2. Todd
2
TODD
The wrench slipped in my sweaty grip, clanging against the porcelain bowl. I cursed under my breath as I wiped my brow with the back of my hand. This old house was feeling a lot less charming today. Most days, it was fun and exciting to work on the fixer-upper. But days like this made me wish I’d been capable of embracing the #vanlife movement.
My back was killing me, so I stood up and stretched, moaning loudly. My downstairs bathroom was a disaster zone of tools, and plumbing parts were strewn across the floor. But that was my life now. A simple Saturday-morning plan of quickly replacing a toilet turned into a mess of rusty pipes that required a much higher skill level than I possessed.
My phone buzzed on the counter with another notification from the Shifter for Hire app. I thought I’d have availability for most of the weekend and planned to pick up some side work. As much as I loved my accounting job, tax season only lasted a few months, and my home repairs were bleeding me dry.
Just as I reached for my phone, a loud crack echoed through the room and water began gushing from the wall where I'd disconnected the old toilet.
"Shit!" I dove for the shut-off valve and frantically twisted, but nothing happened. The spray just intensified, quickly covering the tile floor with a layer of water.
With my limited knowledge of plumbing, I raced to the basement and went straight to the main shut-off valve. It took some effort, but I finally wrenched the valve down and shut off the main water supply to the house. The entire house.
I sat back on my heels and heaved out a heavy sigh. Crisis mostly averted, but now I had a flooded bathroom and no running water. Some DIY-er I was turning out to be.
After a minute of just staring into space, I trudged back upstairs and grabbed some towels to mop up the mess. As I worked, I reminded myself that I truly loved this old place. Oak Grove was everything I'd dreamed of when I decided to leave the city. Between the quiet streets, the friendly neighbors, and the gorgeous forest right in my backyard—I didn’t think there was any place better in the world.
When the moon was bright and the sky was clear, my favorite thing to do was shift into my bear form and roam through the trees. After foraging berries and maybe grabbing a fish or two from the river, I always felt recharged and at peace. Being so close to a place to shift made all of this worth it, even if I didn’t feel that way at this exact moment.
The only thing I needed to make my life complete was to find someone to share it all with…a mate. But that didn’t seem to be in the works, and even if it was, this wasn't the time to be dwelling on it. Not when my house wasn’t livable.
Once the floor was relatively dry, I collapsed against the wall with a weary sigh. It was time to call in a professional. As much as it pained my pride to admit defeat, I needed to find the money to get the bathroom fixed the right way. It was one thing to have a broken sink and need to get some bottled water. It was quite another to not be able to bathe, flush the toilet, or wash anything.
I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my recent notifications. Amid the usual social media updates and potential spam calls, there was the newest alert from Shifter for Hire. Curious, I tapped it open to see what kind of odd job might be available, crossing my fingers it was quick, right away, and extremely lucrative.
It was from the local bakery company looking for someone to help with bookkeeping. The pay wasn't much, but it was hourly and expected to last for six months to cover a maternity leave. It didn't solve my problems, but it was my favorite kind of job because I just had to follow whatever systems were in place and keep things current. Easy peasy.
Without another second of hesitation, I hit the accept button in the app and took the job. If I was lucky, I could possibly get my first payment by Monday and have my bathroom back to rights by mid week. Until then, I might need to spend more time as my bear than I normally did, but it was doable.
Just thinking about it made the tension in my neck ease up. Working with numbers was where I shone. They were so much more predictable and easier to manage than people or equipment or rusty pipes.
Feeling relieved that I had the semblance of a plan in place, I headed to my bedroom to change into dry clothes. A shower would’ve been nice, but that was no longer an option for me. I’d have to swing by the gym later to get washed up. Until then, I just hoped the client who hired me would reach out and let me start immediately.
Bakers didn’t take weekends off, did they? People needed baked goods at all hours of the day and night. At least, that’s what I told myself as I settled on the sofa with my laptop and typed up an inquiry to the client.
It was just a simple note to let them know I was available immediately and could come by their shop at a moment’s notice to be briefed on the situation, but it made me feel better. Like help was on the way.
The tree branches swayed as I stared out my back window. That view was one of the main reasons why I loved living in Oak Grove. Even on the bad days, just a quick glance at the bear-tastic world beyond my house soothed me. The forest, the river, and the community that came with being in a town of shifters countered any second-guessing I had.
While I waited for a response from the bakery, I took a steaming mug of coffee out to the back porch and settled on my rocking chair.
A play structure would be perfect just beyond the garden.
Maybe someday I’d have the need to build one.