Reprinted Short Story Just In Time By LIsa Loucks-Christenson

January 24, 2024

Just In time Short Story Cover.

JUST IN TIME

By LISA LOUCKS CHRISTENSON

Reprinted in the Rochester Sun Times News by permission of the author.

Karl Rubenstein had the best memory of Aquinas High School. When Karl was approaching fifty-eight, he received a familiar photo of a three-story brick school on white linen paper. The invitation had the words, "Please join us for your Fortieth Class Reunion," written in blue and silver letters across the top. On Saturday, June 8, 2002, at the Aquinas High School Gymnasium.

Seth, the cat he inherited, approached and nudged the hand holding the invitation. “What do you think, Seth?

Aching for attention, Seth rubbed his head against Karl's hand, hoping to be petted.

Flipping through his calendar, Karl landed on June. With a wide black marker, he circled the 8th of June after rummaging through his drawer for a pen. What is your opinion about that?

He made an announcement to Seth. In case anyone inquires, I'm already booked for June 8th. “Well, now that’s done. How about those Kipper Snacks I promised? Any thoughts?" He asked.

Karl hadn’t been “booked” in a long time. He was a retired ad man from the largest advertising agency in a small, unrecognized river town. Now he spent his drifting life based in a small, winterized houseboat docked in LaCrosse Boat Harbour.

Once an alley cat on the prowl in LaCrosse, Wisconsin; now an aimless river rat wending his way down the Mississippi at 20 miles per hour.

Stripping Karl of his self-worth, starting with stealing his mother and beating him down, should have made Karl bitter, but he endured and one day, life rewarded his faithfulness. Karl desired to live out the rest of his life as a wanderer, isolated and in pursuit of life's purpose.

Henry Johnson, Karl's former teacher, dearly loved the cat named Seth. With no next of kin, Henry bequeathed his beloved possessions, Seth and a small, winterized houseboat, to Karl, instructing him to look after Seth and provide entertainment.

Up above, Karl observed a young couple sanding the iron bottom of their houseboat on shore using a power sander. “Dry slippers,” he called them. The younger generation longing for the toys of their elders. Despite their foolishness, they use their meager incomes to buy old, weather-beaten houseboats. Not until they've spent their savings on boat repairs, do they fully grasp the cost involved. It looks like every autumn a new sign is placed in the window, offering the property for sale to the highest bidder.

The dropping air temperature and the boat’s subtle movements showed to Karl that the winds were causing the river to flow into the bay. Karl’s world shifted into slow motion as he sipped his cup of hot Old English tea.

Karl stood, gazing into the distance, expressing gratitude to God, realizing that if he hadn't stayed behind after his biology exam during his youth in high school, he wouldn't be standing here today. To him, it was poetic how the events of the day, both positive and negative, had guided him to this juncture.

Karl painstakingly retraced every action he took, vividly remembering that day from years ago.

Precisely at 3 p.m., the sound of the class bell filled the room, prompting students to walk over to Mr. Johnson, submitting their tests and then heading out. Karl held out until there were no more students present. Rising to his feet, he made his way to the front of the room and took a moment to extend his condolences.

“I am sorry to hear about your wife. I know how you feel, if you ever want to talk.” He immediately felt he shouldn’t have said anything. The tension in the room was heavy. He had to get out fast.

“What do you know about being sorry?” came Mr. Johnson’s reply. “You couldn’t possibly know how I feel!”

Karl turned and saw tears running off both his cheeks, dripping all over his test paper. Then he continued, “Why would I want to talk to a kid? Are you going to bring her back? Are you going to make it all better by drawing me a picture? She’s dead and I can’t––”

The boy dashed down the hall, into the outdoors, toward the only place that could pull away his embarrassment, LaCrosse Boat Harbour. Karl sat at the end of the dock and let his bare feet dangle into the cool Mississippi backwaters, staring at a family dining out on their deck and watched and listened to their laughter and teasing. He wondered what it felt like. He wondered what having a family would be like again.

As he eavesdropped on the family, he looked up and immediately recognized the figure walking on the dock in front of them. It was Mr. Johnson. He couldn’t believe it! He had run here to escape and now he found himself trapped—in his presence.

Karl watched as the teacher stepped from the dock onto a smaller old boat that had the mysterious name “Just-In-Time”, painted on the stern. Then Johnson spotted his student.

“Karl, come on over to my boat, will you?” he called out.

When he arrived, Karl searched his tear-filled eyes and chanced another conversation with him. He admired Mr. Johnson but never understood why he wasted his time teaching when he had the knowledge to go on to bigger dreams. Karl stepped aboard as Johnson waved him to a seat on a lounge chair.

