The Adventures of Norma and Stacey

It started off as any normal adventure would start, a couple of ladies sitting around watching CNN News with one surfing the Web and trying to write a patent application. Soon, the patent application was complete and we were off to the beach. After some time of chatting while letting the rhythmic waves lull us into a dreamy afternoon, we waded into the chilly waters of the Atlantic. Indeed, once the cold needles wore off, it was quite refreshing…not enough to wade past our knees mind you!!! I went for a 45 minute walk along the hard-packed sand, now exposed from the ebbing of low tide. Watching surfers and shore birds and the occasional canine, I pressed on to Boar’s Head, a rocky outcropping at a bend in the shoreline. As I neared Boar’s Head, the sand began to significantly soften, no longer providing the firm footing this klutz needed for a beach walk. I turned around to return to where she sat awaiting me, noticing my out-turned footprints in the sand, and trying hard to get my feet to point straight ahead. She sat in the shade of the seawall awaiting my return, expressing some worry for me as I had been gone awhile. We returned to the cottage to ready for dinner. Having re-buffed the frozen food choices we had in the kitchen, we set off for Al’s Seafood, purveyor of typical deep-fried seafood. Al’s did not let down. Tummies full of sweet fried clams, lobster stew, and a bottle of V8 Fusion, we returned home where the adventure really took off. Having joked about my klutziness upon returning from my beach walk, I did not expect to actually display said klutziness. Nevertheless, as we made our way from the car to the cottage in the blanketing dark, my foot found the ONE depression in the grassy walkway. I turned my ankle, falling sideways into the neighboring house. No harm was done to my ankle, I was able to shake it off, but perhaps a foreshadowing of things to come? We made calls home, to our husbands and she to her daughter as well. Then we enjoyed a nightcap of Fresca and strawberry shortcake. Having been outpartied by my older companion, I went off to bed at about 10 pm with her warning me that she usually awakes in the night at least once. I countered with my own admission – with the cottage being unfamiliar surroundings, I certainly would be awake during the night as well! We said our good nights and I fell soundly asleep. I did awake once to use the facilities around 1 am, then promptly returned to sleep. My dreams turned strange -- I was bringing Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer, to my hair dresser but Michael was trying to get too friendly with me. I pushed him away. I awoke, just barely, still in the midst of the dream. I looked up and suddenly the beams on the ceiling became stripes on Michael’s sweater, and the edge of the dresser became his pants. I pushed him away again, telling him to quietly ‘Get Out of Here’. He would not leave. Again, I asked him to leave. I became agitated and scared. I jumped out of bed and swung the only nearby weapon I had, the flat sheet, and yelled “GET OUT OF HERE!! GET OUT OF HERE!!!”. At that, the dream was over. Ceiling beams were just ceiling beams, the dresser was just a dresser. She was sleeping in the room next door, asked me if I had been dreaming, I answered Yes, that everything was okay. I apologized for the disturbance, she laughed it off, as we both attempted to return to dreamland with me forcing myself to think of puppies and lollipops, anything but Olympic swimmers. Alas, dreamland was not to be found. Within minutes, the neighbor’s lights detected motion and activated a floodlight. Then, I heard voices at the neighboring cottage. I went to the window to see what was happening and realized that it was the Hampton Police. Still not completely putting two and two together, I opened the back door and called out to the police, “Sir, what’s happening?” The policeman came over and described what the woman in the neighboring cottage had said “She says she heard a woman outside yelling “Get Out of Here!!!!!!!!!”. Oh the guilt, Oh the embarrassment, I’d woken the neighbors! I’d SCARED the neighbors! I’d brought the police out at 4:30 AM!!!!!!!! For shame!!! Before I could explain, the policeman saw the anxiety and emotions in my face and asked very kindly and gently “Was that you?”. I said YES! I am so SORRY!! It was me!! I was dreaming!!! The cop laughed and said, Oh don’t worry about it! I continued to proclaim how sorry I was, but he just laughed it off and bid us good night. Now alone in the cottage, we laughed about the turn our adventure had taken. I laid down to try to go back to sleep, now furiously attempting to clear my mind of negativity. Thankfully, I was successful in thinking of a friend from Malaysia and dreaming of doing a roadtrip through the Eastern U.S. with her. Rina…you saved me from further bad dreams!!

We awoke to ominous skies, black from a coming storm. Amid violent winds and driving rain, Norma, my husband’s maternal grandmother, and I had our breakfast and I wrote down the details of our adventure.