Wanderers

2 - Memories

"Don't leave!" Penny yelled out in desperation.

Fear racked her body as she scanned the room around her, still caught in between dreams. Her eyes focus first on the bottle of pills on her dresser but before reaching out her eyes fall on a picture of her parents sitting on her bedside dresser. Penny sighed. She was still in bed. Looking back she didn't realize how the boy band posters and dream catchers hadn't clued her in sooner. She was safe.

Penny Wayland laid on her pillow for a little while longer and took some deep breaths. The soft glow of the morning had already settled into her childhood bedroom, but she didn't have anywhere to be so she moved a little slower these days.

"Pen! You up?" a woman's voice chimed from downstairs. 

"I'm up!" she responded back, already thinking she had spoken too soon and covered her face with a pillow.

Summer had started two weeks back and for the most part she has spent every day with her best friend Naomi. Though sadly most of that time was spent working at Rosie's. Penny had decided that out of all the summer jobs she could have, waiting tables a few days a week at the diner wasn't the worst thing in the world and she could spend it with Naomi which made it way more bearable.

Pulling her hair back and feeling the cold wooden floor on her feet, she slipped on her slippers and headed down stairs. Her Aunt Cora has really been the most consistent parent she's ever had. When Penny's parents died, Cora moved up from Georgia and she's been here ever since. Working long nights at the hospital is hard when you are looking for someone to come home too, but she was there for Penny when she needed it and she would always be grateful for that.

"What are you getting into today?" Cora asked from inside the kitchen where she made her breakfast.

"Alittle of this, alittle of that," Penny tried her best to dodge the question with humor.

"You and Naomi skipping work to go to the lake today?" Cora said straightforward with a hint on a smirk.

Cora wore her short blonde hair in a tight sprig on the back of her head. Her bright red glasses sat on the top of her head when she wasn't using them. She was at times a tad chaotic but she reminded Penny so much of her dad in that way. You never knew what they were gonna do or say next.

"I'm not skipping...I don't feel well..." Penny tried to convince herself. "And the only medicine that will help me is Vitamin D."

"Strong argument!" Cora said laughing to herself as she poured herself a glass of milk. "Well don't let me stop you having a fun time. I was young once. I get it. But if Ella finds out Naomi has been skipping, she'll have both of our heads."

"You worry too much," Penny nodded.

"You know me. Just a big old worrywart," Cora teased. "Come and join me."

Penny spun around to grab something out of the fridge only to be confronted by a picture of her and her parents on the fridge. It was winter and she was about to enter 3rd grade. Right before her parents died. Penny touched the picture of the smiling family in the snow, gently tracing along the images with her finger until something caught her eye.

"What is this?" Penny asked curiously, snatching the picture off of the fridge and bringing it over to the breakfast table.

"What is what?" Cora asked nonchalantly as she focused more on the article on her phone.

"What is this around my neck?" Penny asked again pointing to the golden necklace around her neck in the photo.

Cora adjusted the red glasses onto her nose and looked closely.

"You know...it almost looks like a key?" Cora replied.

"Isn't that weird?" Penny questioned.

"What is weird?" Cora looked up at her niece in confusion.

"That I used to wear a golden key around my neck and I remember nothing about it?"

"Honey you were 8 years old. It probably went to a diary that you had for a week and lost. Honestly why are you making such a big deal about it?" Cora questioned.

Penny stared deeply at the picture. The key looked intricate. Important almost. Why did she care so much about it? Why now?

"Penelope," Cora's voice cut the silence and Penny looked at her.

"What wrong?" she asked.

"I've been calling your name for the past few minutes. Did you have a bad dream last night honey? Did you need to take anything?" Cora sounded worried.

"Oh my gosh I'm fine," she stole one last glance at the picture before walking over and placing it back on the fridge. Penny grabbed the milk out of the fridge to pour into her cereal and then returned back to the table. "You really do worry too much," Penny joked, but in the back of her head she couldn't get the key out of her mind.