The Pheasants Eye Or Melodrama Part 3

The Pheasants Eye or Melodrama Part 3

 Chapter 4:

Out in the hallway, they sat on one of the white benches. Karen asked

Mildred, “Well, after tonight, are you going to marry Thomas?” She was rather curious what her friend’s fate might be, although she had asked earlier.            

            “I’m not going to marry him,” said Mildred nonchalantly.

            “Why not?” asked Karen. “I always thought that you and Thomas would make a

wonderful couple.”

            “I don’t love him. He is just a friend,” replied Mildred, her eyes dropping to gaze at her hands she was wringing in her lap. 

“Why not?” asked Karen, surprised. In her mind, it was the absolute truth that the two birds would make a nest and soon and repeat the process for their children.

            “I’m friends with him, but he’s not much of a go-getter. He can’t say what he thinks…especially to my father, ” said Mildred, a bit disgusted. Mildred was the kind of girl who said what she thought and never hesitated to speak up.

            “Do you have your eye set on Brandon?”

“Oh gosh, no!! He’s creepy. Every time he sits next to me, he is rude.”

            “How so?” asked Karen.

            “Well, the other day, he tried to kiss me in the back of the church.”

            “What did you do?”

            “I smacked him and told him that I don’t take trash, I burn it.”

            “What about Gregory?”

            “No he talks to much! You know, I don’t have my eyes set out for any of our men, because they talk to loud and try to act all tough.” Mildred’s tone made it clear that she’d had enough of this kind of man. 

            “If you are not attracted to men,” said Karen, appearing to ponder logically, “are you attracted to women?” 

            “Well, don’t get creeped out, but you are right. The truth is…well…I’m attracted to…” Mildred hesitated, looking out the windows as the leaves were falling, “you.”

            There was a moment of silence as Karen considered this news.  It seemed like forever to Mildred.  Finally, she said, “Really? I’m kind of flattered, to tell you the truth.”  They were staring into the elaborate pattern of the old wallpaper. It was very dark; there was no light on in the hallway. “I have always been attracted to you, since I was sixteen,” Karen confessed.

            “Is anybody listening?” asked Mildred suspiciously. The town was very conservative, and if you were considered homosexual, or bisexual, you would immediately be forced to leave. As sad as it was, Mildred and Karen would have to keep their relationship a secret if they wanted to live here. Forgiveness wasn’t given lightly (but was taken lightly in this town?).

            “No, it’s just your cat,” said Karen in a reassuring voice.

            “Good.” said Mildred, reaching out to hold Karen’s hand affectionately.

“Yes, well, let us now close this sermon by welcoming Kathy and her family to our religious family, united under god,” said Bob as everyone clapped. “We will now retire out to the reception. Please go in an orderly, single file line as you are getting lunch. We will be sitting inside, ‘cause it is nippy out. I hope you enjoy!”

            Mildred went to look at the family, they look normal people, at least from here, thought Mildred.“Kathy, is that your name?” asked Mildred, holding out her hand. “My name is Mildred. Would you like to sit with us?” What repulsive hair, even through the bonnet I can see it’s awful! thought Mildred, trying very hard not to stare at that awful color of blonde that some girls think is beautiful.

            Kathy took her hand. “Yeah, uh, sure. Let me just get my food,” said Kathy looking at Mildred if she was speaking a foreign language. “Ok.”

            Once they were back at the table chatting, Kathy asked Mildred, “You know, that preacher is cute! What was his name again?”

            “It’s Bob. He’s my father and please don’t call him cute. He’s already married, you know,” said Mildred very firmly. “You’re too young for him.”

            “Sorry,” said Kathy in a defensive voice. “I didn’t know!”

            “That’s fine. Oh, here comes Karen,” she said, saved by the arrival of her friend.

            “Who’s Karen?” asked Kathy.   

            “My, um, friend,” said Mildred, unsure whether or not to say girlfriend because the word girlfriend could be understood in two different ways.

            “Oh,” said Kathy in a sour tone. “So did you see what she’s wearing,” said Kathy pointing to one of the people in the reception hall. “It makes her look fat,” (Kathy was the type of girl to do anything to fit in her summer bikini).

            This was indeed true. “That’s my cousin, Ursula,” said Karen. “And she’s pregnant!”

            “Oh,” said Kathy, trying to act dumb. “No wonder her belly looked so round!” she said while laughing. “So, do you all have your eye set out for anybody?”

            “Um, no,” whispered Karen.

            “I do,” said Mildred, followed by a kick under the table by Karen.

            “So? Spill the beans tell me who it is!” said Kathy excitedly.

