GRADIENT GRAY

About Gradient

When I come home to Gray House, I put my bike in the garage, and I see hanging on the door coming into the house, the house has hung a little cross-stitch that says, “Home is where you park your bike.” 

Inside, I am looking for the kitchen, and the house knows what kitchens are. The one I find is bright and clean - all new, with tags tacked up on the cupboards advertising price for materials and installation. I’m thinking I’m going to make a turkey sandwich, so when I open up the fridge, there’s a row of sealed ingredients, one tomato, one head of lettuce, and a bottle of Coke.

In the cabinets, I dig around for Rosie’s favorite plate; mauve with smooth edges from her mother’s house. I like it, too. 

Maybe because I’m thinking of her, the living room follows suit. It conjures up her mother’s geisha dolls and pastel furniture, all shaped like seashells. Beyond the living room is the greenhouse, misty tonight and lit with a false moon. This is the gazebo where Liesl and Rolf have their secret meeting. I watch it for awhile eating my sandwich, wondering if I’ll stumble into the romantic scene between the two young lovers, or if I am Rolfe, awaiting a Liesl I don’t know yet. 

Now that I’m getting tired, the house amends the living room to the small front room of a Kansas farm. The moonlight greens and flashes with a shooting star. I pull down a hand-knitted afghan and fall asleep there.

Grady’s bedroom is the Midnight Room in the Clock of Bedrooms.