47. Dirty laundry

In this chapter, several of the characters will have their patience tested to the limit.
Some will have a nice day and others will experience a day they would rather do without.
In addition to following our main characters, we will finally see how things go with Blue. A big change is coming.

*****

Rasmus is watching the cooking contest. He is off work today and he will try to get some new inspiration while watching the program.

For once, he feels comfortable in his own company …He even feels so confident so he decides to drink a cup of coffee at a cafe.
If he is lucky he will find some interesting people to chat with.

*****

The Hare and Hedgehog Cafe in Windenburg

It’s early in the morning and there are not many guests at the cafe when he arrives.

Rasmus chats with the barista when the first guest arrives. Rasmus recognizes him immediately.

“Hi! I do not know if you remember me, but I recognize you from Tusnelda’s party … I’m sorry I forgot your name?” says Rasmus

“My name is Simon …. and I remember you very well. You were a bit of a mood spreader for that party” says Simon.

“I had some bad hangovers, so I’m really sorry,” Rasmus says embarrassed.

“My name is Rasmus and I can assure you, I am in a better mood today” he continues optimistically.

“Yes, I can see so. We all have our bad days.” Simon replies politely … “I am sorry but I’m busy now. I have to go to work in a little while …. it was nice to meet you Rasmus.”

Simon clearly did not have time to chat with Rasmus but it was actually nice to share a few words with another human being. It makes my morning so much better, Rasmus thinks happily.

Rasmus finds a chair where he casually lets the stream of thought flow. He had so many fun experiences with the sports club in recent months and the sad thoughts get much less space.
Maybe Martin was right when he compared it all to climbing. Rasmus feels he has already reached a good distance up the mountain ….

Rasmus has been completely engrossed in his thoughts for a long time and he is very surprised when he suddenly hears a female voice.

“Excuse me sir but is this seat available?” she asks politely.

Rasmus has been so far away that he has not noticed the cafe has been filled with people and all the chairs are occupied.

“You are more than welcome to keep me company … by the way, let me introduce myself …. my name is Rasmus.”

“Hi Rasmus, I’m Jonna” the woman answers welcomingly.

“Hi Jonna! It’s a pleasure to meet you …” Rasmus replies, thinking that this morning will just get even better.

*****

Brindleton Bay

Far away from Windenburg, Martin stands and looks angrily at Fie. The constant howl from the cats in heat gets on his nerves. They should get to the vet right away.

However, he does not have time to do anything about the problem as he has to go to work. He needs to lay out a strategy for today’s match after watching the opposing team.

*****

At the Science Lab

Tusnelda is in an excellent mood. When she arrives at the Lab, her gaze is caught by the Wormhole Generator …. maybe she should?

She continues with quick steps into the laboratory shady inside …. maybe she should do some more tests first?

Her thoughts is interrupted when she catches sight of Masato’s unwelcome face.
He’s apparently still angry that she kicked him out of her party.

“I do not want to say I’m sorry, because you behaved very rudely towards one of my dearest friends.” says Tusnelda gloomily.

“That guy has no upbringing. He was very rude and gave me several overly curious questions …. and on second thought it may not surprise me that you are friends. The bad upbringing also applies to you!” Masato continues angrily.

“Masato! You’re asking so much for big problems now!” Tusnelda answers angrily.

“Are you threatening me?” hisses Masato …

“You have obviously forgotten I am a vampire and that I can drain you blood as easily as it is to puncture a balloon for air!”

Tusnelda boils with anger, but for once she finds it wisest to keep her mouth shut.

This will not disappear with impunity and she will devise another way she can punish him. She just needs to think.

Instead, she sets the route straight up the gym where she finds a treadmill.

After an hour of training, the anger has evaporated.

Tusnelda avoids making eye contact with Masato as she walks past him.
It was no further wise of her to act so hastily when they met this morning.

She would prefer to have Masato as a friend instead of an enemy.
Why does she always have to act so impulsively without thinking about the consequences?

Tusnelda disappears into the shower cabin where she takes a long de-stressing bath.

After the bath, Masato fortunately does not sit at the reception, so she avoids further confrontations.

*****

The reunion with Aarav is somewhat more enjoyable.

Tusnelda sits down at the microscope and she and her colleagues work side by side in silent concentration for the next hour.

Tusnelda has taken some interesting pictures and now she suddenly feels she is hungry.

She eats her lunch in the staff room in company with Aanya.

After the lunch break, Tusnelda duplicates some metals.

