The Unexpected Guest
The next day was the eve of Rosh Hashanah. My family was coming over for dinner to celebrate the coming of the Jewish New Year. As celebrations go, it was a very modest one. We were supposed to be only seven of us, we ended being five persons instead. That did not mean that I should not honour the holiday! My cleaning lady was supposed to come, but at the last minute she called to say she was not feeling well. I was not worried. For several weeks she had concentrated on giving everything more than her usual thorough cleaning. I had prepared dishes and frozen them to be cooked on Rosh Hashanah. However, I had to take out my holiday dishes, crystals and stemware. Some of them are housed in a closet off the dining room on the very top shelves, since they are seldom used. I had depended upon Clothilda to bring them down, to rinse and dry them, while I set the table. Now I had to do this myself. I did not mind doing that, but I suffer from instability and am quite unsteady, so I was a bit concerned about how I would manage. I had visions of broken crystal or worse.. everywhere.
I opened the closet. I raised my head to the top shelf and contemplated using my everyday dishes and knew that I could not. It would be disrespectful to the holiday. Instead of a stepladder, I decided to use a bench. A bench was wider and more solid. I dragged a bench to the open closet. With one hand I clung to the doorjamb as I climbed up the bench. Very carefully I reached for what I needed, helping myself to one piece of crystal at a time and gingerly stepping down. I did that several times, then I washed and dried them. I was enjoying myself setting the table. Little by little I completed my task. The table looked beautiful and I was quite pleased with it. I did not realize it, but by the time I was done, I had spent several hours. Before I knew it, the skies had darkened. I suddenly felt fatigued and hungry. I had not stopped all day. At this point, I paused and made myself a quick bite to eat. Fatigue hit me like a ton of bricks. The obvious choice was to go upstairs and got ready for bed, which I did.
With a grateful sigh, I crawled into bed and very soon fell asleep. I was dreaming of crystal bowls filled with my whole apple jam and ruby red pomegranate seeds, when I heard a gentle knock at the backdoor. My eyes sprang wide open. Whoever could it be, I wondered, at this hour of the night? Whoever it was, I was too tired to answer. Besides, I was not expecting anyone. I drifted back to sleep. Through the hazy fog of sleep, again I heard that timid knock. Once more I awoke. This time I opened my book and started to read. I was too tired. I was not able to stay awake. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Soon I fell asleep again. This happened two more times. By then I had become quite anxious. My heart began pounding. Who could it be at this hour of the night? With a lot of trepidation, I got out of bed. I switched on the lights everywhere. I went from room to room, checking. Some of the windows were slightly ajar. I firmly locked all of them. I put on the lights at the front door and peeked out. Nothing there. I headed to the back door and did the same. Once more, all was quiet. Feeling anxious, I went around one more time just to make sure that all was well before I went up to bed once more.
The next evening, as we gathered around the holiday table, I commented upon the strange occurrences of the previous night. Kelly became concerned and immediately checked the security cameras. Andrea followed him. They saw nothing that was of suspicious nature. Now I began to doubt myself. Perhaps I am to losing my mind, I worried? There are so many problems one encountered as one ages… This morning, however, as I sat having my breakfast while I read at the kitchen table, I heard that knock again! I cocked my head and listened. No, I was definitely not losing my mind! I was not coming down with one of those dreaded old age diseases, Alzheimer or dementia! It was the wind that ever so gently was rattling the storm door against the back door. “Tap, tap!” it stated ever so shyly. “Tap, tap, tap.” I smiled a relieved smile and sipped some tea. All was well. The classical music on the radio concurred as it continued to soothe my senses. Yes, all was definitely quite well!