Another Sea of Dreams: 1

Last time Andrea Shepherd checked, things had brightened for her; she turned sixteen, made the honor roll, and made a couple of new friends. But unfortnatuely, misery seems to follow her regardless. With her brother not being able to deal with the academi

   The cool ocean breeze swept across my face. I pulled my jacket closer to me. I breathed in the salt air. It smelled pretty good. But just as I was in my state of relaxation, a seagull flew less than a foot over my head. I shrieked and ducked. A couple of fishermen looked over at me and smiled. I rolled my eyes and let my mind wander.

 

   This had been such a long year. Nelson finally went off to college. It took a while for my grandfather and I to encourage him, but we prevailed. I was really happy for him, but I had no idea it would result in loneliness for me. I missed him so much! I called him on some nights, but he woukd usually have an exam to study for, and he wouldn't talk to me for long.  But now, I was sitting here on a Saturday, bored out of my mind. Then, just as I was in my daydream, the ferry pulled up to the dock. Loads of people started to get off; they were all talking and laughing. Some were by themselves. I wouldn't see Nelson getting off that thing until May. And that seemed like a long ways away, considering it was the last day of Feburary. Bored, and a little sad, I got up, made my way through the crowds, and headed home.

***

 

   "Grandpa, I'm back!" I called when I got in to the house, escaping the cold New England weather.

  "I'm upstairs!" he called back.

   Oh, no. He must be in bed, I thought.

 

   I threw off my jacket and ran up the steps. When I arrived in his doorway, I was right. He was propped up in bed, reading the newspaper.

 

   "Are you okay?" I asked.

   "Yes, I'm fine. My chest was bothering me, that's all."

   I sat at the foot of his bd. "Your chest?"

   "Yes. I was having chest pains."

   "Grandpa, you really have to be careful. They can happen anytime."

   "I know, Andrea, I know. But I'm perfectly fine."

 

   In the moment of silence, I looked around. I liked my gardfather's room; it was dark, but there were pictures of old boats, and sailing artifacts hung on thr wall. There were also pictures of Nelson and I in our little kid days sitting on the top of his drawer.

 

   "Is there anything I can get you?"

  "I'll take some coffee. And I like it---"

  "I know, you like your coffee black," I said with a smile.

 

   As I was in the kitchen making his coffee, there was a knock at the back door. I knew exactly who it was; Ms. Dickey. She had moved in back in December. Her husband passed away a few years ago, so she's pretty lonely. She comes over regularly to see grandpa and I. I opened the door for her.

 

   "Hello, Andrea!"

  "Hi, Ms. Dickey. How are you?"

   "I'm just fine. Good gracious, you're so beautiful. How old are you again?"

  "I'm sixteen."

   "Well, you're a beautiful young lady. Where's your grandfather?"

   "He's upstairs. It's the first room on the left. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

   "Oh, no thank you, dear."

 

   She rushed up the stairs, just as I had did earlier. I only had one thing on my mind now: call Nelson tonight and talk his ear off about my boring week.

  

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A kind and beautiful story. A young person good to her grandfather is a honor to know. A excellent story.
Coyote

[Havatara]

It was really interesting and realistic, but the first paragraph seemed a bit disjointed to be because there weren't any commas where there could have been. My favorite part was the end: Call Nelson tonight and talk his ear off about my boring week. That was awesome. I can't wait to move on to the next chapter.