Open Door

Her heart began to race a little faster as she rested her shaking palm on the front door, giving it a little push. "Hello, is someone in here?" whispering slightly kind of in hopes that no one would hear her. With the door just a little more open she peeked her head in. Nothing appeared to be disturbed other than the fact that a few lights were on and the dust sheets were off of the couches and chairs. A blanket of safety en wrapped her as the scent of home made cookies greeted her. "Hello" she said with a bit more confidence and sound.

"Hello Maddie. Welcome home." Auntie Liz said as she greeted Maddie. "Oh I am so glad to see you made it here before dark. I was trying to hurry and clean everything up for you before you got here. I didn't want you to arrive and have to get things settled. I hope you don't mind. Your mother called me and told me you were coming and nothing could have kept me from prepping the place."

"I didn't see your car." Maddie knew that although they were neighbors, the four miles of woods that separated them weren't a quick or easy little walk.

"Oh I know. Fred had to run to town to pick some things up and he dropped me off before he went. He should be back here shortly. As a matter of fact one of the "Things" he is picking up is my nephew William, a nice fellow, charming and just finished graduate school." Auntie Liz mentioned.

Maddie ignored the comments about that guy because the last thing she wanted in her life right now was a single man. "How is Uncle Fred doing?" He really wasn't her uncle nor was Liz her Aunt, but they could of been, all the summers they spent together playing with their kids, family dinners. Oh the memories, those were good times, she thought to her self.

"Well you know he is getting on in years and his diabetes is getting the best of him. We have tried hard to watch our diet and well anyway I don't need to bother you with that information. He is doing well. You will see." Auntie Liz said as she pulled the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and began to put them on a cooling rack.

"Oh it is no bother. You know I love you guys. Sorry I didn't keep in better touch. Life has, well taken me for a ride that I never really thought I'd go on." Maddie said as she looked around at her old and comfortable family home. Her eyes stopped at the picture hanging over the fire place. It brought a smile to her face and a bit of warmth to her heart. In the photograph stood her great grandparents- who gazed at each other in such love, almost as if they were all alone, paying no attention to their four kids on the front porch of the cabin- on the day they moved in. Her grandmother was about five, wearing un-traditionally for her time, short alls. She was practically running off the picture in a blur. The girl couldn't hold still then and now for that matter. Oh her grandmother sure was a fiery lady. Maddie then remembered she needed to call her and let her know she arrived safely. Her thoughts stopped when she heard Liz say something.

"I'm sorry Liz, my mind was drifting down memory lane. " replied Maddie.

"I'm happy to see you smile. Your mom mentioned to me all the heartache you have been through and I am so sorry. I'm just glad you are here and safe. Would you like a cookie." Liz said as she handed the plate full of hot fresh yumminess.

As Liz took off her apron, hanging it on the pantry door, her attention drew to the sound of tires on the gravel driveway. "That must be Fred and William."

Maddie looked at the back wall into the mirror, noticing it needed some dusting and also noticed

her "I've been driving for several hours" hair. Brushing it with her fingers, she turned and headed towards the door with Liz limping behind her.

Liz grew up as an only girl in a family of five boys. She kept up with the best of them. Long before paint balling was around, she and her brothers would go in the woods and shoot tin cans with their BB guns. Once as she was bending over to re-stack the cans one of her brother's friends thought her rear end made a good target, leaving her with a permanent limp. It didn't stop her much though.

Heart Break

As Maddie and Liz walked towards the front door, Maddie stopped dead in her steps. She was unsure why all of a sudden her feet would no longer walk. Her heart began to beat faster. She faked an itchy foot and shooed Aunty Liz out the door, encouraging she would be right behind her. "Take a deep breath." She told herself as she expelled a bunch of air. Filling her lungs with a deep breath through her nostrils she headed out the weathered wood door only to stop there on the porch.

Standing beside the car stood Fred who was talking a mile a minute to Liz about his adventure to town. Fred could always out talk the best of them. Mid sentence he stopped looked up, noticing Maddie halted in the door frame and said "Maddie! Come here you. My you get prettier every time I see you." with waving open arms. "How are you doing?"

