The First Time Steve Showed Up
And Lucas thought he would be all alone
Lucas backed the medium-sized rental truck into the small parking area near the house he had recently purchased. The last time he had crossed state lines to move everything he owned fit into the back of a pickup truck. Now he had to rent a moving truck.
Getting out of the cab of the truck, Lucas intentionally froze as his feet touched the dirt and gravel on the ground. He stopped all thinking and put all his attention on his feet. He had on white tennis shoes and socks so it was not a direct ‘kiss of the earth,’ so to speak, but he could feel the energy passing between the ground and his feet. Taking a deep breath, Lucas luxuriated in the feeling of planting his feet on land that he actually owned. It was sublime. It was a feeling that he had never experienced before.
After a rather long moment he walked to the back of the truck, unlocking the padlock and rolling up the back of the truck. He then pulled out the ramp that enabled him to walk right up into the back of the truck. Before he could take so much as a first step up the ramp, though, he was startled by a man walking to the back of the truck.
He was a young man, perhaps in his mid to late twenties. He had unkempt blonde hair that cascaded in curls down almost to his shoulders. Near-invisible blonde fuzz protruded from his chin and upper lip. A backpack was slung over one shoulder.
“Hi. I’m Steve,” Steve held out his hand.
After a brief moment of startled silence Lucas shook the man’s hand, “Hi. I’m… uh… I’m… er… uh… I’m Lucas.”
“You don’t sound too sure of that.”
Lucas erupted in laughter. “Yeah, I guess I’m not. So how can I help you?”
“Well, actually that’s what I wanted to ask you. I was just walkin’ down the road and saw that you’re about to unload a truck and… I guess I just wondered if you might need help unloading it.”
Lucas looked from Steve to the load in the back of the truck then back at Steve then back at the load then, once again, back at Steve, “Hell yeah, I could use some help. Are you available?”
“I sure am. “ Steve began taking his backpack off his shoulder.
“Hey, first let’s go down this little path to the house so you know where to take stuff. I’ve got to unlock it anyway.”
Steve hoisted his pack-pack back up to his shoulder and followed Lucas down the short path to the house. Lucas unlocked the door, took two steps into the house then froze. Once again his attention was on his feet. He was feeling what it felt like to step onto the floor of a house that he actually owned. And again, it was a joyful, brand-new experience for him.
Feeling that glorious floor beneath his feet, Lucas took a deep breath as though to suck in every bit of air within his new house. Several different scents were forever imprinted upon the olfactory neuron receptors in his noggin. He was like a dog being given a scent to follow. If he were to go blind the next day Lucas would still be able to tell if he was home.
Once in the house, Steve took off his back-pack and placed it on the floor just to the side of the front door. Looking around, he slowly said, “Dude, this is an awesome bachelor pad.”
Bachelor pad?! Lucas was stunned. Bachelor pad?! I haven’t heard that phrase in twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years! Bachelor pad?! That is the farthest thing he had envisioned his new home to be.
Lucas slapped his forehead, “‘Bachelor pad’ I can’t see but ‘awesome’ I can definitely see. But what I want to know from you, Steve…”
“Yeah?”
“Now just clear your thinking and just feel. Look around and see and feel the totality of the space. Yeah, there are two levels but it is essentially a big rectangular box. Now, looking at the floor, can you tell me where the exact center point is of this whole space?”
Steve took a few steps backwards. He looked up to the high ceiling. He looked around at all four sides of the building. He then looked at the floor then back up at the ceiling then again around at all the walls…
Finally, Steve stepped forward and placed the tip of his right hiking boot on a particular spot on the wooden floor, “I’d say the exact middle of the entire space is right about there!”
“Oh my God! Wow, you’re in touch with your inner senses, aren’t you?”
“Huh?”
“Seriously, you are only about two and a third inches off but you are spot on, as they say across the pond.”
“Huh?”
Lucas then became emphatic, “Don’t move your foot! Just keep it right there…”
Lucas then went scurrying around his empty new home. He went through the kitchen, into the closet and into the bathroom. Coming out of the bathroom, he was holding a cardboard roll that had once been encircled with toilet paper. He brought the empty roll to where Steve was standing, “Okay, you can move your foot. I’ll put this cardboard roll on the floor right here at the center point of the space. When we bring the boxes in from the truck I want everything to go right in the center here.”
“Seriously dude? Whenever I’ve moved into a new place I just pile everything up against one wall.”
Lucas gasped, “Oh dear no! No, no, no; that’s all wrong. If you pile everything in the center of the room then as you unpack whatever you are unpacking it will tell you what wall it wants to be associated with. As you unpack, everything goes to whatever wall it picks and when you’re done unpacking the center of the room will be empty and that is where you can put your furniture. You can then organize your walls and you’re done.”
“Are you fucking for real?”
Lucas laughed heartily, “Oh Steve, I’ve been asking that question my whole life and I still don’t have an answer. Anyway, it’s gonna get weirder. Let’s find out how good your inner compass is. I want you to stand right there next to the toilet paper roll thingie. Then close your eyes and turn clockwise in one complete 360 degree turn.”
Steve did as he was told.
“Okay, now open your eyes and tell me where true north is.”
