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The residents are mysterious and new and the landlady is hard to judge. |
| [Introduction]
Poppyseed Point is a new apartment complex that is looking for occupants. It has one, two, and three bedroom apartments. The one bedrooms are for married or committed couples or singles. The two bedrooms are for a married or committed couple and a child. The three bedrooms are for a married or committed couples and their children. Residents are screened to make sure they are able to pay the rent. They will also be subject to a criminal background check. There will be ten one bedroom, ten two-bedroom, and ten three bedroom apartments. There is also an apartment for the landlady. All races, religions, and sexes are welcome. Anyone with a criminal record won't be allowed. I will start with the landlady. Other participants can name the other residents and their families. Have fun! |
| Celeste Bonner was flaberghasted when she received the call that she was appointed manager of a new apartment complex called Poppyseed Point. She is a middle aged, shrewd woman who doesn't let people walk over her. She can be gentle, yet hard nosed. She is moody, self-righteous, and hot tempered. It is her job to keep this new apartment running smoothly. She has to screen applicants and run the background and criminal checks. Celeste feels this job may be overwhelming for her. |
| Megan had barely escaped from a hippie commune that was still in operation in a remote area at the Canadian border. She considered herself too old now to be working the fields for the good of the commune. The heavy work wasn't doing much for her creaking joints and aching back. The realtor had said, "One-bedroom apartments are available in Poppyseed Point." Megan didn't need much space. She hadn't accumulated material things. The money her father had left her would suffice until the last of her days. At Poppyseed Point, the minute Megan met Celeste, the landlady, she liked her. Celeste was quite different from the folks in the commune in their outmoded ruffles and rags, dangling their bare arms and legs, and with their souls still stuck in the seventies. Celeste took her time screening Megan's background, but the landlady was fair if a little hard-nosed and moody. On the plus side, she did not have any vacant stoned eyes, hollow smiles, or bad skin like the people in the commune. But then, neither did Megan. When Megan looked in the mirror, she saw a gray-haired woman in rimless glasses who looked clean and alert; each time her eyes caught her own image, laughing out loud, she gave herself a friendly, sexy wink. |
| Dustin Willington stared intently at the dying rose in the vase that sat on the edge of the old ladies desk. He wondered briefly why it was the only one in the vase to look so decrepit, especially since the others looked fairly new. His twin, Aryn was busy talking to the lady regarding an apartment for the two to rent. He reached up and nonchalantly ran a hand through his hair looking back up at the lady again with a dashing smile. “A one bedroom? No ma’am,” Aryn was saying, “We’re not married. He’s my brother.” Dustin smiled genuinely at the nature of his sister’s refusal to be linked to him romantically and thought maybe even about wrapping his arm around her and saying something wittingly funny. However, he did not think the lady would find it as amusing as he and he’d rather sleep indoors tonight. Not that they couldn’t go back to their father’s house and beg to sleep in their rooms. They had a falling out, a terrible one at that and Dustin was lucky enough to have a sister like Aryn to stick up for him and walk out as he had. All they had to do to be accepted back at the house was to apologize and say they were wrong. Dustin’s mind shifted, the bastard would die before hearing an apology from him. |
| Morgana Penguini looked at her hands nervously, unable to believe she was actually signing the application. She was doing it. She was renting an apartment! "I'll just process that and then you're good to go!" the landlady said, smiling brightly at her. She smiled nervously back. Finally...age 20 and finally getting her own apartment, she thought. She couldn't wait. She was going to decorate it with a huge penguin motif, and stay up all night, and just in general do all the things she had always wanted to do (that were still legal, of course). Flipping long blonde hair over her shoulder, she stood up, fiddling with the strap on her purse. She didn't know if she was really quite ready for this, but there was no turning back now! |
| Raphael was finally getting his apartment. After spending those years in collge he was finally getting a place of his own. He could do whatever he wanted, he could practice his christian faith to his heart's content, have friends over whenever he wanted, and style it however he wanted. The realtor mentioned that several people were moving in at the same time as he was. He walked up the stairs to his new home. Before opening the door, he looked back to think about the many changes that would occure. Then he closed his eyse, turned the key, and walked forward. |