While working, she gets an idea of how she can utilize this duplicator to her own advantage.

Later, she gets into a conversation with Simon.

“By the way, I met your friend Rasmus this morning.” says Simon kindly.

“Oh Rasmus? What did he look like? I hope he was not in too much of a sad mood.” says Tusnelda.

“He seemed to be in an excellent mood.” Simon answers seriously.

The thought of Rasmus in an excellent mood sounds almost too unlikely, Tusnelda thinks. He’s been having a terrible time since breaking up with Blue.

Tusnelda is starting to update the Satellite Dish with new features.

Shortly after, the robot crashes. Fortunately, she can quickly handle most repairs now.

*****

After putting the Satellite Dish back in the yard, Tusnelda decides to test the Wormhole Generator.

She immediately realizes that there are some major issues that need to be solved before she can put her foot in there.

Her test equipment is bent as it has hit an invisible wall.

It’s damn annoying, but it’s probably lucky that it was not her face who hit the wall.

Tusnelda spends the rest of her working day in the large telescope.
She wished she could soon complete a journey to the planet she can see in the distance.

*****

Afternoon in Brindleton Bay

There is no welcome committee to receive Tusnelda when she gets home.

Martin is at work and the cats are apparently preoccupied with other matters.

Trix is in the process of washing Futte’s ears. Even though she is big enough to take care of her own fur care, he still enjoys caring for his daughters.

Fie stands and moans in front of the fireplace. It looks like she inherited her mother’s obsession with fire.

Fiona has gone hunting down by the beach.
It will later turn out to be her luck.

Tusnelda has been in the shower and now she is removing weeds in the garden.

Afterwards, she waters all the plants.

She takes good care of her crops and she misses the days in Forgotten Hollow where Flora came to visit unannounced. The plants thrived extra well under Flora’s knowledgeable care.

When the gardening is over, she starts upgrading the rocket.
Even though the rocket is finished now, Tusnelda finds it safest to upgrade all parts before she goes on her first trip.
After the crash, she does not want to take any chances.

*****

No one is to accuse Tusnelda of laziness and hours later she is still deeply preoccupied with the rocket.

Martin returns home from today’s work.
If one has to decipher his facial expression, it looks like his soccer team has lost their latest match.

He’s hungry like a bear and Tusnelda has not made dinner. He must eat some leftovers from the day before.

Martin eats alone in silence.

Suddenly he discovers Futte’s investigative gaze.
Oh! He should not forget the cats, but right now he is so tired.

He spends some time giving the cats some attention and he enjoys Trix’s satisfied purring. Trix is such a sweet lovable cat.

Martin is really tired and before he’s looking for Tusnelda he will take a nap on the bed.

Tusnelda is still deeply concentrated on upgrading the rocket. It seems she has forgotten everything else around her.

*****

A few hours later, Martin is awakened by Fie’s wailing.
At that time, Tusnelda is asleep. They have not even exchanged a single word today.

Martin looks angrily at the cat. It has to stop now!

*****

Brindleton Pawspital

Shortly afterwards, Martin has brought both kittens to the vets.

He immediately enrolls the cats up for a sterilization.

Now they can just wait for their turn.

Martin becomes restless over the long wait and he gets up to remove the vomit a sick dog has left on the floor.

Futte takes advantage of his lack of attention to go on adventures in the neighborhood.

The air is filled with interesting scents.

Maybe she will meet some exciting suitors who will give her their attention.

However, her bachelor adventure stops before it has really begun when she meets the vet, Katrina.

“You’d better follow me.” says Katrina.

Futte will not miss an exciting adventure so she follows Katrina back to the clinic.

This is definitely a new experience.

For a second, Futte thinks that maybe she should run away?

Then it’s too late. She is anesthetized and her consciousness is out of this world.

What happened?

Martin and Fie wait impatiently in the waiting room.

When Fie starts howling, Martin writes her, for safety’s sake, up to the sterilization once again.

Finally, it’s Fie’s turn.

She stops in surprise when she sees Futte sitting completely stunned, staring out into the room.

“What happened to you?” she meows nervous.

She gets no answer and soon Fie has also finished her treatment.

“Why should we carry this cone?” she asks Martin.

“Help! I can not even see my own tail!”

Martin looks completely relaxed as everything is in perfect order.

“I’m sorry about the cone of shame … it’s just a temporary measure.” Martin apologizes. “Let’s go home.”

Martin goes ahead with quick steps.

