A Simpler Time [Archive]

Louis

05-02-10, 10:54 PM

Louis Harris awoke to a sound that he hadn't heard over the din and calamity that was the streets of Boston for over six years. The song of the birds poured into the room as light crested the windowsill and invaded the room, signaling the beginning of a brand new day. Sitting up in a bed stuffed with goose feathers and buried under hand-stitched comforters, it dawned on the engineer that he had woken up in a room he didn't recognize nor belonged to him. And of the few things worse than waking up in the morning disoriented and feeling as if he had been hit by a truck, waking up in a bedroom belonging to a complete stranger and not knowing how he even got there was certainly near the top of the list.

Instead of panicking out right, Louis found himself taking in the clean, morning air and listening to the song of the jay that worked tirelessly in the strong oak standing stalwart only a couple paces outside the window. He was confused, of course, but there was always pause to gather one's thoughts. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he might be able to retrace his steps and figure out how he had gotten here.

Maybe.

There were other reasons why Louis had welcomed the strange and quiet haven he had woken into. For the past eight months, he had been flying to different parts of the United States, micromanaging countless projects that ranged from a skyscraper being raised in Seattle to a new landmark in Florida that could have brought millions to his firm. Though he was born for this kind of work and could bear the tremendous burden he had put himself under, he had been physically and emotionally drained over the grueling hours he had been working. It had almost been to the point that he had forgotten when he last had a free weekend to himself and his fiancée, Nicole.

Stroking the simple gold band that was his engagement ring and promise to his college sweetheart, Louis found himself lost in a sea of thoughts he had suppressed and buried under the many toils and triumphs that had been the last year. Having gotten out of Cambridge with his degrees only two years prior, it was remarkable how fast the engineer's career had taken off and showed promise of a very lucrative future. So long as he managed to keep up with the workload, of course.

Getting out of bed, the engineer dressed himself in the cotton shirt and breeches that lay offered to him at a stool next to his bed, securing the trousers with dark leather suspenders. His keys and wallet lie on the nightstand, but oddly his blackberry had gone missing. But, whether it was the serenity of the room or a shock that hadn't worn off yet, Louis left the idea of recovering his phone for later as he glanced outside and saw the clothes he had been wearing the previous day strung out along the clothes line.

Only when the engineer had paused to wash his stubbled face in a porcelain dish that lay at the top of the nightstand, did he hear the creak of an oiled, brass knob beginning to turn and the door being pushed ajar. Wiping his face as he turned, it was only when he saw who was standing at the door that he found himself falling back into the numb and ignorant comfort of shock.

A young woman, barely older than twenty with cornflower blonde hair and eyes as blue and calm as the Pacific stood at the door with a soft smile on her face. She was wearing a simple white bonnet and a black, modest dress made of cotton with a skirt that stretched down to her heels. She looked to be right out of the Victorian era, and it was only when she spoke that his fears were confirmed. "Dost thou wish to join us in breaking our fast this day, Brother?"

"Uh.. sure." Louis quickly replied, disarmed by words he had never heard before but the word 'Shakespeare' kept flashing in his mind. As she turned to leave, he quickly added. ".. Uh, Sister! Yeah.. where am I, and more importantly, who are you?"

The woman chuckled softly and replied in earnest, "Why Brother, my name is Beatrice. Thou are in the safest of places. Ye have been sleeping under the roof of my husband, Silas, and I. We hast taken good care of ye since thou washed up at the mouth of the creek yesterday. Doest thou even remember?"

Trying to search his memory for anything short of falling asleep beside Nicole in what he thought to be the previous evening, the only thing the engineer could remember after that was the sound of a blaring truck horn. "No." He said flatly. "No, Sister, I don't remember anything at all."