Chapter one

Cody wright woke up christmas morning not feeling much different than any other kid. Excited at the prospect of new video games, head phones, a new baseball mitt, maybe an ipod.

The year before he had gotten a drum set. At the time he had to try hard to hide his disappointment. He had a list of Playstation games he wanted and now what was he going to do all winter, practice playing drums? Was his grandmother insane for inviting that racket? She had to sleep in the house too, but then again, she was pretty hard of hearing. He ended up being a natural at the drums though. Before long he got invited by the high school band teacher to play in the high school jazz band, even though he was only just in the eighth grade. He was proud and he enjoyed his jazz band concerts and even more the competitions. He liked putting on his tie and taking the bus to other, bigger schools. Cody found he enjoyed doing things that had a defined purpose. He may have also enjoyed sitting and talking with Jennifer on the bus.

Well this Christmas Cody would get a special gift. He woke up to the view of the old swingset in the back yard. It was blue and white and still in almost new shape. Cody lived with his grandmother and at 70 years old (approximately as no one really knew) she had more energy than most of the kids in his class. Her name was Gloria but everyone just called her Nana. She would wake up every morning at 5 to get things ready. Cody had never come down the stairs to find breakfast missing from the table. Most of the time it would be something wonderful. Eggs and toast, ham, sausage, beacon, grits, or oatmeal. Not extravagant but wonderful. If Nana was in a hurry sometimes it would just be cereal, in a bowl, awaiting milk. Cody's favorite was biscuits and gravy but even as a small child he was never a picky eater. He enjoyed the adventure every morning. If it were a weekend she would be sitting at their round, white kitchen table. She would have breakfast and talk with Cody about everything. They both enjoyed reading and they would trade books frequently. For a long time Cody suspected that she only accepted his recommendations to be nice. Until one of Nana's friends Stacy off handedly mentioned how much she enjoyed it and how he should tell his grandmother Gloria she was right to rave about it. He skipped around town feeling good about himself all day. If it were a weekday most of the time she would be gone. Off to the cafe for coffee, or off to Target to buy clothes for one of the many grandchildren.

Of course she was home this morning. She and Cody had their usual christmas breakfast, a huge, heaping slice of homemade apple pie, with American Cheese melted on top for each of them. Nana would drink coffee and Cody would have two or even three large cold glasses of milk.

After they finished breakfast Cody let his unnatural maturity slip a bit. He looked at Nana and held her eye contact for a minute. His fingers spanned out on the table, their tips turning white, his weight on them ready to spring from the table. Nana smiled and cocked her head. "Go ahead" she said. He leapt up and beelined for the tree. Nana was happy to see this. She worried about Cody. The kid could be very stoic for a young boy. So calm and thoughtful. She would watch him sometimes. Just wondering what storms were churning behind his eyes. She always worried about him. He was born with a heart condition and had to take medication every day. He never seemed to have much issue and certainly never complained but still... She was his grandmother. If he were to get sick or something it could be very dangerous. When he was about 3 years old Cody had gotten the flu and nearly died, or so it felt like to Nana and his parents. He had spent almost a week in the hospital and seemed, not well, for a couple months after. He would cry a lot.

Cody spotted a long box under the tree and gave it a shake. He knew... just knew! It had to be something good. He set it aside and opened all his other presents first... a leather pouch, a brass measure, lead balls? What in the world? Cody thought hard. It couldn't be. He had read a book recently titled "Mr. Tucket" about a boy about his age who receives a rifle from his father just before tragedy befalls them along the Oregon Trail. The boy, rifle in hand, becomes a man. Cody had enjoyed the book but not enough to give to Nana. Could she have known? He didn't want to believe it. Didn't want to set himself up for disappointment. There was one present left.

The rifle was beautiful. It was a hand made kentucky rifle. It had been his grandfathers. Spent the last 20 years in pieces in the old shed. He thought Nana had gotten rid of it. She'd had a huge yard sale that spring and as she said "cleaned out all that s**t". Even had a bunch of it hauled away to the dump. He could not believe his eyes. It's Curly Maple stock was honey colored with a fine tiger striping effect that good wood has. Nana had the man across the street refinish it for Cody. His name was Glenn and he was apprehensive at first as he said, "due to the boys young age" but Glenn was retired and had an obvious crush on Gloria. It wasn't a hard sell. Now if she could only get him to help her with that compost heap out by the garden. Didn't he say he had a lawn tractor? She thought. She saw the look on Cody's face... She might as well not even get him anything next year. She will never top this one. She laughed and smiled at the site of Cody so beside himself. Calm down, calm down she giggled. You're nearly shaking.

Author's Note

Will edit for Grammer in the future. It's not healthy to edit while you write. Causes high blood pressure.