Creature Comforts Part Seven

Alice noticed as she took herself away from the kitchen and into the hallway, that there were two messages on the phone. Pressing play, the first was from work wanting to know if she would be in the next day. For Alice there was no doubt in her mind she wouldn't be going back in, life was so much more interesting at home now.

 

The second message was from her daughter. “Don't know if you were coherent enough to understand me this morning, but I'm just phoning to let you know I won't be home tonight.”

 

Alice sensed there was no love again in that message and it saddened her that Wendy would be so cold, after all she'd kept her promise of not drinking for many weeks. “Hey ho! I suppose I'll just have to accept the consequences of my actions and let it go. Wendy's gonna come around in time, I'm sure.”

 

After phoning work and explaining she was still not feeling too good, Alice made a bee line over to the fridge with much anticipation. If anyone had been with her at that moment the excitement would have been considerably contagious, she rubbed her hands together and hummed a tune, a big Cheshire cat smile on her beaming face.

 

The wine stood waiting ice cold. “Me thinks it's time to fill my glass, I deserve it after all the commotion.” She announced while getting a clean flute from the kitchen cabinet and pouring. Alice listened to the sound as it slipped into the glass and savored the moment, she just couldn't wait to have that first taste.

 

Sauntering into the living room and plonking herself down like she'd had the busiest day at work, Alice took that first sip, but then out of the blue suddenly became overwhelmed with guilt. “What the hell is wrong with me?” She mumbled not feeling herself.

 

Her maternal instincts were kicking in once again as she thought of the fox, it occurred to her that if she drank too much she'd only end up falling asleep. “This situation is getting very confusing. I can't believe I'm actually thinking that drinking is wrong,” she declared to herself as a voice in her head echoed the words.

 

Standing up she took the flute out to the kitchen not believing what she was about to do. Taking the glass over to the sink, she poured the contents away, watching the wine trickle down the plughole. Part of her wondered what the hell was up with her and why she would do such a thing.

 

Staring over at the fridge she stipulated, “no way am I going to pour the wine from the box into the sink, that would be madness and such a waste of money.” There was nothing for it but to think about what she would have to eat for supper.

 

Tears were now slipping down her flushed cheeks as she began to feel agitated, with body itching for a drink, the muscles in her screwed up face twitching. Alice couldn't understand why she was becoming so emotional. She tried to steady her hands that were now shaking like a leaf, but they wouldn't stop which only made her feel worse than ever. Placing them on the kitchen worktop, Alice took some deep breaths in and closed her eyes, stretching her fingers out as far as they would go, she continued to concentrate on inhaling and exhaling till she felt a bit more relaxed and her heart had stopped beating so fast.

 

It was a such a long evening and as much as she tried Alice for some reason couldn't stop thinking about the fox. “Why am I so passionate about a wild creature? It's so ridiculous.” But again the wine would cross her mind leaving her gasping for the grape she so desired.

 

Not knowing what to do with herself, Alice returned to the living room and turned on the television hoping there would be a good film to distract her. It was now 6pm and Pretty Woman was starting at 7pm. “That will do nicely!” She declared, loving the film and never tiring of it even though she'd seen it over half a dozen times, but still the desperation for a drink hung like a cloud above her head, begging her for the wine.

 

Pacing back out to the kitchen to kill some time, Alice noticed fox and her cubs were no longer outside the door. Stepping into the garden they weren't even in sight which caused her concern. She decided to put the wicker basket in the shed and leave the door open, Alice was sure the vixen would find it knowing how clever foxes were. She left some water in the heavy casserole dish by the basket in case fox came back.

 

 

Making her way back up the path and into the kitchen she checked the cupboards. Alice noticed there was hardly any food left except for a couple of tins of soup and some beans. “Bread and soup, that will do nicely.” Taking a tin of oxtail soup down and over to the cooker, it occurred to her that the fox might not come back and maybe it would be okay to have the wine after all.

 

This was escalating into a very strange evening for Alice, she was caught between doing what she wanted and what should be done, but with an evening on her own and not sure what fox would do next, it was too much of a temptation not to drink. Time was still dragging and she needed a distraction.

 

Filling another glass, she took a chair outside the back door and enjoyed the pleasure of sitting doing nothing in particular, but just gazing up at the sky. It was becoming cooler with the late afternoon drifting into evening. Sun was now low in the sky illuminating parts of the garden, Alice sat in the shadow of her house, her pots of fuchsias and petunias stood colorfully along the path and were brightening up her view.

 

“May be!” She whispered to herself. “I should start a small holding for animals in our garden, that would keep me out of mischief.” Alice sighed at the idea. “After all the garden's big enough.” Smiling she thought about her husband's face when telling him of her plans. Laughing to herself, she uttered. “He'd probably have a fit,” Alice lowered her voice as she copied her husband's words, and said: “Over my dead body!”

 

But then the idea didn't seem that silly. It occurred to her that he was never there anyway, except when he came home on leave. “What would it really matter to him anyway? I wouldn't expect him to do anything and it would keep me occupied.” The thought was becoming more palpable as she considered the reality of what she was thinking.

 

That was when the decision was made. “I'll have a few drinks tonight, tomorrow I'll set the wheels in motion. That was exactly what Alice did the very next day.

 

With phone calls to make and shopping to do, Alice didn't have time to think of anything else but her plans. Finding a local builder, he fixed up some cages and hutches in the garden, also a small wooden structure for hamsters and guinea pigs and a huge chicken coop, so Alice had fresh eggs every morning. It was all done extremely professionally.

 

Epilogue...

 

There comes a time when we all have to make a decision as to which way we're heading when we loose our way. Alice had fun opening her huge garden to rabbits, Hamsters,  Guinea pigs and chickens. She even took to dog walking in the neighborhood, much to her families amazement.

 

William grasped the news well and didn't mind the animals in the least as long as he didn't have to clean them out, he was just glad his wife had a pursuit that took her mind off the alcohol. Even Wendy helped out when she could, intrigued at how captivated her mother was by the fox and her cubs.

 

Pleased with her venture, Alice began letting the local children come into her garden to pet the animals at a small charge of a pound. She was also visited many times by the vixen who discovered her garden shed with the wicker basket. Her cubs were now becoming very grown up and healthy.

 

Alice realized had it not been for that one stormy night, she might never have found her vocation in life, so for that she was thankful she'd discovered her Creature Comforts.

 

The end.