“Come sit out here and watch the sunset with me.”

They did just that. They sat in the increasing darkness without exchanging words. The only sounds were the early evening crickets, a few frogs on the shore, and the laughter from the family nearby. When it was completely dark, the teacher turned and asked, “Tell me what you meant — when you said you knew how I felt?”

Karl paused, not sure whether to speak or shut up, but there had been a feeling of eagerness in that question. The man was discreetly calling out for help. “I lost my mom a while ago, and my heart felt like it stopped forever. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and I didn’t want to go anywhere. I didn’t want to be with anyone. But more than anything, I’d hoped someone would notice my pain and make me talk it out.”

Johnson nodded, acknowledging the answer, and asked, “How did you get through it then?”

The next answer slipped out too quickly. “I didn’t. I still miss her every day. I see that family over there, and I want to be in that family.”

Karl then realized the man had wanted to ask his questions in the dark because he didn’t want to be seen crying. He could tell he was crying by his trembling voice. “I loved my Eileen.” He stood up and leaned on the doorway to the cabin. “She was the only reason I kept this old boat,” he said softly while tapping on the siding.

“What does the name mean?” the boy asked.

Johnson smiled for the first time that night. “It goes back to a stupid mistake I made in high school. It means the end of boyhood. It means dew on the dry ground. It means drink for the parched soul.”

Karl stood, not sure what to say. These were metaphors, and he wasn’t sure of the meanings. However, the teacher must have sensed the confusion because he quickly exclaimed, “It means LOVE, boy! I met Eileen, and my world was easy sailing! She was like a life ring tossing in the choppy bay, calling me to anchor my soul to hers.”

He stood staring at the shore, then added, “You understand, boy, I was leaving this river town, moving up in the world. Then Eileen showed up on the dock one day. I never thought that some curly-haired brunette would capture me. I was a ‘blonde’ man.”

“But you fell head-over-heals for her, didn’t you?” Karl teased.

He smiled while reminiscing about their first moments together. “Eileen stood out like a perfect white rose in a pink bush. She smelled like roses heated by the afternoon sun. Her breath it was all the air I needed. She had a smile that put me in a trance and made me want to do anything for her. I knew it instantly: she was the one.”

“You really capture her spirit. I think it’s nice the way you talk about her,” the boy replied.

“Karl, I was only moments from pulling away from the dock. I was headed upriver to new beginnings! She arrived “Just-In-Time,” and I never wanted to pull away from that dock again. My life was changed forever.”

“So that’s why you called the houseboat ‘Just-In-Time’?”

Johnson stood facing the river and the moonlit sky. “Now it’s just Seth and me here at the houseboat. I come here to partake of her breath and spirit,” he answered wisely.

“Partake of her breath and spirit, what do you mean?” Karl asked.

“When I was a child, I was having a horrible time mourning the loss of my grandma. I went to the high bluff overlooking the valley and sat down to watch the river below. I always felt like grandma was there with me. One day, I came across an Indian legend a man I was proud to call a friend, shared a story. It took my breath away. He taught me something I never would have believed had I not experienced it already.”

“What was it, Mr. Johnson? Tell me.”

I knew some Indians growing up, Leaping Bull, a friend of mine had told me that all the children are taught about people and how they never really leave a place. He said to me, “Henry, any place a person walks and breathes will bear the mark of their presence. It will never forget them. Whenever we revisit these sites, we notice that the previous visitors’ presence remains, and we can embrace their energy while we partake of their spirit.’ He taught me a lot, but that lesson alway has stuck with me, getting me through the rough patches in life,” said Mr. Johnson.

Karl sat in wonderment as he listened to Mr. Johnson. He knew that feeling, too. He never realized that the reason he felt so comfortable when he sat on the dock was because he could “partake” of his mother, who once stood here holding his hand.

“So you see, Karl, I come here to be with Eileen. I come here, and sometimes I believe when the wind kisses my cheek, it’s really Eileen whispering secrets into my ear.”

Man and boy started their lifelong friendship that day. Soon Mr. Johnson’s name was shortened to “Henry.” They hung out every Saturday at the harbor, watching the sunsets and the rainstorms and joking about life. Over the years, they shared their values, beliefs, and Henry tried to marry Karl off to more beautiful women than he could count. He never remarried himself. He was an only child, and both his parents were deceased. In the years Karl knew him, he didn’t have many friends, but he had Seth and he always had Karl.

The day he died, Karl cried. He felt the all-too-familiar sting of death. He thought about the last time he saw his good friend, when he had put his hand on the younger man’s shoulder and said, “You know you’ve been like a brother to me. You really do care what happens.”

