Bassmama
08-07-05, 06:37AM
Hunched over, shuffling, shuffling, watch out for the holes in the walk, remember to breathe deep once in a while, wish she could straighten up like she used to.
She was on her way along the well worn path between her garden and her kitchen on a journey she'd travelled many times. Though the path was familiar, lately it had gotten harder & harder for her to travel and she fleetingly reconsidered the recently made suggestion of selling this old house and overgrown gardens and moving into the fancy new (and ever-so-sterile) assisted living apartments that had opened last year for the geriatric crowd of town.
Imperceptably shaking her head, she stopped to watch the snake sunning itself on the edge of her annual garden, now overgrown with weeds that bloomed in a riot of blues, yellows, reds, & green leaves, and sheltered the mosquitos until it was time for their evening meal. "Go get 'em, snakey." she whispered, and looked around for one of her 4 cats that was usually accompanying her. For once, the snake wouldn't be harrassed and could catch some warmth peacefully.
What ever would happen to my animals, she thought. The rules at the apartments were very specific- NO MORE THAN 2 ANIMALS PER APARTMENT was posted on the sign in black on white. Five birds, four cats, a dog & a tank full of fish- they were all her companions and her family and had been for over 10 years. (Except for the fish, of course. They were contsantly turning their populations over. As some died, others were born.)
Turning back towards the door, she lifted her cane with her left hand and gripped her skirt in her right hand so the three ripe tomatoes she'd found wouldn't fall out of the pouch she'd made of it, and caught movement out of the corner of her left eye.
Oh goody, the old lady thought. More kids to make fun of me and torment me. Can't they just go the hell away and leave me peacefully alone? Wish I was a frigging snake and they were bugs- I'd bite every one of them.
"Excuse me, Ma'am, but I seem to be lost. Can I ask you a few questions?"
The young man at the gate stood looking at her through kind green eyes. So much like Daniel those many years ago- the eyes, the strawberry blond hair so straight to his shoulders, the beautifully shaped mouth with those perfect teeth behind them- she hesitated.
Biting back her usual sharp "NO- GO AWAY!", she sized him up quickly through narrowed eyes and replied, "I'm not sure if I can help you much." and welcomed the chance to stop and rest again, breathing in the sweetness of the air from the garden in the warm sunshine.
The young man saw the hesitation and asked if there was anything he could help her with as he waited at the gate. Maybe some help right about now would be real nice, she thought as she sighed and told him to come in & take the tomatoes. Relieved of that burden and with the young man at her side, she turned again towards the door, shuffled the few remaining steps and opened it, stepping carefully over the sill into the cool darkness that was her kitchen.
"Ice tea? Tomato sandwich?" she asked and motioned towards a chair.
"Please."
She shuffled to her refrigerator, opened the door, got out all the 'fixin's' as Daniel had called them, and went to get the knife and glasses, then sat down with another sigh.
"I just hitched a ride on the highway and got dropped off at the unmarked road that leads to this town. Can you tell me where I am?"
How the hell should I know where you are when I don't even know where I'M at? she thought sarcastically in her mind.
"You're at the ends of the earth, Sonny. At least that's the way it's felt to me for the last ten years. You aught to go back to that highway and stick out your thumb and go somewhere else, before you get too old to go anywhere, like me."
Another sigh, then "You're in Summer Hill." and she took a bite, tomato juice and seeds mixing with the mayonnaise in her mouth, making her saliva run.
"Why don't you leave here if you're not happy?" young green eyes asked.
She gulped and stared at him.
"I have cats, a dog, birds, and fish to take care of. Besides, this is where Daniel and I lived all those years." she said, thinking of him long ago buried in the small family cemetary in the back end of the property.
God, he reminds me of Daniel when we were first married. Wide shoulders, strong arms, deep, smooth voice that stroked her soul like a hand on a cat's fur.
Finishing the sandwiches and the iced tea, the young man put the glasses in the sink for her and cleaned the table up.
"Anything else I can help with before I go?"
"Walk me out to the garden so I can sit in the sun and watch the butterflies." she said, as she thought that it was time for her nap and daily conversation with Daniel.
He got her cane for her and helped her navigate through the door and back out to the garden, and she sat on her bench overlooking Daniel's grave, while the young man sat on the chair next to her bench.
"If you don't mind, I'll watch the butterflies work for a few minutes with you before I leave. I'll be quiet."
She shrugged and watched the butterflies flit in the perennial garden and soon fell into her dreams of being young and beautiful and sitting in this garden with Daniel, who always caressed her cheek gently to awake her.
"Wake up, sleepy head. Time to go." she heard, as she felt the softness on her cheek.
She opened her eyes and looked with joy and confusion at Daniel- the young Daniel- leaning over her as he caressed his cheek.
She looked at the garden with the butterflies still flying their patterns in the sunlight, then back at Daniel.
"You wouldn't BELIEVE the dream I just awoke from!" she said, as she looked down at her young body and feet quickly to make sure it was really a dream. "It was so real!"
"Tell me along the way, love." Daniel smiled as he took her hand and led her from the garden, down the path, and out of the gate.
