One

 Part One: Hoarder finds a pine cone

   It was a typical morning for Fran. She was up with the sun and outside searching for treasures. She checked the dumpsters behind the shopping center, looked in the “free stuff” box next to the donation station, took note of any flyers for garage sales that weekend, and peeked into trash cans. She liked pretty things, she was never much for fixing something. If it was broken and way beyond simple repair, Fran didn’t want it. People often assumed that a hoarder would take anything but she thought of herself as a collector. She refused trash. She collected little glass sculptures, art of any kind, dishes, vintage clothing and shoes, books that were not all torn up, baskets that were still able to hold things, and decorative boxes. She didn’t care much for new things because they had no energy or at least that is what she felt. New things had not lived a life yet and she didn’t want to be responsible for that.

   Her bags were full. Someone had unloaded a whole stack of books into the free bin next to the donation station. Books were something she loved to share. She didn’t hold on to everything she found, a lot of it went to the second hand thrift store ran by Dwight and Virginia called ‘One More Time’. They paid her wholesale prices for the things she brought them. It was still too early for the shop to be open so Fran walked behind the building to check the dumpster. People often tossed things in there when the thrift store was closed and they wanted to offload whatever it was they didn’t want anymore.

   She set down her bags then pushed open the heavy lid of the dumpster. It was filled with trash bags. Nothing good today but something caught her eye under the dumpster. It was one of those big dumpsters on wheels so Fran gave it a good shove and it moved about a foot to the left revealing the object under it. It was some sort of pine cone but not one from a tree, this was art. It was shiny and looked like glass or maybe metal, Fran couldn’t tell. She bent down and picked it up. It was quite heavy and cool to the touch. She turned it over in her hands looking at it. It was in excellent condition. It caught the sunlight and gleamed but she still couldn’t tell what it was made of. Maybe it was some sort of precious stone. Why was it here under the dumpster? Maybe someone tossed it out on accident.

   Fran put the pine cone into her bag and decided it was time to head home. She was hungry and her daughter, Jess, would be there soon. Jess stopped by every morning to check on her and to grab some coffee. Fran was very proud of her daughter, she was a police officer just like her father had been. He was no longer with them. He was killed twenty years before in the line of duty. Fran still lived in the apartment they shared, apartment B. It was a good sized two bedroom apartment in an older building. There were three other apartments in the building and she had seen many people come and go in the 25 years she lived there. Jess moved out shortly after her 18th birthday when she joined the police academy.

  She dug her keys from her sweater pocket and unlocked the door. She had to set her bags down and then pull them in behind her since she could no longer get the door opened all the way. She took the pine cone out of the bag and carried it into the kitchen with her. She set the pine cone on top of the table on top of a stack of books then started the kettle on the stove to make some coffee. Jess usually showed up with an empty coffee thermos before her shift. Fran enjoyed their mornings together.

   Harvey came into the kitchen with a long loud meow.

   “Mornin’ Harvey. Where’s Gus?” Fran said as she bent down to pick up the cat. Harvey was an orange tabby who had not missed many meals. Fran sat in a chair at the table and petted the cat on her lap.

   “Hello? Ma? Are you home?” It was Jess coming through the front door. Her key still worked in the locks, Fran had never changed them.

   “We’re in the kitchen!” Fran called to her daughter. The kettle began to whistle. “Good timing.” She said to Jess as she walked into the kitchen. Harvey meowed and rubbed himself against Fran’s leg as she made the coffee. Jess sat in the chair her mother had been sitting in because the other chairs all had stacks of books and boxes on them.

   “Ma? When are you going to clean this place up?” Jess asked her this almost every time she was there.

  “Oh, Jess, it’s all kind of organized. It’s not dirty. Did you want anything in your coffee?” Fran said as she reached her hand out for Jess’s thermos.

  “No, ma. Just black is fine.” Jess was looking around at all the extra dishes, books and boxes of knickknacks cluttering up the kitchen. “I don’t know how you function in all of this stuff. You know Dwight and Virginia would buy most of this stuff. I can get some of the guys on the force to help-”

   “No, Jess. It’s fine I’ve got a system,” She let out a sigh. “but how about this?” Fran put her hand on the pine cone. “Isn’t it beautiful? Probably part of a collection. Like the glass grapes and apples I have somewhere.” She began to look around but there was no way she was going to find anything without searching for it. She had too much stuff crammed into the apartment. She knew it but couldn’t bare to part with most of it. She had started collecting things in excess after her husband, Cyril, died but it didn’t really get out of hand until Jess moved out. Fran filled Jess’s childhood bedroom with clothing and children’s toys she found.

   “Ma, it’s just more junk. Don’t you want to be able to have guest over? What about when I start having babies? Don’t you want your grandkids to be able to come over without fear of losing them in this mess?” Jess asked her mother.

   “We’ve got to find you a boyfriend first! Or did you find one already?” Fran didn’t even want to think about the large task of cleaning this apartment. It felt like an impossibility and she wasn’t sure she wanted to get rid of anything so she changed the subject. “Is he cute? Is it that Ricky?”

   “Ricky? Ma, no. Gross. Ricky? I’m going to be late.” Jess got up and kissed her mother on the cheek. “We’ll talk about this later. Think about it okay? I only want to help. Love you!” She squeezed out of the front door and closed it behind her. Fran sat back in the chair and drank the rest of the coffee with a pastries from the package of them she had bought earlier in the week. She looked at the pine cone, it was sitting at face level. It was magnificent. Someone must have lost it. Maybe it was stolen. Dwight would know. He was very knowledgeable when it came to art and antiques. He also listened to his police scanner a lot and knew when a robbery took place in town.

   Fran finished her coffee and put the pine cone into her bag then headed out the door. Onslo was there in the entrance courtyard garden of the U shaped building.

   “Hello, Fran. How are you this morning?” Onslo was the owner and manager of the building. He was an older man, Fran knew him for all these years and wasn’t sure of his exact age. She knew he was in his 70’s though. He was a widower too since his wife had passed away twelve years ago. They had a son but Onslo didn’t see much of him.