| When Alice Birdseye and her partner Mark Birdseye, they shared a lat name by choice, not by law, asked Carol Ann Hogan to move with them into Poppyseed Court, Carol Ann said yes without thinking. She would pay half of the rent to Alice and Mark, and Carol Ann would be out in the world again, around the men who could possibly become a husband. Alice’s daughter, Thea, would have the third bedroom, and at 15 didn’t really need any babysitting, but Carol Ann hoped to help raise the girl. For three years Carol Ann had watched her husband waste away. Now there was no one to care for. She felt a void in her life. When she met Alice at the diner, and Alice said she and Mark were hoping to get the three bedroom, but the rent was steep, Carol Ann offered to move in with them. “It’s for families,” said Alice. “You’d have to be a family member.” “I could be a long-lost Aunt," hr older brother said she was crafty. “Thea could use an 'aunt',” Alice leaned against the table and let Carol Ann go on. If Carol Ann was this easy to talk into living with them and covering most of the rent, she and Mark could easily cover the rent for the three bedroom. “Let me talk to the manager at the complex,” said Alice. “But next time you come in, have the cash for the deposit.” “Oh I will dear,” said Carol Ann. The two women smiled at each other. |
| Elisa Donahue finished moving into her one bedroom apartment located in the back of the complex. A nice quiet place, she hoped this would be the last time she'd have to move for a while. "Hopefully Derek doesn't find me this time," she whispered as she finished unpacking the last box of her meager possessions. She wasn't able to get everything she owned, only a few boxfulls. Luckily she was able to get her computer and some of her writing reference books into her beat-up 1969 Chevy. Her mom lent her enough money to buy a second-hand bed, couch, and desk. What more could she want? She plugged in the phone her sister let her have and checked to see if the service had been turned on yet. A shrill dial tone blared in her ear and she turned the volume down on the handheld phone. "Geez," she said out loud, "Sarah is going more deaf everyday." Elisa knew she needed to unpack her suitcase and hang her clothing, but her writing called to her. She turned on the computer and opened her latest book's file. I'll just write for a little bit, she thought, just to relax. Well past midnight she was still typing away, lost in a world of her own creation. |
| Gideon Madison dragged his exhausted body down the stairs and into the basement apartment of Poppyseed Point. He had spent all evening listening to a really poorly trained band as they played small circles of power chords and screamed ill-conceived and over-emotional lyrics at a jostling mass of youth. "I'm buying better earplugs tomorrow," he thought out loud, trying not to scratch at his left hand. Some kid had tried to jump the stage, and it had been Gideon's job to stop him, before escorting him outside the building. The studs on the kid's jacket had torn a jagged slash into the back of his hand, and the bandage itched. Once inside, he picked up an electric guitar and plugged in a pair of thickly padded headphones, so that he could play without waking anyone. Gideon's arms were thick, but his fingers were nimble. He rolled them across the fret-board and played a complex and relaxing melody, built mostly from blues rhythms, but with some jazz chords thrown in just to keep it interesting. Gideon's wife was sleeping in the bedroom. She needed to get up early to go to her college classes the next morning. Gideon played until he felt relaxed, and then climbed into bed just before the sun rose, doing his best not to disturb her. Half unconsciously, she cuddled up to him as he just started drifting off into sleep. |
| Celeste was sitting at her desk and putting the files together on the current residents. As she was placing the last file folder in the cabinet, the phone rang. "Poppyseed Point, may I help you?" "I am calling to see if there are anymore apartments available to rent." "There are one, two, and three bedroom apartmewnts available. Can I get some information to determine which one you will need. What is your name?" "My name is Magdalina Davis. My husband Perry and I have been married for nine years and we have two children. Our son, Mark, is seven and our daughter, Eve, is ten. We lost our home in a fire and need a place to stay." "Well, you and your family can come in for an apppointment, if you would like." "That would be fine. Shall we say Thursday at four?" Celeste looked at her appointment book and found she had that time open. "I will see you then. Do you know where we are located?" "Yes We do. We will see you then." After she hung up the phone, Celeste felt a new sense of urgency to get this complex filled. |
