Friday Fiction – The Man in the Cupboard Pt. 5

It’s time to see what wee Mike has been up to in this week’s installment of “The Man in the Cupboard.” Enjoy!

To start at the beginning, click here!

To go to part 4, click here!

Even after eighty years, Mike still loved the old Colonial style house, drafts and all. It had personality. He remembered the day he came to the neighborhood, fresh out of tinkering school and eager to find his home. Of all the homes on the street, this one spoke to him, Its bright yellow paint beamed like sunshine among the solemn brown, brick, and gray of the other homes on the tree-lined avenue. A rose garden bloomed in the front yard under the sitting room windows, inviting sprites and pixies in the warm months, snow fairies in the cold. Even then the house required lots of work, remembering made him tired.

He sunk into his favorite armchair, the one he had crafted from matchboxes and Popsicle sticks, padded with folded pieces of discarded felt, and covered with a scarlet silken handkerchief. Alongside the chair, on top of a table made from a thread spool; he kept his favorite thimble mug, the one with the flying birds etched across its sides. His collection of postage stamps hung on display along one wall. On the opposite wall hung an antique pocket watch that sparkled with its gold case and mother of pearl face. Mike had gifted it to himself to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of working at the house.

As he reclined in the chair he listened to the quiet mumble of noise coming from the family below. The kids had all been snuggled into their beds. Kimberly had turned on one of her favorite dramas and had curled up on the couch alongside her hubby with a mug of hot chocolate. Most nights Mike usually would watch as well, he had a comfy spot on top of the glass paneled curio cabinet with an excellent view, but tonight he felt more like sitting and thinking.

Watching Kimberly and Thomas had kindled a spark within him, and itch that needed scratching. At one hundred and two, and still an eligible bachelor, perhaps it was time to seek out his own companion. After all this time being alone it would be a welcome change to have another tinker around. He craved someone to care for and to care for him as well. He smiled thinking of having someone to wake up next to in the morning. The house could use another tinker, caring for it by himself had become harder as it grew older and more things had started to break.

Resolved, he slapped the arm of the chair, releasing a cloud of dust into the air. He knew what he must do. It was time to seek out his mate, he could wait no longer. Leaving the house to find her pained him, he didn’t want to leave Kimberly without an explanation. At the same time, he worried that she wouldn’t give permission to bring another woman in the house. In the end he decided it would be better to leave without telling her and come back as soon as he could. Perhaps she wouldn’t notice.

As the sun rose that next morning Mike waved a farewell to the house and to Kimberly who would be waking any minute.  Dew clung like tiny diamonds to the blush colored roses lining the walkway.  With cane in hand and a small pack on his back, he walked toward his greatest adventure yet.

 

To continue the story, click here!