    “Hi, Onslo. I’m good. How are you holding up?” Fran felt motherly towards Onslo even though she was a good twenty years younger than him. She was sure no one was watching after him as he got older. She often cooked extra and brought it over to him. He in turn shared with her things that he bought to eat but couldn’t finish, mostly sweets. He wasn’t usually home when she knocked on his door in the mornings though. She wondered where he went.

   “I’m good. The warm weather is almost too much for me. Going to have to turn on my cooler if it gets any hotter.” He said with a smile. The old building stayed pretty cool on it’s own but each of the apartments had a wall unit installed several years before. Fran never turned hers on. She couldn’t get to it. There was a stack of old canvas paintings in front of it anyway.

   “I hear you, it’s pretty warm. I’ll see you around. Have a good day, Onslo!” Fran waved to him as she exited the courtyard and headed for the thrift shop. She took an umbrella she used for shade from her bag and opened it. The umbrella was becoming worn but Fran hoped it would last another summer. She hated replacing things and she didn’t have another suitable shade umbrella to use.

   She could see Dwight and Virginia’s truck in the parking lot of the thrift store as she got closer. It was now after 9am so they would be open. Fran entered the store making the bells over the door ring. No one was there so she walked back to the store looking at new things on the shelves.

   “Hello? Where is everyone?” Fran called out and then waited.

   “Hey, Fran.” Virginia said as she pushed through the curtain separating the back half of the store from the front.

    “Mornin’, Virginia. Is Dwight around? I found something I want him to look at.” Fran smiled at Virginia. She liked this couple a lot. They were a little older than she was and both were always happy to see her because they enjoyed collecting things as much as she did. Dwight came through the front door with a box of doughnuts and two coffees just as Fran finished asking.

   “Hey, Fran. How are you this morning? Gosh, it’s nice out there.” Dwight set the doughnuts on the back counter and handed Virginia one of the coffees. Fran dug the pine cone from her bag and set it gently on one of the glass cases that had jewelry in it.

   “I found this behind the building this morning, is it yours?” This was the first thing Fran always asked when she found things behind their thrift store.

   “No, did you find it behind our building?” Dwight knew why she asked.

   “Sure did. It was under the dumpster.” Fran said as Dwight took off his glasses and bent down to get a closer look.

   “May I?” Dwight asked Fran before he picked it up, she nodded. “Heavy. What’s this made out of?” He turned the pine cone over in his hands looking closely at it. Virginia stood by sipping her coffee and watched.

   “I was hoping you could tell me. I thought it was glass or metal or maybe a precious stone since it can’t be metal and glass at the same time, can it?” Fran said as she looked around at the new things in the shop. A boxy purse caught her eye, it was not something she needed, but it reminded her of something she couldn’t quite fully remember.

   “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s gorgeous, no scratches on it, it’s not chipped in anyway. Oddly enough, I see no identifying marks on it. No maker’s mark or stamp. It’s like some strange tree grew this beauty. I’ll keep an eye and ear out for anyone missing such a lovely piece but for now it’s yours, Fran. What did you want to do with it?” Dwight asked as he set the pine cone down.

   “I don’t know. Guess I’ll just take it home for now. I might have a space for it in my curio cabinet.” Fran said as she put the pine cone back into her bag.

  “Ha! It sure is a curio!” Virginia added with a laugh.

  “Anything else we can do for you today?” Dwight asked Fran.

  “No, that’ll do it. Thank you though for looking at this pine cone thing. Maybe I can find something on the computer about it.” Fran said as she lifted her bag onto her shoulder.

   “My pleasure, as always. You have a nice day now.” Dwight said as Fran made her way towards the door.

  “Thanks again, Dwight. Bye Virginia.” Fran called back to them as she pushed her way through the door. She walked home only stopping briefly to read the flyers posted outside of the grocery store on their bulletin board. There were a few garage sales this weekend and a missing dog but nothing else of interest.

   Two women exited the store and Fran noticed the purse one of them was carrying. It suddenly hit her. She remembered where she had seen something made of this same material. Many years before her husband had found an object that sort of looked like a purse when he was on a call to the old abandoned saw mill on the edge of town. Someone called in to report mysterious lights and a possible robbery. When they arrived they found nothing of an illegal nature going on and no one was there. It was all quiet but Cyril looked around anyways and found the purse.

   The purse was a more like a canister shape, round like a tin for some kind of treat, almost like a small bucket but cylinder. It had a lid with a handle, Cyril tried to open it but it wouldn’t unscrew or pop off so they assumed it was decorative and all one piece. It was in a box, somewhere, in her apartment, but where? She hadn’t seen in for over 20 years since it was one of the things she packed into a box after Cyril died.

   Fran hurried home to start looking. The door to apartment C was wide open when she got there. No one had lived there for a few months after Kalianne had moved out. She was too old to care for herself anymore so her son came and moved her out. Fran was surprised at how little Kalianne owned when the truck came for her things. A table, two wooden chairs, an armchair, a small table, and a bed was all she owned along with a few boxes of clothing and dishes. Fran was glad to have a new neighbor.

    “Hello? Anyone home?” Fran called into apartment C as she knocked on the door. There was several boxes on the floor, what looked like a bed frame propped up against the wall and a huge pile of very bright colorful clothing in a pile on a red velvet couch.

   “Hey, I’m back here!” Called out a man’s voice. He almost sang the words. Fran entered the apartment, it was the same layout as her’s but mirrored. For some reason it felt much bigger, Fran assumed it was because it was nearly empty.

    “Hello?” Fran said as she walked into the kitchen. There stood a very tall man. He was dressed in  purple corduroy overalls with a floral button up blouse under. He had on red shoes with black socks. His pant legs were rolled up to mid-calf. He had oversized glasses on his face and a patch of long wild hair that was bleached on top of his head.

   “Hello! You must be Fran! Onslo told me all about you! I’m Morris.” He extended his hand and met her halfway to shake. “You are just in time for tea. Care to join me?” The kettle on the stove began to whistle. Morris pull two mugs from a box on the floor and set them on the counter.

