Everything is Changing

  Juniper opened the door just enough to see who had knocked. She didn't have a peephole but wished she did. It would come in handy on days like today. The last thing she wanted was visitors. She was in no mood for chit-chat. All she wished was to be left alone. To wallow in self-pity. That's one reason she moved so far away from town. She wanted to be left alone.

     "Hello, I'm sorry to bother you, but, uh…you see, I ran out of gas, at least, I think that's the problem. Anyway, I wondered if I could, uh, borrow your phone, you know to call someone?" A young lady, a few years her junior, stood on the front porch with a red plastic gas can in one hand and a pair of brown wedge-heeled boots in the other.

     Juniper kept the chain attached to the door while she scrutinized the stranger. She didn't look menacing. From her attire of a green polyester pants suit, she could have stepped out of an ad in a magazine. Her hair was dark, long, and straight, with a perfect part down the middle. The exact opposite of her short, self-cut hairstyle. It was apparent this creature was not prepared to walk any distance. In fact, Juniper found it hard to believe she was real. She looked more like a model on a shoot than someone going for a Sunday drive in the country kind of person.

     "I hate to bother you, but I don't know what else to do. And I'd be happy to pay you for your time and use of your phone. I don't know where I am, let alone how to find a gas station. Is there one anywhere near here, within walking distance, I mean? I've already walked a couple miles, but I could walk more If I need to."

     Against her better judgment, Juniper unchained the door and motioned for the girl to enter. "Come in. Have a seat," she said, pointing to an old frumpy but clean over-nourished chair in the living room.

     The girl set the gas can on the porch and entered. While she arranged herself on the chair, Juniper stuck her head outside and scrutinized the area, ensuring no one else was around. One couldn't be too careful these days. Especially twenty miles from any town or other humans. After making sure everything appeared, as usual, she closed the door, locked the deadbolt, and re-attached the chain. When she'd finished securing everything, Juniper sat in an identical chair opposite the intruder.

     "My name's Jack, and I am so sorry to bother you, she stated for the second time, but I didn't know what else to do."

     "Don't you know it's not safe to be walking around alone these days?" Juniper asked.

     "What do you mean?"

     "You know, because of the newspaper articles about Ted," Juniper said and pointed to a Sunday paper on the table between the two chairs.

     Jack picked up the paper, "May I?"

     "Sure, go ahead. But I'm surprised you don't already know about him."

     The paper was folded back and opened to page six. The date was August 27, 1974. The headline read, " 'Ted' may be key to mysterious disappearances."

     While Jack read, Juniper watched the girl's expressions change from simple curiosity to consternation. By the time she'd finished, Jack's brows were furrowed, her mouth was ajar, and her nose wrinkled.

     "You mean, you haven't heard about him? About all those girls who disappeared lately? The first one was twenty-one, just about your age. Juniper stated rather matter-of-factly.

     Jack looked up from the paper and stared at Juniper blankly. "What? Oh, yeah, the girl who disappeared in Seattle. Well, I'm a little older. I'm twenty-three, the same age as one of the other missing girls. Now, I'm terrified to walk anywhere."

     "You should be. You look identical to all of Ted's victims. What possessed you to drive out here anyway? There's no town for twenty miles. Didn't you check your gas before you left? How did you get into such a predicament?"                    

     "Well, it's a long story, but the short version is that I recently broke up with my boyfriend and felt rather down and lonely. I thought a ride in the country, being someplace new, might help my mood. Alex, my boy…uh, ex-boyfriend always took care of all the car stuff, you know, checking the gas and all that. I'm kinda dumb when it comes to anything to do with my car. Uh, can I use your phone? Please? I'd be happy to pay you for your trouble. If it's long distance, I'll give you enough to cover any charges plus extra."

     Juniper didn't answer right away. Instead, she picked up the newspaper. "It says this 'Ted' guy was extremely courteous and well-spoken. Just goes to show you never know who you can trust these days. When I was a child, nothing like this ever happened. Everything is changing. That's why I moved out here. I wanted to get away from people, from all the change. Live a simpler life. That's why… " Juniper paused before finishing her sentence..."I don't have a telephone, my dear."

     Jack's face turned white. She clenched the arms of the old, out-of-date chair. Tears escaped from the corners of her eyes. "What am I going to do?" She whispered. "Do you have any ideas?"

     Juniper smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do. A bus comes by here once a week. I take it whenever I need to go into town. I have no need for a phone or an automobile. I moved out here to get away from all that."

     Jack smiled, "A bus, that's great news. When does it come?" her voice was colored with excitement but tinged with trepidation.

     "Well, it came yesterday. So, another one won't be here 'till next Saturday."

     "Oh." Jack looked down at her hands in her lap. Tears began to well up in the corner of her eyes and were just about to spill out when Juniper spoke.

     "I guess you could stay here until then. I just stocked up on food, so that's no problem. We can't have you staying in your car. Not with Mr. Ted roaming around, can we?"

     "I guess I have no choice, do I? It's either that or walk twenty more miles into town. Unless you have any other suggestions. I'll be happy to pay you for your hospitality. Thank you for helping me."

                                                     ***

     The six days went by slowly. It seemed like time had a different meaning out here, away from everything, everyone. There was no need to keep track of the time anyway. Except for when the bus would arrive, nothing had to be done at any specific time. They ate when hungry and slept when tired. In between, they did chores, such as feeding the chickens, weeding the garden, and cleaning house. Other than that, she would go for walks in the woods behind the house or read books. Juniper had a tiny television, but reception was poor, and they rarely turned it on.

