Page 29 of Out on a Limb
“Not likely.” I reached toward him, but Phillip immediately tried to peck me. “Roosters protect their flock to the death.” My eyes moved to the woman behind the chicken. “You’re his flock.”
Her lips twitched a little, lifting at the sides before flattening back out. “I guess that’s nice.”
“It is when you’re the last one going to your car in an empty parking lot.” I leaned to look toward where she’d been crouched. “Everything okay?”
Collette turned toward the pond. “I was feeding the fish.” She sat Phillip back on the ground, pulling up any extra in his lead before letting him go. “I got so busy today I forgot them.”
“They would have survived until tomorrow.”
“But they shouldn’t have to.” She picked up the bag of food sitting just on the other side of the bench.
An engraved plaque screwed onto the back of the teak caught my eye.
In loving memory of Ruby Johnson.
Keeper of the fish.
Collette rolled up the top of the bag, her eyes avoiding mine. “We can go.”
Something was off. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but that wasn’t unusual.
Whatwasunusual was the drop of her shoulders. The slight shake of her inhale.
The barely-there pink rimming her blue eyes.
“How often do you feed them?” I eased down onto the bench, stretching one arm across the back as I tried to look the way most people did when they were relaxed.
“Usually once a day.” Collette glanced at the spot beside me on the bench. “Sometimes less.”
“How do you know when to feed them less?” It never occurred to me that someone had to feed the fish. They weren’t my responsibility so I didn’t bother thinking about it.
It was something I struggled with. Remembering that sometimes I needed to think about things that didn’t matter to me.
It was one more part of life that required conscious effort on my part.
“They should eat everything I give them in just a few minutes.” Collette glanced at the bench again. “If they aren’t then I know they’re not as hungry so I skip a day.” She twisted the bag tighter.
Then she slowly lowered to the spot next to me.
“Have you fed the rest of the fish yet?”
She nodded. “This is the one I always end with.”
“That makes sense.”
Collette turned my way, angling her face toward mine. “Does it?”
“This is the pond that reminds you of your grandma.” I looked around the space. “When you’re done you can sit here for a little bit and think of her.”
I didn’t understand emotions the way most people naturally did, which meant I had to learn how they worked. How to recognize them when I saw them. Analyze the reasons so I could read a situation and a person.
And this situation was a pretty simple one.
Much simpler than the woman at the center of it.
Collette’s eyes went out over the two-layer pond that featured a waterfall feeding the bigger of the bodies. “I miss her.”
“Me too.”
