ADAPTING... three is enough (Part 95e)


Since the “cat is out of the bag”, so to speak, and you’ve seen Marge’s panties I might as well tell you how that came to pass.

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I’ve mentioned a time or two that Marge was a godsend to Elle (and me) in helping her get some normalcy back into her life. Marge was a very private person and didn’t offer up a lot about herself or her husband. What information Elle got seemed to come in spurts. One of the things that the people who lived on the South side of the river had to deal with was interruptions with their electricity, especially after a thunder storm. One late afternoon in the latter part of June (I’m not sure exactly when) Marge was over visiting with Elle when a sudden storm came up. Elle had grown up watching her mother climb into bed and put pillows over her head every time there was thunder and lightning. Seeing her mother react that way it was logical that Elle would have some fear as well. However, after five years of marriage I was able to somewhat calm her fears. On this day she (as she described the situation to me) calmly gathered the kids up from the yard and headed inside as soon as she heard the first clap of thunder. Once inside she set about closing the windows but found Marge had followed her inside. She asked her if she wasn’t going to go home and do the same but Elle told me the look in her eyes was pure fear. Long story short... Elle went over and closed them... and after the storm had passed Marge told her about her long standing fear of thunder and lightning.

On one of the Summers when she was spending time in New Hampshire with her grandparents there was a fierce storm. Lightning struck the cabin next door and set it afire. Although no one was hurt it was very traumatic for Marge and continued on into adulthood. After Marge told Elle about it Elle told her to come on over anytime her husband wasn’t there. (BTW: Morris, her husband, was in charge of the construction of a petroleum tank farm that was under great criticism by the “locals”. Once the tanks started to take shape there was a group who was actively trying to stop it . There had been some sabotage and he’d been spending more time there especially after dark, leaving Marge alone.)

I was at the dining room table paying bills (my least favorite job!!) and Elle was reading to the kids before they went to bed not too long after that when we had another storm. Marge showed up at our door shortly after the first flash of lightning and it wasn’t long before the lights went out. That was interesting, for sure. Being dark, each flash of lightning would light up the room and there would be a squeal from where Marge was sitting. My kids were only a bit better. The storm passed quickly and the lights returned shortly after that. I remember Marge apologizing as she started out the door. She didn’t even get to the bottom step when she noticed that there were no lights over at her place. Still not over the fright from the storm she was back inside and asking if I’d go over to see what was wrong.

Back when I was working for the “boys” and doing repairs for the residents of the park it wasn’t uncommon to have fuses “pop” after a power outage. With her unit basically the same as mine I knew exactly where the fuse panel was so said I’d be glad to check it out. I know you won’t believe it when I say that I didn’t even have one thought of Marge’s panties as I walked down the hallway to the back bedroom... but I didn’t. The panel was located on the back wall of the closet on the left side. I pushed the hanging clothes aside and popped open the panel door and pretty much got a shock when I didn’t see any fuses. All I saw was a row of switches. I didn’t know what I was looking at. I headed back to our place and called Dick, one of the owners of the park.

Marge’s unit was basically the same as ours but newer and with a few embellishments. I already knew that it had an upgraded furnace that used fuel oil in place of  kerosene like ours used. I could tell Dick had a big smile on his face when he explained that the new units came with “breakers” in the electric panel in place of fuses. He told me to go back and to see which way the switch at the top of the panel was facing and to flip it. Marge was curious as to what was wrong and I really couldn’t tell her. I had to go back again but this time I asked if she wanted to go with me and she just shook her head indicating that she’d stay where she was until the lights came back on.

With an idea what the problem was I returned but this time I was more relaxed and I can’t deny that Marge's panties were on my mind. As I said our units were basically the same. However, just like with new models for cars, some of the changes were very minor. In ours there was a mini vanity right there at that end of the closet. In Marge’s they had filled the space with three small drawers. As I knelt down to get in the closet the drawers were right on my left. I figured that I could quickly check them out and the second one down was “pay dirt“ with three piles of neatly folded panties. Shining my flashlight on them I recognized the waist elastic of the top pair on each pile was the same as on the pair I’d seen at Elle’s mother’s house. I hesitated for a few seconds and then reached in and pulled out the second pile. I’m guessing here but there were probably six pair in the pile. I really have no idea why I thought taking the bottom pair would be the safest thing to do but that’s what I did. I stuffed them in my pocket, put the others back and then turned my attention to the closet.

Sure enough, just as Dick had told me, the top switch was pointed in the opposite direction from all the others. I flipped it and on came the lights. I did walk Marge back home and it was kind of weird with her panties in my pocket.

To be continued...