Shared Spaces

Shared Spaces

A Chapter by Phillip W Parsons

"I'll tell you what, Phil. You leave that patch for me." demanded Karl, pot-bellied and wise-eyed. He was the Alpha type; belt and suspenders, and he always had a way of making me feel like too little a man. He stared calculatingly at the doorknob-hole in the plaster silently accusing me of not installing a door-stop. "Go on down to my garage and grab me the plaster patch, a medium putty knife and a couple of shims. We're gonna need to replace the lath. Shims should do the trick."
"I appreciate your wanting to help, but I can take care of this. I have my own handyman business. This is what I do. And, not to sound too possessive, but it's not your garage, Karl. it's a shared space between the two houses. It's just as much mine as it is yours." There! I'd done it! I'd stepped right into his path and reclaimed a piece of what I'd lost when the Johannsons moved into the vacant half of the duplex, quickly annexing all of the shared spaces to fit their rather large, extended family. Karl was the bachelor grampa of the house and he was currently sizing me up.
"Handyman? Good God! Son, I was a General Contractor, big G, big C for forty-seven years! Say, you know what the hardest thing is to build, Phil?"

Ooh, I know! I know! You've only insulted me with this little pearl a dozen times... Just let him finish his stupid joke and get on with the day.

"It's trust, Phil! Building people's trust after they've been screwed over by a talentless handyman and I have to come in an un-f**k the damage you've done. Now get me my tools and I'll patch this wall."
"Yes sir." and I walked away, once more defeated in my own home. How long could this old man live? It didn't matter. The whole family was equally difficult and mine now slowly succumbing to an acute case of Stockholm Syndrome. I seemed to be the only one fighting to keep what little autonomy we had left.
"Oh, Phil, by the way," the words chased me down the hall like a determined mosquito. "I have a date tonight so I'm gonna need the media room. Probably most of the night, if you know what I mean. You're probably gonna want to keep the young 'uns on the other side of the house. Cheryl's a howler."
...and there's that...

----

1531 Orchard St. Seattle, Washington, Door 2 stood vacant for three years and the occupants of Door 1 couldn't have been happier. In that time the Carson family had grown to enjoy the use of the shared garage and other spaces. It wan'st at all like a duplex, and in this city, a little space went a long way.

But then the Johannsons moved in and everything changed.

They say good fences make good neighbors. But what if neighbors are trapped inside the same collapsing fence? And what if they just don't mix?

Phil struggles to maintain his sanity as the neighbors seem to be moving further and further in. Not just into their own space, or the shared spaces. But all the way into his life.

"Humorous and disturbing. This dream delves into the awkward assumption of control and privacy and tears out all of both."
-Restin State


© 2019 Phillip W Parsons


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Reviews

Un-F*ck. That is cool. More than cool. Fan-effing-tastic.
I absolutely love it. I will totally use that and make sure I give full credit to my buddy Karl the General Contractor.
There has to be a kernel of truth here somewhere. And what is with the address? Do you want the reader to look it up? I think it is a mash up of a real and fictional. This whole story is way to real not to be real. I think you know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows this guy.....



Posted 4 Years Ago


Phillip W Parsons

4 Years Ago

Gosh, thanks Myra! Definitely a mash up. I have a handyman business and the street exists. The rest .. read more
Myra Fellows

4 Years Ago

I sent a message with another review of one of your dream stories that did not support reviews....
Phillip W Parsons

4 Years Ago

I think that's because it's a published chapter in an unpublished book. I'll look into it.

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Added on October 22, 2019
Last Updated on October 25, 2019
Tags: potter