   “Sure. I was just on my way home and noticed that the door was open. Glad to see someone is moving in here finally. Did Onslo advertise the apartment? He never said.” Fran had wondered what was going to happen with this apartment. She assumed it would sit empty until Onslo passed away and the building sold.

   “Oh, no honey. Onslo and I go way back. I’m a nurse over at City General Hospital and we met when his wife was there. Onslo and I stayed friends after Marla passed. Did you know her? Onslo mentioned that you’ve lived here a long time.” Morris put a tea bag in each mug and poured the hot water over. Fran noticed he was wearing matching plain silver rings on each of his middle fingers.

    “I’ve lived here for a little over 25 years now. I know just about everyone in the neighborhood. She used to throw the most fun parties out in the backyard. Marla would set up a table with all sorts of delicious finger foods. We would have music and dance.” She smiled remembering this. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had anyone young living here. This place was starting to feel lifeless.” Morris smiled and handed her the mug of hot tea. “Thanks.”

   “Marla was a woot.” Morris stood thinking about her too for a moment. “Well, the movers should be here soon with the rest of my things. I’m thrilled to have finally met you after hearing so much about you for years from Onslo. We’ll have to have dinner together, the three of us, once I’m all moved in. Take the mug with you, we’re neighbors now. I’ll get it from you later.” He walked Fran to the front door and then headed towards the street with his mug of tea to wait for the movers.

    Fran unlocked her door then squeezed inside. She set the mug of tea in the kitchen then took the pine one out of her bag and placed it on a stack of books on the table. She didn’t even know where to begin to look for the purse like object. It might be in Jess’s old room or it could be buried in her closet. Maybe it was under the stack of encyclopedias in the front room.

   She pushed the door to Jess’ room open as much as she could and squeezed into the room. She flipped the light switch on and nothing happened. She tried it again. Nothing. The light bulb must have been burned out. She went back to the kitchen to look for a light bulb. She usually kept things like that in a drawer there. She found an empty pack when she opened the middle drawer with a full pack right under it. She took a bulb out then squeezed back into the room. She found the lamp in the dark and changed the bulb. This time it worked when she hit the switch on the wall.

   The room was full of boxes, books, and bags, with boxes stacked five to six feet high in the corner. Some of the boxes had written on them what they contained. Most of it was collectable stuffed animals and children’s toys. She opened one of the boxes and dug around a little. It wasn’t in there. She opened a few more without any luck. She then moved several boxes and a bunch of books to reach another clump of boxes. It wasn’t in any of them either. She moved another stack of books and could almost open the closet door, something was jamming it. She reached her hand inside and could feel something leaning against the inside of the door so she pushed it back and the accordion style door slid open all the way. Fran looked in several boxes in the closet and moved the clothing still hanging there to the other side.

   She didn’t find what she was looking for but did find a box of Jess’s summer clothing from the summer before she moved out to go to college. She dragged the box to the bedroom door then had to move another stack of boxes to be able to open the door enough to fit the clothing box through. She knew Jess would want these clothes.

    Back in the kitchen her tea had gone cold. She gulped it down and set the mug next to the sink. The dishes needed to be done but there were too many of them. Once she cleaned some there would be no where to put them so she usually just washed one dish at a time and used that. She suddenly felt very hungry. How long had she been looking through boxes? It was already late afternoon. She found a container of macaroni salad in the fridge then sat in the one uncluttered chair and ate it. She could hear the movers and Morris in the apartment next to her’s since their kitchens were right next to each other.

   Fran was suddenly embarrassed of her overstuffed messy apartment. If she had better organization skills she believed it wouldn’t be so messy. There was a knock at her front door before it opened.

   “Ma? Are you home?” Jess called into the apartment.

   “I’m in the kitchen.” Fran shouted back to her daughter. She heard Jess come in and close the door. She knew before she seen her that she was in full uniform.

    “I can barely get through your door. This is a fire hazard, ma.” Jess said as she walked into the kitchen. Fran only let out a heavy sigh. “You sure you don’t want me to get some of the guys to come over? We can make a weekend of it. I can’t even get into my old room.”

    “Oh! Right, I pulled some stuff out of there for you.” Fran got up and went to the front room where the box of Jess’ clothing was. Jess followed her. Fran opened the box and pulled a few of the item out. “Look what I found. There might be another one in there. Do you remember seeing a purse type thing? It is made from the same stuff that pine cone I found it made of. If it’s a matching set of part of a collection I might be able to make a little money off of it.”

   “How old is this stuff? This is all from when I was in high school, ma. I can’t take it now, I’m on duty. What purse thing? I don’t know what you are talking about.” Jess said as she looked through the box of clothing.

   “This box will be here when you get off work and maybe I’ll find some more stuff for you before you get back.” Fran walked back into the kitchen and sat in the chair then ate the last bit of macaroni salad.

  “Is that dinner? Ma, you need to at least let me help you clean this kitchen. I remember all the good foods you used to make. When is that last time you made your special lasagna?” Jess asked.

   “I don’t know, Jess.” Fran was suddenly tired and just wanted to continue looking for the purse.

   “I should go. I’m on the clock but just wanted to check on you.” Jess said as she bent down to kiss her mother on the forehead. “See you tomorrow?” She headed for the door.

  “Yes, bright and early. At least I can still make good coffee!” Fran said with a smile.

  “Love you!” Jess said as she squeezed out the front door. Fran sat for a moment before going back into Jess’s old room to look through more boxes.

   It was stuffy in there. If she could get to the window to open it she would but there were boxes stacked in front of it. Fran decided to look in that stack of boxes. They were all filled with toys and stuffed animals. She was holding onto these things for Jess when she had kids but Fran wasn’t sure her daughter was ever going to get married, she was more focused on her career as a police officer. Maybe Jess was trying to hint to her that she didn’t want kids and Fran should just get rid of all this stuff. She felt silly for holding onto all this stuff for so long even though it gave her great comfort.  

