Gizmo was already awake, sitting six inches from her face with his favorite ball and waiting for this moment. He grabbed it with his powerful jaws and jumped on top of her, growling and whmpering while trying to pull the cover from her head. Having no luck, he looked over at The Joker asleep on his back. The little dog lept over Spiral, landing square on The Joker's stomach like a seven pound bowling ball. As The Joker's face contorted in pain and suprise, Gizmo dropped the slobber covered ball into his open mouth and waited for him to play. The Joker spat it out and tossed it over the loft rail. Terrified, Gizmo watched the ball disappear from site and heared it bounce around the living room below. With an alarmed yelp he shot off the bed to fetch it. The Joker thought Gizmo was going to follow his ball over the rail and the dog actually considered it for a moment. However, he decided against that and The Joker heard his little feet running down the stairs to retrieve it.
Spiral gathered the courage to face the sun rising higher in the eastern sky. Slowly she uncovered her head and looked out the window. Townwalk Apartments looked out over a valley to the tree covered hillside across the way. It was late fall and some of the trees were already bare. The had arrived in New England at the height of the autumn's colors with its cool mornings, warm afternoons and chilly nites. It was The Joker's day off and she was looking forward to getting out into the fresh air.
She got out of bed and went downstairs. Gizmo had become sidetracked and was lying in a patch of sun chewing on his favorite bone. She fixed herself a fresh pepsi over ice and looked around the apartment. Her new plants were flourishing but those they brought from Florida weren't doing so well. The week they spent in the Hell House had taken its toll on the poor things.
They had arrived in East Haven three weeks ago after dark and met the landlord outside of the townhouse MRA had rented for them. It was located in an old hillside neighborhood overlooking Quinnipiac Bay and looked alrite from the outside. But inside... Spiral had a chilling premenition about the place before they left Florida and she was inside less than two minutes before she felt the dark and evil presence trapped within the rotting structure. The walls needed patching and painting and the furniture was hidious in taste and condition. The kitchen was gross. Food was stuck to the greasy walls and mini blinds. The oven had an inch of carbonized food baked into its surface and its stovetop reflector plates were full of burnt grease and a gray fuzzy stuff she couldn't identify. Something had exploded in the microwave and the musty fridge had old food left over, she thought, from last spring.
The Landlady led them up to the second floor by a steep, narrow stairway of at least 30 steps. A trail of dried blood drops stained the fraid carpet of each step and bloody hand prints smeared the walls. At the top of the stair, a large puddle of dried blood too large to step over stiffened the carpet fibers and gave Spiral's soul a nasty bite when she stepped on it. Someone had mixed concrete in the bath tub. Everytime Spiral flushed the toilet, a fine mist from a cracked pipe sprayed the mildewed wallpaper behind it and the faucet needed a new washer. As she looked fearfully into the dingy bedroom, the landlady mentioned that she was charging the agency $1000 a month for the place. Spiral was ready to leave. She almost died when The Joker agreed to occupancy saying it was too late at nite to find another place.
The next morning he called MRA. The Joker had accepted occupancy, they said, and had to stay. When The Joker threatened to quit they said that they could look for another place but would have to pay for their own motel room, which they couldn't afford. They were trapped in the Hell House. Spiral could have cleaned the place physically and spiritually. This was not her first haunted house but this place was bad- real bad, and not worth the trouble. The Joker had little experience with hauntings and this spirit was not for the faint or novice. But she was able to keep it quiet while they searched for a new apartment.
New Haven, Connecticut is an old city lacking modern apartments. The wanted a place that offered short term leases, accepted pets, and had a washer and drier. This eliminated most of the rental space in the county including a beautiful victorian beach house on Long Island Sound that wouldn't take Gizmo. At least they were able to get out into the neighborhoods and they really liked the area. In the end they settled on the Townwalk Apartments in the old colonial suburb of Hamden, about ten miles inland from the coast. They were a few blocks up the hill from a little town center and not far from some strip malls. The country to the north quickly became semi-rural. The apartments were expensive, about $1500 for a one bedroom loft with huge windows and a deck, of which The Joker had about $400 a month deducted from his paycheck and the agency picking up the rest plus utilities. Not a bad deal.
They moved in on a crisp afternoon two weeks before halloween. Spiral loved the sunlight for her plants and quickly filled every available space with fraigrant, culinary and medicinal herbs. They even bought two wall shelves and fitted them with flourescent lites so they could grow even more. They took alot of care but she loved those plants. She could feel their life force cleansing the air and even now she could hear them singing as they bathed in the morning sunshine.
The Joker watched her from the loft while she watered the plants. He was excited about being off and looked forward to going out with her that afternoon. He liked his new job at Bridgeport General Hospital. Working the psych unit was easy enough but he hated working evenings. His shift ran from 4pm until midnite and the hospital was an hour away down the Meritt Parkway. It was a beautiful drive thru the wooded suburbs, going over hills, down into valleys and thru a tunnel or two. He sped along in steady traffic while listening to CBS am radio broadcasting out of New York City and thinking. It was putting a lot of miles on the p.o.s. mazda and he hated being so far from Spiral at nite. Now that the OJ trial was over, she was exploring her creative side. Martha Stewart, living just down the road in Westport, would have been envious of her relationship with plant life and her ability to decorate with them. Each plant was like a living sculpture chosen and displayed like a work of art. She was also planning to go back to school and becomng a paralegal or pursuing an advanced nursing degree. Her health was stable and mood bright and he was so proud of her.
They ate a quick breakfast while watching Martha Stewart before dressing warmly for the fall afternoon. Their first stop was Paradise Nursery in the hills below West Rock Ridge. They had an eight foot ficus and an old aloe plant Spiral needed to finish off a corner of the living room. Paradise's prices were very reasonable and Spiral enjoyed talking with the old Italian couple that owned it. Later that nite they hoped to stop by the library in the town center. Spiral wanted some books on native New England herbs and The Joker was researching Pre-Columbian European Exploration in the Western Hemisphere. He also hoped to stop at one of the roadside pumpkin stands popping up all over the city. Spiral put a leash on Gizmo and they stepped outside.
It was a glorious New England fall day.
12/95- Hamden, Ct
Spiraldance's Travel Page
Spiral's Home Page
Spiral' s First Web Site
Spiral's Women's Web Site
Spiral's Site Map
Spiral's Web Rings Page
spiraldance@webtv.net
