MORE PROGRESS... Really (Part 12e)

Timing is everything in life and this storm certainly affected Elle and I. Power was finally restored after 5 plus days. We woke up with lights Thursday morning. Elle and I still weren't needed at work because basically there wasn't any product to sell as deliveries of perishables hadn't started yet. I'd spent most of my week cleaning up both our yard and that of my grandparents. I did kill some time at the gas station but it was unpaid time. That was the really bad part for us. Losing a weeks pay just before we were to leave for college really hurt. So did not having time for us to really be alone. It wasn't that we were "grounded" but it was pretty hard to come up with a reason to go someplace at night since there was no electricity. We mostly walked the beach and some of the new roads in our area. One of them was actually a right of way that allowed the property owners on the East end of the community to get to their driveways. It dead ended at a chain link fence that was the property line for "The Mansion" that I described earlier. We peeked through the fence wondering what it might be like to be that rich. Of course we took advantage of being alone and out of view but Elle and her modesty kept me pretty much in line. When I was holding her I noticed what looked like a small roof in the woods behind her. The only time I'd ever been down in that area was on my bike and I'd never gone as far as where we were right then. I was curious but Elle was wary of going to explore it. I walked in a short ways, through weeds and undergrowth, and could see that it looked like a small garage. I was sure there was no house back in there so was quite puzzled. Elle wanted to leave but I wanted to see more. She stayed out in the road and I pressed on. It quickly became evident that I was on some sort of pathway as I was just tramping down weeds. On both sides of me there were small trees. It became obvious that where I was standing had been cleared at some time in the past. I reached a point where I could see the whole building and it definitely was a garage. There was a small bare spot on the ground where I was standing and I bent down and found that it was some sort of crushed stone. The weeds had grown up through it. I didn't go all the way up to the building because I didn't want to get out of Elle's sight. I knew she wasn't comfortable with the whole scene. When I got back to her I explained what I'd seen and found and convinced her to go back with me. She didn't just hold my hand... she was crushing it. We found the door wasn't latched so peered inside. It was filled with junk and it was obvious that it had been thoroughly ransacked. We were truly puzzled. Why would someone build just a garage in the middle of a woods and then fill it with junk? On our walk back home I got to thinking about the place and how it might just be another place for us to "park". I wasn't sure how Elle would feel about it but at least it offered a place that was close and hidden from view.

We managed to get out by ourselves the day after the power came back on. I think I worked about half a day at the market but, because the gas station had been basically the only one with gas during the outtage, it had been pumped dry so I didn't work that night. Elle had also worked half a day so we had the whole evening to ourselves. Fred and Liz were supposed to come out for the weekend so we planned to go visit with them. Elle brought the clothes that Liz had loaned her and I was still trying to figure out how to get a peek at the panties. When we got to the house we found a big party in progress. Neither of us was expecting that and weren't comfortable with it either. It was mostly adults and younger kids. We found Fred and Liz and they explained that it was her parents anniversary. Of course they invited us to join in but Elle's eyes told me she wasn't interested. They were disappointed but sort of understood since we really didn't know anybody else but them. We were glad to get away.

It was still quite early and I decided to go "exploring" for potential new "parking" places since we were in the area. I'd made some deliveries into the area so had some ideas. Unfortunately, they weren't as private as I thought they were. After two tries I gave up. I didn't want to go to our place on the inlet as it would still be quite light out. The first houses in the development had been started and there was now more and more traffic running past our little hideaway. I was afraid that if someone saw a car parked down there they might want to find out why... plus my car was rather distintive and was relatively easy to identify. In all the times we'd gone there after dark I'd not seen even one set of headlights. I rejected the Boy Scout camp for the same reason. In daylight, a car up on the knoll was noticable and, since everyone knew the camp was closed, I figured it might cause someone (the Police) to come up and investigate.

Elle had been invited to a party at Nan's house but had declined on account of me wanting to meet up with Fred and Liz. She suggested that we could go there for a while to kill some time. I didn't have any other ideas so said "OK". On our way out I decided to drive down the one road that paralleled the primary road just to see what was there. The whole area was heavily treed with scrub oak. Most of the homeowners had elected to leave their yards in the "natural" state with trees rather than cutting them down and planting grass. It was sometimes hard to see the houses from the road. Then, quite unexpectedly, I came to an open field. It was filled with weeds and the only trees were out by what I thought might be the bluff overlooking the water. There was a place that appeared to be a two lane path and I turned in there and followed it all the way to where the trees started in again. I got out and so did Elle. I took her hand and we started through the grove of trees towards what was left of the sun. We hadn't gotten very far when Elle sneezed a few times. After the last one she snatched her hand back from mine and proceeded to go into a semi squat with one hand between her legs. I, of course, knew what that meant. I asked if she was OK. She had a somewhat funny look on her face and said something about allergies. She was back standing up when she again sneezed a few more times. Same reaction... bent at the waist, hand in her crotch. Then she said we had to leave. I didn't have anything to offer so we headed back to the car. Before we made it she had another sneezing attack. I had tried, ever so subtly, to see if she'd wet herself but couldn't really tell. She was wearing dark blue shorts and for the few seconds I actually did have a view I couldn't see anything. Once I turned the car around she announced "RAGWEED!". In amongst all the other weeds was her dreaded nemesis. When I'd driven the car in and over the weeds I'd stirred the pollen up and she'd breathed it in.

To be continued...