The Answer is Within by Janice K. Whitney (great books of all time txt) 📕

she definitely got a reaction from him. In good a mood, they took their walk. On returning to home, she saw the answering machine blinking with a new message. So she hit the button and it was Randy again leaving a threatening message. Again she recorded it on her cell phone then took it to her caseworker to listen to. She told her that she should go to the authorities with it. She also had her girlfriend listen to it. At which she got really angry and asked for Randy’s cell phone number. She was hesitant on doing that for she did not want things to get too far out of hand and wanting to protect her friend. Knowing that her girlfriend could very much take care of herself, she was still reluctant to do that. Not to protect Randy but to protect her friend. They were very close since she had been the age of two and herself five years old. However, there had been a course of years that she did not know where she was. When she came back to the place she loved, she finally told her why. Alarmed at her life that she had lived in the streets of the big southwest city, Trish threw her arms around her friend and cried. Then wiping her eyes, she sternly scolded her for not coming to her to restart her life sooner.
Since childhood, Stella had always been her fierce protector. As she had been for her. The less that she told Stella of the earlier years of how Randy been treating her, but Stella knew. She had Randy pegged from the very beginning. Maybe all the years of experience or just plan gut feeling had told her. Randy and her clashed many times over the years, for Stella believed that Trish should have been and still be treated like a queen.
A few years back she had gotten very ill on night running a high fever, coughing and felt like a Mack truck had hit her. Randy did take her to the ER at the hospital, after eight hours of them running tests etc, they discovered that she had virile meningitis with pneumonia. She just about died that night. However, he doctor did not tell her that until later. She was there for little over a week; most of it spent in an ICU room. When it came time for her to go home she called Randy to come and pick her up and he informed her that she could walk home since they lived so close to the hospital. Her doctor was standing there and figured out what he said so he asked to talk to Randy. And in no uncertain terms said he was going to pick me up and take me home. Her doctor to this day thoroughly dislikes Randy.
Now she did not have to worry about that with him for he was gone. She had to adjust to being alone, but it was nice not having to always have the dinner ready or his laundry done. In addition, the house actually stayed cleaner for much longer periods. This meant she had more time for the other things that she loved.
She missed her mother very much, but knew that she was with Dad now and a lot happier then she had been. Then in August, she suddenly lost her brother to a heart attack. He was her buddy, hunting partner, and the jokester of the family. It devastated her. So many memories of elk hunting, deer hunting and all the hunting camps that had been set up. He had the full military funeral for he had been in the Navy. After the ceremony, her daughter and herself were just unlocking her car to drive to her sisters when a lone tree frog started ribbitting in the brush. She smiled at her daughter sadly and said, “Hear that? Your uncle is talking to us.” For his CB handle during his big truck days had been “The Frog”.
That September her best friend, Mike, invited her to go for two weeks in his boat up the coast of British Columbia with some other friends who had cabin cruisers too. She said yes and was very excited about the trip. It turned out to be so beautiful and exciting. Moreover, of course Mike could always make her laugh. They mainly ate from the sea, with fresh shrimp, Dungeness crab, greenlings, and black bass. Occasionally a cod. It was wonderful and helped in the healing of her shattered heart. They talked about the Parkinson’s, his parents, her parents, both of whom were gone now. Family stories, hunting stories, fishing stories and dog stories.
And oh, the many beautiful desolate little islands that she stared at trying to imprint into her memory of them. She took a lot of pictures too. They had swum in an inlet where the salt water was 68 degrees instead of the normal 45 something. Explored abandoned Indian village sites on some of the larger islands, of course armed with bear spray since they could not take their pistols across the border. Moreover, there are lots of bears to be seen in British Columbia. They had a cougar swim from one island to another not more then 20 feet from their boat camp one night. Dolphins escorted them, played around them almost everyday. It was with great sadness when the two weeks was gone and they had to journey back to the U.S. port of entry in Port Angeles, WA.
The weather was to turn ugly so they made the last part in one long almost non-stop cruise. Stopping once for fuel, for his 30-foot cruiser was not easy on the fuel. However, they beat crossing the Juan de Fucia Straights before the storm hit. Mike slipped his Carver into her moorings at the port; the evening sky opened up and started raining heavily. They both decided that unloading the boat could wait until morning and hopefully the rain would stop. She felt that she had done a lot of healing and thanked Mike profusely for the chance to share the adventure with him. He said no problem for it was a lot funnier to have a companion such as me there to share all the beautiful sites that he had come to love. And not just that but the interesting people that we met out there.
Then in October, on opening day of deer season, her other best friend and hunting buddy died suddenly from an aneurysm. Bob. Tearfully, she called up Mike and told him. They talked about all the fun hunting stories that Bob had been a part of. It helped. She told him in a quivering voice that he had to take care of himself. He was her only best male friend that she had left. She would not make it if anything happened to him.
She got a small chunk of money from her mothers’ estate so she use that to make the much needed repairs on her house. In which that meant, she did a lot of hardware and lumber store shopping. In one of those runs, she ran into Randy. He wanted to talk to her, she almost walked right on by, but mid-stride decided to hear him out. He said she looked good, and how were the kids. She said they were fine and Nora had given birth to a 12-½ LB son. Who was the greatest joy to this granny. For she was not supposed to be able to have children but she managed to have one at least. She showed him a picture of her grandson, he then looked at her seriously, and said, “I did not leave because of the Parkinson’s, but because you were sick all the time.” I just looked at him and said, “Well, you must have really thought that one out.” Gave him the “You are dumber then a rock” look and left.
She sat in her truck thinking, man you may not be much smarter wasting so many years with this ignorant piss ant. Next time, listen to your gut for that is where the answer is within

.

Imprint

Text: Photos and all media materials are copyright to the author and may be used by permission only by those other then herself.
Publication Date: 02-20-2010

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To my family and friends who stood by me thick and thin.