A Luna Tick

Every morning at approximately 6:02, Peggy Miller stumbled out of bed.  She managed fifteen stomach crunches, two yoga stretches and stepped onto the scale before hurrying to the shower.  Peg brewed freshly ground coffee as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.  Standing at the center island in her kitchen, she clicked her pen and listed the many things that she needed to accomplish after work. 

It was Thursday.  She took note: “clean out the refrigerator, empty all of the garbage bins and roll the main can to the curb for garbage pickup.”  Peggy would save much time and energy if she would simply laminate her lists from the many weeks previous, but by doing so, she would break the routine of planning for the day.  She embraced the process of “planning” for it was something she did ever since she was a young girl. 

The heat kicked on breaking the still of her home.  The cabinet closest to the floor thudded for the register had a leak that flowed into the enclosure.  As Peggy opened the upper cabinet to retrieve her favorite coffee mug, she reveled in how organized and perfect it all was.   All contents were stacked in alignment, cups, plates, drinking glasses, mixing bowls…her environment was carefully planned to maximize efficiency.  A smile pursed her lips for she knew everything was as it should be.   

Today she could “predict” for it was set in duplicate of the many days running before.  There was no room for variety; there was no tolerance for variation.   There was just Peggy and her routine of existence.

Peg prided herself on the ability to follow directions to the T.  She was programmed to do exactly what was expected, to scrub the floor from left to right, to always take what she learned in school as a standard so as to never create, change or invent.  When it came to following the leader, she did.

The color scheme of her home was set in a middle tone of gray.  There was never a commitment for individuality; there was never a need to impose any sort of color. 

Her clothes matched her desire for living a practical lifestyle.  She purchased everything in sets of three taking into consideration the accidental spills, unforeseen rips and buttons which often seemed to fall off just as she was about to leave for work.  Although most were the same earth toned color, the styles differed for each day.  The only change was in the sleeve length and weight of material according to the season.  Peggy preferred wearing darker fabrics for the threading seemed to be more durable than lighter tones.

A neutral color also worked to best describe Peggy’s personality.  She carried no opinions one way or another.  Many people were put off by her indifference…and thus, her phone seldom rang.  If one were to compare her to similar in the animal kingdom, the chameleon would work best to describe her tendencies.  She blended into the background instead of being one to take charge and stand out.

Peggy took great comfort in knowing what to expect from moment to moment.  Her family although kind to her face, was harsh and critical of her behind her back.  They nicknamed her “Pegboard Shrew” which was a dig at her mousiness and her need to make lists. 

On Thursday morning, Peg left for her job following the same path just as she had taken for the past fifteen years.  Before driving away, she checked to make sure the garage door was making a proper decent.  Admittedly, she was a bit distracted.  She thought of the end of the month books that would need to be tallied and the many responsibilities for keeping the pet store afloat.  Without paper, she began devising a “to-do” list. 

For the most part, she enjoyed bookkeeping.  Her job was the perfect mixture of challenge and predictability.  The numbers were all about balance and the manner for which they were calculated remained constant.

As she drove towards the expressway entrance, she clicked on the radio for the morning news.  The weather was average for the season; however, there was a traffic jam but could easily be avoided by taking the local route.  This meant five minutes added to her commute but since Pegboard allotted extra time, the delay was not an imposition.

The day was simple.  The ten key calculator worked overtime as the total balances were added to the accounting program on the computer.  Everything proceeded without a glitch and before Peggy knew it, she was on the road heading back towards home once again.   Just before turning north onto her street, she thought of the salad she was going to have for dinner.  Spinach was her favorite and by adding garbanzo beans she felt satisfied from the proper amount of protein.  Everything she ate was weighed, measured and calculated.

To Peggy’s dismay, she realized her garage door was left wide open.  “What the heck?” Peggy mumbled.  Unfortunately, this was not the first occurrence.  Sometimes a leaf or a large insect would fly past the safety eye which would trigger the door back up again last minute.  Today seemed to be one of those occasions.

Since Pegboard never locked the interior door, she feared her peaceful existence had been invaded.  What was even more disturbing was how the clip that held the interior door open became wedged, leaving a gap and her kitchen exposed.  Critters or thieves, insects or snakes…anything could have meandered through.

With great apprehension, Peggy entered her home.  Everything seemed just as she had left it that morning without so much as a thread out of place.  She moved from room to room observing every detail to be certain all was as it should be. 

After a great sigh of relief, Peg went on with her day completing the task of garbage removal before settling down to dinner.  She clicked on the television in the main room and viewed her typical line-up of shows.  At approximately nine fifteen, she brushed and flossed her teeth.  In her mind she sang the “alphabet” song three times so as to make certain she was thorough and complete.  Side to side, up and down, front to back…it was always the same until “z” ended the regime.

