Reunion_2

"The Reunion"
Part 2

Slowly she awakened, feeling as one who had slept just the right amount of time. She stretched her arms high above her head. Never had she felt so alive! So invigorated!
But suddenly she brought her arms quickly to her sides.
She hadn't been able to stretch like that in twenty years! One of the prices one paid for living past fifty!
Also,she was in a lying position! How did that happen? Had she somehow gotten up out of her rocker and gone into the bedroom without remembering?
Opening her eyes she sat upright in bed.
Amazed, she looked around the once familiar room.
She was in a bed,
but not the one she had been in the night before...
and, she was in a bedroom,
but not one she had slept in for thirty years!
Somehow, she had come back to the house that had occupied her thoughts earlier that day,
the house where she had lived during her time with her forever friend.
She noticed that the carpeting was not the soft cream color they had installed before moving,
but rather, the old gold colored carpet still covered the floor.
The new quilt she had purchased for the bed was not there,
but rather the white chenielle bedspread covered her once again.
Rising from the bed, she was again astounded by her returned agility.
Looking down at herself, waist to feet, she was amazed.
"Those sure aren't the legs of one over eighty," she said aloud into the silent room.
Crossing the bedroom to the window, she noticed that the rainbow she had seen earlier (at least what she thought might have been earlier),
still colored the sky.
She opened the window and took a deep breath in.
Apple blossoms, she thought!
It must be May!

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From the window, her eyes searched the yard in amazement.
Everything was the same as when she had been with Shoo-Fly!
The swingset they had taken down before moving was right where it had been,
to the left of the yard near the fence.
The old tire that held the teeter-totter that went around in circles as well as up and down,
still kept it's place.
The garden fence and the three evergreen trees that lined the corner of their backyard, still remained.
And the apple tree! The exact size as when they had moved from the house! Woouldn't it have grown over all these years?
Further amazed, she saw that the lawn chair still sat beneath it's branches and
the catalogue she had been reading that ill-fated Mother's day right before she had found Shoo-Fly was still lying across the padded center.
She looked to the right.
The old, gray picket fence still surrounded the neighbor's yard,
the new chain link evidently not having yet been installed.
She could see the loose board where Shoo had always come through into her yard
moving slightly against the grass.

Turning from the window, she walked to the doorway of the bedroom
which led into the hall.
She could see the room that had belonged to her daughter directly in front of her.
Further down the hallway to the left was the lavatory.
Entering, she noticed that none of the new purchases were present.
The old brown ceramic tile had not yet been replaced by the new white block tile,
and the cabinets, sink and counter top had not yet been given their place.
Her hand touched the coolness of the porcelin sink.
Slowly she looked up into the mirror.

A slight gasp escaped her lips as she encountered the reflection before her.
It was not her face as she knew herself now,
but as she had known herself then!
At fifty!
She touched the hair that brushed her shoulders.
Turning from the mirror
she re-entered the hallway and ran down the eight steps,
stopping just short of the entry way that divided the kitchen and living room.
She ran her hand along the black wrought iron railing.
She remembered when they had painted it white.
Taking in the living room at a glance, she saw that none of the new furniture they had acquired was present.
She touched the back of the old brown chair that sat just on the other side of the railing.
The carpeting, as she had seen upstairs, had not yet been replaced,
and the old gold carpet, with it's familiar worn places covered the floor.

She entered the kitchen, and like all else it was the same.
The new appliances, cabinets, counter top and sink were not present.
She touched the handle of the old brown refrigerator.
How many times had she opened this door to retrieve an apple to cut up and share with her friend!
Walking to the window, the silent hues of the rainbow still colored the sky.
Opening the latch, the beautiful scent of apple blossoms filled the room.
Suddenly, much to her surprise, she turned in a joyful circle.

Tree Link:
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