Free Color of Loneliness by Madeleine Beckett

now my water’s not working. Then I had to go to the grocery store and endure disgusting stares from Derek Marshall.
    “And for your information, I decided I wasn’t going to hire that guy so I tried contacting a couple of other contractors in town, but they didn’t work out.”
    “And?”
    “And what?”
    “Is he there?”
    Myra groans, rolling her eyes. “ No . He starts tomorrow,” she mumbles.
    “Yes,” Susie shouts.
    “You are so annoying sometimes.”
    “I know,” Susie says. “So who’s Derek Marshall?”
    “Some creep I went to high school with who’s married now and still a creep.”
    “Ew. And no water? That means no shower. You’ll have to do the old PTA ,” Susie says.
    “Huh? What’s a PTA?”
    “You don’t know what a PTA is?” Susie asks, laughing. “It’s the old P ussy, T its, and A rmpits bath; you know, where you scrub your PTA.”
    Myra wants to stay annoyed at her friend but can’t as she snickers. “Okay, that’s funny. But no, Jim’s going to let me use his bathroom. So no PTA’s for me.”
    “Well, that’s good to hear since the hot contractor is coming tomorrow,” Susie says. “Hey, guess what? I weighed this morning and lost eight pounds. Oh yeah, yes sir,” she shouts gleefully. “Of course the only reason I lost that much is because I shit myself to death. But with those kinds of results, I’m cool with it. I need to get the shits more often. I was thinking that if I could shit myself about once a month, I’d be skinny by summer.”
    Myra laughs. “You’re insane, you know that?”
    “Yes, I am quite aware of that fact. So anyway, I told Jeff how much I lost, and of course he was excited. He keeps giving me these pep talks like some kind of drill sergeant. He said this would be a great time to start my diet since I have a head start. I told him yeah, yeah but that I needed help and some kind of incentive to keep me motivated. Myra, are you sitting down?”
    “Yeah, why?”
    “Are you ready for this?” Susie asks excitedly.
    “Yes,” Myra yells back.
    “Okay. Drum roll, please,” she says as she tries to imitate drums with her mouth, but it sounds more like a baby blowing raspberries. “Jeff told me that if I lost thirty pounds, he would give me – wait for it – wait for it – five hundred dollars for a shopping spree,” Susie shouts.
    “Oh my God. That’s awesome. That should totally keep you motivated.”
    “Do you know how much shit I could buy with five hundred dollars? You know how cheap I am. I swear I would go to the thrift store and buy them out. You know how I am at bargain shopping and using coupons. I can sense a sales rack a mile away,” she says with a sigh. “I could make that money stretch like some melted taffy. So I’m going to do it. Starting tomorrow. Jeff said he’d help me out at the gym, too. He wants to show me what kinds of things I need to do to burn fat. I’m so excited.”
    “I’m so happy for you. You can do it this time, I know you can. And I’ll be here for you whenever you need me.”
    “I know you will. I think I can do it.”
    “You can and you will.”
    “That’s right. Well, I gotta run. I’ll talk to you soon.”
    * * *
    “Thanks for letting me use your shower. I feel so much better,” Myra says to Jim the following morning as she slips her coat on. She stares down at her shoes uncomfortably. “I had to come over. In the middle of the night. I hope that was okay.”
    Jim chuckles. “I was sound asleep. Besides, I told you to come over any time you need to.”
    After she thanks him again, Myra runs quickly back to her house. She hurriedly makes her way to the fireplace and starts a fire, warming her frozen hands and backside against the flickering flames.
    With her computer in hand, she sinks down into the worn leather recliner snuggling a knit blanket that her Grammie made around her legs. She begins work on her book starting with some character development. Flashes of the old West dance