The Yellow House

By Nicholas Jackson

This tale centers around two neighbors, outcasts in the town of Magnolia Hills. A storm comes along, and causes them to cling together for refuge. Secrets are revealed that otherwise would have stayed hidden. Their resolve and will to live are tested.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781387149322

Book preview

The Yellow House

‘The Yellow House’

By Nicholas Jackson

Copyright © 2017

By Nicholas Jackson

All rights reserved.  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2017

ISBN 978-1-387-14932-2

Nicholas Jackson

Jackson, MS 39212

Chapter One: The Yellow House

The sun shone over where the flood had rested.  It slowly soaked up the remnants of standing water.  After concentration, Magnolia Hills looked like it always had, yellow afternoons to blue evenings.  Kids played on the streets and joggers were out again.  The dogs still panted gamely, continuing long, arduous walks.

In the posh neighborhood of Wood Pines, Katrina sat in her living room, overlooking the front yard.  This was a treat in the afternoons, because runners would pass by, and she would look, unembarrassed.  They never let her down, and some wore no shirt.  It never failed; the joggers came for the surroundings, and she got a show.  This was heaven for her.  The room was large with an oversized window.  The exterior color pattern of the house was yellow, with white trim.  Katrina lived alone there.  She had had romances, but in the end, she enjoyed her own company.

Magnolia Hills was a college town, so there was always the opportunity to go downtown, and mingle.  Mingling was the town past time.  The bar doors rarely shut.  Everyone was welcome, and a good time was guaranteed.  Increasingly, though, Katrina would snuggle up, in her living room, and read.  Novels were her favorite.  They showed life, unfiltered.  Unlike books on psychology, there were no formulas on how to live, but living.  When her brain could take no more, she looked up, and out the window.  Something could be happening.

That afternoon, something happened, and she delighted, at first.  She had a visitor.  A black SUV truck pulled in front of her yard.  It paused at her mailbox.  From it, came a hooded woman, in a pink polka dot rain coat.  She approached the mailbox, opened it.  Something small was in her hand.  She placed it in the mailbox, and removed her empty hand.  She paused, then turned back toward the SUV.  In moments, Katrina was on her front lawn.

The mailman had run earlier that morning.  Hey, she said.  Hey, wait a minute.  The SUV was trespassing, and maybe doing something illegal.  Katrina kept her distance, sticking close by her home.  She immediately regretted calling to the woman, but her words could not be taken back.  The ominous woman slowly turned toward Katrina.  She backed up toward her house.  No, wait, she said.

The woman was facing Katrina, reached her hand to her head, and… 

Chapter Two: A Storm is Coming

Downtown Magnolia Hills was dark and cloudy.  The students dubbed this area The Great Way.  Almost all traffic, heading toward the university, went through this block of shops.  Here, there were bars, nightclubs, restaurants, cellphone and bike shops, smaller venues.  From early morning until late night, activities would be going on here.  There were living areas above the shops.  This Great Way was a city planner’s dream, with its live-work-play scenario.  It was a hit in the small town, and everyone funneled through.  That day, the wind travelled among the shops, howling like an animal.  The sun was in hiding that afternoon.

Shops were displaying large signs.  ‘Welcome to the Gates: The City of Cats’ and ‘Happy Cats-Day’.  Each shop did their part in the celebration of cats.  The animals were everywhere.  They hopped from bench to bench.  Some licked themselves, nonchalantly, in the middle of the road.  There were cats, watching the street, seated behind glass in restaurants.  Citizens got out of the way on the sidewalks, when a cat scurried by.  That small block, had been overrun by cats.  The restaurants were celebrating it with signs. 

At the end of the block closest to the university, a pickup truck was parked, its tailgate open.  In the bed was a thin layer of cat food, some wet.  There were a few toys scattered among it.  The truck’s owner crouched among the feline on the sidewalk, beckoning some to his truck.  He had to feed some by hand.  When a few jumped in the truck, and started eating, others got the message and joined them.  The truck sagged under the