In the House of Spite Ch. 08

The next day started off well, but in the afternoon Pearl's brain was hung up. She took up one of her new coloring books, which was in a separate stack from her other ones. Then she realized there were six instead of five. Confused, Pearl checked her electronic receipt and the order details. Five books. Then she checked her older books. None of them were misplaced.

When she brought this up to Darren, he shrugged and said, "Maybe they sent you an extra one by mistake?"

"I counted them when I opened the package," Pearl said as she held the extra book in her hands. "And I checked the receipt. I had only five, and only five came to me." She flipped the crisp, white pages of the coloring book. "This is new. It's one of my older ones."

"If that's true," Darren said as he knelt down to playfully rub Baby Blue's face, "then you must've bought that book a long time ago and forgot about it."

"But I wouldn't have put it with my newer books," Pearl said.

"Wouldn't and couldn't are two different things." Baby Blue was soon very happy because Darren was rubbing his belly. "You still could've done it."

"I guess you're right." Pearl shrugged and went off to put the book away.

***

Happy Birthday!

That was the first thing Darren said to her this morning.

The second thing was a mild nagging. "Skip the chores today and go shopping for a pretty dress." He had to go to work, but he made sure to repeat the command before he left. Pearl didn't say out loud how much she liked it, but she did blush and say, "Okay, Pa."

The early spring air was warm in the gentlest way. Pearl knew she had to enjoy it this morning. While the dogs played around outside, Pearl went to the front door, went outside, and decided to take a walk around the property. She even let her hair go free so the light breeze could be felt better. She'd taken a shower the night before. Few sensations could match the simple pleasure of a spring breeze moving through one's hair.

She was so happy that she wasn't thinking. Her feet just took her somewhere.

Trees.

Pearl was in the trees!

She slapped her forehead and muttered to herself about how stupid she was. She'd wandered off into the woods! The government probably owned these parts. She was pretty sure she was technically trespassing, but she was also pretty sure that the woods weren't guarded at all and if there were any officers around she wouldn't even be scolded. They'd just ask if she was okay and then leave her alone. As long as she didn't start a forest fire or start poaching, nobody would give a shit.

It was very easy to get lost with nobody around to notice her.

Pearl's eyes bounced around. When she thought she saw the house ... a small looking thing from her location, Pearl stepped forward to get there.

Air! Air rushing in and out on her head. Sniffing! Sniff sniff!

Pearl froze.

Grunting ... right behind her! Chops were definitely licked!

Normally, the wild animals would avoid people. Even bears were keen to say, "Yeah no, fuck this shit!" The generations of animals had lived for centuries understanding that humans were scary. Humans tended to kill things. So, knowing that something was curious and daring enough to approach her and sniff, that made Pearl want to run.

She thought to herself, "If I run, it'll chase me."

She knew she couldn't outrun whatever it was.

What if it was rabid?!

Still, stay still! Don't fucking move!!

Pearl could smell it!

Fur, musk, slobber, dirt, leaves, even fish and a hint of blood.

A bear? Pearl sensed that it could be tall enough to be a bear on its hind legs. Why would it be on its hind legs?! Was it angry?! Wait, were there any bears in the area? Coyotes, deer, rabbits, sure. But bears?! Weren't they usually in the mountains?!

No, she'd seen a bear in the wildlife preserve before. Bears didn't have to live in the mountains. In fact, Darren had once told her that hunters prefer going after bears in the coastal regions.

Shit ...

The phone in her pocket made a boop sound.

The beast behind her rushed away. She heard the grass and twigs being pressed and snapped. She gulped down excess saliva and finally looked behind herself.

She didn't see the animal.

Okay?

She walked towards the house. When she was safe at home, she looked at her phone. Darren had sent her a text reminding her that she was supposed to go shopping. She'd already forgotten about that. She rushed to get the dogs inside and scoop up her keys.

In the evening, the couple was at a kind of shopping center on a town's main street. They left the truck and held each other's hands as they went off to a Japanese restaurant. Pearl was feeling particularly adorable. Pink dress with a fluttering skirt, white panty-hoes and white high heels, and a small hat that could've been worn to church had she been the type. She even had a new purse. It wasn't a birthday present. Darren had told her a while ago to get a new one. The old one was falling apart.

They took a table and made their orders. Then Pearl leaned against him as they chatted a little. Darren even stroked her back and put a kiss on her ear. After their food arrived, Pearl happened to say, "By the way, I did something stupid today."

Pulling a mass of noodles from a steaming bowl, which also had boiled eggs and slices of ham, Darren lazily asked what she did.

"Well, I wanted a walk in the pretty weather, and I ended up in the woods." She practiced her skills with chopsticks in her bowl of rice and meat. "Some animal came up behind me."

"What kind of animal?"

"I don't know. I was too scared to look. I thought I'd make it angry or something. It ran off, though."

Splattering a little broth, Darren looked down at her with a very strict, uncompromising expression. It reminded Pearl of an unhappy teacher. She wanted to apologize to him. "Baby," he said, "don't go out in the woods alone. It's common sense."

Poking a chunk of beef with a chopstick, Pearl blushed and looked away. "I won't. I'm sorry."

***