Rantings of an Arranged Mind

GRrrrrrrrr! I am still sick. Here is more of the possible sequel, just until I find some time to write. SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Five:

“When’s Halloween, Mommy?” Rhia asked me as we got closer to the school.

“In three weeks.”

“How much is that?”

“A lot. Twenty-one sleeps.”

“Twenty-one! That is a lot!” She said it like it was years away. To her, I suppose it seemed that way.

“Why, honey?”

“I want to be a fairy for Halloween. Like Tinkerbell!”

“That is a wonderful idea.”

We reached the edge of the schoolyard. Rhia saw her friends gathering by the swings.

“Bye, Mommy!”

“Bye, Monkey!” I waved at Rhia as she ran off across the playground to join her friends. She scampered with her little legs, giggling as she found Shauna and Lily. I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. My little girl was full of joy and love.

I started to walk home, enjoying the still-warm autumn air. The streets of town were familiar friends. I knew every house, and every family in them. I had spent almost half my life here by now. I loved it even more now than when I had first arrived.

On an impulse, I took a stroll through the old cemetery. It was oddly beautiful in the autumn, with bright coloured leaves starting to fall amidst the old stones. There were some statues of angels amidst the graves, and something about them always attracted me. I had spent a lot of time here over the years, taking pictures or sketching.

I liked thinking about what the lives of these people had been like. The march of time had erased their memory; most of the graves belonged to people more than a hundred years gone. They might have descendants in town, but no one now living had met any of the people buried here. It was a place of mute history, no one could tell their stories.

I stopped at the foot of one statue, patting the girl angel on the feet as I looked up at her face with a smile. We were old friends: I had drawn and photographed her dozens of times from different angles. She had helped me find my beloved once, long ago, and I would always be grateful.