She smiled as the love and security she always felt with Daniel filled her heart and they walked together, hand in hand.
by S.A.R. AKA:SUE
She was on her way along the well worn path between her garden and her kitchen on a journey she'd travelled many times. Though the path was familiar, lately it had gotten harder & harder for her to travel and she fleetingly reconsidered the recently made suggestion of selling this old house and overgrown gardens and moving into the fancy new (and ever-so-sterile) assisted living apartments that had opened last year for the geriatric crowd of town.
Imperceptably shaking her head, she stopped to watch the snake sunning itself on the edge of her annual garden, now overgrown with weeds that bloomed in a riot of blues, yellows, reds, & green leaves, and sheltered the mosquitos until it was time for their evening meal. "Go get 'em, snakey." she whispered, and looked around for one of her 4 cats that was usually accompanying her. For once, the snake wouldn't be harrassed and could catch some warmth peacefully.
What ever would happen to my animals, she thought. The rules at the apartments were very specific- NO MORE THAN 2 ANIMALS PER APARTMENT was posted on the sign in black on white. Five birds, four cats, a dog & a tank full of fish- they were all her companions and her family and had been for over 10 years. (Except for the fish, of course. They were contsantly turning their populations over. As some died, others were born.)
Turning back towards the door, she lifted her cane with her left hand and gripped her skirt in her right hand so the three ripe tomatoes she'd found wouldn't fall out of the pouch she'd made of it, and caught movement out of the corner of her left eye.
Oh goody, the old lady thought. More kids to make fun of me and torment me. Can't they just go the hell away and leave me peacefully alone? Wish I was a frigging snake and they were bugs- I'd bite every one of them.
"Excuse me, Ma'am, but I seem to be lost. Can I ask you a few questions?"
The young man at the gate stood looking at her through kind green eyes. So much like Daniel those many years ago- the eyes, the strawberry blond hair so straight to his shoulders, the beautifully shaped mouth with those perfect teeth behind them- she hesitated.
Biting back her usual sharp "NO- GO AWAY!", she sized him up quickly through narrowed eyes and replied, "I'm not sure if I can help you much." and welcomed the chance to stop and rest again, breathing in the sweetness of the air from the garden in the warm sunshine.
The young man saw the hesitation and asked if there was anything he could help her with as he waited at the gate. Maybe some help right about now would be real nice, she thought as she sighed and told him to come in & take the tomatoes. Relieved of that burden and with the young man at her side, she turned again towards the door, shuffled the few remaining steps and opened it, stepping carefully over the sill into the cool darkness that was her kitchen.
"Ice tea? Tomato sandwich?" she asked and motioned towards a chair.
"Please."
She shuffled to her refrigerator, opened the door, got out all the 'fixin's' as Daniel had called them, and went to get the knife and glasses, then sat down with another sigh.
"I just hitched a ride on the highway and got dropped off at the unmarked road that leads to this town. Can you tell me where I am?"
How the hell should I know where you are when I don't even know where I'M at? she thought sarcastically in her mind.
"You're at the ends of the earth, Sonny. At least that's the way it's felt to me for the last ten years. You aught to go back to that highway and stick out your thumb and go somewhere else, before you get too old to go anywhere, like me."
Another sigh, then "You're in Summer Hill." and she took a bite, tomato juice and seeds mixing with the mayonnaise in her mouth, making her saliva run.
"Why don't you leave here if you're not happy?" young green eyes asked.
She gulped and stared at him.
"I have cats, a dog, birds, and fish to take care of. Besides, this is where Daniel and I lived all those years." she said, thinking of him long ago buried in the small family cemetary in the back end of the property.
God, he reminds me of Daniel when we were first married. Wide shoulders, strong arms, deep, smooth voice that stroked her soul like a hand on a cat's fur.
Finishing the sandwiches and the iced tea, the young man put the glasses in the sink for her and cleaned the table up.
"Anything else I can help with before I go?"
"Walk me out to the garden so I can sit in the sun and watch the butterflies." she said, as she thought that it was time for her nap and daily conversation with Daniel.
He got her cane for her and helped her navigate through the door and back out to the garden, and she sat on her bench overlooking Daniel's grave, while the young man sat on the chair next to her bench.
"If you don't mind, I'll watch the butterflies work for a few minutes with you before I leave. I'll be quiet."
She shrugged and watched the butterflies flit in the perennial garden and soon fell into her dreams of being young and beautiful and sitting in this garden with Daniel, who always caressed her cheek gently to awake her.
"Wake up, sleepy head. Time to go." she heard, as she felt the softness on her cheek.
She opened her eyes and looked with joy and confusion at Daniel- the young Daniel- leaning over her as he caressed his cheek.
She looked at the garden with the butterflies still flying their patterns in the sunlight, then back at Daniel.
"You wouldn't BELIEVE the dream I just awoke from!" she said, as she looked down at her young body and feet quickly to make sure it was really a dream. "It was so real!"
"Tell me along the way, love." Daniel smiled as he took her hand and led her from the garden, down the path, and out of the gate.
She smiled as the love and security she always felt with Daniel filled her heart and they walked together, hand in hand.
by S.A.R. AKA:SUE