by Yvonne Mason

Chapter 1

   I don’t know what I was thinking when I made the decision to move into a community of folks of a certain age. I think I must have had a moment of senior senility. There is more drama in this place than I ever had in high school. For a hot minute I thought I had traveled back in time and descended onto a parallel plane. I know most of you are thinking what is she talking about? Well, let me just digress for a while. Sit back, grab your popcorn and enjoy the show.  Oh, and just a side note here, the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

   Several years ago, I made the wise or unwise decision to move into a community where I didn’t have to mow my grass, take care of my own pool, and other annoying chores that I had outgrown.

On the surface it was a beautiful place with moss covered trees that lined the entrance into the park. The quietness enveloped me as I drove through that first day. The manufactured homes are neatly tended on the rental lots with manicured lawns, and flower beds. It bespoke of a nice, calm place to spend my twilight years. No drama, no flashbacks, no evil. No more looking over my shoulder.

  I moved in and made the house a home. Well, at least that was the idea. Sadly, even though it came with a prospectus it did not come with a list of instructions on how to deal with village idiots. In all my years in my field, I have never experienced the level of idiocy as I have in this park. Even with all the criminals I dealt with daily, none were ever this stupid. Well, at least not in the sense you might think. They were stupid in the sense they did not think they would get caught, but they were not stupid in the sense that they felt entitled. Quite the opposite. They knew they were not entitled, but they loved the thrill of their profession. The village idiots don’t know they are stupid. But they surely live it.   Not sure if it is in the water, or the rain that comes during hurricane season or the aftereffects of the two years of stupidity when folks were forced to abandon their “entitled” lifestyle and go into forced lockdown. I firmly believe it created or brought out the worst in people and continued to do so after the lockdown was lifted. It was as if folks forgot how to be human. Well, some of them anyway.   What I do know is that the epidemic of stupidity has continued.    

 So, here I am in the land of the village idiots. I am not sure if one of the criteria for being able to live here is a license to be a gossip, know it all or busybody. I am thinking it must be. Maybe when the background is run, those entities are run as well.  All three of these things run on a scheduled clock of unknown origin. Stories spread around faster than any pandemic I ever heard of. The sad part is there is no cure. Little did I know that I would learn things about myself that I didn’t even know. I waited with anticipation for the next season of Have Rumor will Travel. I always had popcorn and a comfortable chair at the ready. 

  I quietly moved in and carried on with my life totally oblivious to the swirling dervish which wound its way through the village.   

   So now, all of you are up to date for the moment. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Greer O’Malley.

  I come from a long line of Scots/Irish and so my mother thought it would be only befitting that I carry an old Celtic name. Even though it is not very Celtic, it is the modern version of my government name, it keeps me from having to explain how to say it.  I moved to the village with my two pups and thought my twilight years would be uneventful. However, that was not to be. It didn’t take long for the swirling dervish to find its way to my door. I always said I didn’t have to go looking for trouble, it would find me.    

  When I first moved in, I made the mistake of joining the HOA. For those of you who do not know what those alphabet letters stand for they stand for the homeowner’s association. They can also stand for let’s see how much we can bitch. Even though I was a member I avoided meetings like the plague. I did not want to get involved. I only wanted peace and quiet in my life. I only joined to keep up with the “problems” that might exist in the park. But I kept my distance.

  Anonymity became my friend. I had already been at the height of being known. It had proven not to end well. I hadn’t moved into this cesspool of gossip, backbiting and hate to go back to the life I left. But here I was. The funny part was it was also the beginning of hurricane season and this would play a role in events that would soon transpire. There is something about full moons and hurricanes that seem to bring out the worst in people, sans the two-year lockdown.