Maddie picked up her pace, and landed in the open arms. Planting a kiss on his cheek she said "Oh it is so good to see you," still holding on to him. Tears welded up in her eyes. Embarrassed that she began to cry, she began to blink to make them go away. Tilting her head to her shoulder she wiped the stray tears on her sleeve. "I must of got a little dust in my eye." she commented trying to get the attention off of her.

Uncle Fred could always hit her soft spots. Maybe it is because she lost her father at such a young age, and he seemed to fill the gaps in her father less life. Maybe it was because he truly cared for her and really loved her. It is the first time in a long time, that she actually felt love from a warm embrace. Leaving his grasp, she backed away, putting her hand out to William, who had stood there quietly during this warm homecoming.

"I'm Maddie" she greeted him as cheerfully as she could muster, trying to not make her voice all shaky from nerves and emotions.

"Will is what most my friends call me. Beautiful place you have here."

"Thanks, it is nice to meet you too. I'd show you around, but I just got here myself and it was a long drive. If y'all excuse me, I think I need to go and shower up and take a rest. Thanks again Aunty. So good to see you Fred. Let's do lunch tomorrow ok? And thanks again for cleaning up for me. Nice meeting you Will" Maddie said as she headed to the house, trying not to let them stop her.Her pace was quick and before any of them could finish saying good night the door shut behind her.

Maddie fell against the door, slid down and sat with her back against her door, hugged her knees, resting her chin on them and sobbed. She sat like that for hours, was it really hours? She actually was uncertain, but by the time she composed herself and got up, it was pitch black outside. Seeing Uncle Fred and hearing the love and concern in his voice, seemed to have opened the flood of gates. She had become callous towards the end of her marriage. Tears didn't come so easily anymore. Her heart was so broken. It felt good to just let it all go.

She headed towards the bathroom, which was just off the family room through the master guest bedroom. The room tiled in blue and green glass brought a feeling of serenity. One she hadn't felt in years. In the corner, surrounded by windows rested the original claw foot white tub, modernized with a shower head and curtain. Tonight was a bath night. She lite some candles to not just bring light but scent and symbolically burn away the bad feelings. Reaching her hand under the faucet to check the temperature caused her body to goose bump from the warmth. She eased her body into the water, letting her head fall below blanketing out the world around her.

The Phone Call

Asleep with her head against the back of the tub, the candles burnt out, water less than warm, Maddie was awakened by the sound of her cell phone alerting her to a new voice message. "Wow I must have been exhausted to have missed that call" she said out loud as if someone else was in the room with her. She grabbed the teal blue bath sheet hanging on the steel rod. Wrapping it around her wet body, she stepped out of the tub carefully watching her step as to not slip on the wet tile. Holding the top of the two ends together she ran to her night stand where her phone lay charging.

She flipped the phone open, to reveal two annonymous missed calls, one new voice message and the time of 11:45 PM. Seeing the hour, she passed on even listening to the message and instead left the phone to charge. Shivering from the cold crisp mountain air, she headed to her suitcase resting on an antique trunk on the other side of the room. She unzipped the suitcase, pulled out her underwear, her favorite black tap pants and the U t-shirt she had since her freshman orientation of college. Bending over she flipped her hair over, wrapped it in the towel and dressed herself.

Realizing that the only thing she had eaten since lunch was the chocolate chip cookie Liz offered her, she headed to the kitchen to see what she could find to calm her growling belly. Plus she had left every light on in the house she decided it best to turn some off to conserve some energy. Padding her way on the wood floors to the kitchen she switched some lights off.

She stood at the open refrigerator expecting something to jump out at her and tell her "eat me." But nothing did. So she settled for a glass of milk and the cookies sitting on the glass jar on the counter top. Over the kitchen sink was a large window with a view of the lush mountain scenery as well as a nice view of the back porch. As she enjoyed her midnight snack, she was interrupted by the sight of something. It appeared to be the shadow of a person peering around the side of the house. She calmed herself by the thought of the many trees and animals that neighbored her. She'd seen enough horror movies and lived her own to know not to go outside and check it out.

Quickly she ran around turning off lights, locking and re locking windows and doors. Before heading into her room, she grabbed a kitchen knife, a book off the shelf, and shut and locked the door. The knife was for possible protection, and the book, to keep her company as she had napped several times already and freaked herself out sufficiently that she most likely wouldn't be sleeping well that night. After she locked the bedroom door she ran and jumped on the bed and under the covers.

