patio furniture out of the garage yet, but it’s so nice out…” she left the sentence trailing as she headed toward the sliding door.
“Doesn’t bother me,” James said.
Tim and Paula owned a house in the only “new”- meaning it had been built less than 20 years ago- subdivision in Field’s Corner. It was a two story brick home with a modest front porch and a large wooden deck that Tim had built himself. While their home was nice, it wasn’t pretentious. Tim wanted to make certain he and Paula would be able to live on just one income when they had kids in the future, although Paula did work from home running a few blogs for fun and for spending money.
James leaned on the deck railing and gazed over at the cornfield, which naturally was completely bare at this time of year, and sighed in contentment.
“I wish I didn’t have a class this afternoon. I’d love to stay here, maybe take a nap outside in the shade later,” Tim said.
“What would you nap on, the deck?” Paula teased.
“Just give me a blanket in the grass and I’d be out, no problem.” His eyes traveled to the privacy fence next door, which was missing a board.
“What happened there?” James asked, pointed at the gap.
“Oh, that board had been loose for a while, but Lily, our neighbor, kept forgetting to mention it to us. Tim’s always happy to help her since she lost her husband a couple of years ago. So last week it literally fell out. Tim will take care of it when he gets back,” Paula said.
James saw a flash of green and black through the gap just then, as well as something else that made him raise his eyebrows.
“Is that what I think it is?” James asked, setting his glass of tea down on the deck. Paula laughed as he crossed over to get a better look.
“Oh Lord, it’s like a moth to a flame,” Paula said. “Yes, Lily’s been doing hoop dancing for a while.”
“Really? You never told me that before!”
“Well, she’s not exactly the most outgoing person in the world. I just found out myself last fall.”
Hoop dancing- dancing with a hula hoop- was James’ specialty. He had discovered it three months after his parents had died and it had changed his entire life for the better. In fact, he had gradually changed his fitness instruction to focus solely on hooping, and was now considered one of the top instructors in the country. James traveled outside of Indiana at least two times a month to conduct hoop workshops, which were gradually reaching close to over 25 people for each weekend.
In all of his 38 years, he had never found an exercise that transformed not only his body, but his mind and soul completely. When he had accidentally stumbled across a beautiful hoop dancer while surfing You Tube one day, he was transfixed. Sure, the woman had been gorgeous. But while watching her graceful movements with the hoop, from head to toe, and the serene expression on her face, he knew without a doubt that he wanted to try it.
James had to do his research online to figure out how to even make a “grown up” hula hoop- a heavier version than what was sold in the big-box toy aisles around the country- one made of irrigation tubing and brightly colored tape. Once he made his first hoop, he started to teach himself the basics.
His first attempts, like many people’s, were rather clumsy. He didn’t remember it being as hard as a boy. But gradually, with the help of more You Tube videos, since there were no hoop instructors in Indianapolis, he figured out the basics.
James expected to have fun and get great exercise with hoop dancing, but he didn’t expect the peace he started to gain from the experience. Losing his parents had been the most horrific, shocking time of his life, and therapy or counseling hadn’t given him much relief.
But as he hooped more and more, he discovered that he could simply lose himself within the music and the hoop. It was the best form of meditation he’d ever practiced, and James soon realized that he wanted others to have the same experience. If hoop dancing could bring him out of months of despair and grief, he figured it could help others as well.
So it was no surprise that James’ attention was now drawn to Paula’s neighbor’s back yard and the petite woman standing in it. She was dressed in a green tank top and black capri yoga pants, a uniform James recognized from his many workshops. She was doing some stretching using a pink and purple hoop, which he saw was smaller than what beginners used.
James couldn’t see her face really well, but he could see that Lily was slim with long brown hair. He took a few steps closer to get a better look.
“Hey, bro-in-law, are you spying on my neighbor?” Paula asked with a little laugh.
“No! No, but you know me. I always like to see people hoop dance. Everyone has his or her own different style. It’s always fascinating.”
“Lily would be horrified if she knew you were watching her.”
“So, don’t tell her! It’s not likes she’s naked and I’m a peeping Tom or something. I won’t watch long, I promise,” James said, feeling slightly annoyed.
He saw Lily walk over to another spot in the yard then heard some music playing. It sounded like an upbeat country song. That’s one thing that attracted people to hooping- it could be done to most any type of music. James preferred Dub step or Hip Hop, but he had hooped to numerous genres.
He noticed that Lily was definitely not a beginner. She performed some easy “off body” movements- doing tricks with the hoop that didn’t involve it spinning around a body part- to warm up. Her movements were fluid, and her transitions from one hoop movement to the next were almost flawless.
His jaw dropped when he watched her start to twirl the hoop around her body.
“Woah- she’s good in BOTH currents!” James exclaimed.
“Uh. Hello? Translation? And keep your voice down,” Paula said almost in a whisper.
“Your main ‘current’ is the direction you’re most comfortable twirling the hoop in,” James answered, “Most people are pretty good in one current, but not the other. But it’s, like, effortless for her to switch from one to the other.”
James and Paula watched Lily for a few more minutes.
“How long has she been hooping?” James asked.
“Oh, I think she said it had been maybe a year when we talked last October?” James raised his eyebrows once again.
“So, 18 months?” he whistled loudly without thinking, which made Lily drop her hoop with a start. She looked over at the two of them with wide eyes.
“Uh oh, James, ” Paula said, “You may have just ended her hoop session.”
“Whoops. I hope not,” James muttered. And before Paula could protest, James hopped off her deck and started to walk purposefully to Lily’s back gate.
Chapter Two
‘Crap! You have GOT to be kidding me! The first day I ever come outside to hoop, on a Tuesday morning no less, and someone’s been watching me?’ Lily Black thought with disbelief. She
