The Moon

Janet Baldey

It was so hot.  Cindy lay in bed tossing from side to side, searching for a cool spot.  She forced herself to stop and squeezed her eyes shut, she had to get some sleep.   At last, she gave up, plucking damp sheets away from her  body, she oozed out of bed.  Perhaps a glass of water would help.

         As she stood by the kitchen sink, rattling ice cubes in her glass, she tried to plan the coming day but her brain was tired.  She glanced out of the window at a black and grey panorama where nothing moved.  It was like a still life.  Suddenly there was a flash of light and she looked up at the sky where a rift in the clouds had opened to reveal a slender semi-circle of silver. She forgot the heat and caught her breath watching as the new moon’s eerie beauty transformed the night.  It brought with it a childhood memory; every Christmas, before the New Year had time to catch her unawares, her Mum would sit at the kitchen table laboriously marking a bright red cross on new moon evenings.  Cindy remembered herself as a teenager mocking her mother’s stupid superstitions and from a distant void, heard her mother’s reply.

         “You may laugh, my girl.  But nothing good comes of looking at a New Moon through glass and you’d do well to remember it.  You won’t always have me around to make sure the blinds are drawn.  My mum, your grandma, used to tack up sheets over every single window to make sure we didn’t slip up.  It was like living inside a tomb but it kept us safe.”

         Cindy smiled to herself, it was a good thing she wasn’t superstitious; she looked up at the moon again, she’d well and truly done it now if that old rubbish was true.  Anyway, it hadn’t done her Mum much good. A brief longing flared, if only she could have her Mum back, she’d be much kinder to her,

She pressed the cool rim of her glass against her forehead and rolled it around.  She really must sleep; she had to get up early, there was lots to do.  Top of the list was the delivery of her new phone.  A top of the range iphone 13 Pro Max.   She’d been saving up for so long but had never got very far before her money disappeared; there was always something that caught her eye that she must have.  She looked into her glass thinking that money and ice cubes had a lot in common, both had a habit of melting away fast.  Luckily, dear old Dad had come to her rescue as he always did if she whined enough.  

         “Okay, my love, don’t fuss.  You’ve got a special birthday coming up, so I’ll foot the bill.  You’ll have to pay for the running costs mind, and when November comes, don’t forget  you’ve had your present.”

         She’d thrown her arms around him, thinking November was far away.  She wouldn’t forget but he might.  It had happened before.

         Number two on her list was her date with a chap she’d been emailing for some time.  He was perfect, on paper.  Tall, dark, handsome and with a job in the City.  She sighed, It was about time she got herself a new fella, might rinse the taste of Jason out of her mouth.  She’d been quite smitten with Jason and he’d seemed keen on her.  Then one evening, he’d taken her to the Red Lion for a pub meal and as they’d sat sipping their beers, the bare bones of their feast still on the table, Jason excused himself “to be a gentleman” - a quaint old-fashion phrase he often used that always tickled her.  After he’d disappeared in the direction of The Gents, she’d waited for what seemed like forever.  She’d sat, staring at the door of The Gents until she began to worry, perhaps he’d been taken ill.  The worry deepened until she was quite sure he was lying dead on a cubicle floor.   Eventually, she plucked up enough courage to share her concern with the barkeeper and he’d gone to have a look.

         “No one in there, Miss.” He reported back.  She’d stared, not believing it.  Then, it dawned, she’d been ditched, abandoned, left in the lurch.  Whatever words you used, it hurt.  To deepen the trauma, she’d no money and the bill hadn’t been paid.  Luckily, the owner had been very understanding but the embarrassment!  She still squirmed whenever she thought of it.  She stopped thinking about it.  Instead, she tried to think of all the good things that had happened recently.  There weren’t many, like a lot of Scorpios, she seemed dogged by bad luck.  One good thing though, her recent root canal had stopped hurting - at last. 

Not expecting much, she went back to bed and at last, sleep threw its black cloak over her and the next thing she knew a blade of sunshine was trying to access her eyeballs. She squinted at her watch.  Nine o’clock already, thank goodness she’d taken a day off work, knowing she’d not be able to concentrate.  She flew out of bed and almost fell downstairs.

         “Has it come yet?”

         Her father knew what she meant.  After all, she’d been talking of nothing else for the past week.  He swallowed and tiny toast crumbs decorating his beard fell onto his shirt.

         “Give it a chance love.  You could be waiting all day.”

He was right.  Cindy had waited all day, most of the time perched on a seat by the window staring out at a street that was mostly empty apart the odd cat and women with buggies ferrying their kids to the local school.  At last, she gave up and decided to give Yodel a ring.  She opened her ‘phone and yelped loud enough to wake her father who was just catching a crafty nap to gird himself against the drama of the new phone’s arrival.