After fluffing the pillows and finding a comfortable spot to rest her head, she grabbed the book off the night stand, and opened to chapter one. Somewhere between the first and second page, she fell asleep. The book fell to the floor with a loud crash. She startled up. Looked towards the ground, saw the book resting, turned off the bed side light and fell back to sleep, only to waken again by the crow of the rooster.

A rooster, what was a rooster doing in the mountains? Maddie didn't know that an acre to the side of her a family bought some land and decided to turn it into a farm. She discovered this as she was enjoying her morning shake of fresh berries, milk and ice. As she sat on the back porch again she saw some movement out of the corner of her eye. Same place she noticed it last night. Being braver by the sun light, she set her drink on the glass round table that needed a washing, and headed to the corner. The trees were cleared on that side, which she hadn't noticed driving up because of the angle of the house. Over a little ways was a scarecrow guarding the freshly rowed fields with tiny tips of green poking up. Even further away she saw a young lady, mid twenties, blond hair, wearing a bath robe watering some flowers on her back porch. She caught Maddie's eyes and waved.

Shutting off her hose, she headed towards Maddie. Out of the open porch door came a two year old little girl in a diaper and messed up pig tails. Deciding not to make the poor gal walk all the way over in her house slippers, Maddie started to meet her half way. "Hello" the young mother called. When they reached each other she said "How are you? Excuse my morning attire, not used to neighbors. I'm Chloe and that little one trailing behind me is Jessie." Jessie ran up and grabbed her mom's legs and hid behind them.

"It is nice to meet you. I am Maddie. You have all done a lot since being her not too long." It had been two years since Maddie last visited the family house.

"We have loved it here. The inside of our house is still a work in progress. But we wanted to get the garden and farm going so we could live off of it. I thought I'd be able to do more before Jessie started moving. But the older she gets the less I get done. Oh well, no big hurry. So how long are you visiting for?" Chloe asked.

"I am not sure, but planning on right now this being my permanent address."

"Oh we are so glad to have neighbors. Would you like some eggs? I was just about to go and gather some and there are always more than we can really eat?"

"I'd love some, but maybe another day. I have to run into town and get some things that I put off getting yesterday on my way up because I was so tired. Will you excuse me? It was nice meeting you and I am sure I will see you around."

"Same, have a great day." Chloe commented as she headed back to her red farm house. She put on her garden shoes and headed towards the coop with Jessie shadowing her.

Maddie went inside, forgetting the rest of her shake on the patio. She grabbed the first thing out of her bag, a black tank top dress, pulled it over her head. Put her brown hair up in a twist bun. Grabbed her keys, her phone and purse and headed out the door. Why was she in such a hurry? She really didn't know but just wanted to get out and get some stuff done. It was rare in her past to be able to just pick up and go, so she was taking advantage of that.

When she pulled up the the market she noticed a pay phone. Which reminded her that she hadn't called her grandmother to let her know that she had made it safely to Pleasant Valley. Instead of using her cell phone, she grabbed a few quarters and dialed the number that had been her grandparents for as long as she could pick up a phone.

Ring. Ring. Ring. "You have reached 345-5512 please leave a message after the beep." the automated voice said.

"Hey Grandmother its me. I am here. Safe. Call me. I love you." She hung up the phone and headed into the market, unaware of the blue chevy that pulled up next to her little red Accord.

Moon Lit Beach

Driving around the island, alone, with out children, Corrine and Eric, enjoyed the peace, the quiet, the company and the views.

"OH how nice it is to not have kids screaming in the back of our van." Corrine commented to Eric as she peered back as if to check on sleeping children. But it was actually empty, a first in a long while. A good empty that is, children safe at home with a well trusted sitter.

The moon was full and lit the island as if it were noon day. When off to the right Eric noticed a small secluded beach set in a little cove. He pulled over.

"Is something wrong?" asked Corrine as he pulled into some sand and stopped the care.

"No, I thought we could go for a walk rather than hit the movies tonight." Eric answered her. They had been on the island long enough that sometimes the beauty around them had gone unnoticed. Especially when they were running to swim team or off to Hula lessons. Life had already become life rather than vacation.

