Sonder

the old woman

The old women sat on her porch and enjoyed the morning sun. Her gnarled fingers picked up a tea cup, took a sip, and closed her eyes. It had been a while since she used this set. She couldn't remember if it had been at her granddaughters christening or the old women's old wedding. Time seemed to be slipping away, and yet she seemed to have nothing but time.

Strange days for an old women. But it was not strange to see the old women on the porch that morning, as this is what she did every morning. Precisely at 8, the old women would make some tea, and enjoy the sun. Then she would go back inside to knit or garden or whatever else she pleased. Never out for more than an hour, if you didn't see her out there, you'd never know she was there at all. People watching was a habit she picked up to spend the hour. She looked through a window of an hour in peoples lives, and liked to look at how they were spending it. A window in time was the way the old woman liked to live.

One could even perhaps remember a time before her 8 o'clock ritual, when the old woman wasn't so old, fingers weren't so gnarled, and all of her days were spent on the porch. And what happy days they were. Time spent laughing and talking about nothing, or everything depending on the time. Trading stories in particular was the old woman's favorite. Especially with special company.

But those days were over now. There wasn't much of a reason to laugh on the porch if you had no one to share the laugh with. No stories to trade, no secrets to whisper. So an hour it was, to enjoy the sun before the day began. Her company had always liked her tea sets. He also liked holding her hand.

As 8 turned into 8:15, the old lady finished her tea and opened her eyes. She couldn't help it, as the birds were whistling a tune she could swear her company used to whistle. The thought made her smile. If she closed her eyes, the sun could feel like his hand, and the birds his voice. And he could be next to her once again.

But the old women did not close her eyes. No use in trying to trick her heart. She knew no amount of sunlight and birdsong could compare to him. With a sad smile, she rocked on her porch and watched the street. A jogger ran by, listening to her headphones instead of birds.

The old women remembered her companies favorite quote then, the quote he'd used to say with a smile when it became to hard to do much else than sit on the porch.

He'd take her hand in his, the wedding ring warm against hers and say, "look shelly! A story!"

And Shelly would laugh and respond "what story?"

"Don't you see? Everyone's got a story."

The jogger ran by, and the old woman smiled.