With the television off and lights out, she went to bed.  Peggy had just settled in when she heard a foreign noise from somewhere in the house.  Scritch-scratch, scurrying… tiny footsteps…silence, rustling, stritch-scratch.  Her eyes widened in disbelief.  Darkness surrounded her and never before had she felt so vulnerable and exposed.  A moment later, she could swear the hinge on a kitchen cabinet squeak followed by a thud and a bang.  Heart thumping, adrenaline rush…fear…something was out there!

Pegboard grabbed a flashlight and her revolver from the drawer as she hurried to the kitchen to investigate.  She swung the beam from here to there and back again.  To her dismay, there was nothing out of the ordinary.  Peggy was certain she heard a noise; she was positive.  She took a moment of pause and fine tuned her hearing.  Just then a light swung from the left to the right along the wall.  The movement startled her…so much that she pointed the gun and fired at her cabinet.  The bullet ripped through the drinking glasses causing a chain reaction of force.  After the echo from the discharge fell away, Peggy reached over and clicked on the overhead lights.  When she opened the cabinet door she was shocked to realize every glass in that section had been destroyed. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid me…the light was from the neighbors’ car backing into the driveway across the street. 

Peggy set the gun on the countertop appalled by her trigger-happy reaction. 

A moment later, in the lower cabinet…in the space where crackers, cookies and munchies lived, there was something that began to shift and rattle.  With great courage she reached forward and flung the door open. 

Inside it appeared as if nothing was out of the ordinary.  “Surprise, where are you?”  Whatever was inside remained hidden in the shadows.  Peggy apprehensively leaned in to catch a better glimpse.  Again nothing was out of place.  With the belief that whatever it was had somehow ducked behind or in-between, she began to remove everything within that cabinet in an unbridled attempt to take control.  Her movements were fueled by panic and she set herself into a sort of autopilot type of action.  Of course she was not satisfied until the space became an empty cavity. 

As she was studying the contents lying in a heap before her, the ice maker in the freezer dropped several cubes into the tray within.   Losing touch with reality, Peggy opened up the freezer and began to toss everything onto the growing pile at the center of her kitchen.  She didn’t stop there as all contents within the refrigerator were added to the mess as well.  Still not satisfied she threw each and every item from cabinet and drawer, holding bin and basket.  Peggy stood above the mountain of rubble with her gun in hand. 

“Just make a move, I dare you!”  She said gazing about to the silence of her home.

It was then she heard the fluttering again.  Jumping from stance to stance, she lifted the gun and reacted in an animated sense of high alert.  She pointed the barrel at the walls, floor, television in the adjoining room…at the cereal boxes with healthy people smiling on the front.  It was then she realized the noise was coming from within the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Turning on her feet, she rushed to the garage and pulled the sledge hammer from the hook above.  A moment later, Pegboard was swinging wildly into the drywall as chips and pieces rained onto the pristine ceramic flooring below.  Over and over again the hammer pulverized her home with force.  The most troubling fact was how the scampering noise continued to torment her.

“Just leave me alone!” Peggy screamed.

She hurried into the living room and toppled everything to the center.  Determined to be thorough, she wouldn’t stop until she found the source.  Her world had been invaded and her perfect life was under attack.  Who knew what had crawled into her home earlier that day.  It could have been anything really…gnarling teeth, rabid intent…she would not stand for it…she would leave no stone unturned until the creature was dealt with.  Show no mercy.

At twenty minutes until six Peggy returned to bed.  By this time she was physically exhausted and emotionally spent…so much that she didn’t hear the alarm clock when it resounded at 6:02.   She didn’t even notice the phone when her boss called wondering what had become of her.  In the space between morning and afternoon, Pegboard had slept away the reality of what she had faced in the night.  When the movement overhead had awakened her, she had no idea who she was or where she had been.

With her eyes slow to focus, she gazed towards the fluttering at the ceiling.  In the rim of light projected through the draperies appeared the most ornate green moth that she had ever seen.  A Luna Moth.  It was absolutely beautiful, a living piece of art adding color to the dismal gray of her surroundings.  Only then did she remember as she reached to the open container on her nightstand, that many months ago, she had found a rather large cocoon at the park.  Wondering what mysteries laid inside she collected the specimen, placing it next to her bed as a reminder that everyone and everything at one point or another must evolve. 

Peggy stood from her bed and opened her window.  She slid the screen to provide a proper exit…she allowed the invitation of freedom and warmth to coax the moth through.  In mere seconds, the wonderful creature took flight setting forth to realize the purpose of life. 

Peggy “Pegboard” Miller was forever changed by the invasion of color.  In that instant she realized how life was never about merely existing through countless lists of mundane. To truly live was to stand with courage against whatever fate tossed her way.   The destruction of her home was a small price to pay for a life-changing perspective.  Just the same as the moth needed to move forward to find a unique path, so did Peggy Miller….and so, she did.