         “It says it’s been delivered.   Look …”  Her mouth rivalled her eyes as she stared.  “Ten minutes ago, but it can’t have.  I’ve been practically stapled to the window for the last coupla hours.  And OMG look there’s a picture….”  A blurred picture of a package leaning up against a brick wall accompanied the message.  It could have been anything anywhere but just to make sure, she made for the door, just remembering to open it before she cannoned out.  It was just as she’d thought, zero package, zero van, zero anything.  She looked up and down the street but the only thing that moved was the glint of sunshine on parked cars.

         Wearily, she went back in to phone the delivery company.  She dreaded it.  It would be the inevitable recorded message endlessly repeating that they were sorry for the delay and thanking her for her patience, accompanied by the same endless, brain-damaging music.  It was enough to tip anyone over the edge.  She sat slumped in her chair, waiting for the end of days.  Then so suddenly she almost forgot to press 1, a voice answered.  It was so faint she could hardly hear it and sounded if its owner was chewing gum.

         “Help you?”

         “I’ve been waiting in for my new phone all day.  It hasn’t come but you say it has!”

         “Order number?”

         Cindy repeated the number and heard the far-away tapping of keys.

         “Your packet was delivered 45 minutes ago.”

         “No, it wasn’t.  That’s the whole point.”

         “Got a picture here.”

         “That picture, doesn’t mean a thing.  There’s nothing to see - just bricks.”

         “Are they your bricks?”  Cindy hadn’t a clue, to her a brick was a brick.

         “Have you asked your neighbours? P’raps they took it in.”

         “My neighbours are at work.”

         “Is your ‘phone insured.”

         “No, of course it isn’t.  I haven’t got it yet.”

         There was silence at the other end, Cindy realised the girl hadn’t a clue what to do next.  Anyway, they were getting nowhere, it was time to pull on her big girl pants.  She raised her voice.

         “Can I speak to your supervisor please.”

         There was a shrill whine as the connection was broken.  Cindy would have thrown her phone across the room except it was the only one she had.  After a while she pulled herself together.  P’raps Dad would sort it out tomorrow; after all, he had all day.  Meanwhile, she had to get ready for her date tonight.

From inside a cloud of fragrance, Cindy gazed into her mirror.  She’d done her best; and sat admiring the effect of lipstick, mascara and foundation.  She’d even managed to thread her eyebrows with glitter.  She couldn’t lie to herself, she looked stunning.  She was particularly pleased with her new set of Turkey teeth.  True, they’d cost a bomb but nothing like English prices.  She gave a big open-mouthed grin and was rewarded with a dazzle of white teeth.  She was so glad she’d had the big ones, the ones that jealous people called tombstones.  True, she couldn’t close her mouth properly but as her Dad had said,

“What’s the use of spending all that money on your choppers when half the time they’re covered by your lips?”

She looked at the time and jumped up, she had to go.  Didn’t want to miss him when he looked so gorgeous – a cross between Christian Bale and a much younger Johnny Depp.

It didn’t take her long to walk to the station although long enough for a butterfly ball to start up in her stomach.  To make matters even worse, just as she left her house her Dad had completely spoiled her mood by warning her that if her phone didn’t turn up, legally she’d be liable for its running costs.  Thanks Dad, she thought, that was truly the icing on the cake.

Apathetically, she glanced around the station forecourt.  She’d bet the farm he wouldn’t turn up.  Then, everything else was forgotten as she realised she was wrong.  He was there talking to an ugly guy standing next to him.  OMG he looked even more sick than his photo.  She scrabbled for her ‘phone with a hand that was suddenly so sweaty she almost dropped it.  She saw both men look at each other then she was left with her mouth hanging open as her date winked, patted the dork on his shoulder and walked towards a waiting train.

She was still fuming as she walked back home.  How the hell did men think they’d get away with a stunt like that?  Were they so arrogant they thought women were thick and wouldn’t notice their date had suddenly been hit with an ugly stick?  Mind you, she’d got her own back.  The look-alike gremlin had suggested a drink and biding her time, she’d agreed and ordered the largest and most expensive cocktail on the menu.  She watched him waddle to the bar and just as he ordered, she slipped out of a side door.  If she hadn’t been so angry she might have laughed at the thought of him with a surplus drink on his hands.  The pub was quite crowded and somebody would be bound to notice a fat nerd sitting on his own moodily sipping his beer with a double gin cocktail, complete with cherry, as a chaser.

Instead, she sighed, her depression too deep to care. At least, nothing else could go wrong.  Suddenly she leaped a full foot into the air as 240 volts swept through her jaw.  The pain was sickening and all too familiar, her root canal had decided now was a good time to join the party.

Copyright Janet Baldey