Steve opened his eyes and looked around the room. He then pointed straight ahead, “That’s north so the opposite direction behind me would be south,” he held both arms out and pointed, “which makes that east and that west.” He then looked at Lucas.
“Very good and perfectly accurate. Did you learn that in boy scouts?”
“Oh hell no. In boy scouts we were taught how to use a real compass. They never mentioned anything about inner compasses. Despite them, I learned that the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west. That’s about all ya need to know. I already had the directions figured before I even set foot in the house. I live just down the road so I’m sure it’s all the same right here. You know, I don’t even own a compass but I do a lot of hiking.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. I read somewhere that people who are always on their smart-phones start loosing their inner sense of direction.”
“Really? I never heard that. Maybe it’s true, though. I don’t have a smart-phone or any kind of phone. I also don’t have TV or an internet connection.”
“Seriously? I am so envious.”
“Yeah, well, I’m like almost totally off-grid, man.”
“Oh, I am so jealous. You know, one of the first things I plan on doing once I’m settled in is have solar panels put on the roof. I’m headed in somewhat of an off-grid situation myself.”
“Yeah, I’ve got two solar panels on top of my little trailer. It’s all I need. I don’t have a steady job so I can’t afford to have any monthly bills.”
“Ah yes, monthly bills. They are what keeps us imprisoned.” Lucas clapped his hands together lightly then pointed at the floor, “Okay, anyway… imagine me painting an invisible X on the floor, with the center of the X being right on the center point of the room and this breaks up the space into four quadrants; one to the north, one to the east, one to the south and one to the west.”
“Okay.”
“Now, when you start hauling boxes from the truck into the house you will notice that every box has one of four letters written in green magic marker on the top of the box. The letters are N, E, S, and W and they stand for north, east, south, and west. So put the box down in the quadrant that corresponds with the letter on the box.”
“Seriously? And I thought I was weird and anal.”
Lucas laughed, slapping his hand on his thigh, “Yeah, well I’m a walking treasure trove of weirdness. I’m a lot older than you and I’ll bet I can out-weird you any day of the week.”
Steve laughed as he looked back and forth between Lucas and the invisible X on the floor. Finally, he said, “Okay, let’s do it.”
It took the two men forty minutes to unload the truck. Lucas figured that if he had done it all himself it would probably have taken at least two hours.
As the two men placed the last boxes in their respective quadrants Lucas walked over to the refrigerator, calling out over his shoulder, “Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure. Okay.”
Lucas opened the refrigerator and stepped back so Steve could see inside it. The refrigerator was completely empty and the light did not even come on when Lucas opened it. Lucas slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead, “Whoops, I guess I need to plug this in and put some stuff in it. Sorry, all I’ve got to offer is water,” he pointed at the kitchen sink.
“That’s cool,” Steve walked over to the kitchen sink, turned it on then bent down to put his mouth under the faucet and drink.
Lucas gasped. How uncivilized! he thought. Then he shook his head as though to release that judgment out of his noggin. With a clear judgment-free head memories rose to the surface of when Lucas did that very thing many times so long, long ago.
With the faucet turned off Steve stood upright and wiped some water off his chin with the back of his hand, “Well, I better get going. Good luck with your… uh… unpacking.” Steve walked over to his back-pack.
“Well, can I give you some money for your work?”
“Aw, you don’t gotta do that… but, you know, if you want to that’s cool.”
Lucas reached into his pants pocket and retrieved a wad of cash. Peeling off a fifty dollar bill, he handed it to Steve.
“Dude! That’s a lot of money for no more than an hour’s worth of work.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I really need to start being a little more frugal. But seriously, I really, really appreciated your help.”
“Okay then,” Steve took the bill, “But… uh… can I ask you something? Would you happen to have smaller bills? They work better for me. Fifties can be a hassle.”
“What? Really? Uh… okay, sure,” Lucas brought the money back out of his pocket and handed Steve a twenty and three tens as he took back the fifty.
“Thanks dude. I really appreciate this.”
Steve slung his back-pack over his shoulder and stepped out of the house. Lucas stepped out and closed the door behind him.
As they walked the short path to where the rent-a-truck was parked Steve spoke up, “Hey man, if you ever need help with, you know, odd jobs, chores and stuff, well, I’m usually available.”
“That’s good to know, Steve, but how do I get in touch with you? You said you don’t have a phone or internet.”
“Uh, yeah. I do have an email address you can send messages to but I only check my email once a week on Saturdays when I go into town and use a computer at the library.”
“Hmm,” Lucas put his two forefingers to the sides of his forehead, “I guess the quickest way to get in touch with you is to send you a psychic message.”
“Yeah, right. Hey, I’m no psychic.”
“Of course you are. Everyone is psychic. We’ve just been told all our life that such things don’t exist and at some point we start believing that lie. You showed that your inner senses are still working so I bet your inner psychic abilities are not atrophied through lack of use as with most people.”
“Uh, okay. So if you need me for anything just send me a psychic message.”
Lucas and Steve shook hands then Steve walked away.
Lucas was about to turn around and go back to the house. He was dying to be alone in his brand new home. But there was something he needed to do first so he got into the truck and drove into town to return the truck and pick up his SUV and then, on the way home, stop to pick up some toilet paper.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. Writings of White Feather
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