The Lake House
Chapter 1
"Moving out and moving in"
The house was made of glass, the walls were in glass, you could see through, it was probably a good thing that there was no neighbours near by. The house of glass was built by the lake, on the lake…
A young woman had packed her bags and she had to move into her new apartment, which was far downtown, not too far from the hospital were she was supposed to start her new job. She had a nice yellow dog named Huey, who was in fact a she-dog, as a sole companion in that house. She took the dog out:
- Are you coming or not? She asked.
The dog followed her to her car which was full of her things and went in the back seat. She closed the door. She took a letter she wrote for the next tenant and put in the mailbox outside in front of the house. Then she got inside the car and she left. A new life was starting for her with a new job downtown…
Her new apartment was big enough and they accepted animals, which was perfect for her. She went to her job at St. Joan's Hospital. She was at the reception…
- Excuse-me , she asked the nurse.
- Fill up the form, said the nurse without even looking up to look at her, and I'll be right with you.
- No, my name is Candice White, I'm the new doctor… I start this morning.
Another young woman approached them.
- Hello, I'm Flanny Hamilton, come with me…
Flanny had black hair tied up in a low pony tail and she wore glasses… They started talking. Flanny saw a patient on a bed, it was an old man…
- I thought I asked for an MRI for this patient, she told the nurse
- I'm swamped, said the nurse, it would have to wait for 4 hours…
- He could be dead in 4 hours, said Flanny, I want that MRI, now!
- Sorry doctor, said the nurse walking away
Flanny had a sight and she looked at Candy…
- Your first patient, take him to his MRI, take the elevator, it's on the third floor…
- All right, said Candy who didn't even change her clothes…
- Thank you, said Flanny, I have to go…
Candy approached the patient.
- Hello, I'm doctor White, let's go do an MRI.
- An MRI? Said the patient, am I going to get out of there alive?
- But of course, said Candy smiling.
- But the other doctor…
- She was joking, said Candy
- That's very poor taste…
Candy smiled and didn't reply. She pushed the rolling bed towards the elevator…
oOoOoOoOoOo
A young man was looking at the house on the lake he had just bought. He was tall and handsome and he had long brown hair. He was moving into a glass house, by the lake. It was in the middle of nowhere, but he needed some quiet time. He was a young construction worker. He didn't have a love life for the moment, he was waiting to see where life was taking him.
He went on the work site where he worked during the day. A young woman came to see him. She was blond and slim.
- Terry! Terry! She said
- Hi Susanna…
- But where were you?
- I bought a house…
- Where? Looks like I'm the one to know
- By the lake… I mentioned it…
- There's no house by the lake…
- There is…
- Aside from that thing on stilts… don't tell me you bought that!?
- Yes, I did!
- But it's made of glass! You won't have any privacy… Are you crazy or what? Why did you buy that house?
- I have work to do, Susanna. Thank you for the quiche! Said Terry walking away.
Susanna wanted to be his girlfriend, but he was not interested… She continued, persevering, following him like a little dog. She looked at him go smiling… He came back and found her waiting for him. They ate the quiche made of spinach together.
When Terry went back home that night, he looked inside the mall box and he took the mail. After dinner, he started looking at the mail; there were some newspaper, flyers and he letter addressed to the new tenant. He opened and started reading it:
"Dear New Tenant,
Welcome to your new house!
As the previous tenant, let me tell you that I hope you're going to like living here as much as me. I did the address change at the post office for my mail, but you know how sometimes those doesn't work. So if by any chance you get my mail, can you please forward it to my new address? I would really appreciate it. I put my new address bellow. Thanks in advance.
P.S. "
- I'm sorry for the dog trace in front of the door. They were there when I moved in. Same thin for the box in the attic, read Terry out loud.
He stood up to look in front of the door of the house, there was no dog paw traces.
- Dog paw traces? What is she talking about?
He turned to the house and went upstairs in the attic and he saw that there was no box either. What did she mean?
oOoOoOoOoOo
Candy was getting used to her new job. She went back home to find an empty house, and her dog who kept her company.
- Are you ok, my pretty one? Did you have a nice day? She asked the dog.
She opened her fridge, it was empty.
- I didn't do the grocery shopping, darn! I have to order in…
oOoOoOoOoOo
Terry, the next day, went to get some paint, to paint the ramp that lead to the house, since it was a little rusty. There was brown paint in a bowl and he was painting. The bowl was flat on a tissue he had put to avoid the brown paint making a mess. A dog was baking… he didn't turn around, the dog came forward and stepped in the paint, inside the brown paint, and continued his way to the house, making a mess and dog paw traces… It was a yellow dog.
- Eh the dog, come back her! You're making a mess…
Terry looked at what happened stunned. Traces of paws? That's what was written in the letter he read yesterday night… How did she know there was going to be traces of dog paws? He got inside the house to go see the attic and there was no box… he wasn't expecting for the box to appear… well the dog paw traces had just appeared, didn't they? He took the letter which he had left in the attic the night before and read it again…
oOoOoOoOoOo
It was Valentine's Day and Candy was having lunch with her mother. They were sitting by the street at Daley Plaza. Mother and daughter looked a lot alike.
- It's Valentine's Day and it's 15 degrees! Said Candy, we're not in Chicago! Last year we had a snow storm!
- They say it's global warming! Iceberg are going to start to melt and water is going to cover the earth. Thank God we won't be alive to see it.
- Stop being cynical, mom, said Candy looking inside her mother's opened purse.
She saw the book, "Crime and punishment"…
- What's this? She asked, Dostoyevsky?
- It's your father's, she said, about a man who kills a woman with an axe and seem to be asking if he has the right to regret it…
Candy smiled.
- I like your analysis…
- This sandwich is good, she said
- Really? It's your favourite sandwich mom…
- You're sweetheart honey… how's work?
Candy was about to reply when a honk of a truck was heard and a collision noise. An accident had just happened. A bus, a car and a pedestrian. Candy stood up to run on the site of the accident quickly. She had her cellphone and she called an ambulance.
- We need an ambulance immediately. There was an accident a man was hit by a bus…
She by the man lying on the ground facing the ground, he was not moving… She put her phone on the floor to examine him…
The police was asking people to back off and stay far…
- I'm a doctor, said Candy.