The Quiet Ever After

A Lawn of Leaves and Grass - 5

Axel made short work of Geoff's backyard in terms of its furniture, putting things back in place as well as he could remember. Then came the raking, which took up a great part of the day. The backyard looked much smaller from up in the room, Axel realized when he'd gotten started and noticed just how many leaves were left waiting for him.

With all that free time, he was able to draft up mental notes of the things he had to do back at his house but couldn't help getting distracted every time he raked up a nice round of leaves and found something else in the lawn, like a neighbors' ball or even a wind chime that'd gotten loose and flown away.

He'd need to work the actual lawn in the backyard, which was a bit tall for his and Geoff's liking, the following day. He had to get home to his lawn work, much to Geoff's approval. The old man nodded and waved to Axel when he ran back home.

One quick lunch and run down to the store for winterizer later and Axel was on top of things again, trying not to rush the application of the stuff over the lawn. He kept it away from the patch that was still growing in and made sure to water it, first, then let the sun strike it for a good part of the day before applying the winterizer.

He dove back into his garden patch, checking for weeds or any animal invaders that may have set an affliction on his lawn. Tiny footpads betrayed the critters there. Axel didn't lay traps or anything like that—instead, he put other snacks from fruits just beyond the stage he wanted around the perimeter of the forest.

For a few days, Axel found this routine calming. Geoff never complained, so, he had to be doing something right, and that approval inspired him every day. Up until he left, Geoff still had Robert working the front, which didn't require all that much since it was getting the nutrients it needed from the sunlight and sprinkling Geoff had set up.

The backyard cleanup took a decent amount of effort to ensure it was up to Geoff's standards. It was an immaculate lay of turf, perfectly soiled and manicured as if druids of the Starlit Plane had lain and maintained it themselves. Axel moved slowly and methodically as he cut and raked and cleaned everything up to get it to the state he remembered seeing a summer ago when Geoff hosted a block barbeque. Nina got an earful each night about how focused Axel was on it, but she continued to support him on it.

"I think he mostly enjoys the company," she said one night. "Maybe he keeps going out at night and making more of a mess for you."

It was rare that Geoff came downstairs, let alone went outside to check on things. He told Axel repeatedly he had a fine enough view from up there to see how things progressed. They'd chit-chat for long intervals about this and that—maybe a sports game from the night before or something Geoff heard from one of his hospice workers.

Axel had to try doubling his efforts back home, too, and not just on the lawn and garden. He'd gotten behind on his cleaning as well as his journaling, a practice that his sister had taken up and encouraged him to do when the fighting was done. He'd gotten great at it during the move but fallen off in recent months after promising to get back to it.

When the cold front at last rolled in, it did so in the form of a vicious storm whipping through the neighborhood with powerful gales of wind and biting rain.

Nina and Axel had just finished their dinner and were heading upstairs when the storm came. Axel watched for a moment out their window as it hit, keeping an eye on Geoff's house.

"I'm sure he'd be proud of you," Nina said, calling Axel's attention.

"Hmm?"

"Kyle." Nina sat on the bed. "He'd be proud you're still doing this."

"This? Helping people? I mean...I don't know about proud so much as just he'd expect it, right?"

Axel joined Nina in sitting on the bed. She rested a hand on his own, one of her rings covering his wedding ring. Two were bejeweled with gems from the Broken Forest that Axel found in his many months traveling it...or, really, more like surviving it.