encoded notions

Gloria

Consulting the map, Julie was sure this was the place. Looking up, she saw that she was standing in front of two architecturally intriguing houses. One seemed very sharp—edgy—lots of ninety-degree angles. Very precise. And it ticked, like a subwoofer with a glitch; every minute a subaural sound wave was emittled from the abode. Standing in stark contrast to it, the house next door looked much more homey. The garden in the front was gorgeous and well tended (allergic as she was, Julie didn’t fancy the smell but it still looked pretty through her watery eyes). The house was very earthen, almost organic.

Looking at the mailboxes shed some light on the subject: “H. Time” and “G. Nature”

Julie walked towards the ticking building, stashing her beating stick in her bag for later (to emphacize her side of any disputed points in a discussion). After ringing the doorbell, she could hear a combination of rushed commotion and hushed swearing from the open upstairs window. A few moments later, a lovely woman appeared at the door, dressed in a flower-print robe, looking rather flushed and a bit out of breath.

“Hello. How may I help you?” uttered the woman.

“Umm…I was looking for Father Time, but perhaps I have the wrong address.”

“Nonsense, he’s right upstairs.” Turning towards the stairwell, the woman belted out “HAROLD! Put some pants on and come down here. There’s a young lady here who wishes to speak with you.”

Julie felt like she was interrupting something, “If this is a bad time, I can come back later.”

“‘No time like the present.’ That’s one of Harold’s favorite sayings. Besides, I’ve been here long enough today, and I need to tend to my garden.”

Julie heard thumping, and turned her head to see an older man come bounding down the stairs dressed in some running shorts and a black button-up dress shirt with the tails hanging out. Taking one look at Julie, a flash of recognition passed over Harold’s face.

“Gloria, I think that it’s best if you were to go home now. Miss Julie and I have some things to discuss.”

“I was just on my way out, dear. I’ll see you tomor—”

“—or sooner,” he cut in.

Gloria scowled with a twinkle hiding in her eye. She bent down to Julie’s ear and whispered, “Be careful. He has a way of playing tricks with time and events. Watch out for him, honey.” With that, Mother Nature walked down the front porch steps, and crossed the lawn to her house next door, paying careful attention not to disturb any of the exquisite plants.

I always thought there was something to the whole ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ thing. I wonder if they have any kids, Julie thought to herself.

“Welcome,” said Father Time as he motioned for her to come in. Stepping over the threshhold, Julie sensed that something was funny about this place. Of primary concern was that she could no longer hear or feel the ticking that came from the building.

“Your name is Harold?” she said, stifling a laugh.

“What? It’s a perfectly good name.”

“Of course,” still amused by the name.

“Do you have a problem with ‘Harold’?”

“No, it’s just that I wasn’t expecting you to actually have a name other than ‘Father Time’.”

“That’s just my job title. My mother named me Harold.”

“Dur? You have a mother?”

“Yes, doesn’t everybody? In fact, you’ve already met her.”

“When?”

“Just now. Gloria. She greeted you at the door.”

“Oh,” Julie said with all the speed of a tortoise and the pitch of an adolescent boy. She blinked, as that name entered her ear and set off a chain of synaptic firings that triggered some images to form in her mind that she’d rather not be thinking about.

She blinked again.

These supernatural beings sure are weird.