Looking Forward to the Sun

Their house, though dimly lit, had that calm nature only a house influenced by a calm-natured old woman could have. You'd have thought they'd lived here for years were it not for the various piles of boxes stacked neatly behind the screen covering three quarters of their front porch. The house itself was not new in the slightest; they'd built it twenty years before I was born, in the early seventies. It had since been changed up somewhat, but still remained on the same foundation on which it had been built. In the little yard there was, plantlife grew abundant amongst the random weeds here and there, mostly dandelions that glowed beautifully closest to the sidewalk edge, where the rain had let up and left a soft blanked of dew on each of the pedals. The orangy sun of the summer rain mixing with the kind blue of near-dusk brought out the beautiful details of every garden for a mile down the road. The prettiest, so far, was this one.

We walked through a garden path surrounded by hostas and lillies until we came to the vine-encased screen on the front porch. Once inside, the fresh smell of a rotisserie chicken with stew simmering in a crockpot filled my senses. Gerard and I walked into the kitchen while Mikey went upstairs to find some clean, dry clothes for us to wear.

"Hello, Gerard," a woman cooed. Her face, although with a young complexion, was lined with rinkles on her forehead, obviously from the stress of moving. I assumed this was their mother. "Your father will be home soon. He's stopping by the grocery store on his way home to pick up some drinks for you and Mikey. Who's your friend?"

"This is Emily. I found her under the bridge when it started raining and offered her a dry place until it stopped."

"Oh, well, hello Emily! It's nice to meet you." His mother smiled and wiped her hands off on her shirt. She turned and held out her hand for me to shake. I obliged, and smiled.

"Gerard tells me you guys are new to town. How do you like it so far?"

"It's a nice place. Our old neighborhood just got too dangerous. I don't suppose this one's too far away from it, but it's so much better than having a drive by wake you up every morning. Well, on a slightly lighter note, I'm Donna. Most of Gerards old friends used to call me 'Mama Donna' but it's your choice."

I gasped and nodded. Then, I heard a strange mumbling come from somewhere else in the house. It startled me, and I jumped. Gerard laughed, and I eyed him strangely.

"Nothing to worry about, that's just-"

"Accidenti adolescenti irresponsabili! Essi hanno bisogno di imparare a trasformare le loro musica e lascia una vecchia ottenere un po 'di pace qui intorno! Perché, pensano che così divertente... Ahh, che questa giovane donna è qui?"

"Hey Grandma," Gerard said. "This is Emily."

"Ahhhh, Emily. Pretty girl."

I nodded, blushed a little, and smiled. "Thank you."

"My son is good boy, found a nice friend. I'm gonna go out back again and watch for those teenagers again.." She walked off and I turned back to Gerard.

"That's my grandmother, Elena." he smiled.

"She's nice, too."

Mama Donna turned and smiled, and fixed the crock pot again. "Are you guys hungry?"

"Yes ma'am," I said, and she smiled. "Go get mikey and come down and eat."

We both ran upstairs and found mikey digging in a box. "Here, Gee, I found you some clean stuff."

Gerard took it happily and walked into another room that had a large stop sign with 'Gerard' written on the front.

"You can wear some of his stuff, too. Here," Mikey handed me a Dark Side of the Moon shirt and some pants with a belt. "It may be a little big, but some of my stuff would probably be too small." I nodded and walked across the hall into a small bathroom to change.

After everyone had gotten settled into their dry clothes, we all rushed downstairs to attend to our grumbling stomachs.