            “Never mind,” said Mildred, as she was about to change the subject. “Why did your parents want to live in our community?”

            “Oh, they said it was so our family would get less ‘materialistic’,” she said this while taking her 1st and 2nd finger and nodding them up and down twice. “They thought I was a shallow party girl and only cared about shopping. Can you believe that?” as she said that, she threw her hands in the air and then laughed. Her laugh was so high and off-pitch that every one in the reception room started leering over to the table where they were seated. Mildred and Karen immediately felt uncomfortable and started shoveling in their food silently, hoping everyone would stop staring at them.

            After a few minutes of silent eating Mildred asked Kathy, “How old are you?”

            She took a minute to relish the soup, pondering about the life she had left for more ‘earnest’ things. “Depends on who you ask. My parents say that I’m 19, the clubs say I’m 25.”

            “What is a club?” asked Karen innocently.

            “It’s where you dance the night away while enjoying tequilas. I’ve gotten plenty of boyfriends that way. Have you ever been to a club?”

            Karen gave her a strange look, as if she was swallowing bad medicine.

            “Well, gotta go,” said Kathy as she walked to her parents. The awkwardness had finally gone with Kathy.

            “She seemed nice,” said Mildred sarcastically.

            “Yeah. Don’t tell anybody we’re going out! If you had blown our cover, we’d be called names by all our neighbors,” (And that wasn’t the worst part of it!) “So don’t say anything. O.K.?”

            “Fine,” said Mildred. “I thought maybe she would understand.”

            “No one here, not even Miss Party-Girl, would understand.”

            “I guess you’re right,” agreed Mildred.

Chapter 5:

       “You know, I think so,” replied Mildred, taking her hair out of the customary bonnet the females were made to put their hair in.

            “Why not?” asked Karen, her bonnet still on, “I don’t think men think that.”

            “How would you know,” as Mildred shook her hair around; they were in Karen’s yard conversing about men in general. “How would you know what a man thinks once he is married? Couldn’t a man think ‘There are plenty of attractive women out there, I could get with someone else’?”

            “Isn’t that a silly thing to say? It is women that tempt men. Take Jezebel for example…”

            “I guess so; yes that is true…” and she picked up one of the dahlia tuber that Karen was digging up so it could be stored in the root cellar. “It seems that all is left to bloom is the witch-hazel…interesting plant. Remember when that evolutionary biologist came to live with us?”

            “I’d rather forget it,” said Karen, dropping her trowel, and then picking it up to squeeze the annoyance of that episode out.

            “I thought it was beautiful, that all animals are connected; I wanted to ask him if we were connected to plants. Think, Karen, that you are related to your favorite flower, the pheasant eye!” as she threw her hands up, almost tumbling over the basket of tubers.

            “Be careful, and don't make such silly accusations,” lectured Karen.

            “But that belief is someone’s, isn't it? My mother told me about other religions and how those beliefs are shaped by their geographical locations.”

            “There is only one God, those pagans down the mountain,” referring to the ‘less righteous’ Christians down the valley, “Don’t know what real religion is about; if they did, they would be here with us.”

            “Wouldn’t it get crowded?” asked Mildred playfully.

            “Don’t be silly, I’m sure there aren’t that many people down the valley,” scoffed Karen.

            “There’s plenty of people out there, Karen.  Around 5 or 6 billion, that’s what Mom said,” Mildred countered.

            “That’s preposterous! The very idea; we only have two-to-three-hundred people living here, I doubt there are any other towns out there that are that big.”

The only words I could get was the chorus. Stupid 78's.

Chorus:

When you do the kinkajou,

You dance before you think you do.

You clown around you're feeling o'so lazy,

For, you know it you're shouting whoopsy dazy.

First you feel a kick or two,

Well here's the case for you.

Your one desire,

Is to acquire.

Each movement of this shady dance will thrill you trough.

Oh I know it will entrance you,

When you do the kinkajou!

The Pheasant's Eye or Melodrama Part 5

Chapter 8:

            When Mildred came home, after everyone else, she found her mother on the couch reading a book that wasn’t the Bible. The privilege of being the minister’s wife was too great to be overthrown by ‘God’s word’. She was, by far, one of the most radical persons of the church’s followers. One of the philosophies of the occult was to not socialize with the outside crowd, a rule she never followed.  She had just finishing a letter for an out-of-town friend as Mildred had left earlier. 

            She looked up, and asked, “What’s wrong, Mildred?” while putting her book down and moving over to make room for her daughter.

            “It’s nothing,”

            “Really?” she asked, concerned.

            “Mother, what can you do to stop something when you have no power?”