  She was sleepy and didn’t want to look any more. She went back to the kitchen and poured cat food into the two bowls on the floor. She refilled the water dish for the cats too. Where were these two? She hadn’t seen Gus all day and only seen Harvey briefly in the morning. The back door out of the kitchen had a pet door. Gus usually didn’t go much further than the backyard because he was so fat. Harvey was a ladies man, he often went into other people’s apartments to sit with them while they watched TV. Fran knew they would be back.

   She changed into a nightshirt and brushed her teeth before laying down in her bed. She laid there watching the shadow from the tree and street lamp dance across the walls for a long time.

    Fran began to dream that she was swimming in an ocean, the current was dragging her out to sea and she swam as hard as she could to fight it. A box floated past her and then another. Soon she was swimming through boxes. She yelled out for help and everything froze. She climbed on top of the boxes, yelled out for organization and suddenly the boxes began to form walls and shapes then turned into buildings and other structures. She was sitting at an outside cafe with Jess and a baby when a loud meow woke her up.

   Gus was pawing at her face and meowing. He had hopped up on the bed and was sitting next to her, purring loudly. His breath was terrible. Harvey was sitting in the doorway cleaning his face. Fran had slept in, she was usually outside walking around the neighborhood at this time.

   “Mornin’, boys.” Fran said as she stretched. The sun was reflecting off of something and coming through a spot in the curtains where the two never quite came together all the way at the top. The light hit a wicker basket in the closet. Fran suddenly knew where the purse-like object was. She put Gus on the floor and got out of bed. The wicker basket had a stack of boxes full of winter clothing on top of it. Fran moved the boxes of clothing to the bed, the only space available for her to set them. She opened the wicket basket, it was full of old sweaters, she pulled out a few of the sweaters and found a canvas bag. She set the bag on the floor and untied the flap.

    There it was. It was a lot heavier than Fran remembered but it was made of the same material as the pine cone for sure. She picked it up and went to the kitchen. The cats followed her, meowing the whole way. She didn’t know what to call this thing. It was cylindrical and more like a bucket with a lid and handle than a purse. She set it next to the pine cone and looked at them both. The pine cone seemed to shine next to it.

  The cats meowed louder.

  “Oh, right. Did you boys already eat the food I put out last night?” Fran asked as she looked at their bowls. Both bowls were empty. She refilled them. Gus pushed Harvey out of the way so he could eat first. There was a knock on the front door. Fran assumed it was Jess but when the door didn’t open after the knock Fran knew it wasn’t her. She tossed a kitchen towel over the pine cone and purse.

  She looked out the peep hole. Morris was standing there. Fran opened the door and stuck her head out, blocking the view into the messy apartment.

   “Good morning, Morris.” Fran said as she squinted in the sunlight.

   “Hello, Fran. Sorry to bother you. I’m making sure you’re okay. I seen that the police were here last night. Is everything okay?” He had genuine concern in his voice.

   “Oh, yes. That’s my daughter, Jess. She’s a police officer and stops by every day. Sometimes several times a day. I’m fine. How are you doing? Settling in? Did you get all your stuff moved in?” Fran squeezed out of the door and stood in the courtyard with Morris.

   “Yes, I’ve got it all in there now I just need to organize it and decorate. Onslo said you are the person to talk to if I need help with finding the right piece of furniture or art.” He was wearing flowing black gaucho style pants and a yellow tank top. He obviously didn’t care what others thought of him and wore whatever the hell he wanted. Fran liked this about him. She wished she was more bold like this. She had a lot of nice clothing that she never wore. Maybe she would start.

  “Of course I’d love to help you. Let me know when you’re all set up then I’ll come over and we can discuss what you need.” Fran had been a personal decorator many years before. She had a good eye for design. It had been a while since anyone had requested her services.

  “I can pay you, I’m not asking you to do this for free.” Morris let out a giggle as he said this. “We can talk price then too. Do you think Onslo would be okay with painting the walls? White is so boring.”

   Jess pulled up in her car and got out.

   “Jess, dear. Come meet my new neighbor.” Fran called over to her daughter. Fran introduced the two of them, Morris said he had to go, he was running late for his shift at the hospital. Fran and Jess went inside.

  “Look what I found.” Fran said as she pulled the towel off the two strange objects on a stack of books on the table in the kitchen.

   “Yep. There it is.” Jess couldn’t care much less about the pine cone and purse, it was all junk to her, piling up higher and higher. “Did you make coffee?”

  “Oh, no. I woke up late then I was talking to Morris.” Fran replied.

  “That’s okay. I’m running late, ma. I better go. I can grab some at the station.” Jess said as she looked around at the kitchen full of things.

  “Are you sure? It’ll only take a few minutes.” Fran had begun to fill the kettle with water but Jess headed for the door.

  “Yeah. I’ll stop by later. Love you!” Jess called back to her mother as she squeezed out the front door. Fran made herself a cup of coffee using Morris’s mug. She ate a pastry with her coffee as she sat in the kitchen looking at the pine cone and purse. She could hear music coming from the apartment next door and Morris singing along with it. This made her smile. Then it went quiet. Morris must have left for work. The only sound now was that of Gus crunching down on his crunchy dry food.

   Fran didn’t feel like going out and looking for treasures this late in the morning. She decided to try to wash some dishes. She put the dry clean ones from the drying rack into the cabinet above the sink. She then moved all of the dirty dishes to one side of the double sink and started washing them. She filled the drying rack in no time and there was still a large pile of dirty ones so she filled the sink with soapy water and left them to soak. Ths was going to take a long time and it barely made the room look any less messy.

    She went to the front room and moved a few boxes around. If she had better organization skills it wouldn’t be such a problem but there were too many boxes half filled with things she found or bought at garage sales. She needed someone to help her with all of this, but not Jess. Jess just wanted to throw it all away and Fran knew a lot of it was still useful. If she could organize it then maybe she could have her own garage sale or find all the things she wanted to sell at the thrift shop for consignment. It was too big a task for one person, it would take her years to go through everything.

      She went back to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. The pine cone and purse looked shiny as if it was brand new. Fran stood just stared at them for a moment before remembering why she had come in there. She poured herself another cup and then went back into the front room. She bumped into a box next to the door and the whole stack of boxes tumbled over, spilling out and blocking the path. The crashing sound scared both the cats and sent Harvey scrambling out the pet door. Old pictures and paperwork, a few scrapbooks and memorabilia lay on the floor. Fran let out a heavy sigh before sitting on the floor to pick it up.

