19. Ikigai

[gunwithoutmusic]

Friday, March 28th—11:21 a.m.

1,592 words. Approximate reading time: 7 minutes, 57 seconds.

Ellis swung her hammer down hard, driving the nail into place, then sat on the roof and wiped the sweat from her brow. She quickly surveyed her handiwork. The roof had been leaking pretty badly, the family had said, and they were worried that the leaks would only get worse when the late spring rains came in. Ellis was all too happy to jump at the task for her usual fee of room and board while she was working on repairs. Despite being stretched somewhat thin for food as it was, the family was also happy to oblige, since they knew that it was quite a deal for them.

Ellis’ repairs weren’t exactly pretty, but “beautiful house” was low on the priority list for everyone in the Free States, and having a roof covered with a hodge-podge of mismatched tiles was a small price to pay for having a roof that didn’t leak every afternoon when the rain came through. And Ellis knew that her repairs were good, and that the patches would hold for at least a few years.

She stood up and moved slowly to the edge of the roof, then climbed down her ladder. She pulled the ladder down and folded it up, collapsing it to a third of its full height, then carried the ladder into the backyard where her trailer was parked. She loaded the ladder into the trailer, then adjusted her tool belt and made her way back to the house. She pushed gently through the back door and into the kitchen, where Tara was stirring a pot of something over the wood-burning stove.

“That smells wonderful,” Ellis said with a smile, and Tara looked over at her and smiled back.

“It’s the same soup we have for lunch every day,” she said.

“Smells wonderful every day,” Ellis replied, continuing to smile.

Tara laughed. “Well, thank you. How is the roof coming along?”

“Just finished up,” she said proudly. “It looks good; I’m sure it’ll keep you dry in the rainy season.”

“Thank goodness!” Tara exclaimed. “I only have so many pots and buckets around here. It’ll be ready in just a few minutes. Why don’t you go into the living room? Caressa’s in there reading; I think she’s been waiting for you to finish.”

“Well, I was going to get started on that drafty front door,” Ellis said, “but I certainly can’t keep Caressa waiting.” She walked through the kitchen into the front hallway, admiring the construction of the house. This place certainly had good bones, and was in a lot better shape than some of the other houses in this town, but there were still plenty of repairs to be done. It might be a few weeks before she could get to everything she wanted to do.

She passed into the living room, where a little girl was curled up on a rickety old sofa with a picture book in her hands. As soon as the girl saw Ellis, she tossed the book to the floor and jumped up, running to her and wrapping her arms around Ellis’ legs.

“Ellis!” she shouted. “I heard you on the ceiling.”

“Yeah,” Ellis said, lightly rubbing the top of the girl’s head. “Just got everything fixed up, so now your mommy doesn’t have to worry about getting wet anymore.”

“You’re leaving?” Caressa asked quietly, looking up at Ellis with pleading eyes.

Ellis chuckled and shook her head. “Not yet,” she said. “I still have some work to do in the house. And I was wondering if maybe you wanted to help me.”

Caressa’s eyes lit up. “I can help!” she shouted excitedly, making Ellis chuckle again.

“Great!” Ellis said, picking Caressa up and walking over to the couch with her, setting her down gently and then sitting down on the floor next to the couch. “I’m always happy to have a helper. Sometimes it’s hard to do everything on your own.”

Caressa clapped her hands. “I wanna help! What do I do?”

Ellis smiled. “Well, I think the next thing I was going to work on was the stairs. You know how there are a couple of them that are real shaky when you step on them?” Caressa nodded. “I’m going to make it so they stop doing that. And that’s what I could use your help with.”

Caressa bounced up and down on the couch excitedly. “Okay!” she cried jubilantly.

Ellis reached into her tool belt and pulled out a small hammer that was sized just right for Caressa’s small hands. She held it out to Caressa, who took it from her carefully, as though she was handling a very special thing indeed. Caressa looked at the hammer in wonder as she grasped it around the handle and moved it slowly through the air.