"Oh it is rather beautiful isn't it?" The both removed their shoes, put them on their floor boards and headed toward the beach. "Honk" went their car as if wishing them well on their little walk, and giving them a little security that the car was locked for the time being.

Hand and hand they walked. Enjoying the moon dancing off the waves. Not much was said. Not much needed to be said. Times of awkward silence were now welcomed moments of peace.

"Do you remember when we were in Florida for Thanksgiving the first year we were married? Sleeping on the floor in your parents house behind the living room couch? Getting up early to sneak off to the beach to watch the sunrise and it was so cloudy we couldn't see it rise?" Eric broke the silence with his memory.

"Yes," Corrine replied with a grin, "I remember that well. Such a carefree time."

Pizzaria

Natalia opened the store early, unlocking the door with one hand while balancing a coffee in the other. For a lunch bistro they sure opened too early. It was just a little after nine, and though she was a few minutes late, she figured it would be alright. She could get things prepped for the 10:30 rush.

As she pulled down chairs, her thoughts raced to the night before, performing on stage. That is why she came to New York, to perform, not to set tables and shoe pigeons off of tables. But she had to do something to pay the bills.

She received a standing ovation. It was her first night, with her first lead role. One she had longed for since she was a young girl, performing for the neighbors as she and her child hood friends put on plays. The applause were still clapping in her head. Her cheeks hurt from still carrying her smile.

Her thoughts were brought back to the task at hand, as she dropped a set of silverware to the ground with a great big clank. Too which a set of applause and a "bravo" came from behind here. How long had Dan been standing there?

"Good Morning" Natalia replied as she bent down picked up the silverware and shoved it in her apron. "How are you doing, Dan?" she said to the six foot tall brunette, with the most stunning hazel eyes, and perfect straight nose. She had a slight crush on the 23 year old cook.

"Doing well but not as well as you it appears. The show went well?" he asked.

"Oh Dan it was wonderful. Just what I had always dreamed about. Sure made what I am doing here all worth it." she replied, as she continued to set the tables. She rearranged a few flowers in the vases, making them appear more freshly picked.

The aroma of tomatoes and basil filled the air, causing a growl to roar in her belly, reminding her she hadn't eaten anything unless you count the cream in the coffee. She snatched a roll, and quickly at it.

The chimes of the door let her know time to work.

Skiing

Slipping falling curving down,
lots of people all around.
Bitter cold, sun burnt nose,
ice is forming on my toes.

I don't like skiing
I tried to let him know.
But this man I can't let go.

Hurry faster, a little snow plow
I am not sure but I do know now,
I'd like to sit by a warm fire,
of this sport I sure do tire.

My feet sure hurt,
you'd think these shoes for their cost
would feel more like my summer galosh.

Watch out below,
I lost control,
crashing falling here I go.

Blindly Walking

Coni dressed in her wedding gown, holding onto a little lantern, eyes blindfolded, followed the sweet soft low voice of her new husband leading her through the forest.

"Oh Jared, where are you taking me. I have had this blind fold on for over an hour now. Can I please take it off? It is pitch black out anyway, not that I can see much. Please?"

"Just a few more steps, trust me. Just keep following me." He said as he held branches out of his bride's way.

"My dress is going to be filthy by the time we get to where ever it is we are going."

"Nothing a dry cleaner can't fix."

"Funny. Why didn't you insist on me changing my dress?"

"Because you look so beautiful and it isn't every day that you get to wear that dress and hike through the mountains." He said with a smirk.

"True, are we there yet dear?"

"Almost. Take three steps up. There you go. Careful." He encouraged her as she stepped up the stairs, holding the light with one hand and the other holding her dress, as she tried not to trip. She thought how great he was being so surprising and romantic but at this point she'd rather not break a leg or something. She got to the last step.

Jared opened the door to a beautiful victorian home, kind of out of place in the mountains. The decks wrapped around both levels, the paint was fresh and wait, and the sent of it proved it.

"Stop, please." he told his bride, as he swooped her up in his arms, and carried her over the threshold. He gave her a kiss, set her down and took off her blind fold.

With another kiss on the cheek, he whispered in her ear "welcome home, Mrs. Johnson. Welcome home!"

"What do you mean, you are kidding me, no really this is our home? How....but...Oh Jared, I love it."

"I love you too." He said and the two embraced.