| Now, Megan lay in her brass bed admiring the sparkle of the metal on the rails, akin to gold. Celeste had directed her to a second-hand furniture store. Things will get better here, Megan thought, through her moment of joy captured from the glimmer of brass. Happiness was only a few steps away, a few steps after she would get up and arrange all the boxes and furniture pieces that not yet had found their proper location. But she turned her back to the room, shutting out the chaos. For now, she would think of her new life. How did one establish new ties after cutting her old ones for good? People always wanted to know where one came from and why one moved. No one took any person at face value. Her old life, she didn’t want to remember. The women in the commune fought over everything, things, achievements, men…A heart-to-heart person, a real friend would be so nice. She had missed having a girl friend. Only if she wouldn’t ask Megan where she came from… In the corridor, Megan had bumped into a young woman, a scared-looking wispy thing, carrying a computer. What was her name again? Elise? No, Elisa. Yes, that’s what she had said her name was. Just the sight of her had raised a motherly instinct in Megan. Now, she could hear the tap…tap…taps of her keyboard through the wall. What if the woman would write through the night? Megan grinned, thinking of the earplugs in her purse. |
| “Well, as long as y our criminal background is checked you should be all set, so we’ll just wait a few minutes,” the lady smiled at Aryn. Dustin’s eyes widened and he responded, “A criminal background check? Wow. Would you like me to pee in a cup as well?” Aryn dangerously narrowed her eyebrows at him and kicked him swiftly and deftly without even the lady noticing. The lady herself was glaring at him as he had just burst open and was oozing pus all over her upholster chair and carpet. Despite the look the lady was quick to reply, “Should I be testing you, sir?” Dustin’s eyes strayed between Aryn and the lady as another smile turned his lips upward, “No ma’am. I was just playing. I’m sorry if I made it seem like you had to.” |
| Morgana climbed up the steps to her new apartment, lugging a giant black-and-white duffel bag behind her. It bumped up every step, making her cringe at the noise she was making. But she couldn't help it. Despite the apprehension, thrills of excitement shot through her. Finally, it was official. She was officially on her own! "Penguins, here I come," she whispered under her breath, then froze, glancing around, blue-green eyes wide with anxiety that someone might have heard her. Nobody else knew about her obsession. Her parents suspected, but had no concrete proof. They just knew that she liked penguins a little, that her favorite movie was Happy Feet...no idea the depths of the obsession with penguins. Making it safely into her new apartment, Morgana closed the door and heaved a big, happy sigh. Her fingers itched to get started unpacking, but she realized that it was impractical that night. She was exhausted. She yanked out her comforter, spread it on the living room floor, and was asleep in seconds. |
| Raphael opened the door, taking a big whiff of his new life as he stepped into the partially empty apartment. Foro nce, he had his own place, and would be able to operate on his own rules for once, not like when he lived with his parents for the past 18 years, or even how he lived in college dorms for the past four years of his life. He began slowly bringing his things from downstairs up into his apartment, and that's when he heard that a girl named Morgana moved in next door to him. He wondered if it could possibly be that girl he met last year, the one with that awkward fetish for penguins. He remembered her being kind, so after bringing all his things up, he went over to the apartment next to him and knocked on the door. |
| At 45, Alice was not in shape to run the next three blocks to her appointment with the manager at Poppyseed Point, and with drooping shoulders, slowed to a brisk walk. At least walking Alice could get her story straight. Celeste had made it clear: everyone had to be related. Alice considered herself related to Mark even though they weren't married. It was getting Carol Ann into the apartment too. Alice didn't naturally lie. Carol Ann said she'd be like an aunt to Thea, but really, Alice viewed Carol Ann has the way to extra money to cover the rent. The trailer was shrinking, the cloud of gloom and depression that Mark brought home with him after another workless day was starting to crowd them all in. Alice had to get them all into this apartment. Today. Celeste, not friendly, but at least tolerant of the tardy Alice opened the door to the apartment. "You say this woman is a cousin?" "Yes," Alice said quickly, looking at the spacious room with white walls. It was filled with possibility. "Well, we treat her like an aunt. She's very close to Thea." Alice bit her lip. Celeste looked her over. The doubt was clear on her face. "I'll have to meet her. Bring her in when you come with the deposit. Come tomorrow. I have to get this place filled up." "Okay," said Alice, breathing again. "I will. Thank you." |
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