The kittens follow uncertainly, unable to see where they are setting the next footstep.

Martin waits impatiently.

He tries to lure them with his sparkling cat toy, but it does not catch the kittens’ interest.

Finally, the herd is gathered and they can travel home.

*****

This has been their worst day ever.

The first thing that catches Martin’s eye as he enters the house is a pile of dirty laundry.

Fie and Futte have finally found the entrance to the house, despite their poor visibility.

“Hi Martin! Where have you been all night?” Tusnelda asks wondering.

“Where have I been? … I have performed one of the duties of our common good.” Martin replies with a tense voice.

“When was the last time you performed such duties? … The entire utility room is flooded with dirty laundry.” Martin continues angrily.

He leaves Tusnelda in shock as he goes to the bedroom to catch up for a few hours of sleep before going to work.

Martin disappears with a satisfied sigh under the duvet. He has been getting far too little sleep in recent days and it makes him very tense.

Tusnelda stands back in astonishment, staring at Futte.

“I do not understand anything… Why should dirty laundry suddenly be such an important issue?”

Futte looks seriously at Tusnelda.

“Maybe because you mostly spend time on your own topics.” she replies with a short meow.

Tusnelda has a hard time consuming the day’s experiences … if the laundry is really that important then she should probably do the laundry.

To her surprise, she sees the laundry basket is only half full.

He must have a bad day, Tusnelda thinks.

It is only when she puts the laundry in the washing machine she discovers another problem.

“Damn Martin! Why didn’t you say the washing machine is broken !?”

There is nothing to do but she has to repair the washing machine.

Fortunately, Martin is sleeping soundly when Tusnelda goes to bed, so the quarrel ends here. She’s had enough quarrels for this day.

Soon, all the hardships of the day are dissolved by the blessing of sleep.

Fiona lies casually next to Trix, unaware of the vet visit she has just avoided.

Back on the kitchen counter, two young cats are staring at each other.

“Do you understand what’s happening today?” Fie asks in a meow.

“I have absolutely no idea!” Futte replies … “It seems to me, all human beings have gone mad.”

*****

Here’s an update on what’s happened to Blue since we last saw her.
Be prepared it may not be a happy story and that Allan’s language contains several bad words. However, there may be a hope in the end.

Willow Creek

The first period after Allan found Alice and Rasmus in hot embrace was very dark and full of quarrels.

“How the hell could you behave so tacky Alice !!!”

“You know I love you so how could you fail my love so grossly!”

“If you really love me, then you have a weird way of showing it.” Alice answers bitterly.

“You damn whore! Do not turn me on or I can not take responsibility for the consequences!!!” Allan roars angrily.

Alice recoils in fright. She knows she has reached the limit of what she can afford.

*****

Every day when Allan returns home from work he looks like a thunderstorm.

In those moments, Alice tries to make herself completely invisible.

The only thing that seemed to dampen his rage is hard training.

Alice can do nothing but wait for his mood to cool down again.

*****

At night she sleeps on the couch and when he wakes up in the morning he looks at her with with cold eyes.

“Please Allan, can you ever forgive me?” she asks miserably.

Of course she can not expect any answer and without a word of goodbye he leaves her to go to work.

At this time, her diary is her only friend.

She knows she deserves his anger and she tries to get indulgence for all her guilt and shame when she writes.

Sometimes the thought arises that she might be able to leave this marriage … that she could choose another life.

The thought gives her no consolation. She knows he will never let go of her and that he will chase her for the rest of her life.

It is only when she reads romantic novels she allows herself to dream.

Then for a moment she dreams she is back in his warm embrace and he is looking at her with his loving warm gaze. The sweet attentive man.

The memory makes her warm and she will forever carry it in her heart.

*****

Of course, Allan can’t keep his hands off her forever and one day he says he will try to forget what she has done.

That day she returns to the double bed.

She enjoys the calm in their relationship and that he has put a lid on his words of anger.

It is at this point she discovers the first signs of what is to come.

When she is completely sure, she takes courage and tells him they will soon become parents.

From that day on, everything is completely changed.

At first, Allan shows no reaction … as he does not really understand what it is she is telling him.

Then he erupts with a howl of joy!

“You’ve made me so happy Alice … from now on I have to take extra good care of you.” he says in a soft voice.

From that day on, she will be treated like a princess.

When Allan is asleep, she thinks of where this divine child was conceived.

A child created in love on a bright and sunny day.

It will be her secret forever and he must never know.

*****

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