Weekend Escape

Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm shouted unmercifully into Mark’s ear. Groaning, he rolled over and flailed out one arm hoping to connect with the noisome object.

Finally managing to silence the monster, Mark reluctantly pulled one eye open. Then, remembering what today was, he sat bolt upright and swung his feet to the floor.

“Janet! Brian! Breanna!”, he yelled. “Everybody up! It’s vacation time!”

“Mark!”, Janet grumbled, pulling the pillow over her ear. “I’m right here! No need to yell.”

“Sorry”, Mark replied, unrepentant. Already he was pulling on his Wrangler jeans and Justin boots. His thick, wavy, black hair stuck out in all directions while his black eyes danced with excitement.

Janet regarded her husband with amusement. She hadn’t seen him this excited to get up in the morning since he had taken over his father’s accounting firm five years ago.

Tossing back her waist-length blond hair, she teased, “Think the world can maintain its orbit if you take a few days off?”

He laughed. “We’ll see”, he responded. “If it stops spinning, I’ll just come back to work; that ought to put it to rights!”

This playful banter continued as the pair dressed and headed for the stairs.

Passing the twins’ rooms, no signs of life could be detected. Mark pounded on the doors. “Brian! Breanna! Are you up?”

Muffled grunts were all the answer he received. He and Janet continued down the stairs, both with armfuls of luggage.

Carefully, Mark arranged the luggage in the trunk of his 2019 Ferrari while Janet went back inside to roust out the late sleepers.

Much, much later, she returned, trailed by two sleepy, irritable eighteen-year-olds, both carrying an overnight bag.

“Is that all they’re taking?”, Mark queried. Janet rolled her eyes. “They seem to think that non-essentials like clothes can be omitted to make room for all their electronics!”

“But, Mom,” Breanna wailed. “I need my computer to keep up with the squad girls while I’m away!”

“And I need my Xbox,” Brian chimed in. “I’m two games away from beating Billy Masterson’s record!”

“See what I mean?”, Janet asked with another eye-roll.

“Yeah, I see what you mean”, Mark groused. “Well, Heaven forbid that we lose touch with the squad girls or hinder the making of an Xbox champion. Let’s get going.”

After a quick stop at McDonald’s for breakfast, they were off, driving to their rented cottage in the highlands. This mini vacation had been a long time coming.

Mark, an accountant worked 60 hours a week, while Janet, who was an RN, sometimes worked 72 hours a week at their local hospital.

Brian, a high school senior, was captain of the football team, putting in hours and hours of practice in addition to regular school hours and homework. His twin sister, Breanna was the head cheerleader at their school, so she spent countless hours with her “squad”, developing and practicing cheers to intimidate the competition.

Altogether, the family spent more time at their respective activities than they spent at home. Years of the work grind had made both Mark and Janet feel old before their time. And they both realized their twins were growing up and away from them far too quickly.

So, when a friend offered to rent Mark his quaint little cottage in the highlands for a weekend getaway, Mark and Janet jumped at the chance. The twins were not so impressed, but they agreed to go along since this was likely their last summer at home before college.

Now, rolling along in Mark’s Ferrari, everyone was starting to catch Mark’s excitement. Janet chatted endlessly about late mornings and lazy afternoons while Brian and Breanna wondered aloud what activities would be available to prevent their death of boredom. They both were sure they absolutely would not survive even an hour of sitting on a porch doing nothing.

While the talk swirled around him in the car, Mark’s mind wandered back to his childhood days spent on his grandparent’s farm. He could smell the freshness of the country air, the clean scent of the fields after a rain. He could hear the crickets chirping, the birds singing at dawn. If he closed his eyes, he could see the old homeplace; a modest little three-room house with a wide front porch where he’d spent many a day playing while his mother helped his grandparents shell peas, snap beans, and shuck corn.

Those were the days, he thought. None of the stress, worry or hurry that seem to consume my life now.

His eyes grew misty as he continued to recall his childhood. The last five years had been hard on Mark. His parents had both passed away rather suddenly, and Mark had been left to continue his father’s business alone. Mark’s only sibling, his sister, Rachel had passed away soon after when she took pneumonia while recuperating from childbirth. The abruptness with which Mark lost his entire family left him reeling, and eventually sent him into depression. For five years, Janet had watched this man she loved turn into someone she hardly knew, as he sank lower and lower.

Finally, Mark was able to reconcile himself to his loss, and he began the long, healing climb out of the pit he’d fallen into, but still, the long hours he worked, the pressures of his job, the pressures of parenthood kept him so exhausted most days he sort of functioned on autopilot.

