Echoes of Candle Light

The walk home after school that afternoon was quiet as always. I walked alone, keeping to the side of the road, and though I was only vaguely aware of it, I was humming softly.

I only lived twenty minutes walk from school, and since it was straight down one of the side roads, there was very little, if any traffic. The leaf Keyla had given me was now hidden in my chemistry text book, which I had left in my locker at school. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was keeping it, maybe just because she gave it to me. One day it might make sense.

Overhead, the sky was darkening noticeably, and the clouds were growing darker as the minutes plodded by. The clouds were low, and if my chemistry teacher was here, he would probably say there would either be hail, or an electric storm. Either would be interesting to watch.

Deciding to hurry, it only took me just over ten minutes to get home. I didn’t want to get wet today.

The front door was unlocked, which was normal, so I pulled it open, and quickly stepped inside as I felt the first few drops of rain land on my skin. Glancing at the key rack near the door, it showed no one else was home. Great, they left the house open to anyone again. Locking the door behind me, I kicked off my shoes, and quickly walked through the house.

Most of the lights were on, probably due to my brother. It pissed dad off, so I switched them off. I’d rather not put up with that today.

My room was at the back of the house, as it was intended to be the rumpus room, but I was allowed to claim it as my own, as it went mostly unused for years. Reaching for the door handle, I saw a little yellow post it note stuck just above it, and smiled as I pulled it off before opening the door.

It was in mums’ handwriting, illegible to anyone that hadn’t grown up with it, but I easily deciphered it. “Mike’s in your room watch your heels. We have pasta for dinner tonight.” Closing the door with my elbow, I looked around the room, wondering where Mike was hiding. “Oh Mike, come out come out, wherever you are, you little bandit you.”

Naturally no one replied.

Humming again, I moved quietly around the largish space. Mike’s normal spot was on top of my large wardrobe, but today he wasn’t hiding up there, which I found out after standing on the couch next to it. “Miiiike? Where are you?”

Further searching showed he wasn’t under the couch, or behind my bookcase either, nor under my bed. “Come out already,” I called, frowning. “Are you at the window again?”

Walking to the side of the room opposite the door, I grinned, and pulled back the curtain quickly, then slumped in defeat. No Mike there either.

Turning around, I sighed and sat down on the edge of my bed under the window. Wondering where Mike was, I glanced towards the door, thinking mum had played a trick on me, when I saw him curled up behind the door, asleep. “Silly cat,” I said laughing quietly at myself.

Scrunching up the post it note, I tossed the now ball like shape at him, but it fell short. He’d find it later.

Next to my bed, my laptop hummed softly, its fans set to high to keep it cool. I loved the sound, though I’m not sure why. Maybe the sound just helped as a mode of calming me? Didn’t matter, I liked it regardless.

Tapping in the security lock, the screen quickly sprang to life, and I moved it to my bed, looking at the two programs I had left running. No new message. Not surprised really. The other program I had showed that the task I had set it had failed to decode a message I had received months ago.

Frowning, I set it to try a different encryption code, and let it get back to work.

“Sam, are you home?” Someone called, and I heard the sound of the front door shutting.

Moving to my door, I pulled it open and waved to mum down the hallway. “Yeah, I’m here,” I answered, “Need a hand?”

“No, no,” she replied, heading towards the kitchen carrying a single plastic bag. “Your father isn’t coming home tonight.” She said, as I followed her into the kitchen. “And your brother is staying at his girlfriends, so it’s just us tonight.”

“And Mike,” I said looking down, feeling him rub against my leg. “We can’t forget about him.”

Mum laughed, and picked up the cat. “Is that so?” She asked, and Mike just looked at her lazily. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Handing me Mike, she turned and quickly got everything out of the bag, then turned to look at me. “Your uncle Rick called earlier today.”

“Oh. Um, okay.” We didn’t exactly get along.

“He asked me to tell you that Mel would like you to call her sometime. She got home last night, in fact.” I smiled, and looked down at Mike who was content to just hang in my arms for the time being.

“I’ll call her tonight then,” I said, wondering why she wanted me to call her. “Maybe she has a hundred new stories to tell.” Grinning, I lifted Mike so his face was in front of mine “Oh my gosh, there was this cute boy in London. Oh my gosh, there is this coffee store in Berlin that you just must visit! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” Mike blinked slowly as cats do, and looked away.

