Joanne's Cabin - Part 5
- Ani Birch
- Apr 8, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 5
“Hello?”
“Hello?”
“Hello?”
“Hello?”
“Joanne, are you here?”
“Are you here?”
“It’s Liz.”
“Hi, Liz.”
Did she hear that right? If so, that was no echo.
“Where are you?”
“Where are you?”
“Joanne, are you near?”
“I am here.”
Liz steps around a wide white pine, avoiding one long arm of needles and sinks into a carpet of vibrant green moss dotted with crunchy spots of reindeer lichen. Her eyes rise from her submerged feet. She is not alone. Her doppelganger stands on the other side of the opening, leaning on a gnarly jack pine. Liz raises her hand and waves. Joanne mirrors her. She steps forward and the girl smiles. They meet in the middle of the moss. Liz smiles, this time more nervously than before, with hands clenched tightly into her stomach. The girl reaches out, loosening her grip and takes both hands in hers. Neither speak. Two pairs of bright hazel eyes sparkle green as they scan each other’s face. Clear olive skin, narrow straight brows, and long curly copper hair. The only difference is, while Liz’s messy curls are pulled back in her green scrunchie, Joanne’s hair falls to her shoulders in soft ringlets.
Joanne steps forward and reaches one hand of long fingers towards Liz’s face causing her to jump. The girl tugs out the scrunchie and her hair falls to her shoulders. She slips the band up one smooth narrow wrist.
"That is better.”
She takes her hand again.
“It has been a long time since I have seen you.”
“Seen me? I’ve never met you.”
“Sure you have.”
“I have?”
“You were very small so perhaps the memory did not stick. You were with Lilah, picking in the patch where your cousins are now.”
“We used to always pick here. When did I meet you?”
“Do you not remember?”
“Remember?”
“You climbed up to this moss patch and we sat and ate your blueberries.”
“That was real?”
“Of course. So, you do remember?”
“Ya. My mom got so mad that I climbed up here by myself. I was bored of picking. But, I thought I imagined you. Mom said I imagined you.”
“It was me. Lilah did not bring you back again after that.”
“Yes. Why not?”
“I do not know exactly. We were very good friends for many years. One day I returned from Echo Bay and the door of my cabin stood open but no one was around. I think she went in without me.”
“Is that bad.”
“Not bad but the other side of that door holds many secrets and mysteries. A wrong foot can plant you there forever.”
“Oh my goodness. Is it dangerous?”
“Not dangerous if you know where to step.”
Liz pauses. This is why Mom does not like this place. She must have went into Joanne’s cabin.
“I’ve been at the patch below many times with Dad and my cousins, even up here and you never came before.”
“No. I was afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“Yes. Afraid I would scare you away too. I can connect with very few people.”
“So, why did you reply to me today?”
“I have not spoken face to face with anyone since we shared blueberries that day. Every time I hear your sweet voice over the water it warms my heart. I could not resist anymore.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“Will you be my friend?”
“Of course!”
A wide smile spreads across Joanne’s face, a face so much like her own. Joanne gently squeezes her hand.
“What would you like to do, my friend?”
“I want to see your cabin.”
“You are not afraid?”
“I am not afraid of anything.”
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