August 16

A Chapter by Calypso

August 16

“Mrs. Henderson! Mrs. Henderson!” I knocked loudly on her door and waited for her to open.

It must have been 100 degrees out side and the lack of shade on her deck wasn’t helping. I could hear the fans in her house running and the dogs were loudly barking .

I sighed and tucked my hands in my pocket. She was either coming or not. Mrs. Henderson didn’t expect me so I couldn’t assume she would just open the door for me. In fact I haven’t spoke to her since April.

After a few more second of pounding on the door I gave up. I picked up my tuber ware and was about to leave when the door opened.

Mrs. Henderson silver hair was pulled back into a bun and she was wearing shorts and a floral print shirt.

“Who is it?”

I opened the door just a crack and said loudly “Aelge!”

She smiled widely and ushered me in. “Come in, come in. Let me put the kettle on.”

I wanted to protest the hot tea, but I knew that would be rude. She came back with two coffee mugs. One said ‘Virginia is for Lovers’ and the other was monogrammed with Ruth (Ruth being Mrs. Henderson’s first name).

She noticed the container in my hand and asked what it was.

“It’s… umm… for you.” I smiled kindly and held the tuber ware out. “It’s a dozen cookies. I thought I would make them to thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

Mrs. Henderson grinned widely, “Well aren’t you a saint.” She walked into her small retro kitchen and sat the tuber ware by the microwave.

I followed her and waited for her to sit down before sitting down. She gently sat down at the table after dropping a bag of tea into each coffee mug and pouring steaming water to the brim.

“Now we can have a proper conversation.”

I pushed my coffee mug a few inches away from me. “You look well.”

“You should be the one talking. You look amazing lately. I haven’t seen you around in so long though.”

“I’ve been doing a lot this summer.” I answered shyly.

“Someone like you needs to be active. You are just sixteen. According to the Bible I’ve had a full life. Eighty years is a long time, but you, you’re just sixteen and it would be a crime and shame for you to spend all your time in a house on the Internet. You have youth, energy, and time. You need to grab this time by the horns.”

I smiled sweetly, “Thank you Mrs. Henderson. You’re like the grandmother I never had.” I can say this because I never knew my grandmothers.

She placed her hand over mine. “I feel like your grandmother at times.”

Tears of joy feel down onto my face. “You’re the real saint here.”

I stayed with her for a few more hours. She made me a dinner of vegetable soup (this women must never get hot). She put the left over soup into a container and told me to take it to my father.

I finally left for home at dusk. I enjoyed my time talking to her. I shouldn’t have stayed so long though. My first real performance is tomorrow and there’s a rough spot that consists of a nasty sixteen-note run.

I was practicing that sixteen-note run when Dad stepped into the door. He had left for groceries while I was over at Mrs. Henderson’s.

He through the bags onto the counter and opened the refrigerator and fished out the container of soup.

I didn’t look up when he said, “Soup? In this weather.”

“I didn’t made it, Mrs. Henderson did. She told me to bring you some. The only thing I made was cookies and that was for her.”

“And you left none for me?” He asked playfully.

“Nope. Those cookies were a gift.”

He snickered, “That women was always crazy. Who makes hot tea and soup in the summer?” He placed the container into the refrigerator and closed the door.

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