Now he was looking forward to a quiet, relaxing weekend away from the hubbub of the city. The oppressive heat of August multiplied by the heat from all the cars constantly roaring through the streets, compounded by the fumes of gasoline and tire rubber made it nearly impossible to breathe. Mark just wanted to breathe clean country air again.

As the car began the winding ascent into the highlands, Mark noticed the chatter had quieted. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he saw that the twins were both fast asleep in the backseat. Glancing at his wife beside him, he noticed that she, too was nodding off.

He smiled to himself. They needed this as much as he did. Janet was often so stressed from the demands of her job that her winsome smile disappeared for weeks at a time.

The twins, although they loved their activities, were usually juggling too many things at once to be able to do anything well.

It would be good for all of them to get away from it all for a wonderful three-day weekend in the country.

As Mark turned onto the gravel road leading to the cottage, he began humming a song his grandmother often sang to him in his childhood. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray . . .”

“Hey, everybody! We’re here!” Mark honked the horn to celebrate their arrival, and to wake the two sleeping Rip-Van-Winkles in the backseat. Slowly, Janet sat lifted her head and looked around. Brian sat up, groaning and working the kinks out of his neck. Breanna groaned and clapped her hands over her ears.

The family- minus Breanna- piled out and began unloading their luggage. Looking around with wonder, Brian exclaimed, “Geesh, I never saw a cottage before! Sweet!”

The cottage was indeed “sweet”. Built in the 1800’s, it resembled something from a child’s picture book. Ivy grew all over the sides of the cottage. Half-moon windows peeked out from under a gabled roof. The sandstone brick was stained brown from years of exposure to the elements, but the welcoming air of the quaint little house made all its oddities seem completely normal.

When Mark opened the front door, the fresh scent of cedar met them. Honey-gold wood polished to a high shine made up the interior of the house.

 While all the furnishings were completely modern and convenient, the structure and cosmetics of the house instantly made one feel as if they had stepped back into time a couple of centuries. As if the electric range should be a wood cookstove. And the deep farmhouse sinks should be a #3 washtub. As if the old handpump should be just outside the kitchen door.

Janet sniffed with appreciation and dropped her luggage at her feet just inside the door. “Ah, here is where I belong”, she sighed contentedly.

While Mark and Brian sorted everyone’s luggage and took it to the appropriate rooms, Janet sank into one of the plush armchairs and kicked off her shoes.

 Breanna wandered in, the rising temperature in the car having forced her to find cooler sleeping quarters.        “Where is everybody?”, she wondered.

Janet didn’t even bother a reply. Surely all the noise the men were making would alert even a deaf person of their whereabouts.

Breanna dropped onto the sofa to continue her nap, and Janet reveled in the chance to do absolutely nothing for a change.

Soon Mark and Brian re-entered the room, both declaring that they were on the brink of starvation.

Janet opened one eye. “There’s sandwich meat in the fridge. I’m retired for the weekend.”

“Aw, Mom!”, Brian whined. “Surely you don’t expect us to eat sandwiches all weekend!”

“Why, no, dear”, his mother cooed. “You’re welcome to eat anything you like as long as I don’t have to cook it!”

Laughing, Mark clapped his son on the shoulder. “Come on! We’re two big, strong men. Surely we can fix ourselves some grub!”

They disappeared into the kitchen, and Janet curled up in her chair again to enjoy the nothingness.

After a quick meal, Mark and Brian went outside to scout out the possibilities of a fishing trip. Mark knew there was a creek on the back of the property, and he was hoping for at least some small bass to catch. Alas, there were no fish in the creek, but it was an excellent place to swim, and since temperatures were in excess of one hundred degrees, the two men decided to enjoy the cool water. When they returned to the house much later, they found the two women had already retired for the night, so after snacking on whatever they could find, they turned in as well.

 The next two days passed in a blur for the two teens. They were delighted to find that horses were available for their use. Trail rides, wild gallops across the meadow, a friendly game of polo, and a strictly forbidden race on horseback kept the twins amused while the adults enjoyed leisurely mornings on the front porch, reading, and just doing nothing.

Mark felt as if ten years had rolled off him. The nagging headache that constantly plagued him was gone. His mind felt clear for the first time in ages.

Janet remarked that this was the first time in recent memory that her feet did not ache. She smiled more.

Mealtimes were moments of family connection; not the hurried affairs they had adjusted to in recent years.

Even the twins seemed to enjoy their parents’ company. The whole family went on nature hikes in the twilight of evening.

Breanna forgot that she needed to keep up with the “squad girls”, and Brian never did beat Billy Masterson’s record on Xbox. Somehow, it didn’t seem important anymore.

It was a weekend to remember. The summer heat no longer seemed so oppressive. Life no longer seem quite so hectic. The beautiful cottage in the highlands welcomed the weary and refreshed them.