When the daylight has faded

New beginnings (#old)

Jenna stretched until her fingertips reached the old tattered nappy box that had been housing the Easter decorations for over twenty years. Despite her small build, Jenna was an expert at retrieving the box from the top of the old white kitchen cupboard that used to be the pride and joy of Jenna's gran and was now just providing storage space for Jenna's family in the cellar.

Over the years, Jenna had collected a myriad of Easter decorations, wooden, ceramic, plastic; you name it, it was part of her collection. Not because she was a fan of Easter or of decorations. But she had raised two children and had been determined to give them perfect Easters from the day they were born, decorations included.

This year was special. It was the last Easter that they would all celebrate together as a family. Selina, the older daughter, was moving out.

And, unbelievably, Jenna had forgotten about the decorations. This year of all years! Well, better late than never, she thought, as she swung the box over her head like a professional, held just by six fingertips. She could have climbed onto one of the old chairs that frittered away the rest of their existence here, having had to abandon their once regal places in the dining rooms of Jenna's ancestors, now used only by the cats, if that.

But Jenna didn't need chairs. By now, she could do this in her sleep.

The box slid off the cupboard easily. Like always. Jenna looked up as she balanced the box like a magician and couldn't believe how much stuff had accumulated over the years. The box itself was a relic of Selina's first year on this planet. When Jenna had placed the ex-nappy container on the cupboard for the first time when Selina was merely a few months old, the bunnies had not even covered the bottom of the box. Now, there were decorations sticking out all over the top.

Jenna shuddered. An open box, abandoned near the cellar ceiling for almost a year. Spider haven.

Jenna knew that the European spiders were harmless because her kind husband kept educating her in this respect. But her husband's great efforts had not endeared the little gnat catchers to her.

She twisted her body to try and catch a glimpse of the top of the box to make sure no eight-legged creature had found cheap housing in between her blue, fake-flower-filled vase with the bunny on the top and the wooden Happy Easter welcome sign.

The relief was immediate, no spiders to be seen, but short lived, as the box tilted precariously to the left.

Time slowed down, and Jenna felt transported into a Tom and Jerry cartoon scene, despite the lack of mouse and the presence of a decidedly uncaring cat, wasting away valuable lifetime in an empty removal box instead of the comfortable, lonely chairs waiting for attention.

Jenna pivoted. The old table was centimetres away.

But the box took off like a parabola opening downwards, crashing down next to the table, destroying everything it had given home to.

Jenna stared, then started to laugh, tears rolling down her cheeks. She spotted a py Easter sign and a bunny that, if glued together, would look like Frankenstein's Easter bunny.

Jenna dumped the whole lot into the bin, saying hello to new beginnings.