Dr. Walters and his men went off to find Eddie and Laura Dell headed to her office to print up some signs to put up with the nets. She typed up a quick “Sorry for the inconvenience. We have a live artifact in the building that we are trying to preserve” and selected a professional font. She wasn’t sure how many nets they would be putting up, but she guessed at 10. As she stood by the printer waiting for her signs, Dr. Walters knocked on her half open door.
“Herbert, the signs are almost done printing. I’ll be right there and we can get the nets in position.”
“Don’t worry, dear. The young men I brought with me are explaining the process to Eddie and trying to decide the best places to put the nets. Feinmen is back in his office so we have a few minutes.”
“Good. I’m glad you came up with this idea and forced him into accepting it. I would hate for anything bad to happen to the bird.”
“The bird should be fine. How are you this morning? You look lovely.”
Laura Dell relaxed into a smile. “I’m great. Thanks again for going to the theatre with me.”
“Of course. I’ve always enjoyed the theatre. Or at least the outfit I get to wear to the theatre. I saw that they are doing The Beauty and the Beast next month. Perhaps we can go again.”
Laura Dell continued to smile, but thought about what could be different one month from now. She wasn’t sure how Herbert’s disease would progress. Would he be able to go to the theatre with her in a month? What about the month after that? Would his last week’s be spent in his home or the hospital instead of visiting her and Sue at the museum?
“I would love to go again with you.”
* * *
Laura Dell and Herbert headed back out into the museum and found Eddie and the men trying to decide where to put up the nets.
“Well Ms.Dell, since the bird seems to be your friend, where do you think we should put up the nets?” Eddie asked.
“Well I usually see him on Sue, but we can’t put the nets up there. Dr.Feinmen may have agreed to let us put the nets up, but if he sees them near Sue, he will flip out for sure. There are a few other areas that the bird has been. Why don’t we start there?”
“Lead the way,” Eddie said.
Laura Dell led them over to the corner Dr. Feinmen had last found feces in and they began discussing putting the net up there.
“Do we want to put it up in the corner?” Eddie asked the other men.
“Well we really want to put it in the flight path of the bird, so we would actually want to put it up a few feet out from the corner. Is that going to be a problem?”
Eddie exchanged a skeptical look with Laura Dell. Feinmen was not going to like it being out away from the wall.
One of the men caught the looks and said, “It wouldn’t be that noticeable. Just the poles will be out in the open, but they are skinny enough not to be too in the way. And we hope to have the bird caught within a few hours.”
“We can give it a shot then. If Dr. Feinmen is unhappy with the situation, we will change it” Laura Dell decided.
“Let’s get started then.” Eddie said.
Eddie watched as Dr. Walters’ colleagues began pulling equipment out of their duffle bags. He glanced over at Dr. Walters and said, “Herbert, why don’t you let us handle this? We won’t need more than three of us to get it set up.”
“I wouldn’t mind going to sit with Sue for a few minutes while the museum is still empty.”
“I can come with you if you like,” Laura Dell said.
“That’s okay dear. I brought my notebook with me today and have a few things I would like to get down. Besides, we wouldn’t want Dr. Feinmen to think you weren’t on top of things this morning. If he does give you all trouble, please come find me.”
Dr. Walters gave Laura Dell a mischievous wink and headed off towards Sue.
* * *
Ten minutes into the setup, Laura Dell and Eddie were no longer pretending they were necessary to putting up the nets. The professionals had everything under control for the moment, so they stepped over to the nearest bench to sit and chat.
“How are you and our friend Herbert doing these days Ms. Dell?”
Laura Dell laughed in embarrassment. “We’re good. Last night we went to the theatre.”
“So I heard.”
Laura Dell watched the men work, waiting for Eddie’s next question. When it didn’t come, she glanced over at him.
“Eddie, is there something you wanted to talk to me about?”
“I’m a little concerned for you Ms. Dell. I know how much you and Herbert enjoy each other’s company, but I’m worried that you are not prepared. You know that I consider Herbert a friend, but he isn’t the one who could get hurt in this relationship.”
“Dr. Walters is not going to do anything to hurt me, Eddie. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I do though. I’m not sure you understand what could happen in the next three months. Do you know how his cancer will be affecting him?”
“Eddie. I don’t want to talk about this. Herbert and I are not talking about that right now.”
“Ms. Dell you need to know what’s going to happen. He only has a few months left. He will begin to deteriorate.”
