Shadow Traffic

The House

241 The House The only three forces on earth capable of conquering, and captivating and making weak willed, rebellious man happy are miracle, mystery and authority. Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov He wouldn’t do that to himself again. He wouldn’t think of his dream last night where Melissa had been first a little girl and then a woman. Where he’d held her hand while they’d jumped the waves and she’d laughed a sound high and bell-like that he’d heard as clearly as if he’d seen her. Painful enough to have dreamt it, he needn’t torture himself by repeating it, too, especially on his way to meet Serena for the first time. Instead, he’d think of something both stimulating and unthreatening by reviewing once again the rudimentary information he planned for the introduction to his book in progress on the hidden function of towns. There must be a government building within the town limits , Tyler thought, as he drove to the restaurant, although only a small percentage of citizens would ever require any in-person services. Still, if they did, there would have to be offices filled shadow traffic 242 with people who could perform them. And, of course, the town would also require a court well equipped enough so that judges, lawyers, and juries could function smoothly in it. On the other hand, there didn’t need to be a jail inside the town limits as long as there was one within an hour of it. In fact, it might be preferable to not have a prison in the town since its mere presence would create a measure of anxiety. Of course, there must be a good-sized food market with a drugstore nearby and at least two restaurants, the larger one where one could go for dates or special occasions.The town must also have a bar, a doctor who was a general practitioner, a K–8 school, and a high school that, if not in the town limits itself, was within a few miles of it. Every town needs to demonstrate its belief in the future and so must have a school with a library and some kind of playground since one wants to develop sound bodies as well as minds—the little time that both will last—Tyler thought, with a bitter little laugh. He would only deal with the archetypes, with the deep structure that lies beneath virtually every town, including Stockbridge, which he was walking through now on his way to meet Serena Hansborough for lunch at the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge’s place for special occasions. Strange thoughts he was having today. Lately he’d noticed that any disruption in his routine (which having lunch with Serena definitely was) greatly increased the rate of his unsettling thoughts, especially about his daughter, Melissa, whom he longed to see but who was in California (where she’d essentially written him off) futilely trying to become an actress. He forced his thoughts to turn to his date again, his first one in years. He was glad that he’d seen what Serena looked like already (one had to provide a recent photograph for the dating service). Hers was a kindly face, though a small part of him was disappointed. In The House 243 years past he wouldn’t have chosen to meet her, but now it didn’t seem to matter much since he thought that at his age a romantic relationship was no longer possible. It would be stimulating enough just to talk to a new person whom he already knew was friendly in an unassuming way and was a good listener, too, because they’d talked on the phone three times at some length before finally deciding to meet. Perhaps he would even speak to her about his book. He could tell she was intelligent. She’d worked as a librarian and English teacher and said she was still interested in reading. He’d never told anyone his ideas about towns, so in addition there now loomed the possible satisfaction of being listened to and in some way understood . ■ ■ ■ Although it was already summer it was still too cold to eat outside . Instead, they sat next to the window, as if to keep in close touch with the outdoors. She was wearing a light blue dress (rather more dressed up than he’d imagined...