Road, there was a small girl standing in the yard with the FOR SALE sign. Even if I hadn’t officially claimed it yet, she was standing in my yard. No one else had bought it, so as far as I was concerned it was already SOLD. The sight of an actual person made my chest start filling with nervous air. I was scared that if I didn’t act fast someone, that little girl, would take it as her own before I could.
“Hello,” she yelled, running toward me. Her honey brown hair trailed behind her like a cape in the wind. It was the kind of hair that would only keep getting darker the older she got, but in that moment it was the perfect shade against her sun kissed skin.
“Hello,” I responded, moving closer to the sign. I felt stupid thinking a kid could steal a house from me, but it felt that way regardless.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“What are you doing?” I asked more forcefully than I intended.
“Have you ever kissed a boy?” She asked with her eyes growing wide.
“What?” I spat, laughing out loud, since she didn’t look like she could be much older than eight. “Where are your parents?”
“My mother is inside,” she said, putting her thumb over her shoulder. I looked up at the house searching the windows for Louise. She was usually in town at that time of day.
“How old are you?” She asked, stealing my attention.
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Why won’t you answer any of my questions?” She talked with her hands, saying much more than her words did.
“I’m 18.” Technically, I still had over three weeks until it was October 5th in 1949. The full moon threw everything off, making me wait even longer to claim the title of adult.
“I’m 10!” Her light brown eyes lit up. They almost looked golden under the glow of the sun. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She looked so familiar and was much too beautiful for her age. “We’re almost the same age!”
“Not even close.”
I started walking toward the window of the house to peek in, the same way I’d done the other times I’d been there.
“Why do you keep looking at this house?” she asked.
“This is my first time here,” I said.
“I hardly think that’s the truth. I’ve seen you at least two other times. There’s no telling how many more than that you’ve poked around.”
I cut my eyes sharp at her. Her hands were on her hips and her lips were puckered out like she was a sassy girl from the Disney channel. Apparently, time didn’t change everything - there were still annoying kids that thought they knew more about life than anyone else.
"What’s your name?” she asked.
“Vanessa. What’s yours?” I walked onto the front porch to peek into the window on the front door. The glass was clean, and it was easy to see inside. It was a beautiful, newly built house consisting of one main room, with a long window seat and a tiny kitchen nook. There was a ladder that lead to a loft and two doorways, one to a bedroom and one to a bathroom. It was perfect.
“Jo,” the little girl answered.
I whipped my head over to her. The anxiety that had sailed away from our easy banter crashed hard into the shoreline of my shoulders. Jo, as I now knew her, was sitting cross-legged among the white clover flowers braiding their stems together into a chain. I looked from her up to the house she came from. A shadow walked by the window then out of sight. Louise.
The journal entries and every small bit of information I did know about my family, flashed before me. Louise and Jo lived in the house that Gina Marshall called home. I was standing next to my ten year old great-grandmother .
“You said your mother was inside?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“I’ll only tell you if you answer my first question.” Jo said, placing the circular flower chain onto her head like a crown.
“Which one was that?”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“That wasn’t what you asked.”
“Then why didn’t you just answer to begin with?” Jo asked with her hands on her hips.
“Not really,” I answered, making my cheeks flush.
“What a shame. I would give anything to be kissed by a boy,” Jo said, touching her lips. She began skipping and swirling around in a circle with one arm spread out like she was dancing as she led us toward her house. “Follow me.”
Jo lived like the weather.
j
“I wondered when you would find us,” Louise said, placing a cup of hot tea in front of me. Peppermint smoke lifted out of the cup seeping into my body. She poured in a splash of cream and placed a plopping cube of sugar in after. I picked up the spoon that sat inside the cup and swirled, trying to allow the tinkling of metal against glass to calm my nerves.
“I didn’t
,” I said. “I’m interested in buying the house next door.”
Louise looked at me with eyes that cut like knives as she looked past my face and down at my yellow dress. “Nice dress.”
