Zurich- Chapter One of Neighbor

Zurich- Chapter One

By Sarah Witham

October 19, 2018

Zurich looked out his oval window through the small portion that wasn't beveled glass and marveled at the extreme color of the sky. It wasn't really purple per say, and it certainly wasn't pink or red although there were tints of both. The closest color he could think of was mauve and that too wasn't really precise enough. And with each passing moment the color was waning, mixing into different colors but for some reason that one particular color at that one particular moment was sticking out to him. And it was really starting to bother him that he couldn't identify the color.

He stared at the sky for a good bit longer than he probably should have, given that it was getting late and he needed to finish tending the garden for the night and help Darla put the kids to bed and his ankles were starting to ache a little. But he continued staring at the sky and in the general direction of the sea, pondering that color. And that's why it was him of all people to notice the sails first.

He didn't think much of it at first. There had been sails before. He thought maybe there was a shipment headed for them. And then he remembered that it was the third Thursday of the month and they never got shipments on the third Thursday of the month. They only got shipments on the second Wednesday of every month. He thought that it would be more likely a shipment if it were the second or maybe fourth Wednesday of the month, maybe a clerical error or a delay in supplies given the recent drought on the mainlands. But the difference in day and week were too much a coincidence for Zurich to ignore.

"Darla, dear, I think there's a ship out there."

"Okay, Zurich that's great, dear, but can you please come help me gather the carrots? They need to come up or they'll start to rot. And we have to put the kids down to bed soon and I would like to spend some quiet time with you."

"Of course, dear, I'm surely coming."

But Zurich didn't quite move as quickly as he normally would have at Darla's polite and necessary request. He couldn't stop looking at the window with the now azure sky darkened slightly more by a minutely larger sail peaking over the horizon. Zurich rushed off to the desk calendar and peeked at the date. Surely it confirmed that it was the third Thursday of the month. So he checked his watch lying on the bathroom sink and it too confirmed that it was the third Thursday of the month. And now Zurich was rightly bothered and agitated that either his clock and his calendar and his perception of time was off or someone from the mainland was taking a particular interest in messing up the order of things by making a shipment on the wrong day. To make matters worse he was now exactly 12 minutes late in responding to his wife's request and he had told her he would surely come and he did not. And this made him a liar and it made him rather unpunctual. And, as if things weren't bad enough for Zurich, the sky was now a deep cerulean ever approaching a deep cobalt so he would need to squint to see the carrots.

Zurich hurried out the door and around the west side of the house towards the garden where Darla was doing her best to stoop and gather all the carrots while keeping little Eric from eating the lettuce without washing and keeping little Ben from digging in the creek and keeping little Ella from pinching her sister Shelly who was trying very hard to pluck all the heads off the dandelions bordering the garden. And meanwhile the carrots were spilling out from the sides of Darla's apron.

"Darla, I apologize for my tardiness in helping you with the chores. Children mind your mother and play nicely." Zurich got bent over in the garden and was digging up the carrots quickly and with less precision than usual. Zurich was bothered by this because he is usually such a tidy worker and try as he might he couldn't complete the task like he usually did. There was dirt strewn every which way and his hands and face were covered in mud and the carrots were partially clawed up as Zurich had no idea how frantic he was acting. 

Darla noticed something was off but was busy enough that as soon as she had the thought it was replaced by thoughts of other things mostly the carrots and the children and the tasks she had before her for the evening. Also for a bit she fantasized about the carrot cake she would make which she knew would be delightful and as she worked her mouth watered and she could almost smell the fragrant cake.

They finished gathering the carrots and at this point it was midnight blue all about the small family and the Mosquitos had come out and were buzzing in splendor and the family rushed inside. Darla took the kids to get tidied up with baths and pajamas and Zurich washed the carrots at the sink under the awning at the back door by the garden. The insects buzzed about him and the light above him buzzed as well and Zurich frantically scrubbed the carrots until they went from a copper to a brilliant coquelicot. And Zurich was covered in mud and bites and felt good in his work but still uneasy and he couldn't identify why he felt so uneasy except for when he looked back at the sea he couldn't see the ship but he just knew it was still there and that bothered him.

"Darla, dear, did you see the sails?" Zurich asked Darla as they rocked gently in their rocking chairs in the living quarters before a glowing hearth.

"What sails dear?"

"The sails on the sea I mentioned before."

"Sorry dear, no I didn't see the sails."

"There shouldn't be any sails. It's the third Thursday today, so there shouldn't be any sails. There were sails today."

"Is that so, Zurich, dear? Perhaps there's a shipment"

"There's never a shipment on the third Thursday"

"What's wrong, Zurich, dear? Why are you so bothered by the sails?"

"There's not supposed to be a shipment on the third Thursday. Or the third Friday which is tomorrow which is when the sails will inevitably reach the docks"

"Perhaps there's one coming early, dear. Don't let it trouble you"

And Zurich tried hard not to let it trouble him but he tossed about in bed so much that he failed to sleep comfortably and by the morning he was so exhausted that Darla had to wake him. Darla woke Zurich with rich coffee and fresh carrot cake and blueberries and raspberry pastries and the typical and Zurich sat at the breakfast nook trying but failing to smooth his tousled chestnut hair.

Zurich returned to the beveled oval glass window and stared at the sea and to his disdain there it was approaching, a huge ship which was most certainly not a modest shipment sail like usually docks on the second Wednesday of every month. It was massive and fern green with a large mast pieced together with khaki colored cloths and it wasn't docked in the normal dock but hesitating, perfectly still about 300 yards from land. And there it floated and to Zurich it seemed as if it were hovering there. And all Zurich could think as his family and his neighbors came to the shoreline for a better look was how audacious of this sail to show up on the third Friday of the month.

Looking out at the massive ship in his frenzy, Zurich saw the color of the sky last night. There was a figurehead at the prow of the ship and she was adorned in that magnificent color and he knew at that moment that the color is called Fuschia and for a brilliant moment since the night before when he first saw the sails, Zurich had the faintest sense of relief.