Venus and Mars/Rockshow

It’s an off-beat day today. You know the type. Nothing makes sense and it just happens. The best thing to do is to go with the flow of things.

Today just happened like that.

First, Muriel got a knock on her door. She opened it crack and peeked out.

“Hello?” she asked. Muriel looked down to see Clover at her. The old biddy blinked at her.

“Yes?” she asked. Clover shuffled her foot for a bit.

“Uh…” she said. Muriel blinked at her.

“What do you want?” she asked. Clover looked her in the face.

“Are you busy today?” she asked.

“No…” the old biddy said.

“I need your help with something!” the younger girl yelped. She took Muriel by the hand before she could speak.

-Elsewhere...-

Lewis had just come home from the fields. Her ears caught the sound of her phone ringing. She walked into the kitchen and picked it up.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Help!” an old lady pleaded. “Please, help me!” Lewis blinked, confused.

“Muriel?” she asked. “Muriel, is that you? Hello? Hello?” The other line went dead. The farmer looked at her phone.

“Hello?” she asked. “Hello?” Lewis lowered the phone with a shrug. Weird…

“Clover!” Muriel cried. “Slow down! You’re hurting me!” The girl didn’t listen. They came to her house next door. Clover unlocked the door and opened it.

“What’s the problem?” the old biddy asked. The girl still didn’t answer. They came all the way to the kitchen. Clover turned to her.

“Here,” she said. The girl pointed to the stove. Muriel looked and saw a huge pot, boiling away. She blinked at the sight.

“Cooking?” she asked. “This is your forte.” Clover shook her head.

“Not cooking,” she said. Her neighbor blinked.

“Huh?” she asked. The girl walked up to the stove. She removed the lid. A foul paper scent filled the air. Muriel covered her nose and took a step back.

“What the hell?” she asked.

“Uncle Bill’s present,” the girl replied. “Or at least part of it.” Muriel looked puzzled.

“What?” she asked. Clover pulled out a magazine and showed the old biddy page nine. Muriel straightened her glasses for a better look. She raised an eyebrow what she saw.

“What… is that?” she asked.

“A paper bust of an angel,” Clover replied. Muriel nodded a bit uneasy.

“Okay…” she replied. “And why are you making this?” The younger girl slightly looked away.

“Liz laughed at me earlier,” she mumbled.

“Why would she do that?” Muriel asked. Clover looked up at her with her fists clenched at her sides.

“She claimed that I don’t do anything exciting,” she complained. “She said that I was goody-goody and I’m just boring.”

“So… you decided to do a paper bust thing?” Muriel asked. Clover nodded at her. The old biddy still didn’t get it.

“And… why do you need me?” she asked.

“I’m worried that I’ll make a mistake somewhere,” the younger girl replied.

“But I don’t anything about arts and crafts,” Muriel said.

“You don’t really have to do anything,” Clover insisted. “You can sit in the kitchen and watch me work.” The girl grabbed her by the hands.

“Please?” she pleaded. The old biddy didn’t even get to argue otherwise before being pulled closer to the stove.

Clyde wandered down to the library. She looked through the glass window. Mrs. Brown stood at the front desk, putting away the books. The woman paused when she felt a pair of strong hands fondling her sides.

“Ooo!” she cooed. “Mr. Brice!” The prevented librarian came over beside her.

“I missed you last night,” he whispered. The younger woman blushed.

“Me mother-in-law fell down the stairs after supper,” she said. “So, we had to take her to hospital.”

“You poor woman,” her lover said. He slowly took her into his arms. He kissed her on the head. Mrs. Brown closed her eyes and whimpered. Clyde smirked and opened the door. The lovers looked up in shock and pretended to be working. The dirty old biddy did her best not to laugh as she walked by. Mr. Brice clenched his teeth and mumbled a curse to himself as Mrs. Brown kept her head down with bright red cheeks.

Clyde made her way back to the reading room. Pauline and Lewis sat at the table waiting. The dirty old biddy looked around.

“Where’s Mur?” she asked. The two shook their heads.

“No idea,” Pauline replied.

“I think she called me this morning,” Lewis replied. The other two old biddies stared at her. The farmer shrugged at them.

“She was screaming for help and it got disconnected,” she replied.

“And you sure about this?” Pauline asked.

“Well, I don’t know,” Lewis replied.

“Did you go by the house?” the rich old biddy asked. The farmer frowned at her.

“No…” she said. “Should I have?” Pauline lowered her head in hands.

This isn’t so bad. Muriel just had stand there since morning to watch Clover work with glue and newspaper. The scent made the old biddy want to faint.

“Clover,” she complained. The younger girl looked up at her.

“Hm?” she asked.

“How long do you need me here?” the old biddy asked.

“Just a little bit longer,” Clover replied. Muriel forced herself to smile.

“Okay…” she mumbled uneasily.

“Thank you,” the younger girl said. Muriel sighed and tried to keep smiling.

“Right…” she mumbled. “Uh… Can you excuse me for a second?” Muriel disappeared down the hallway.

That was this morning.

It’s now close to lunch. Muriel looked over at the clock on the kitchen wall. Maybe she could use it to her advantage.

“Hey, Clover,” she spoke up. The girl didn’t look up from her work.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Aren’t you hungry yet?” the old biddy asked.

“No,” Clover replied. Muriel frowned at her.

“You sure?” she asked. The artist paused for a moment.

“Well…” she said. “Maybe a little bit.” The old biddy tried to keep her joy down.

“Good!” she said. “Hey, you know what? Let’s go grab something to eat!” Clover looked at her with lost eyes.

“You sure?” she asked. “But I still have to finish my…” Muriel grabbed her by the hand.

“It’ll be fine, let’s just go!” Muriel insisted. Then, she dragged the girl out the door with her.

“But I didn’t even cover it!” Clover yelled.

“It’ll be fine!” Muriel repeated. Escape plan successful. Now to try and leave the child and flee. But, where to go? She only knew of one place.

Muriel took Clover all the way to the Sunny Plum Café. She peeked inside and saw her friends at their usual table. Muriel smiled to herself. Perfect!, she thought. The old biddy tried to flag them down.

“Hey!” she mouthed. “Look up! Look up!” The old biddy knocked on the glass. Clover tilted her head at her.

“Muriel,” she said. “What are you doing?” The old biddy turned to her with a blank stare on her face.

“Uh…” she said. “Nothing! Nothing.” Clover stared her down. Muriel bit on her lower lip.

“Are you trying to avoid me?” the younger girl asked.

“Uh…” Muriel said. She looked up and saw two people walking by, staring at them. Muriel narrowed her eyes at them.

“What?” she asked. “There’s nothing to see here!” The two middle-aged men hurried away. The old biddy lowered her head and sighed.

“Are we still getting lunch?” Clover asked. “We could just eat at my house.”

“No…” she mumbled. “Let’s go back.” The pair walked all the way back to the house. Escape plan: total failure.

Inside the café, Tucker peeked out the window.

“Was that Muriel with Clover just now?” he asked. Annie and the other three old biddies looked out the window. Lewis shook her head.

“I don’t see anyone,” she said. Tucker frowned at that response.

“I could’ve sworn I just saw them…” he mumbled. His wife frowned at him.

“You feeling okay?” Annie asked. Tucker sneered at her.

“What do you think, lady?” he hissed. The three old biddies all looked at each other. Clyde only shrugged at them.

So, yes. It was a bit of a hectic, off-beat day for Muriel Fairbanks, thank you.

I am Struggling Here

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