“Oh shush, you know you like talking to her.”

“I do. Do you need any help?”

Glancing around the kitchen, she shrugged and waved me off. “I’ll call you when I’m ready to start cooking. Take the phone with you, call Mel before she thinks Rick forgot to tell me to ask you.”

Picking up the phone from the receiver, I walked back to my room, still carrying Mike with my free arm. He was happily purring, oddly comfortable just half laying, half hanging off my arm. He was just a bit weird, but then again, he was a cat.

“Don’t attack me,” I warned him when we got in my room. He kept purring, even after I set him down on the couch, his eyes now following me. Maybe more than just a bit.

Was Mel three, or four? Staring at the phone, I thought for a while, trying to think which number she was on the speed-dial. One was her, and the other was Rick. I really didn’t want to speak to Rick. Then again, no one in the family really enjoyed talking to him. I clicked three.

“Hello?” Mel asked when I put the phone to my ear.

“Were you sitting next to the phone? I only just clicked call!”

She laughed on the other end of the phone. “I know what time you get home, Sammy.”

“What happens if I didn’t get home until later?” I asked, laying back onto my bed.

“As if you’d stand me up.”

“I didn’t know I was supposed to call, until five minutes ago,” I replied back, smiling to myself.

“You still wouldn’t have, you would have known to be home. Just a sec, kay?” The phone went silent for a minute, in which time Mike decided that he could watch me later, and put his head down and went to sleep. Cats. “Okay, back. Miss me?”

“Of course, Mel,” that wasn’t a lie. “How was your trip?”

“Oh my gosh, it was amazing, we went to London again, Manchester, Paris, but I didn’t go up the tower this time. We also went to see… Well, wait. We both know I’ll go on forever, so you first. Have you found out what the letter says?”

I laughed, knowing that she indeed could go on forever. It’s why I liked talking to her, and after saying just that, I continued. “Peter knows what the damn encryption is, he even claims he read the letter, but he just gave me the program and told me to work it out myself. So no, I haven’t worked it out, but if Peter grins at me when I tell him again, I am going to smack him, hard!”

“Best to avoid his face, you know how much he loves himself,” Mel said in mock seriousness. “But you still haven’t worked it out? You’ve had it for what? Two months now?”

Glancing at my laptop beside me, I shrugged.

“Sam?”

“Crap, sorry. Yeah, two months I think. I’m too used to non verbal responses with other people.” I didn’t work well with phones.

“Correction, you’re not used to being verbal with people.” She said it gently, so it didn’t sting like it would from another. “And talking about being verbal, have you tried speaking to her yet, Sammy?”

“Why is it you’re the only person that calls me Sammy?” I asked instead of answering her.

“Because I love you more, but don’t avoid the question.”

Sighing, I looked over to Mike as he rolled onto his back, but his lower half remained to the side. He looked like someone had twisted him. “I… haven’t spoken to her.”

“Sammy, really, you should!” Mel had been trying to talk me into it for a while now, with no luck. “Come on, I know you’ve been wanting to say something for a while? How hard is it? Just say hey, start a conversation. We talk all the time, I know you’re good at it.”

She went to continue, but I interrupted her softly. “Um, Melanie, she… spoke to me today, though?”

The phone went quiet, and I held my breath, and started counting in my head. One awkward silence, two awkward silences, three awkward…

“What did she say?” Mel’s voice was gentle again, but I could hear the excitement she was holding back.

“She wants to know why I’m so quiet.” Mike opened his eyes, and blinked slowly at me before closing them again. I don’t think he’d believe me if I told him I was the shy type. “She asked… um. I’m going to see her again tomorrow, at school, to talk more.”

“Sammy, yes!” She screamed into the phone, and I had to move it away as she cheered her enthusiasm. “Sammy I would hug you to death right now if I were there!”

“She still spoke first,” I cut in.

“But you still talked back?” I nodded, “Sammy, use words.”

“Sorry, yes.”

“What’s she like?” Mel sounded like she was now trying to suppress her excitement again, which made me smile once more.

“She… well, she’s nice, like you said she was.” I paused. What else should I say?

“Sammy? What else?”

I shook my head. “I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon? After I get home, that is?”

“You better, Sammy.”

“I will, I promise. Now, London was it?”

It was as simple as that, to change the topic. I knew that she wanted to tell me all about it, so tomorrow, I would tell her about Keyla.