Hearing a Dream

Despite the confidence displayed Harper still wedged a chair under the doorknob that night and slept upright against the wall, knife resting just a few inches away and ready to be snatched up should the young lad she encountered suddenly feel emboldened during the night.

She was happy to discover that was not the case.

Exiting the room she slowly crept down the hallway, opening each door to make sure they truly were empty; and though they all were all empty she was horrified to find the bathroom in a state of complete horror.

“Disgusting.”

Once she had seen that Harper could only imagine how well the rest of the place fared, and even with just a cursory examination she realized it was in a far worse state than she could have imagined. The generator had been completely run dry with none of the solar panels cleaned or even properly positioned. And sometime in the past several weeks ago the septic tank had completely backed up, which she suspected is what had led to the horror show in the bathroom. None of the windows or other entrances had been reinforced or barricaded, she was amazed the kid had not been intruded upon earlier.

When Jackson rose from slumber several hours later she got to ask him personally whether or not he had a death wish.

“You trying to get yourself killed Jackson?” Harper’s words were clearly a splash of cold water as he stumbled slightly while still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Whoa…uh, good morning to you too?”

“It was morning when I woke up, now it’s the afternoon.”

“God, you sound like my dad.” He sniffed the air with curiosity. “Wait is that tea?”

Harper sipped from her metal travel cup of slowly cooling but still fragrant jasmine tea. “It is.” She gestured to the pot she had used to make it. “You’re welcome to have some.”

“Holy crap, yes please.”

Jackson moved like a happy puppy to the cupboard and got himself a small mug that he then filled halfway with tea. “Thank you, it’s been awhile since I’ve had any caffeine.” He sipped it slowly, enjoying the flavor before letting out a happy sigh.

“A place like this should have it’s own pantry, dried and canned goods. Probably some coffee down there too.”

Jackson sighed in defeat. “There is, but it’s all beans and there’s no power to run the grinder.” He pointed dejectedly at a cylindrical device on the counter, the small chip at the base indicating it had been thrown in annoyance.

“There is now.”

Standing up Harper moved to the counter and plugged the device in, tapping the power button causing it to whir loudly to life. “I figured I’d repay you for putting me up by doing some quick repairs on the generator, and clean off the panels. You know that you need to clean those every day right?”

Jackson was not fully listening, he had become too distracted by the grinder and was turning it on and off again with childish glee.

“Jackson!” Harper’s voice snapped the boy back to reality. “Did you hear me? You need to clean the solar panels every day.”

“Yeah, I totally will! I didn’t even really think about that, I just saw the smoke and figured it was more or less screwed.”

“Just needed to replace a few parts. I stripped some from the backup generator. That thing runs on diesel so it’s more or less useless to us now.”

“Wow, uh, thank you. I really could have used your expertise a few weeks ago when the bathroom-”

“Yeah about that. I’ve seen some horrible shit in my time Jackson, so believe me when I tell you that is one of the top five most disgusting things I have ever seen. Do you even know how to take care of this place?”

“I uh…well I didn’t really think that through when I came here. I kind of just figured things would work for the time I needed.”

“The time you needed?” Harper’s curiosity was piqued by that comment. “Last night you said you came here on vacation early.”

“I…well…I said that because I didn’t think you’d believe the real reason.”

“Which is?” Harper’s stare caused the boy to flinch, a clear sign of trauma.

“I came up here because I wanted to finish this piece I’ve been working on.”

“The piece? Like, music?” She had of course noticed the crumpled sheets of music when they had met last evening along with a handful of broken clarinet reeds along with the instrument itself resting in a spare chair.

“Yeah, I have been working on something for the past two years.”

“You came here…to write music?” Harper’s mouth hung agape ever so slightly, she could not truly believe that someone had done so just for music.

Jackson laughed and nodded. “I know it sounds kind of silly and probably stupid, but music is pretty much my entire life. I want to finish this piece so that…” the words hung in the air for a moment, almost like he was hesitating to finish his sentence. “So that there’s some kind of meaning to it all.”

“Meaning?” Harper spoke the word almost with distaste, and her face was like that of an animal that had smelled something truly foul.

“Yeah,” Jackson stared at her almost with defiance. “I want to know that I did something that mattered…even if it only ever matters to me.”

Staring at this young kid Harper could not help but see an aspect of herself from a lifetime ago, before she joined the military. She wondered if she would understand him better if she had chosen a different path.

“You’re kind of an idiot Jackson, you know that?” Harper said it with a smile and was glad to see Jackson did not take it as an insult. “Well if you’re that committed I’ve got to hear something.”

“What? Oh no I couldn’t, I don’t really even have anything prepared.”

“You’ve got to have something you could play for me. Something that you remember without even needed sheet music.” She was trying to be an encouraging as she could, Rainer’s favorite catchphrase flashing like a neon sign in her head as she stared at a kid so lost he didn’t even realize it.

“I mean…there is one thing.”

“Okay, perfect, that then.” She clapped him hard on the shoulder to jostle him free of any thought he’d gotten lost in. “How about I cook us up something, and you can play while I do that, yeah?”

“I can do that.”

“You like grits?”

“Grits? What are…I don’t know?”

“Ah you’ll like ‘em! Alright let’s get started.”

Harper had already taken the liberty of perusing the pantry and noticed that there was a decent stock of dried corn and so portioned out a healthy helping before taking it upstairs to grind. While she cooked she watched from the corner of her eye as Jackson picked up the clarinet and began to warm up. After a few minutes once Harper had ground everything and added the dried spices she stepped out of the kitchen.

“I’m ready…hopefully you like it,” the slight shrug he gave spoke of a lack of confidence yet it seemed to melt away the moment the instrument touched his lips.

It was a sound unlike any Harper had ever heard before. Something powerful and true; it was like hearing someone's dream made manifest, oozing with soul and passion. She watched the way Jackson's fingers fluttered across the instrument with such speed and precision. Yet his brow creased with such deep concentration it made her think of a tightrope walker, each note a step forward and a chance to fumble or falter ever so slightly.

She could not be sure how long she stood in the doorway listening, only that the sun had risen enough to indicate it had been more than just a few minutes. Once he had finished Jackson took a slow, and deep breath. His entire body seemed to ache and sweat beaded on his forehead.

“What did you think?” He looked at her in curiosity, and that was when Harper realized she had not spoken for several moments since he’d finished.

“That was…that was incredible, ki- Jackson.”

“Really? Thanks.” The smile was genuine, clearly he was not used to praise despite his impressive skill. She wondered briefly what type of environment he grew up in. “It’s probably my favorite piece.”

“That comes through, there’s passion in each note.” Moving to head back to the kitchen Harper paused and turned back. “Hey, I have a proposition for you.”

“Yeah?” Jackson looked up in curiosity.

“It’s pretty clear this place needs a bit of repair. What’s say you let me stay in the room for a bit, I’ll take care of the repairs and security as well as show you how to maintain everything, that way you won’t get caught unaware again.”

There was a pause before Jackson smiled and nodded. “I’d like that.”

With a nod of acknowledgement she turned and headed back into the kitchen ready to make a fantastic breakfast of grits and dried fruit.