Gardens of Time

Chapter 3

        "Hey mom," I smiled, kissing her soft face and placing a dozen roses in her lap. I hadn't seen her in a while, so I decided to pay her a visit on my way to work.

          "Ugh," she groans, rolling her bright, amber eyes. "Erik, you cannot just pop up on me!" She scolds, but then her face slowly breaks into a soft smile.

          I couldn't help but acknowledge how her whole face was effected by this one simple gesture. The way the sides of her eyes became overwhelmed with wrinkles; and her mouth curved ever so slightly, making her look younger than what she was.

          "I'm sorry, Mom." I say, glancing at all the photos that aligned her fireplace. Just me and her. No one else. No brother, no sister, no Dad.

          "Come here," she says after a while, pulling me into a hug. "You shouldn't stay away for so long," she says into my chest, and I nod, knowing full well where this was going.

          "I know, I'm sorry. I'll try and come by more often." She lets me free from her embrace, then looks up at me.

          "I really worry about you, Erik. I wish you would just find a nice girl and start a family already." I gave her a dramatic sigh, then buttoned my sweater back up.

          "I know, I know." I sighed heavily, following her into the living room.

          She sat down on her taupe colored Lilith Pond sofa, and I sat down on the floor in front of her, folding one of my legs over the other much like a child.

          She picked up one of her couch pillows, holding it to her chest, and I glanced over to the right of me out of the glass back door.

          The yard still looked exactly as it did as I was growing up; set up to fit different stages of my life. The sandbox I got when I was three. Then the swingset that our neighbor help build when I was ten. Football at the age of thirteen. And last but not least, a telescope for that ripe, young age of fifteen.

          "Are you listening to me, Erik?" My Mom asks in a sickly sweet tone, forcing me to look up at her.

          "Wha...? Yeah! Of course." I lied. "Look, I'm gonna be late for work. You can call me if you need anything though." After our exchanging of goodbyes, I made my way outside of her colonial style home, heading to work.