Hi guys, author here! So, I'll be speeding this up slightly because I'm trying to move the plot along. Just a warning.
NORA
Tuesday after school, Nora repeated the same thing she did on Monday. Except this time, she'd brought some extra cavalry. Keitan, Xander, and Adam were all eager to meet the famous Rosie, and they all wanted to show off their meager, year nine muscle mass.
Each of them were polite, and Rosie quite enjoyed them. With the extra three helpers, they got the other two gardening beds done in record time. Especially since Xander, Keitan, and Adam could all pull a full bucket up the stairs.
After they finished hauling all of the soil up, Rosie sent the boys to start stacking soil bags outside the cellar doors and the girls worked on cleaning.
"Here," Rosie emerged from her home and handed Nora a bucket filled with soapy water and a pile of rags, "We must clean the basins before we put new soil in them."
"Okay," Nora crouched down, starting on one of the gardening beds immediately, while Rosie did the same with another.
She scrubbed hard, working a whole year's worth of dirt and grime off of the beds. "I can't believe that you did this all by yourself, Rosie," Nora said with a grunt as she pulled off a particularly stubborn piece of soil.
"I didn't," Rosie responded, "My sons helped me, and my daughter."
"I didn't know that you had kids," Nora said.
"The suit you surf in, and the board, they were my daughter's," Rosie's voice turned sad, "My son, Paul, was his name. He and his younger brother Isaac died in the Vietnam war. They were in the American Army. My daughter, she passed away in childbirth five years ago."
Nora's eyes widened and her heart wrenched in half, "I'm so sorry," She told Rosie sincerely.
Rosie's voice turned slightly lighter, "Don't be. It was a very long time ago. That is why we must replace the dirt, and that is why the dirt is so hard to replace."
Because it had been a lot longer than a year since Rosie had created a garden like this.
"Why now?" Nora asked suddenly, "Why do this with me?"
Rosie looked at Nora and smiled, "I lived alone for a long time after they died. Your visits have been a ray of sunshine to me. I think of you like a granddaughter, Nora. You are my family."
Nora's heart wrenched again. She stood from her position and pulled Rosie into a tight hug, "You're like a grandma to me, too," She whispered, her voice suddenly growing hoarse.
Rosie held Nora for a moment, and then pulled away, "You and I, we have both lost the people we love the most in life," She said, "But we have found others, haven't we? And we will heal."
A horn honked outside, and then there was the sound of footsteps and loud voices. Nora recognized Mouse, Harrison, Jesse, and Jules. A moment later, all four of them appeared with bags of soil in their arms, grinning at Rosie and Nora.
"Hey there, we thought you could use some help with the heavy lifting," Mouse announced.
"That would be great," Nora agreed.
"I'll go make some lemonade," Rosie excused herself quickly and hurried up the stairs, shooting a wink at Nora.
Nora grinned back and crouched down to continue scrubbing at the gardening bed. She was determined to get it as clean as she possible could.
"What are you doing?" Harrison asked Nora as she worked at the dirt.
Nora glanced up at him, "Cleaning off the beds so there isn't soil caked everywhere," She replied.
"Oh, I'll help with that," Jules grunted as she dropped a soil bag on the ground. It wasn't nearly as easy for her to carry them as it was for the guys to.
"Thanks Jules," Nora handed her a rag and the two got to work.
With Jules helping, the cleaning went much faster. It only took them twenty minutes to get one of the beds fully done, and then they moved on to the next. The boys finished hauling soil soon after.
"What do you want us to do now?" Mouse asked as he walked down the stairs with the last load; Keitan, Xander, and Adam trailing behind him.
"Uh, can you grab the broom and sweep the floor?" Nora suggested.
"Sure!"
The boys worked on cleaning and removing all of the spiders from the rest of the room while Jules, Nora, Adam, and Keitan finished the beds.
--
When Rosie reappeared from her home, she'd brought a tray of glasses and a large jug of homemade lemonade, as well as some of Nora's infamous brownies. She smiled warmly at the group as they all worked and then said, "Quick snack, anyone?"
Instantly, all of the guys were flocking Rosie. Nora compared them to the seagulls from Finding Nemo in her head and giggled in spite of her attempts not to.
"What's so funny?" Jules asked Nora in confusion.
"Mine! Mine! Mine!" Nora mimed.
Jules burst out laughing, too.
--
Hey guys! I didn't write a chapter today because I was super duper busy with some other writing projects. Those are all hush hush right now, so sorry I can't share any details :(...
ANYway, I really appreciate the votes and comments and thanks so much for your support!
-
That_Fanfic_Kid
YOU ARE READING
Waves
FanfictionNora Kane was drowning on dry land. All her life, she'd been thrown from foster home to foster home. Some of them were at least okay. Others...not so much. When Nora has decided that she'd seen enough cornfields to last her the rest of her life, she...
