AMACon 3: Oikos Omnibus

Frozen

This has been going on for days.

My Grandma would often encourage me to go out, Johnny would always follow me and we would stop in front of Richard and Maine's house. I never told my Grandma what I was doing and she seems happy that I was spending my time on things other than wallowing myself with guilt, drowning in pity. She doesn't know that I would often sit at the swing of the Faulkerson's home and quietly observe them with Johnny sitting beside me in silence.

I observe the couple and their routine: Richard would often sit by the fire trying to strum in his guitar; while Maine would be running about in the kitchen. She would often look at the window and just stare at nothing and as her husband enters the dining area, they would then both walk towards their room and disappear. This happens all the time that it became something I predicted everyday. This became my guilty pleasure to get my mind off things, to get my mind off the tragedy; to at least move on even for a while. The routine is the same everyday.

Until now.

"Annie, I think....I think we should hide." Johnny says and I look at him, confused. He points towards the house and as I follow the path he was pointing at, I could see Richard looking at us; slowly coming towards us.

"Why?"

Richard opens his front door and walks towards us.

"I think....I think we should go." Little Johnny whimpers but I stood my ground.

"Why are you so afraid?" I ask him but all I got was him trembling with fear.

"Are you Annie?" Richard says as he approaches them. He nods at the younger one and smiles at her. "You're her granddaughter, you're Grandma Tina's grand daughter"

I look at him in confusion "How did you know my name?"

He just smiles at me and says "My wife Maine wants to know you, she's seeing you in front of our house these past few days. Would you like to come in?"

I look at Johnny who was shaking his head, making me believe that going into his home is a bad idea.

"Can I?" I ask amidst Johnny stopping me. Grandma told me to get my mind off things so why would I say no to an invitation?

Richard smiles and leads me towards the house "Of course, it’s not everyday we would have new friends over." I follow him and sense Johnny reluctantly following suit.

His home is exactly how I pictured it; a dog sprawled in front of the fire with fresh batch of cookies on the table. It was something I wish I still had but I do know that it would never be same again. Home will never be home again.

"Sit, Annie." He says and she follows suit with Johnny close behind. He offers the plate to them "Cookies? My wife made them"

I take whiff and smile at the aroma, even the taste feels like home. "Thank you. Your wife is a very talented cook."

"She is, isn't she?" He says smiling. I could see the love and adoration in his eyes, the same emotion that my Dad would have when he was talking about my Mom. I mentally slap myself for thinking about them when I should focus on the here and now.

"You have a lovely home." I say as I walk towards the photographs, tracing the figures of Richard and Maine smiling at the camera, laughing heartily; a perfect picture she once had.
"Do you have a child?" I ask and he just looks at me and smiles.

"Would you like milk to go with your cookie?" He says and I nod. I could see Johnny grabbing one out of the corner of my eye and I smirk at him as he innocently looks at me with his mouth filled with food.

"Maine is feeling a bit under the weather today" he says when I ask him for what seems like a hundredth time. "But you could visit us next time. We would love to have young children grace our home"

I say goodbye to him later that day, with little Johnny following suit as always. I look back and see him waving at me and in a blink of an eye; I thought I saw Maine looking back at us in the window of their room. I shake my head and turn to Johnny who was now nowhere in sight. Damn that kid, always disappearing when convenient.

I am welcomed by my Grandma's dinner as soon as I get home. She was the same as always, warm and accommodating and I could feel my heart slowly open up, but it seems too soon; much too soon. We eat dinner in silence and she doesn't question me when I go straight up my room.

I look into the night sky, looking forward for another day. I try to look out the window and see Johnny looking back at me from afar, which startles me.

I rub my eyes and in a blink, he's gone.