  One of the scrapbooks opened when it hit the floor. There was a picture of Jess around age 6 with missing front teeth, smiling while sitting in her father’s patrol car. Fran’s eyes filled with tears, she fought them back but they just kept coming. She sat there and cried while looking through the scrapbook. There was pictures of Jess and Cyril, birthday parties, holidays, and vacations from that year. Pictures inside of the apartment from when it was clean and organized. This made Fran even more upset. How could she let this happen?

  “Pull yourself together, Fran.” She said outloud to herself as she wiped her face onto her shirt. She stood up and went to the kitchen for a drink. She sat in the chair drinking her glass of water while looking at the pine cone and purse. She set the glass down and picked up the pine cone. It seemed shinier today almost as if it was glowing. Fran stood up and put her hand on the handle of the purse, it moved, she jumped back while clutching the pine cone to her chest. She wasn’t sure what she felt so she slowly reached her hand out and set it on the handle of the purse again. It moved. Fran jumped back and let out a yelp in surprise then laughed.

    She put her hand on it again, this time wrapping her fingers around the handle. It began to move in a slow vibration. The pine cone in her other hand began to do the same slow vibration. This scared Fran so she set them down on the stack of books on the table and made her way to the back door. It was blocked by another stack of boxes, each half filled with dishes and kitchen items. She moved them as much as she could before unlocking the door and squeezing through. That door had not been opened in nearly 15 years, only the cats could get out of the pet door. Fran stumbled down the two steps and landed hard by sitting in the grass.

  The building had a large communal backyard that was shared by the 4 apartments. Onslo had talked about putting up dividing fences years ago but Marla had talked him out of it. There was a huge patch of lawn connecting it all, several large fruit trees that had been planted 20 to 25 years before, and a dry pond. The plants could use some care, they were overgrown. The pond area was cracked and in serious need of some attention.

  Fran sat crying again. Was she losing her mind? The sun felt great on her and there was a slight breeze. Gus rubbed against her and meowed. Fran petted him a few times before he walked off to roll in the dirt and warm himself in the sun. She looked up into the trees, they were full of fruit. When was the last time someone picked them? They had great parties in this yard. BBQ’s, birthday parties, holidays, and just because it was a warm summer night parties.

   Fran stood up and wiped her hands off onto her pants. She went back into the kitchen and decided to leave the door open. There was a nice breeze coming in. She couldn’t remember the last time she was able to have a doors or windows open. She walked around the table and stood next to the pine cone and purse. She hesitated for a moment then picked up both. The handle of the purse vibrated as did the pine cone.

    A breeze pushed the kitchen door and it slammed shut causing the stack of clean dishes to begin to slide.

   “No! Stop!” Fran said as the dishes froze mid fall to the floor. “I should have stacked those better.” She said still holding the vibrating pine cone and purse. The dishes reversed their fall and stacked themselves back on the rack, better than before. Fran stood there stunned. She was not sure what she had just seen. She quickly set the pine cone and purse down then walked over to the dish rack. They were stacked perfectly with room for more.  She thought for a moment then grabbed the pine cone and purse but cradled them in her arms as she squeezed her way back into Jess’s room.

   Fran pushed over a stack of boxes, each half filled with stuffed animals. She put the purse in one hand and the pine cone in the other then pointed it at the stack of toys.

   “Um. Get back into the boxes.” Fran said holding out the pine cone. She then watched in amazement as the fluffy creatures seem to come to life as they flew into two of the three boxes, packed in there perfectly snug. She laughed out loud. “Amazing!” She had an idea. She moved the boxes of stuffed animals and made her way to the closet. She had seen a puzzle in there yesterday. She found it. It was a 1000 piece puzzle with a picture of puppies in a field of flowers. Fran threw the pieces to the ground and pointed the pine cone at them. “Fix this puzzle.” The pieces flew together, upside down. “Flip over.” She commanded. It flipped.

    Fran burst out laughing. She turned and pointed it at the closet. “Arrange this closet to it’s best.” The whole closet exploded with movement and just as quickly was still again but folded and put away properly. There were 4 empty boxes when it was done.

  She looked around the room. What next? She pushed all the bags with stuffed animals off the bed as much as she could, ripping some of them open and spilling the fluffy things. She then pointed the pine cone at the pile. Before she even could say anything the toys stacked themselves neatly. She pointed it at all the empty boxes and they folded themselves down into a flat stack. She slowly spun around the room letting the unseen force rearrange everything. The stuff animals stacked so high they nearly touched the ceiling. Fran could open the door all the way now.

    She walked into the front room and began to dump boxes and let their contents be arranged against the wall that was between the apartments. The couch emerged from the mess. Fran sat on it. She could see the floor again, she would need to sweep.

   Fran got up and did the same thing in the kitchen. It took a bit longer since she kept finding expired food. She filled two large plastic trash bags with it, she didn’t even know she had trash bags or that much junk to fill them with. She snacked on food that was still edible.

  She opened the backdoor and the kitchen window. She set a large juice jug that was half full of coins in front of the door to keep it from blowing shut again then she opened the front window. It instantly felt better inside the apartment. It was no longer warm and stuffy in there. She got out the broom and dustpan then swept the entire apartment. She used the pine cone and purse to clean the bathroom and her bedroom. She sure did have a lot of clothing, some of it still with tags from the store on them. Her room was on the outside corner of the building so it had two windows. She was able to open them both and let the sun shine in. The back window faced to the west and into the backyard. She wondered if she could use the pine cone and purse to do yard work. She didn’t want to risk anyone seeing her use it.

   The phone began to ring in the kitchen. She set the pine cone and purse in a now empty hat box and went to answer it.

   “Hello?” Fran had one of those old wall mount phones with the long curly cord.

   “Hey, ma. It’s me. They have me working a double so I can’t stop by this evening. Are you okay?” Jess was the one calling.