Karl remembered a day when they had been laughing about some redheaded girl he had a crush on. Henry’s face had suddenly become serious. He looked up at Karl with sincere eyes. He cleared his throat and put his shaky hands up onto the table. Then he spoke words Karl had waited a long time to hear.

“I should have told you I was sorry a long time ago, Karl, but I didn’t.” He sank back and stared blankly at the sky and then turned back and said, “The day you handed in your test. I think about that day all the time. You were so kind and just trying to lend your heart.” He shook his head, disappointed in himself.

As he choked up, Karl felt a little uneasy himself. He figured that day was long gone, and now that the apology had come, he really didn’t want to rehash it. “Water over the bridge.” He thundered.

“Now let me finish this, Karl!”

“I was hurting badly when I lashed out at you. All that went through my head was Eileen. For days, I couldn’t speak to anyone or talk about it. I never liked group therapy, so to speak. I found my only comfort was going to places she and I shared.”

“That’s why you went to ‘Just-In-Time’ that day; you already told me that.”
“Karl, a long time ago, I vowed I would give anything to live that day again! I was hurting and hurting people hurt people. You didn’t need to hear the ramblings of an old teacher. I wanted to run after you and tell you how I felt. I wanted to call out and say I was sorry.” Tears lined his eyes again, and he shook as he shouted, “I wanted you to call me an old fool, but you didn’t.

Instead, you stood there like a young guppy slipping away in my tears!”

“I remember. I ran to the harbor. I ran because I was embarrassed by hurting you.”

“I needed a friend. I guess you’ve figured that out by now,” he added.

“Henry, you were my mentor. I wanted to be like you when I grew up.” Karl looked him straight in the eyes and placed his hands on the old man’s shoulders. “Don’t you get it? You were my hero, and you were ruining it! That’s why…that is why I ran, Henry.”

The world was silent for a few moments. Both sat back in their chairs. Both hearts lifted from a memory they didn’t realize still harbored so much pain.

“Karl, I would have told you how I felt years ago, but yesterday, I finally realized what it was. The truth is, last night I was thinking about Eileen, and all I could smell was the stagnant water. Then a mosquito bit me, so I smashed her and splashed her blood all over my arm. I think that’s the first time I’ve bled in years. When I saw the blood, I remembered the day Eileen came to the dock. A mosquito had just bitten me, and I stood scratching the welt while looking at her beauty.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Karl, Eileen entered my life at the precise time I was going to change docks, ready or not.” Henry looked into his eyes, and a lump formed and slowly made its way down his throat. “Karl, you did the same thing to me that day. You so carefully worded your concerns for me.”

“I don’t understand. I didn’t make you stay or ‘change docks.’”

“But you did. You didn’t know it, and neither did I at the time, Karl, but I ungratefully broke your spirit, and you ran off to bandage your scars. It was no coincidence that we both ended up at the harbor. You gave your heart, and I gave you saltwater for your sympathies. It was a true lesson in being broken to see the beauty inside.”

Inside, the younger man knew he was right and agreed with him. Then Henry smiled, laid his wrinkled hand over Karl’s, and whispered to his side, “However, had it not happened the way it did…we may have missed our friendship.”

Emerging from his reveries, Karl walked to the back of the houseboat and ran his hand over a rough chunk of rust coming up through the peeling paint on the railing. He tossed a loose chunk of it into the waves on the water. As he observed it spinning on the water, Henry couldn't shake off the echoes of his words.

”Any place a person walks and breathes will bear the mark of their presence. It will never forget them. Whenever we revisit these sites, we notice that the previous visitors' presence remains, and we can embrace their energy while we partake of their spirit.”

THE END

HERE’S WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT “JUST IN TIME”:

This is a very nice piece of writing — appropriately slow moving to match the harbor and river.
Nothing jars or clashes.--Scribendi Editor.

Is that a real Indian legend? If it is, do you have a book or something where I could read more about them? I love that saying:
”Any place a person walks and breathes will bear the mark of their presence. It will never forget them. Whenever we revisit these sites, we notice that the previous visitors’ presence remains, and we can embrace their energy while we partake of their spirit.” It’s beautiful! —H.K.A.

This short story is included in an upcoming collection of short stories by Lisa Loucks-Christenson. If you are interested, in this title, inquire at Peacock Books & Wildlife to pre-order your copy.

Some of Lisa's award-winning stories are being published, some with illustrations, in this upcoming title. Model Maker, Narrow Paths, Gifts of Time and more.