Laura Dell stood up, “Eddie. Right now, Herbert is concentrating on living. I am concentrating on living with him. I will deal with that when it comes. There is no need to depress ourselves by thinking about it now.” She stalked over to the men to check on their progress, not letting Eddie respond. They told her that they were about to put the net up.
“I’ll go get Dr. Walters then.”
* * *
Laura Dell made the walk to Sue last much longer than it should have. She needed a few minutes before she found Herbert.
She rounded the corner and saw him sitting on the bench writing in his notebook. She watched him for a moment willing herself not to see his sunken cheeks and hollow eyes. Instead she focused on his smile.
Laura Dell walked over and sat down next to him.
“What are you writing in there?”
He slid it closed, but answered her. “I like most people to believe that I am writing down wise and insightful thoughts about Sue and the wonderful artifacts in this museum. But that’s not usually the case.”
“What do you write then?”
“Still my thoughts, but mostly the foolish ones.” He winked at Laura Dell. “I discovered some time ago, that you can write down insightful thoughts about the past and history all you want, but if you can’t tie them to the present, it’s not worth much.”
“Will I ever get to read these foolish thoughts?” Laura Dell asked.
“Yes. Someday I will share them with you, but I believe you came in here to tell me we have our first net up. Correct?”
“I did. We need to see how it looks and put a sign up on the poles and then decide how many more we want to put up.”
“Let’s have a look then.”
* * *
Laura Dell couldn’t ignore that the poles were more in the way than she thought they would be. They advised her to go ahead and let them set up 3 other nets in places the bird had been and then they would try to spook it into flying into one of them. Laura Dell told them to act quickly. She didn’t want Dr. Feinmen to intrude before they had the chance to get the other nets up. This time she and Eddie helped and 30 minutes later they had all the nets set up.
“So now we have to scare the bird into flying?” Laura Dell asked.
“That’s right. We can just spread out and try to find it and spook it.”
Laura Dell watched as Eddie and the other men began moving out through the museum. Dr. Walters hadn’t moved yet.
“Laura Dell, let’s be on a team together. You can spot the bird and I’ll scare it by dropping my cane, like team hide and seek. How does that sound?”
“That sounds lovely.” Laura Dell looped her arm through his and started walking.
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Hey guys.
ReplyDeleteSo my goal here was to bring LD back into thinking about the future and Herbert's illness. He has been pretty reluctant to talk about it, so I thought it might be nice to show her thinking about it even if they can't talk about it.
It seemed like everyone wanted Eddie back again, so I tried to bring him back. I tried to put him back in the fatherly role, by having him show concern from her and how she is handling things.
I also wanted to show the difference between her briefly considering Herbert's deterioration and her talking about it with someone else. I wanted her to seem protective of Herbert and less concerned about her own feelings.
I wont lie, I read the wikipedia page and a few other things about the nets and they still confused me a little, so I glossed over them for the most part. I hope I did good enough and the next person just has to deal with them getting the bird into the net. In my mind maybe an hour passes in this chapter and it is still before the museum opens, but they could look for the bird for as long as the next author wants.
I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Megan C.
Yay, more arm looping :) Your chapter was very emotionally wrenching. After the previous chapter's carefree atmosphere, it was effective that you brought us back to the conflict of Herb's diesease in such stark contrast. The way you let LD think about this during her dialogue with him about the next month's play was very powerful and well done.
ReplyDeleteI think you handleled the mist netting well. I don't think we have to necesarily be technical about it, just as long as we discuss it correctly, which I think you did.
I also loved the sign LD types up. Preserving a live exhibit---that Laura Dell, so clever.
Great job!
I agree SCS about bringing them back to the serious side of things.
ReplyDeleteI see we've gone from theater to theatre. Funny how such a little thing can coincide with the switch from carefree to serious.
Anyway, I think you used Eddie really well. He's important, I think, but not too important, and you show that. Good job!
I still think Feinman should kill the bird somehow. But, I leave it all up to you guys. Whoever does get the bird needs to decide how serious the bird is. If it isn't serious, then LD could just let it go outside without any fuss. But, if we want it to be serious, I think we'd need a flashback or some kind of long comparison, maybe.
What's the bird represent, anyway? LD? Herbert? Fighting Cancer? Being stuck in a place where you don't really belong? Did we figure this out already?
