and the very familiarity of it pained me.
― Iris Murdoch
Afterlife Antiques
I was thinking about Tess Woods and the events surrounding our meeting.
I'm not the type to attribute paranormal origins to every day events and that may seem hard to believe coming from a guy who sees apparitions of a dead woman in my bedroom at night.
I know those things are spooky and scare most people―hell, it scares me and I'm still shaking today as I try to recover from the shock of seeing Lillian and hearing her speak to me at the foot of my bed.
But I'm generally skeptical about such things and frankly, metaphysics gives me heartburn.
I wanted to reassure myself so I could feel grounded in reality because lately my life has been anything but mundane.
Maybe I should correct that statement a bit because most people don't experience even one supernatural event in their lives and ever since I've returned to West Harbour such things are becoming almost common place.
I think what I'm trying to say is I'm not living in some spooky horror film akin to The Haunting of Hill House―my daily life is nothing like that and fairly ordinary.
But some spooky things have occurred that are obviously supernatural in origin, but the damnable thing is that they're not really horrific or terrible―in fact, they're quite nice especially regarding Lillian and would even go as far as to say I'm in love with the girl.
There, I said it. Call me crazy if you want, but I can concede one thing to the sense of wonder that motivates me to get out of bed each day―it's the sense of mystery that makes life worth living.
And as for these apparitions or unusual events, I. have to admit they're more than freak occurrences or amazing coincidences and are probably even supernatural in origin, but naturally supernatural, if you get my meaning.
Having said all that, there is a caveat―my experience with Tess Woods is something entirely different. I respond to her as to a sound or colour. In other words, she dazzles me with her beauty.
But even with Tess I can't say it's a purely physical attraction. Well, it is, but it's way more than that. When I first saw her there was a flash of recognition in her eyes and I tried to get her to admit it by asking if we hadn't met before but she was avoiding it.
I felt something strangely familiar as if I experienced what some psychologists refer to as muscle memory.
I may not have remembered her but my arms sure did.Even now my arms feel empty as I think about her and how intimate and sensual it felt being alone with her in her shop.
And then there's the connection with Lillian Yardley again. I need to know the provenance of that cedar chest.
Thinking of that cedar chest, I know girls in the 1920's and 30's often kept one at the foot of their bed. They called them hope chests and they would put away clothing and household linens in anticipation of being married.
I wonder if that's why Lillian always appears at the foot of my bed―but that's too fantastical to even imagine. As Hamlet says, that way madness lies―let me shun it.
One thing I do know for sure is that tonight I'll be meeting with Nat who will have some information about people both alive and dead that will hopefully shed light on a few things. And tomorrow, I'll be meeting with Tess who could teach torches to burn bright.
And hopefully it won't be a case of bright things quickly coming to confusion.