“And that’s what you can use to help me with,” Ellis said. “Your very own hammer, just like mine.”

“For me?” Caressa asked.

“Yes, honey, that’s for you. You can even keep it if you want.”

“You mean it?”

“Of course!” Ellis said. “You know, when I was around your age, my dad got me that hammer, so I could help him fix things up. I had so much fun with it that I knew right then and there that I was going to spend my life fixing things up, just like him.”

“Wow,” Caressa said, looking down at her new treasure.

“It’s too small for me now,” Ellis said. “I like to carry it with me, though. It’s sort of like... a good luck charm. I always thought that one day, I’d have a little boy or girl of my own and I could give it to them. But I don’t know if I’ll do that now.”

“Why?” Caressa asked.

“Do you remember when I first came here, a few weeks ago?” Ellis asked. Caressa nodded. “Well, in a few weeks from now, I’m going to be done, and then I’m going to pack up my trailer and ride down the road until I get to the next town. And I’m going to see if anyone there needs my help, and if they do, I’m going to help them. That’s my job.”

“Okay...” Caressa said, not really following.

“Little girls and little boys don’t really belong out on the road,” Ellis explained. “It’s dangerous. Little girls and little boys need a home where they can stay. I don’t think I’ll ever leave the road for good, so I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to have a little boy or girl of my own.”

“Does that make you sad?” Caressa asked.

Ellis smiled slightly. “Sometimes,” she said. “But one of the things that is so great about being on the road is that I get to help all kinds of different people. And every now and then, I’ll get to help a family like yours. And they’ll let me stay with them, so I get to meet lots of kids just like you.”

Caressa smiled broadly. “But no one as cool as me.”

Ellis laughed. “Of course!” she said. “Out of all of the kids I’ve ever met, you are definitely the coolest. That’s why I want you to have that hammer. I might be gone in a few weeks, but I’ll never forget you. And I hope you don’t forget me, either.”

“I won’t!” Caressa shouted, just as Tara poked her head into the living room.

“Lunch is ready, you two,” Tara said, smiling warmly at the two. “Come and get it before it gets cold.”

Ellis stood up and hoisted Caressa onto her shoulders. Caressa squealed with glee and held onto her hammer tightly as Ellis carried her into the dining room, where the table had been set with three bowls filled with soup and three glasses of cloudy water. Ellis set Caressa gently down in one of the chairs before taking another chair for herself.

Tara sat down at the third chair, and all three started eating.

“Delicious as always,” Ellis said to Tara.

“Yeah, mommy!” Caressa cried. “It’s yummy!”

Tara laughed. “Thank you, you two. And thank you, Ellis, truly, for all you’ve done around here. I know it’s all little stuff, and my husband and I could manage if we had the supplies, but... well, you coming through here has just been a Godsend. I hope you know how much this means to all of us.”

Ellis smiled brightly. “No thanks necessary,” she said. “Everyone in the States needs help at some time or another. And I think that I was put on this planet to help wherever and however I can. Just being able to fix this place up for you, that’s my purpose.”

“Well it still means everything,” Tara said. “I don’t know what we would have done without you. And Caressa just adores you and all of your stories of the different places you’ve seen. Sometimes I worry that she’s going to try and hitch a ride with you when you’re done here.”

Ellis laughed. “Don’t worry; I’ll make sure she stays here.” She looked at Caressa and smiled. “Besides, someone’s gotta take over for me and make sure this house stays in tip-top shape after I leave, right?”

“Right!” Caressa shouted, holding her hammer up high. “That’s my job!”

Tara and Ellis both laughed, then all three enjoyed a quiet moment of respite from the worries of the day over a bowl of soup. Once the meal was finished, Tara stood up from her chair and began gathering the bowls. Ellis stood up from her chair and pulled a hammer out of her toolbelt. She looked at Caressa. “Well, you ready to help me take on these stairs?”

Caressa nodded quickly, her eyes sparkling. She jumped up from her chair and gripped her hammer tight. “Let’s do it!”