Page 36 of Statler

Not only because it was the weekend and she was out from under her father’s stifling eye. That was part of it, of course. But Saturdays were special for another reason.

It was the one day Eliza was allowed to be…herself.

Glancing at the clock now, showed it was just going on six.

She leaped out of bed.

Eliza wasn’t about to miss a bit of the next thirteen hours of daylight.

She brushed her teeth, took a quick shower, then tripped lightly back to her closet. She capriciously bypassed her normal work wardrobe to pull out a frayed, stained, and well-loved sweatshirt, along with a torn pair of jeans.

Her rattiest clothes, for sure. But they made her grin.

Her day, her choice.

Adding her old, holey, canvas sneakers to the outfit, she grabbed a couple of breakfast bars to go, picked up the large tote she’d loaded the night before with all her necessary items, then carried everything she needed to the front door.

Eliza left her house with a smile on her lips, already bubbling over with anticipation.

Although today, she cautioned, she’d have to be more circumspect than usual.

With the advent of the new crew staying at the cottages, they could get nosy and spot her.

She’d be extra vigilant, for sure, but she wasn’t going to let their presence stop her from pursuing her passions.

She already knew the route; headed up her favorite, gentle mountain slope. She’d use the alternate trailhead she’d cleared when the cement crew was in residence, therefore circumventing any contact with any of the current, possible nosy-nellies who were residing there.

Getting into her car, Eliza felt almost tipsy.

She was about to feed her soul with the one thing in life that still made her happy, an activity that changed her persona from flat to fizzy.

Eventually she hoped for that feeling to exist on days other than Saturdays, as she continued to imagine getting out of this town; out from under her father’s thumb.

Then she’d have a full life that included the thing she most loved to do.

Dreams.

It was all dreams right now.

But dreams had a way of becoming reality, at least if the shows she watched and the books she read were in any small part, correct. So, she was going to continue stoking her optimistic fires until she was proven wrong.

She’d been judicious, after all, socking away all her money and holding her cards close, so that eventually she could make her flight a reality.

The advent of Statler and his crew—stocking their houses for them—had put a tiny dent in her savings, but Eliza considered the small setback, worth it.

Once she was shed of this town, she might need a few, reliable outside contacts, so greasing the wheels of this new crew with a little TLC…?

Her mind instantly flew to Statler, but she shut that down quickly.

Blue.

Blue was the person Eliza needed to befriend. There was something in the woman’s eyes that said she might be a kindred spirit; that she’d seen adversity of some kind which shadowed her in the same way the past dogged Eliza.

Eliza was going to have to make it a point to seek out the woman and see if she was open to being…buddies?

That might not be easy.

Eliza had no clue how to go about making friends. The ones she’d had in the past had either approached her because they’d just moved to town and didn’t know who she was yet, or they’d sucked up to her because her father owned the place. Either way, it always came down to her parentage.