The Brandywine Prophet

2.1 The Evolution of the Brandywine Prophet

CHAPTER TWO

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BRANDYWINE PROPHET

When Kayla and Hyde talked about the birthday get-together, they made it sound as if other guests were invited. But when Sarah, William and Janie arrived fashionably late to a party with only two hosts and themselves, Sarah was glad she had convinced her husband to drop by.

It was only two days ago that William heard the voice. He spent those days habitually distracted as if there was an invisible fly that he was intent on squashing. In bed the night before, Sarah awoke to frantic whispers. “Live your imagined life,” he moaned. “Pursue your dreams!”

They didn’t tell Janie about the incident, and as far as Sarah was concerned, they never would.

“Do you have carbon-monoxide detectors installed?” William asked on his official tour. Sarah already saw the house last week after book club, but tagged along anyway.

“We carry them at Whitaker Electronics,” Hyde said, “so of course they’re installed! Top of the line, in fact. I sell six of those bad-boys a month.” Kayla’s husband was twenty-six but still needed to shed some baby fat. He wasn’t pudgy, and he seemed to be in spectacular shape, but his face was smooth and round and his shirts looked a half-size too small.

Janie followed at Sarah’s heels and glanced around the master bedroom. “Looks like Megan’s house," she said. "And Tracy’s. And Hannah’s.”

Hyde and Kayla laughed. 

Sarah pressed her nail into Janie’s neck. “We live in a subdivision, sweetie. The houses all have similar floor plans.”

“I know, I know,” she said. “Boooooring.”

“Boring to you,” Hyde replied, “but clean, functional and affordable to us!”

The men found seats in front of a muted baseball game while Sarah and Kayla discussed color options for the bathroom curtains. When the women finally made it to the kitchen and ladled punch into wine glasses, Sarah overheard “man-talk” from the living room and worried about her husband’s ability to handle it. 

Janie sat Indian-style on cut-loop carpet and rubbed a balloon in her hair. She pulled it away and watched the static tug at the strands. Sarah settled into the puffy tan pillow beside her hubby and gave him his glass. Kayla sat on the arm of Hyde’s chair, pointed her thumb at him, and said to Sarah, “He’ll pout for the rest of the night if his guys lose.”

“It’s my team, honey. Not my ‘guys.’”

“William doesn’t know the red guys from the blue,” Sarah said.

“Not big into sports?” Kayla asked.

William blinked at the TV. “Nope.”

“Simple enough!”

“I thought you liked dance,” Hyde said. “Dance is a sport.”

“Dance is not a sport,” William muttered.

“Whoa, watch what you say around my wife, buddy!” Hyde laughed.

“Typical guy,” Kayla said and rolled her eyes. “Dance is just as athletic as any ‘boy-sport.’”

“It’s not about that,” William said.

Sarah knew her husband’s “dance is not a sport” speech by heart, and quickly ran it through her head to assure it wouldn’t offend Kayla.

“Well then," Hyde said, "explain yourself.”

“I’m sorta trying to be a nicer person...”