Summer Hell With MinervaA Poem by Marie HarrisonA poem about a summer of hell.
“Summer Hell With Minerva” Scissors jammed in the holes of the old wooden doors, served as doorknobs in the a-frame craftsman bungalow. With her twisted spikes of hair projecting into various directions and her tie-dyed dress draping over her curvy body, she looked like the ancient deity, Minerva. She was very charming to meet and greet, yet she was waving too many red flags for me to ignore. Found myself mentally fleeing the scene and wanting to physically leave too. But my top shelf client called with and urgent fire to put out. I would just suck it up and do something with this job. Minerva could never find anyone this late in the game. She flies out tomorrow . I found it odd, when she passed down the opportunity of walking her two dogs together before she filled the contract out, I got her cash, key and left. Most clients jump at the chance to make sure their dogs like us. But, her pets seemed well cared for and happy, I saw all of those signs too. Wagging tails, constant purring, dancing and talking birds, and big animal smiles on their faces. Later I would discover that her dogs were not leash trained at all, no wonder she didn’t want to go on the walk! Training them would be my personal challenge! While she flew to France to dance and prance around modeling underpants, I got the chance to care for Bo her Bloodhound, Elvis her Great Dane, Roxy her Beagle, her three Maine Coon cats and Lulu and Trixy her African Grey Parrots. What a zoo to take care of In July, the busy mid-summer season. I would take this one on myself, the contractors were already overworked and overloaded. With her backyard barely the size of a postage stamp, her dogs would need four walks a day. What could I say, I needed the pay. This would be great exercise too. What the hell? Two weeks into this job, mysteriously the electricity was cut off and Minerva was missing in action. I had to pay to turn the electricity back on, the pets would die in that bungalow without any air circulating in the sweltering heat. Boy was I screwed! I was regretting the day That I answered Minerva’s call! Trip after trip, week after week, already it was several weeks past the date she was due to come back, I couldn’t reach her at all. What would I do? How could all of these pets fit in the two story starter home that my boyfriend and I just bought? Our backyard wasn’t even fenced and I’m allergic to cats! What if she’s never coming back to the mountain of bills and debt that she owes, which is growing larger by the day? Maybe having scissors for doorknobs was too much for her to handle in life?
© 2010 Marie HarrisonAuthor's Note
Reviews
|
Stats
107 Views
2 Reviews Added on September 10, 2010 Last Updated on September 10, 2010 AuthorMarie HarrisonAtlanta, GAAboutMomma told me to get out and enjoy life, so now I'm going to dance. more..Writing
Related WritingPeople who liked this story also liked.. |