            “Let the wind take it, things will fall into place. History has shown time and again that if you meddle with something, it will usually fall apart.”

            “Thank you, mother,” said Mildred gratefully, and she ran off to go to bed, wondering where the wind would take her.

            After Mildred had gone off to bed, Margaret looked to Gladys, the maid, and said, “Will you get my coat please, Gladys.”

            “Yes ma’am.” She went to retrieve the coat.

            When Gladys came back with the coat, she helped Margaret into it. “Gladys, I’ll be back in an hour. Evelyn invited me to her house after Wednesday service for a duck her husband shot.”

            “Yes ma’am, I will tell your husband when he gets back.”

            “Thank you, Gladys. You’re a huge help,” and she left.

            A few minutes later, Bob came home with Kathy.

            “Gladys, get some wine from the cellar,” demanded Bob.

            “But sir…” she hesitated; she felt very loyal to Margaret.

            “Now!”

            “Yes, sir,” sighed Gladys. What else could she do?

            After coming back with a bottle of Rhubarb wine, Bob ordered her, “Gladys, pour.” After she poured, “Gladys, go to bed.”

            “Yes sir,” but instead she disobeyed. She spied on the conversation through the keyhole of the dining room.

            “Oh, Kathy, I love you!” said Bob enthusiastically, deeply in love.

            “Oh, darling!” said Kathy. “You are like the wind beneath me. Let us run away and get married.”

            “Gee, I’d like to, but…”

            “But what?” asked Kathy sitting up on the table, taking her arm from around his shoulders. “You think I’m the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, don’t you?”

            “No, I do not. My love for you is like a thousand nightingales, singing in the breeze.”

            Kathy had to really work to restrain her laughter, but she was (fortunately?) distracted by a door slam. “Who’s that?” she asked with alarm.

            “My wife! You better get out! Until the ‘morrow, my darling,” he said passionately.

            After she was out of the door, Kathy snickered. “Idiot! I have that fool under my thumb now.”

            Bob scampered off to bed, throwing the rhubarb wine under the cupboard so his wife would not discover it.

            Meanwhile, Margaret and Gladys were talking in the entryway.  “Gladys, could you help me get my coat off?” asked Margaret.

            “Yes ma’am. Oh, may I tell you something?” whispered Gladys.

            “Yes, of course you may.”

            “We’ll have to go somewhere more private, though…”

Chapter 9:

“Bob,” said Margaret as she was walking into her husband’s office. 

“During the sermon you were looking at Kathy with longing eyes.”

“So? During my sermon I always look at everyone. It's to bring the message of God to those poor souls.” said Bob trying to cover up the facts so his wife would leave him alone.

“Don't lie to me! Tell me the truth; are you dating Kathy right now?”

“No, I'm not! What makes you think that?”

“Bob, everyone knows! You shouldn't lie; you obviously do love Kathy.”

“Give me an example.”

“Well, when she ever talks to you, you gaze at her… like she is the joy of your life,” Margaret said, wistfully.

“That doesn't make any sense. You can't just judge an expression!”

“How come when I got home last Saturday, she was at our house? You never told me that you were having dinner with her.”

“I told you; you probably weren't even listening to me,” said Bob, trying to act pitiful.

“I always listen to you, and I want your relationship with Kathy to END! Do you know how sinful it is to have a spouse and love someone else? That is considered adultery.”

“I know about sin like the back of my hand, you know nothing about sin. Look at the way you lived before you met me. You were wild and uncontrolled.”

“At least I'm not a…a…HYPOCRITE!” shouted Margaret, her face turning red with anger and jealousy.

“You just don't know what Kathy has that you don't,” Bob said, nastily.  Bob had finally given up on hiding his affair with Kathy.

“Youth?” Margaret answered sarcastically.

            Bob was shocked. Although he had been married to his wife for many years, he had always misjudged her cleverness.” You’ve never loved me! You, you...!”

“I've always cared for you, but you seem to have better things to do than practicing what you preach,” said Margaret.  She was calm now, and a little sad.

“I've always practiced what I've preached,” said Bob trying to think up a comeback. “Thou shall not kill!” exclaimed Bob with a burst of confidence.     

“Oh, and you think God is going to let you get away with that?” There was a long silence. “I thought so.  I demand a divorce! I am tired of all your silly stories.”

            “A divorce, huh,” chuckled Bob, not taking his wife very seriously.

            “Yeah, when I first met you, I had it made: a good job, a faithful boyfriend. And then I met you. You really won me over.  You convinced me to come to this…this awful place…and I’ve hardly been happy since. Except for Mildred: she is my hope in this dark world. And now whenever I send my family cards, they never answer me back because they haven’t forgiven me.”