Part of me was scared she had an actual knife tucked into her belt, just waiting for the right moment to slash me. I shook the image out of my head, as I sipped the steaming liquid. The minty flavor stuck to my tongue long after I swallowed. “Thanks.”
My eyes wandered around the room, taking in every detail of my surroundings. I landed on a photo sitting on top of a small china cabinet of Louise when she was younger, laughing next to a girl who looked like her sister. They were sitting on the hook of a large moon with stars scattered around in the dark background behind them. The words Louise wrote in the journal ran through me.
We took four photos at a Man in the Moon photo booth. We took two together - so we could each have one. I will keep mine forever, and I hope she will too.
“Lemon?” Louise asked, holding out a small glass bowl of lemon slices toward me. I shook my head.
Jo was sitting at the table with us, sipping her tea like a proper lady.
“That house is $5,500 and only a one bedroom. Are you sure your grandmother wouldn’t prefer something larger or perhaps oceanfront?” Louise asked. I wasn’t sure why she was playing a game with me, but I decided to play along for the sake of Jo.
“It’s exactly what she would want,” I said.
“Buying a house comes with responsibility.”
“Of what kind?”
“Leaving it vacant, for any amount of time, could cause it to crumble. After a while, the salt water will seep into its bones and make it difficult for the house to breathe,” Louise said, taking a sip like she’d just been talking about the weather. “How would you feel if you were carried deep into the salty waters, unable to breathe?”
I wanted to throw my tea cup down onto her wooden floor and smash it into a million piece to let her know I wasn’t scared of her, even though I was. I looked across the table at Jo, she hadn’t flinched at anything her mother said. She was probably daydreaming about being kissed by a minty fresh boy.
“It would be kept up. She would make sure of it,” I said, confidently. I hadn’t thought about the house long term, but I couldn’t admit it. I had to stay strong.
“How could she possibly ever make sure of that? Is she here with you now?” Louise asked, looking up from her teacup with a smirk.
“As a matter of fact she is.”I sat my cup down, harder than I intended. The clank of the ceramic against ceramic made Jo jump almost as high as my own shoulders did. Louise didn’t move.
“Are you finished with your tea?” She reached for my unbroken cup before I could answer looking inside like she was examining it for cracks. “Interesting.”
“What?” I spat.
“Your tea cup is giving away all your secrets.”
“Tea cups don’t talk.”
“Yours just did,” Louise said ominously, raising her eyebrows slightly. Walking carefully in her heels, she carried our cups and saucers over to her mint green countertop.
“She does Tasseography or what some call tea readings,” Jo explained, finishing her tea. She looked inside of her own cup after taking a final slirp. “Mine says that I’ll see my life path through a new friend.”
“How could you see that in a cup?” I asked her in a friendly, yet curious voice.
“The tea leaves left at the bottom of the cup form images. In mine, I see a boat, which means a visit from a friend and also symbolizes my life. Then inside of the boat is an open door, which means it’s opening me up to something new,” Jo explained, holding her cup out for me to see. “It’s all very clear really. You’re going to be my new neighbor, therefore I’ll see you all throughout my life. Am I close?”
I nodded and bit the inside of my cheek. “What did mine say?”
Louise walked back to the table and sat down with one of her heels tucked behind the other and her hands folded gently in her lap. “Jo is a natural. I’ll let her tell you.”
Louise motioned for Jo to run across the room to look into my unwashed cup. The sunlight poured in on her baby smooth skin like she was a doll on display, and I couldn’t stop staring. The Marshall gene must have run deep because I could almost see Gina standing in the same spot washing dishes as I played on the floor at her feet. Everything about Jo was so familiar.
“There’s a book, which means you’ll find the answer you’re looking for by reading. On top of the book is a bird… which looks more like a parrot, which means something has been repeated. They are both inside of a triangle, which means something unexpected or 3,” Jo said. I was entranced by her small voice.
“Very good Jo,” Louise said. Jo beamed. “Now, can you relay the message?”
Jo thought quietly, moving her lips as she made the way back to her seat. She sat down and entwined her fingers together, sitting them on top of the table. “Well, it’s a complicated cup… but, I believe it’s trying to tell you that you will read something unexpected and will see a pattern in the unexpected. I also believe that you are one third of the pattern.”