   “Oh, Jess the most amazing thing happened. You know the pine co-” Fran started to tell her daughter.

   “Ma, ma. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’ve got to go out on a call. Love you!” Jess hung up the phone before he mother could say anything more.

   Fran stood with the phone receiver in her hand for a moment before hanging it back on the hook. She looked around her kitchen, she would be able to actually cook in here again. There were a lot of books still piled on the kitchen table. She used the pine cone and purse to move the stacks of books all in to Jess’s old room then got a table cloth and spread it over the kitchen table. She pushed the four chairs up to the table. She could have guest over now she realized.

   Harvey came through the pet door and meowed at her.

  “Hey, little buddy. Do you want some food?” Fran filled both cat bowls and changed their water. Harvey was about done eating half of the food in one of the bowls when Gus struggled his way through the door. He pushed Harvey out of his way and ate both bowls of cat food.

   Fran made herself some spaghetti. It was the first time in years she was able to cook without using the microwave to just reheat something. She found a box of noodles and a jar of sauce in her panty. Everything was so neat and organized she was almost afraid to move anything. She sat at her table eating with the breeze blowing in.

   She heard Morris in his apartment, he must be home. Soon there was the sound of music coming through the wall and Morris singing along. This made Fran feel quite comfortable. She really liked Morris. She decided to do something crazy. She grabbed the hat box with the pine cone and purse then put the lid on it. She went to Morris’s and knocked on his door. She stood for a moment then knocked louder. The music went lower and then Morris opened the door.

    “Fran, darling! So good to see you. Come in, come in!” Morris opened the door wide and stepped aside so Fran could enter. “I was just going to start painting. Onslo told me to ‘go for it’ when I asked him. You can keep my company while I paint” He was wearing a khaki colored one piece outfit that had specks of paint all over it already. Fran assumed from other painting projects that Morris had done in the past.

   “Oh yeah? What color are you going to paint?” She could see he was setting up in the kitchen with all the painting supplies. There was a canvas tarp on the floor and tape along the baseboards already.

   “Let me show you. It’s called “Island Lava”. Don’t you just love it?” Morris said with a big grin. He popped out a can of paint. It’s was a bright orange color with a hint of red.

    “That is going to look so nice.” Fran suddenly thought about painting her apartment too. They had used wallpaper when they first moved in twenty-five years ago and it was still there. She sat in a chair that was draped with another canvas tarp and watched as Morris set up. He must have done this before because he was painting in no time. He had a large rolling brush that he used to make a M on the wall and then continued to cover the entire surface in the orange paint.

   “Have you had dinner?” Morris asked Fran without stopping.

   “Yes, actually I made myself some spaghetti.” Fran giggled a little as she said this and Morris gave her a look like he was confused.

    “Oh, well then you can have a beer when the pizza arrives.” He said just as there was a knock on his door. “Perfect timing.” He set the brush down and answered the door. It was a pizza man. Morris paid for his pizza, thanked the delivery woman with a generous tip then closed the door. He set the pizza on the counter in the kitchen since he had not moved his table in there yet and processed to open the box. “Do you want a slice?”

   “No thanks. It does look good but I am full from the spaghetti.” Fran said as she looked at the pizza. “But did you say something about beer? I might have a bottle of wine to share.” She remembered seeing one in her now clean pantry. “Shall I go grab it?”

   “Yes, please! That saves me the trouble of digging in all these boxes marked ‘kitchen’. Oh, and a wine opened since I can’t find mine. What’s in the hat box, Fran?” Morris said to her as she stood up and set the hat box onto the chair.

   “I’m not sure how to describe it. Let me get the wine first.” She went out of Morris’s kitchen door and into her kitchen, it was much quicker. She found the wine bottle and noticed there was two more behind it. When had she bought those?  What else was she going to find?

   Fran grabbed a corkscrew from the drawer then went back to Morris’s the way she had come and didn’t bother to knock this time since his kitchen door was open slightly.

    “Pinot noir! One of my favorites.” Morris said as he opened the bottle. “I peaked. What is that? A pine cone or something? Some sort of art project?” He poured two glasses of wine into fancy wine glasses he got from a box in the front room, took a sip of his and set it down then picked up his paintbrush and started to roll it in the paint tray.

   “Not exactly sure how to explain it. Can I just show you?” She asked as she walked into the other room and looked around for a place to set the hat box down.

   “Sure, darling.” Morris set his paintbrush down in the tray, picked up his wine and followed her. He pointed to the coffee table. “You can set it down there.” Fran did so then put her hand on the purse in the box before looking over her shoulder at Morris.

   “Ready?” She was beaming, Morris could feel it in the air.

   “Yes. Show me already. The suspense is killing me, darling.” He said as he took a drink of wine. Fran grabbed the pine cone and turned to the bed frame still leaning against the wall. The frame lifted off the ground, Fran pointed the pine cone in the direction of the larger bedroom causing the frame to move into the empty room.

    “This goes in here, right?” Fran asked Morris. He just stood there without moving but trying to speak. He slowly lowered his hand until the wineglass began to fall but Fran used the pine cone to catch it in time and set it down gently, still full of wine, on the floor. The color drained from Morris’s face.

    “I need to sit down.” He looked around then plopped down on his red velvet couch and began to laugh.

   “Are you okay?” Fran said with a slight laugh.

   “How did you do that? What just happened? What is in this wine?” He laughed again as he reached for his wine glass on the floor, then drank it all in one swift motion.

   “Not really sure myself. I just point then think for something to move, and it does!” Fran still had the two objects in her hands.

   “Do it again.” Morris said as he pointed to a box marked ‘scarves’. “Put that in the front bedroom.” Fran pointed the pine cone and just as before the box slowly lifted, she pointed it towards the bedroom, the box glided on air into the room and set itself down on the floor.

    “You should see what it did in my apartment.” Fran said suddenly realizing he had no idea how messy it was before.

  “Let me see!” Morris said as he got up off the couch with his now empty wine glass in hand.

   “Oh, another time? It’s still,” She wasn’t sure how to describe her apartment’s mass of things. “a bit messy.” She could feel her face turning getting hot and turning red.