            “You must not have a very good family.”

            “Actually, I don’t blame my family for not forgiving me,” said Margaret wistfully, “I left when my grandmother was dying from cancer, I felt restrained, bossed around, and I felt like more of a burden to my family…”

“Sorry,” said Bob without pity in his voice, “we are not getting a divorce. God will never allow that!” said Bob shaking his head. “You are committing a thousand sins at once.”

“I think God would sympathize with my not wanting to be with a DISHONEST man.” Her sadness had vanished and once again turned to anger.

“There will be no divorce. My reputation will be spoiled! I could be impeached.” Bob was desperate and afraid of losing his power.

“Well then I'm leavin' so your reputation WON’T be ‘spoiled’!”

“You'll come back. You always have,” said Bob, doubting Margaret would ever leave.

“No, Bob,” said Margaret, with tears in her eyes. “I am serious this time.”

The Pheasant's Eye or Melodrama Part 2

Chapter 2:

The town was situated in the Appalachian Mountains. The church stood in the very center, a symbol of their faith that would ring every quarter of an hour. It wasn’t a very grand building; more like an old-fashioned country church painted white. A kitchen and a large dining hall were situated in the back. Every Sunday and Wednesday, the town would gather after the church services and socialize while savoring whatever hot meal, seasonal meal that was prepared.

Outside the church bloomed Pheasant-Eye Daffodils, planted what seemed forever ago. Daisies and Queen Anne’s lace would also bloom during the summer along with Christmas Ferns and Irises. Six large apple trees circled the church; the branches would be filled with apples in the fall that would be used for making apple butter and applesauce.

The houses were spread near and far from the church. They were small bungalows, about two or three bedrooms with an outhouse out back.

Not the minister’s home though; Bob’s house, besides the church, been one of the most imposing structures the town had to offer. It was an old plantation style house, abandoned along time ago because of the debts the old owners faced during the reconstruction era. By then, the diocese had grown, but faced persecution amidst the big cities. The diocese found freedom among the mountains to practice their religion.

Right now, the weather was turning cool into autumn leaving the glittery light of summer behind. The leaves would turn gold, purple, and along the road a mass of orange and red. The folks would gather trees to celebrate the coming Christmas, and these would be the few masses of green left after autumn, during winter’s chill. Not until the peatoots chased winter away with their croaking, would spring come again.

The minister was a man named Bob. He was a tall man with a cleanly shaven face who smelled of roses. His voice was a thick baritone. It was his town, and nothing could be done about it.

“No, no, use the dinner plates with the holly leaves, not the flowers; summer’s ended,” said Bob called in an impatient tone (he was a rather meticulous fellow) to one of the Elstree girls (although they’re not girls any more). They were six sisters, born and brought up in the church, and most had not married or had been widowed. Instead, they gave their lives to the church and helped cook large meals at celebrations like this in his home.

Bob and his family lived in a rather large, traditional, plantation house of three stories, with a large front porch and freshly painted, white columns. He had inherited it because of his position in the church. He was lecturing one of the Elstree sisters in a condescending tone on how to place the flatware on the table. (Although he was not doing it right).

He turned to speak to his daughter, Mildred, who was sitting on the window box of the parlor, watching men walk to their homes as the sun set (as she was half dreaming what life outside town was like). In this religious driven town, most of the men worked on the big, sharecropping farm that fed the town. They all wore brown pants and a white shirt, except on Sundays, when they wore all black. It was getting colder now so they had started wearing their wool coats, tailored lovingly by their wives. “Mildred, will you sit next to Thomas tonight during the dinner?” said Bob turning around to Mildred.

“Why?” asked Mildred.

“Well, it will make our family look good. I don’t want to be impeached from my job. You always sit next to Karen and you are at that time when relationships bloom and die like dandelions; we don’t want to spread even the idea of sin around. You understand, don’t you?”

“Dad, Karen and I are just…friends,” sighed Mildred.

“I know honey, but could you please just sit next to Thomas?” begged Bob. It was common for the parents to decide marriages in this town.

“Yes, father,” replied Mildred, sighing again.

“I love you, honey,” said Bob: patting her on the back. But then his attention turned to the curtains that were getting hung backwards. “No! Don’t hang the curtains that way,” yelled Bob to one of the old women hanging the curtains up.

“Move out of my way,” muttered one of the old women to Mildred. “Kids these days!”

“I need to go put on my dress,” Said Mildred as she ran up the stairs, almost running into Margaret, her mother.

“Millie, you ought to be careful,” said Mildred’s mother in a very caring voice. “Sorry,” said Mildred, in a half hurried tone.