Louise nodded, reaching over to rub Jo’s hand gently with her own. They both looked over at me with the same piercing brown eyes as I fumbled for words. “What kind of pattern?”
“Tea leaves can’t talk,” Jo answered. “You just have to keep living.”
Twelve
n
August 15th, 2019
Dear Luna,
I’ve arrived from 1957! I’m only the third Marshall to fall forward instead of backward. I’m not sure what made you choose me to be one of the lucky ones, but I’m so thankful you did.
I wasn’t scared when I jumped. I held my arms out like I was flying and felt like I was. I have been waiting for this day for 8 years, since the day my mother told me about Luna time. I have dreamed every night since about when I would land. I don’t know what I ever did to get so lucky.
Jo
August 16th, 2019
Dear Luna,
I spent the day laying out on the beach. My bathing suit fits in better than I expected it to, my clothes do not. Luckily, I don’t care what people think about me.
I only have $200, and I’m afraid that it won’t get me far. I’m going to need to use most of it for food. I can’t believe how much everything costs!
Jo
August 17th, 2019
Dear Luna,
I’m one of those people who are in love with being in love. I love love, and I can’t apologize for it. I know that it may complicate things, but from what I can tell a lot of us travelers fell in love when we shouldn’t have. That being said, I met a boy! He’s gorgeous and I’m in love.
His name is Jordan. He works at The Black Swan, and his mom does too. She’s feisty which is something I happen to have in common with her. I got a job there because it’s the same place I had a job at one week ago. The menu changed a bit.
Jo
September 7th, 2019
Dear Luna,
I’m sorry I haven’t been checking in, blame it on Jordan. All is well.
Jo
September 14th, 2019
Dear Luna,
Vanessa was on the pier tonight, I knew who she was the minute I saw her.
I wanted to tell her that she was my great-granddaughter because that’s exactly who she is. I wish I could hold her hand and assure her that she’s going someplace good, that she’s about to meet a wonderful boy that will change her life, and that she’ll be meeting the ten year old version of me. But instead I’m going to watch her take her jump from the sidelines, and I’ll jump in after.
Jumping back feels easier now than it did this morning thanks to Vanessa. I know now that no matter how much it hurts to leave, I need to be there to watch over my girls and make sure they all get to where they need to go.
I’ll miss you, Luna. Thank you for giving
me the best month of my life.
Jo
A shiver of dejavu ran down my back. The girl on the pier had been Jo, the girl that made me reconsider jumping just so I could spend another minute in her presence. Seeing my life through someone else’s eyes was unlike any other feeling.
She’s going someplace good. Home.
She’s about to meet a wonderful boy that will change her life. Wren.
She’s about to meet the ten year old version of me. Jo.
Thirteen
n
A knock on room number 5’s door woke me up from my mid-afternoon nap, a luxury I’d grown accustomed to. In deep sleep, I’d almost forgotten where I was. My eyes fluttered open as the knocking grew less distant and more urgent. The sun was peeking in, but only a sliver made its way to me. It burned my eyes through the curtain of hair that covered my face.
I flung the door open and found Wren staring at me with wide eyes. I wasn’t sure who I was expecting, but it wasn’t him. I hadn’t seen him since my lighthouse escape, though he had been living in my dream.
Jo’s words flushed my cheeks. She’s about to meet a wonderful boy that will change her life. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him all my secrets, but considering I’d run away from him twice and hadn’t seen him in days, there was no telling what he thought of me.
“Were you asleep?” He asked, trying hard to keep his eyes off my pink button-up, satin pajamas.
“Of course not,” I said, brushing the wild hairs out of my face.
“You left your book at the lighthouse,” Wren said, handing me Little Women.
“Oh… thanks.” I bit my lip and tried to look thankful.
“Sure thing,” he said, tapping the doorway twice and then turning back to his truck.
My heart stopped beating as I watched him walk away. I took a deep breath and called out, “Was that all?”
On Luna Time Page 7
