PRINCETON BEACH

bringing home

bringing home

A seventy-five-year-old woman was sitting in the front yard of a white and pink house. She was looking at her roses. Those rose bushes were red as her messy nails. She did it herself. The wrinkles in her face told that maybe she was over seventy-five. But she wasn’t. Two boys walked to her garden. A red-haired boy and a black-haired boy.

“This is carl’s mother”. Said Ethan. He took her hand and patted it.

“Who is it? “. The old lady asked with a slight of fear. She doesn’t know who is touching her. She can only recognise people by their voice.

“it’s me Ethan. She is blind.” He warned to Tyler.

Are the roses bright red yet?. She asked.

“No, it hasn’t bloomed yet rosy”. Ethan replied by looking at the rose bushes. She wasn’t sure if she will be alive until it blooms.

Is there someone else here?. She looked at the sky and asked Ethan. Tyler looked at Ethan hearing that. Confused.

“Well, she can identify fresh scents. For example, When I came to this house she told me I smelled like her new pink dress that carl bought for her. He bought me clothes from the same shop.” Ethan explained to Tyler.

“Now you smell like fresh juicy red strawberries”. Rosy told him. Her nose was as pointy as an arrow.

Ethan had some strawberries in his pocket that he picked on the way. He thought about giving this to rosy when they picked it. But mostly it was because of how happy Tyler looked by seeing those big strawberries. “I have never seen strawberries this red.” That’s what he said to Ethan. Ethan was happy hearing that from Tyler, too. Tyler promised him a lot of things like, “I will let us out of here. I will give us a better and happy life where we can do nothing but watch the moon, how much time he wants and play whenever he wants. I will get us better clothes and good food and nice people around us”. That was young and passionate about Tyler’s promises to Ethan. At the very moment when Tyler smiled at rosy and her garden and the big strawberries in her hands, Ethan felt proud. Because he kept one of Ethan's promises to him.

“This is Tyler. He’s my friend. We’ve been friends for a long time”.

Rosy smiled at the sky again. “Hi Tyler. Welcome to my husband peter’s house. I can smell”. Tyler cut in between her sentence. “Trash”. Tyler said. Well, I have been in the trash for a long time so. Tyler chuckled with his face.

“I was talking about reunion.” She said.

Ethan carried Rosy’s wheelchair and took Tyler’s hand and led them into the house. Carl’s late father, Peter, was the owner of that house. Peter was an owner of a publishing house. So Carl was born rich. He became a filmmaker which made him more rich than that.

When Tyler got the first glance at the interior of the house, he got shocked. He saw no house this beautiful. Carl threw nothing out of that old house. Peter’s soul was still present in every corner of that house. His vast book collection, His leather pieces, His home decorations, His old friend. Everything was still there. That made the house more soulful. Tyler felt that completeness. Anyone who enters that house for the first time feels this. They can feel both father and son. Tyler sniffed harder. He was getting some pleasant scent from the kitchen. He wanted to go there.

You wanna go to the kitchen?. Ethan asked him. He saw him sniffing. It was four thirty in the evening. Herbius might make tea and snacks. He took Tyler’s hands and went to the kitchen. It was on the first floor near the backyard. The backyard had twelve chickens, one cow, two sheep and a pig. The front yard doesn’t give any clue about this much farm animals which are present here. It’s because of the scents present in every corner of this pink house. When you open the door of the backyard, you can smell poop and feathers and cattle feed and also good things like eggs and milk. In the kitchen there was a man in his fifties breaking eggs and mixing it.

“This is a friend of Carl’s Father Herbius”. Ethan introduced him. Tyler looked at him and smiled with all the teeth he had.

“This is my friend from the orphanage, Tyler”.

Herbius looked at the boy joyously.

“A friend of Ethan’s?. Did you guys get separated from the old orphanage? “.

Ethan pinched hard on herbius’s skin signalling not to ask that.

“I’m actually an old servant of this house. It’s nice to meet you. What would you like for tea? “.

Tyler wasn’t answering the question. He was looking at him hardly without even resting his eyes. His eyes popped out. Ethan and Herbius were crying, confused.

In Tyler’s mind, Herbius had a big golden ring floating above his head. There was a wing growing from his back. Harp music was playing in his head. He was picturing God in front of him. Someone asked what he wanted to eat. He had a feeling that he’s gonna get whatever he wants. He was always looking forward to this. Ethan understood what he was thinking when he looked at Herbius. He grabbed Tyler’s arm and massaged on it in order to wake him up from his hallucination. Ethan had a little smile on his face, seeing Tyler’s innocence. But Herbius was feeling the opposite of what Ethan was feeling because he got a look at Tyler. He felt disappointed and guilty.

“So what do you want?. I can make you anything. Today, you are our guest. It’s your happiness for us.” Tyler was thinking about what he wanted.

“Milk and bread”. He said. A lot of complex and tasty looking dishes rushed through his mind that he wanted to eat at this exact moment. But a simple milk and bread was in his mouth.

“That’s it?”. Herbius doubted.

“Some jam and butter too”. Tyler added. He thought about the sweetness and texture of the jam. He imagined eating everything together, making the ultimate bite.

“Okay, your wish is my command.” Herbius said.

Ethan chuckled hearing his funny comment. He could feel that no one in that house never saw him as a servant. He was just ten when Peter brought him home running on the streets. Peter never asked him, but he helped Peter with everything. He saw himself as Peter’s assistant, not as his adopted son. His mindset confused Ethan. If you have power, why are you not taking it?. He once asked this to Herbius himself. He smiled and stuffed his mouth with wheat bread.

Tyler sat at the table with Ethan. Herbius placed the food in front of him. There was a big jar of mixed fruit jam and an enormous cube of yellow salty butter and handmade wheat bread loaf herbius’s speciality and some milk in a glass. He looked at all the food first. He took the wheat bread in his hands. It was so fluffy and crunchy. Ethan looked at him, eating all the food. Ethan got satisfied. He felt proud of keeping one of his promises.

They started talking about how they are going to live here. They talked about the decorations they gonna make, places they gonna play. The rose scent felt sweet.

A man in his forties with no white hair on his head patted Ethan’s back. Ethan didn’t see him coming. It was Carl. He came back from his day trip. He goes on drives every day to collect orphan kids. The house looked well, but they weren’t doing really well at the moment financially. He had an idea for the series for quite a long time. Now he got a friend who had money. His life depends on finding orphan kids. It’s an uttermost selfish move from his side to adopt a lot of kids and train them for acting. He thought they would be thankful enough to get a house, clothes, and food. He justified himself by saying Peter’s old wish. Peter wanted to make that house a foster home for a lot of runaway kids. He thought to himself that he was just fulfilling his fathers with a little motive.

When he saw one other boy with Ethan, he was kinda happy inside.

Ethan, who is this?. He asked.

He doesn’t know the sad separation story of two best friends. Ethan told it to be herbius and rosy. But Carl was always so busy with his trips. He was so in a run for money, he never once noticed the boy he brought home. Ethan saw everything. But he considered Carl’s situation to justify it. But he was afraid maybe he will never look at him.

“This is my old friend from the orphanage, Carl. I was wondering if he can stay here with us”.

Everyone looked at Carl for his answer.

No. He said