Subject to Change

“Knock, knock…” came a soft voice as I set out on the porch, the Hawaiian sun shining down through the palm leaves.

I smiled lightly toward my sister as she walked over from the sliding glass door, taking a seat next to me on the wooden bench. “Hey.”

She tilted her head to the side. “‘Hey?’ That’s all I get today?” I shrugged, tying my tri-colored hair back into a loose ponytail. She frowned. “Seriously? C’mon, Rox, let’s go surfing. Leland can watch the kids for now.”

“I’m not really in the mood to surf today, Hannah.” I said, picking up the photo album I’d been looking at for the past hour.

An audible sigh was heard. “You’re thinking about him again.” It was a clear statement, not a question. “It’s the third time you’ve left him, Rox.”

I nodded slowly, once again flipping through the pictures of Jeff and me. “I know, Han. And I know he knows it too. I just can’t understand why he can’t get his shit together, ya know? I try and try with him but nothing’s worked…” Now I sighed. “I just wish things could be like the old days, before any of this happened.”

“Oh, Rox…” She wrapped an arm around me, still acting like the older sister she was. “I really wish there was something I could do.”

“Sadly, there’s nothing.” I stated, looking out toward the Pacific Ocean. Nothing to do but keep going. I chuckled at my thought. “Wanna reminisce with me?”

“Reminisce what?” She laughed in response.

“Anything… everything!” I giggled. I turned back to the album. “How ’bout this, I’ll flip to a random page and we’ll start there.”

Hannah pursed her lips. “Alright, hope you can handle it.”

With a deep breath and a quick nod I began flipping through the photo album, Hannah’s hand resting lightly on my need. I went through the whole thing a few times before stopping somewhere toward the middle. “And so it starts…”