     Juniper must have had a hundred books in a little library in the attic. Jack spent hours up there getting lost in different worlds. But mostly, the two women talked. About everything. One topic that came up repeatedly was Juniper's phobia of change.

     "Change should not be unwelcome or scary. Instead, it should be looked at as something new and exciting," Jack told Juniper. "You should look forward to change, not fear it. Often the changes that happen are usually for the better and have excellent outcomes eventually. So why do you hate change so much? Or do you know?" 

     Juniper sat there, withdrawn. She looked up as if peering back in time and closed her eyes. Then, after a long interval, she took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and began speaking in a distant voice. "Five years ago, my parents died in a car crash. I was nineteen. That was the first of many changes, too many changes."

     "Like what?" Jack asked.

     Juniper wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve before answering. "Well, I inherited a sizable amount of money from my parents. Suddenly, everyone I knew had their hands out like beggars on skid row. I couldn't deal with it, so I packed up and moved here."

     Jack scrutinized Juniper's attire before responding. She couldn't help but notice that their ideas about change weren't the only things that differed between them. Juniper always wore pretty much the same thing day after day. A cotton dress over which she wore an apron. Or a pair of loose jeans and a plain cotton blouse. Her hair was usually covered with a scarf of some kind, wound around her head. It looked like she had just walked out of a scene from "Rosie the Riveter." Luckily the two were the same size because Jack had to borrow some of Juniper's 1940's outfits.

     "That's ironic, you moved out here 'cause you're afraid of change, and I drove here in search of something novel. I'm like that, always searching for the next adventure, thinking the grass will always be greener in someone else's yard."

     "Well, do you know why you're that way? I told you mine. Now tell me yours." Juniper said, crossing her arms across her chest.

     "I'm not sure why I'm obsessed with change. I've asked myself the same question. What am I looking for within all these new things, surroundings, people," she asked Juniper as well as herself. "I think I may be obsessed with the future. And change may be my way of escaping to someplace more magical and less mundane than what's happening now."

                                                ***

     The morning of the sixth day, Jack took a shower. The night before, she'd washed her clothes and hung them up to dry. Then, after getting dressed and eating breakfast, Jack was ready to say goodbye. But when she turned the knob to open the guest bedroom door, it wouldn't budge. She shook the handle and pushed on the door. It didn't move. Was it locked? Or just stuck? It must be locked. It was fine fifteen minutes ago when I came back in to dress, she thought.

     "Juniper, help. I'm stuck in here. Help." Jack screamed as loudly as possible. Over and over until her throat ached. But no one answered. She tried, repeatedly, to open the door until her shoulder ached from the exertion, with no luck.

     Jack looked up at the window. It was small, but she thought she might be able to squeeze through it if she took off her jacket. She pushed the dresser out of the way and stood on a chair to open the window. But it wouldn't budge. After inspecting the edges, she saw it had been painted shut. With a deep sigh, Jack sat on the bed, head in her hands, and wept. What was she to do?

     She looked at her watch. Both hands were pointing straight up. Noon, that's when the bus was supposed to stop. Juniper had told her. All she had to do was stand at the end of the driveway. If someone was there, the bus driver would stop. If not, it would keep going.

     She held her breath. Heard the bus stop, the door open, shut, then leave. Why would the bus stop if no one was out there? Juniper knew she was going. Juniper must have locked me in here. But why?

     That evening the two ladies sat in the living room in the same two frumpish chairs they'd first occupied six days ago.

     "But why? I don't understand why you'd do such a thing." Jack asked.

     Juniper smiled, leaned toward Jack, and looked straight into her eyes. "I'm not sure I know the answer, either. Yes, I locked the door so you couldn't leave. But the why is a bit evasive. I thought about it all the way to town today. Then I thought about it more on the drive back and while putting the groceries away. But I have yet to figure it out." Then, still smiling, she sat straight in her chair, lifted her hands face up, and shrugged.

     "But you said you moved out here to get away from people, from things changing. You said you didn't like change. So, why would you want to keep me from leaving? If I leave, you can get back to the way things were. You know, before I arrived and changed everything."

     Juniper smiled again. Her voice was quite animate this time. It was as if a light bulb suddenly turned on inside her head. "That's it. That's why I locked you in the room and wouldn't let you leave. You've answered your own question. I don't like change. So that's why I did what I did."

     Jack furrowed her brows. "What? That doesn't make any sense. If I leave, you can go back to the way things were. Isn't that what you wanted? For things to stay the same?"

     Juniper sighed with exasperation. "You don't understand what I'm trying to say. I decided to take your advice and embrace change instead of running away from it. I've realized that change is important and essential for my growth. So, I intend to embrace this period of my life by discovering what I can learn from it. The best thing about you coming into my life is a lesson learned."

     The two women looked at each other. A sense of awareness came over their faces. But neither spoke for an eon. Then, finally, Jack voiced what they had both been thinking.

     "Here we were, two women, one dreading change, the other dreading non-change. Now, here we are after just six days together. Being forced into opposite scenarios. So, who's to say which is better?"

     Juniper smiled and shrugged.

     "Can I ask one more favor, though?"

     Juniper nodded.

     "If I'm going to be forced to stay here, twenty miles from anyone, can we at least get a telephone?"