A Timely Vision

I could hear the elevator motor pulling the cage up to the third floor as we started up the stairs. The stairwell was dark and probably filled with things I’d rather not see. Every so often, I heard a squeaking sound and wasn’t sure if it was a bat or a rat. In a building that had sat empty for so long, anything was possible.

“This is some place.” Tim huffed a little as we climbed to the second floor. “I think we should’ve taken the elevator.”

I looked out the window on the second-floor landing. This side didn’t face the beach. Bushes were spread out along the drive and down to the road. Their shadows seemed to move as the clouds passed through the moonlight. A few cars went by, their headlights fading quickly into the distance.

“I hate elevators. Even the safe ones with music and lights. I wouldn’t go in that elevator for anything.” I stepped on something hard and bent to retrieve it. The feeling of time slowing told me it was something important.

In the dim moonlight, I made out a tiny key. It was too small to open a room. It looked like the kind of key that would open a jewelry box or diary. No matter, it would belong to Kevin like everything else here. My fingers itched to explore everything in the Blue Whale and discover its treasures. I shoved the key in my pocket and started up the last flight of stairs.

“I might be having a heart attack, Dae.” Tim wheezed up behind me. “Slow down. This was supposed to be r omantic.”

“If you got out of that police car and walked like everyone else in Duck, you wouldn’t be having such a hard time on these stairs,” I taunted him. Honestly, the mileage on those cars was incredible considering how small Duck was. More than once, I’d pushed the town council to buy bicycles, but the police had threatened to go on strike.

“Are you two ever going to get up here?” Shayla yelled down the stairs. “I don’t even want to think what’s going on down there.”

The fact that she was yelling down at us made me think nothing much was going on with her and Kevin up on the third floor. That lightened my heart a little, but I put it down to jealousy.

“You know,” Tim huffed, “I wanted to ask you something important while we’re alone, Dae.”

I knew it was uncharitable of me, but I couldn’t help but grimace.

“I know I’ve asked you before,” he continued. “I don’t know if you’ve ever taken me seriously. I’m a stable man, Dae. You’ve known me all your life. I’d make a good husband. I cook and clean up after myself. I’ve been doing laundry since I was nine.”

It always went the same way. I wished he’d take no for an answer. I felt cruel having to refuse him over and over again. But better to be alone than with someone I didn’t love.

“And someday, your grandfather will be gone, and you’ll be alone. You should marry me before that happens. We can live with him and take care of him. That house is plenty big for all of us and a few kids. So what do you think? Will you marry me, Dae?”

At that moment, a flashlight beam played over us. I realized Kevin had been close by, close enough to hear Tim pop the question. “Sorry. I thought you guys might be lost,” he said.

Kevin’s voice had that strange tone people use when they’re curious about something they’ve heard or seen but they don’t want to pry. I wanted to assure him that there was nothing intimate about the moment, but I couldn’t do that to Tim. It was one thing for me to make fun of him in my own mind but another to help someone else make fun of him.

“No, we’re fine.” Tim’s breathless voice came from behind me.

I couldn’t really see Kevin’s face because the flashlight beam was pointed in my general direction. It was an awkward moment, at least for me. I didn’t want Kevin to get the wrong idea about me and Tim. “Did you open the door yet?”

“Not yet,” Kevin assured me. “We were waiting for you.”

Maybe he’d think I felt embarrassed about him overhearing the proposal and not mention it again. I certainly hoped so as I started up the stairs, without answering Tim’s still-lingering question. Tim followed, a bit more slowly, and we met up with Kevin on the third-floor landing. Here, the window overlooked the ocean. The light rippled on the waves coming in at low tide.

“I’m glad you finally found them,” Shayla said as we approached her. She was standing next to the door of the locked room, one hip resting against the wall. The sarcasm in her tone was obvious, at least to me. She hadn’t wanted Kevin to come back and look for us.

“Well, we’re all here.” I walked up to the door and pretended an excitement I wasn’t really feeling. There was a damp, moldy smell to the place that I hoped Kevin would be able to get rid of before he tried to rent out rooms. It was the smell of decay and neglect, maybe even dust and cobwebs. I wanted to be out walking the beach, trying to find that elusive ghost that Shayla took for granted. “Let’s see what’s inside.”