Oh, and your best guess is as good as mine on how to use the nets. haha.
Great chapter Megan! I really enjoyed the way you brought Eddie back! I think he belongs in the fatherly role at this point and can give her some good advice. He did a great job showing the urgency of Dr.W's disease and how it will probably start affecting him.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the idea of the notebooks and I think that the next few chapters should keep that in mind. I'm sure he's writing about LD, or at least she thinks that is probably the case. The line about thoughts about the past and history not being useful unless you can connect it to the present was really well done! The next chapters will also need to deal with the bird in whatever capacity they want. Good work!
i'm glad eddie's not a creeper and that he's playing a friend here and trying to make her see what's happening to herbert. he's right, she shouldn't ignore it forever.
ReplyDeletei also liked the "team hide-and-seek." it's funny to think that herbert was a little kid once too.
Great work Megan!
ReplyDeleteI throughly enjoyed reading your chapter. You did a wonderful job of deepening Dr. Walter's and LD's relationship. You allowed the reader to see just how emotionally attached LD has become to him without making us feel unsettled by it. As far as moving forward is concerned, I think we need some big action to happen. Either the death of the bird or Herbert's condition suddenly worsens or Feinmen fires LD or something major needs to happen to act as a catalyst to push us to the end of the narrative.
Chris, I think if Feinmen does kill the bird that might make his character seem just too stereotypical mustache curling bad mwhaha guy. Either way, I think the bird needs to die so we can draw some parallels there with Herbert's death AND LD's Dad's death (don't forget about that - it's going to play a big part eventually).
Also excellent touch with the sign! Hilarious LD, hilarious. Thanks for your hard work!!
Cheers,
- Megan F.
Megan!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a wonderful chapter! I loved what you did with Eddie and showed the deepening trust of LD and DrW...
I do think the bird is going to have to die... Though, I think Megan F might be right about Feinman being too obvious of a choice. I think he wants LD to kill the bird and maybe would be mad about the Preserving a Live exhibit signs (great touch Megan!) but yeah- the bird will have to go.
Great work, Megan!
Great work.
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to note that it was about time we started talking about the end. (for herbert and our story) I feel like you did a great job on putting the reality of how close his death is inside LD's head. It is almost like you planted a little seed that she cannot ignore. It is also a great set up for the next author to move forward and start talking about some serious deterioration. Possibly memory loss?
I don't WANT to be talking about the end! I'm enjoying reading everyone else's writing too much!
ReplyDeleteHowever, it kind of is time to start moving toward that - getting the bird going, moving along with what's going on with Herbert, pushing LD into dealing with both of them rather than just letting them both sort of chill out on the "back burner".
I really liked the switch to more serious stuff. We've had a few fairly light-hearted chapters and it's time to come back into the real world.
I also like that Herbert is kind of ... well, not dishonest, but maybe not fully honest about what he's writing in his notebook. He seemed kind of vague to me about it anyway.
Yay! Eddie's back! And he's still playing Father Figure, to an extent, with the whole "we need to talk about this" thing. I really enjoyed that part - it's clearly not something LD wants to talk about, but Eddie knows she needs to do it, and it's time she started.
Great chapter overall, Megan!
Cait
Megan,
ReplyDeleteGreat chapter! I really liked how Eddie tried to talk to LD about Herbert's illness and she can't do it. I though there was a lot of emotion expressed throughout your dialogue and we got to see the depth of her attachment to Herbert. Herbert and LD's interaction here was wonderful as well, it was playful, and I like that they are able to still have fun with each other despite the cloud hanging over their heads.
What if the bird isn't killed by a person, rather the measures they have taken restricts his food, or something else random? I originally thought Feinman should kill the bird, but i agree with Megan F on that idea, but I think he could be the one to tell LD the bird has died so we still associate him with it.
Great work Megan!
Wow!
ReplyDeleteThe process of the nets was pretty intense but the detail and the preciseness really let me visualize the whole thing. I thought it was an important element where Eddie mentioned the serious situation LD is getting herself into with the Doc. It was also nice to see Eddie show up again.
I am glad that Eddie brought up how close they are becoming and the potential danger. Someone needed to say even though LD wouldn't listen. I also like the choice of beauty and the beast as the next play to see. The first being the King and I hinted at the extravagance that Herb carried out the evening and The beauty and the Beast hinted at either the age or the overhanging doom of Herb. Well done.
ReplyDelete