Fugue #147

Emily came from the right side of the tracks.

Not right in any normative sense, though that’s certainly possible to infer from the grand entrance to the subdivision near her family’s farm. Monumental stone gates anchoring a stone archway bearing wrought iron gothic letters announcing So-and-So’s Estates, flanked by cypress trees that dwarf it.

Right in a directional sense. Stand at the intersection of 5th Street and Main. Look north (that’s back out of town, toward the stop light, and the highway). One block to your right - so East - are the railroad tracks. They bisect the town: half the town lies on their left, including Gene’s father’s office and home, and half the town lies on their right, including Emily’s father’s farm, miles away.

The farm sits on a hill just beyond the subdivision (actually, the house is part of the subdivision), and like it, overlooks the town in the valley below. The house is new, white cedar siding, and it sits on the crest of a hill: two stories in front, three in back. There’s a raised deck behind the house, and below it a patio. The barn is older, also white, and it sits at the base of the hill, a quarter mile away. The outbuildings are more modern.