    “Sure, darling. I need to finish painting anyway. Do you think that magic pine cone can do it for me?” He asked with a laugh.

    “I don’t know, it just seems to be able to move things quickly. We could try it.” Fran said with a shrug.

    “No, better not risk it. That’s the last thing I need, paint everywhere!” Morris let out a laugh as he walked over to the half painted wall. “Tell you what though, when i’m done painting do you want to help me move all this furniture around with that thing, apparatus, whatever it is, pine cone?” He waved his hand in the air towards Fran as he said this before continuing to paint his kitchen wall.

   “I’d be happy to help.” Fran put the pine cone and purse back into the hat box. She sat back in the canvas covered chair as Morris handed her her glass of wine before pouring himself another, juggling the paintbrush in his hands while doing so. She watched as Morris danced around and painted his kitchen. They finished the bottle of wine and it was now dark outside.

   “We should have a party. Let’s clean up that old backyard and have a big party out there. What do you say, darling? Do you think Onslo would like that? He’s had his eye on one of the ladies down at the senior center for a while now. We should invite her!” Morris was sitting on his kitchen table with his legs crossed trying to get the last drop of wine from his glass.

   “That’s a great idea. What lady? How do you know all this?” Fran was surprised that Onslo had a social life. He never talked about it with her.

    “I told you, Onslo and I are friends. I stop in at the senior center to check up on old patients all the time. They love me there. You should come with me some time. They are always in need of more volunteers.” Morris was smiling at her. “What time is it?” He looked at his arm where there was no watch but a visible lighter untanned strip of flesh around his wrist. Fran looked at her watch.

   “It’s 10:47. Oh wow. I should go home.” Fran stood up and felt more drunk suddenly. She wobbled a bit.

  “Are you okay?” Morris hopped off the table and stood next to Fran to stable her.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Not going far either.” Fran said with a giggle and a hiccup. Morris helped her to her kitchen door. “Oh! I forgot my stuff.”

   “Go inside and I’ll go get it.” Morris said as he went to get the hat box. Fran sat down at her kitchen table. Morris came in with the hat box and set it on the table. He looked around the kitchen and then walked slowly into the front room looking at everything. “Amazing, Fran, simply amazing. You have a lot of great things.” He let out a loud squeal.

   “What? What is it?” Fran got up from the chair and went into the front room. Morris was standing there with both of his hands on his face. His mouth was wide open.

    “Fran! Fran, darling! You must let me have this or buy this from you!” He was looking at an old oil lamp, the kind with the small figure of Venus on the inside.

    “Morris, my friend, you may have that. I could never get it to work even though it looks like it’s in perfect condition.” She had tried everything to fix it and it would never work for her. Morris picked it up very gently.

   “Thank you. I will repay you for this. I love it!” He let out another squeal before exiting the kitchen door. Fran was tired and drunk. She flopped down onto her bed and was asleep in no time.

  Fran woke up to the sound of a car alarm beeping. It was still early, the clock said 5:57am. Fran got up and showered. She dressed in light layers since it was going to be another warm day. She grabbed her bags and headed out the door for her usual morning walk. She noticed the lights were on in apartment D. Onslo said two brothers had moved in about four months ago but Fran never seen anyone coming or going from the apartment. She had never noticed the lights on before either.

  She arrived back home from her walk at around 7:30am. This gave her enough time to make coffee and prepare for Jess to be shocked. She opened the curtains in the front room then sat in the kitchen and waited.

   “Ma? Ma! What happened? Did you hire someone to do this? Ma, where are you?” Jess said as she opened the front door.  Fran came out of the kitchen and just smiled at her. “This is amazing, ma. How’d you do this?”

   “Let me show you.” Fran said then went to the kitchen, there she grabbed the pine cone and purse. She returned to the front room, there Fran knocked over a stack of books.

   “Ma! You just cle-” Jess choked on her words as the stack of books righted themselves. She was speechless.

   “I don’t know either, it just works.” Fran held the pine cone and purse up for her daughter to get a better look at. “We’re going to have a party, like we used to, in the backyard. Morris and I are going to clean it up.”

    “Ma, what are you talking about? This thing could be dangerous. Where did you find it? Put it away. You should have someone, a scientist or something, look at it.” Jess walked past her mother and into the kitchen. She poured herself some coffee before noticing that the kitchen was organized and everything stacked together very neatly.

    “It’s not dangerous, it’s helpful. Look what it did.” Fran put the pine cone and purse back into the hat box.

   “It could be dangerous in the wrong hands.” Jess said as she walked back into the front room still looking at the boxes and books stacked together so well they formed a wall. She looked at her mother before opening the door to her old room. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the giant pile of stuffed animals stacked in a solid cube. She looked into the bathroom and her mother’s room too.

    “See? It’s useful in the right hands.” Fran held her empty hands up and wiggled her fingers in the air.

    “Don’t leave the house with it. I think I know someone who can tell us what that is.” Jess walked towards the front door. “Be careful, ma. I’ll be back later after my shift. Love you!” She said as she let herself out of the apartment. Fran looked out the window to see Morris stop Jess for a moment and talk to her, then he noticed Fran as he walked across the courtyard. Fran opened the door to talk to him.

    “Good morning, darling! I just talked to Jess and invited her to our party.” He handed Fran a small piece of bright pink paper, on it was printed:  

Join us for a soiree with Morris and Fran in their lush garden backyard for cocktails and finger foods. 6pm sharp TONIGHT by invitation only. Enter through the south garden gate. BYOB

    “This is perfect but tonight? Don’t you think that is a bit soon?” Fran squinted in the bright morning sun.

   “Absolutely not! With that magic pine cone the work will be done in no time. I have a crew coming at ten this morning to do some of the landscaping. You can use your pine cone to clean up once they’re gone and I ordered a bunch of stuff last week that should be delivered today, that’ll be perfect in the backyard. I just thought it was going to take longer to clean.” Morris must have had several cups of coffee this morning and it was only a little after 8am.

   “Whom else did you invite?” Fran asked.