“That’s fine.  The guests will be here soon, so go and change into something appropriate.” “Yes,” Said Mildred quietly. Then she perked up, and asked, “Is Karen coming?”

Chapter 3

“Thomas, it’s so nice to see you, won’t you sit next to me?” said Mildred with smile on her face; she and Thomas were friends from childhood. “Yes,”

“What a lovely day it was,” said Mildred, doing her best to create a conversation.

“Yes…” he said while looking down at his hands, trying to forget about the boring stuff he had done that day, and maybe come up with a statement that would wow Mildred.

“Yes, Karen and I went on a walk in the woods and…” but she saw that Thomas

could care less about what she and Karen had done. Oh, Thomas has turned so unexciting these days! I hope the older I get, the more interesting I become. Maybe it’s just a phase… thought Mildred.

“May I have your attention, please?” asked Bob trying to project about the loud guests, the lasts who were just piling in the front door.

He didn’t have many people’s attention, though. Ann, the organist, called down her daughter, saying, “Karen, be quiet.” Harry shot his wife and daughter a look, silent and firm.

Bob continued, “I would like to thank Thomas’s parents for their generous donation to the church; unfortunately they couldn’t come tonight because they are sick,” He began clapping. Everyone else joined in (stricken with boredom, the party hadn’t started just yet). “You may now take your seats,” he directed.

Out came the old Estree girls with salad for everyone. “Thank you, Gladys,” commented Margaret.

Unfortunately, the other more righteous children of God had dropped all their manners with the exception of Mildred; Karen had almost forgotten but Mildred elbowed her, “Oh, thank you, Ms. Gladys.” And then she bowed her head for grace.  It was an autumn salad with a homemade dressing and crushed almonds tossed on the top. Everything came from the gardens around the town because they feared that other people would poison them, for the congregation believed they had many enemies.

Five courses later (and four different wines) everyone started yelling and got a little wild. Plates were crashed (making the rug very dirty), the drapes were ripped off the windows and everyone acted silly and confused.

“Mildred, you’d better leave,” Margaret whispered urgently to her daughter; Margaret rarely ever indulged in alcohol, and was one of the few sober adult members of the party.

“Hey, you women!” yelled Bob to one of the Estree girls as they ran out the door. “Get us a drink, will ya?” “Are you sure?” said Gladys. She was scared half to death of Bob, particularly in this state.  “You’ve had enough,” she bravely told him.

“Gladys, just serve him water, he won’t notice,” Margaret very quietly encouraged her, so other people wouldn’t hear. Margaret wasn’t born in the congregation, but had learned their ways and had become a good friend with Gladys, although Gladys was a ‘mere servant’ in the others’ eyes.

“Yes ma’am,” said Gladys as she walked out of the room to fetch the water.

“Karen, let’s go out into the hallway,” whispered Mildred, her father was about to smash the wine bottle as a ceremony for the opening of the new section of the church.  (On Gladys’s head, in fact.)

“Good idea.”

The King's Speech

What did ya'll think of that overrated movie The King's Speech? Personally, I found it very dull. The photography was subpar (the lighting was terrible), the settings were claustraphobic, the script was mostly turgid and the story could move almost nowhere at times. Why did this win Best Picture? Now before yall rant on me and say, "You watch early talkies, they're all static and slow." Well I'll answer kindly. This movie is around 113 minutes. Most movies from the 1929-1930 era were under a 100 minutes (Rio Rita is an exception, though), they had good lighting, some directors were good at getting the camera moving around (Rouben Mamoulian) and they contain some snappy tunes. Nope, The King's Speech is not a musical (I'd be shooked if it was, this is not the type of story that should be set to music) but it is a drama and I like those, but not like this turkey; goodness Mary! I wonder if The Artist is as overrated?

What are your favorite song?

My favorite songs? I have many in no particular order. There are many more, but this is a short list.

Animal-Ke$ha

The Harold Song-Ke$ha

Who You Are- Jessie J

Domino- Jessie J

I Bring a Love Song- Hammerstein/Romberg

One Alone- Romberg

You're Always in My Arms- Tierny/McCarthy

If You're in Love You'll Waltz-Tierny/McCarthy

I Want to be Bad- DeSylvia/Brown/Henderson

Song of the Dawn-Yellen/Alger

Singing in the Bathtub-Cleary/Magidson/Washington

Pingo-Pongo-Dubin/Burke

Tip Toe Thru Tulips-Dubin/Burke

We Two-Kalman/Strothart/Harbach/Hammerstein

Old Man River-Kern/Hammerstein

Meet Madam- Stohart/Grey