   “Let’s see. Jess. You, but that doesn’t count. I’m going to invite Onslo and some of his friends down at the senior center. Probably a few co-workers of mine from the hospital. I should invite apartment D!” Morris said and Fran nodded her head in agreement. He walked over and knocked on the door. No one answered so he put two invites on the clip that was fastened to the door frame.

    “No one home? Then let’s get started. Do you need to work on painting your apartment?” Fran asked Morris as he walked back over to her.

   “No one home. And no, I finished painting already. If you would so kindly use your magic to arrange my things I would greatly appreciate it.” He unlocked his door and went inside leaving the door wide open.

   “Let me just get it, I’ll see you in the kitchen.” Fran called into Morris’s apartment before stepping into hers.  She got the hat box then went to Morris’s via the kitchen doors and told him  that Jess suggested she keep the pine cone and purse out of view. Morris agreed that it was probably a good idea. He closed his front door and curtains then they arranged the furniture with Morris telling Fran where to put things and Fran using the pine cone and purse to make the work much easier.

  The landscape crew was right on time. Morris instructed them to just trim everything and to take some fruit with them since the trees were so full. Then Fran used the pine cone to fill the yard waste trash bin. She made a pile with the bigger branches that had been trimmed, this would be burnt in the fire pit.

   Morris’s went to the store to buy some things for the party and return just in time for his package that arrived around 3pm. He said he ordered it when Onslo told him the place had a large backyard. There was several sets of string lights in different colors, a garden gnome smoking a large pipe, a hammock chair, a wall clock that looked like a sunburst, and several candles to help keep the bugs away. Fran used the pine cone to hang the lights and hammock.

    An hour later a big truck pulled up with a delivery of yard furniture. Morris said he couldn’t decide between the all black set and the rainbow set so he got one of each plus two matching lawn chairs. Morris set up his computer for music on the table with it’s speakers.

  Around 5pm Morris went to the store, he told Fran not to worry, he had thrown many parties before and they were right on schedule. He hold her to go put on her favorite clothes and to find some music. Fran knew exactly what she wanted to wear, her red dress. It had an off the shoulders neck and tapered waist. It came down to mid-calf and was covered in sparkly beads. She found a tube of lipstick and put some on then pulled her hair into a loose bun on the top of her head.

    Fran waited in the backyard for guest to begin to arrive at around 5:50pm. Morris entered the yard through his kitchen door carrying a tray of cheeses and let out a scream when he seen Fran in her party dress. He was dressed for the party too. He had on purple cowboy boots and a dark blue sarong tied like a toga over one shoulder with a pair of short shorts under it. He was also wear a large headdress of giant fake leaves and grapes. He set the tray down on one of the tables and hugged Fran. They were ready.

   Guest from the senior center arrived first by the little bus that drove them around town. Onslo was with them. The sight of the yard being fixed up brought tears of joy to his eyes. He hugged Fran and thanked Morris with a handshake. About half a dozen nurses and doctors arrived shortly after the seniors, it was odd at first because most of them knew each other from the hospital. Then around 7pm a bunch of people, Fran counted nine plus a small dog, who were obviously friends of Morris, arrived dressed in wild colorful outfits with more food and drinks for all.

   Then the two brothers from apartment D showed up, they looked very uncomfortable around all the strangers. They brought an ice chest to the soiree that one of them sat on and never opened. Fran didn’t know they were identical twins in their early 20’s until she had met them, they looked like boys to Fran. She thought both of their hair needed a trim. She talked to them briefly but they seemed to not want to be there.

    Morris mixed drinks for everyone and then got them dancing. It had turned into a strange dance competition by the time Jess arrived a little after eight. Fran wanted to introduce her to the twins from apartment D but they were no longer there. Jess said she bumped into them out front and exchanged hellos. They had their ice chest with them and said they were going to fill it then bring it back. They never returned.

    Jess was amazed at the organization that happened in her mother’s apartment. When she asked her mom, Fran just smiled and said it was ‘magic’.

   They danced and drank until 10pm when the bus returned for the seniors. Jess left too, she had to work the next day and told her mother that she’d see her bright and early the next morning. Several of Morris’s friends decided to stay the night since they were too drunk to drive home. Onslo thanked everyone for coming to the party and said he’d like to do it again real soon. Fran went inside and laid down on her couch for the first time in years then fell asleep.

    Gus was sitting on Fran in the morning.

    “Get off of me, Gus. You are so fat, you’re squishing me.” Fran pushed the cat onto the floor, he hit it with a ‘thud’. She went to the kitchen and drank a whole glass of water. How much wine had she drank the night before? She still felt slightly drunk. Gus was meowing and purring as he rubbed himself against her leg. The cat’s food bowls were empty. Fran filled the bowls for the cats then started some water in the kettle for coffee. She sat at the table and put her head down. The kettle began to whistle and Fran made a strong pot of coffee.

   As she stood there sipping her coffee she looked around the kitchen. She was still amazed at how organized it all was. Where was the hat box? Not in the kitchen. She looked in the front room. It was not there either. Did she put it in one of the bedrooms last night? She looked in Jess’s old room, nope, not there. She looked in her room, not there either and she noticed her costume jewelry box was also missing. Had she been robbed? She looked again for these things and could not find them. Someone had robbed her last night but when? Did they know what they had? She went to Morris’s through the kitchen doors.

    “Morris? Morris, i’ve been robbed!” Fran said as she entered his apartment. There was a half naked man sleeping on the red velvet couch with a too small knitted blanket over him and a woman passed out in the papasan chair. Morris called out to Fran from the bathroom.

   “What, darling? I’m in here. Give me a minute.” Morris said before opening the door to the bathroom. He had just finished showering and was wearing only a towel around his waist. “What happened?” Morris asked as she went into the bedroom and began to get dressed.

   “It’s gone.” Fran said in a hushed tone. “The hat box is gone.”

   “What do you mean? Gone? Gone where?” Morris matched her low tone as not to wake his sleeping friends.

   “I looked everywhere. It’s gone and so is a box of my costume jewelry. Someone must have taken it last night during the party.”