Mollie + Chester

Chapter Four

On his eighteenth birthday, which was a few months ago now, my parents bought Seth home an old run down blue sedan, which due to my expensive treatments, made Dad have to work double time for three months after.
They had put it on hold, and Mum went out early in the morning, parking it right in the drive way which could be seen from both mine and Seth's window. I had even unravelled a roll of wrapping paper, throwing it over the roof of the car, the wind picking it up as it subjected the mercy of the breeze. I had yelped, a tried to cling on the edge of the paper, hearing a tiny tearing noise before the paper stopping moving, held down by something on the other side of the car. I heard the person rip off a piece of sticky tape from the dispenser I had let roll down the drive way when I flung up the paper and craned my neck to see who it was.
"Wrapping my own birthday present," he said, "doesn't anybody care about me?" Seth stood holding the roll of tape in his hands, wearing a grin on his face. He stuck down my end of the paper and pulled me into a hug.
"You ruined the surprise," I mumbled, being squashed by his tight squeeze.
Seth shrugged. "To be honest, Mum left the web page open with the car right there for me to see, you guys have all been wearing secretive smiles for months, and I heard you stampede down the stairs this morning."
So that was the car I sat in the back of, rugged up like a stupid snowman again, this time with a blue coat because how horrible would it be if someone saw me wearing the same coat for two days in a row!
The newly named kitten sat huddled in my jacket, purring as I scratched his ear. Seth drove faster than the speed at what Mum drove at. He knew I wouldn't crack if I strained against the seatbelt once or twice.
I could see the shut up, still sleeping houses as everyone was up late on a Saturday morning, especially when the autumn breeze was so cold. The windows fogged up when I breathed to heavily with my nose pressed against the cold glass so I drew a smiley face. As the tiny heater kicked in, the face seemed to melt, dripping down the window and out into the rushing wind.
"Mollie, I swear I will make you clean all the windows again," Seth said but he didn't seem serious.
I laughed and flicked him on the head. "It was dirty already, because you never even clean it!"
Chester meowed, as if reminding me he was there because I had stopped patting him.
"He is a very needy cat, isn't he?" Seth asked turning his head for a second to look back at me, grinning. I flicked him in the head again.
Tamwood was tiny, with hardly any shops lining the few streets. Most of the shops had two or more purposes, like the fire house which doubled as a police station, or the donut shop that doubled as a gym.
Seth turned into Main Street, the street with the most original name, and pulled up in front of the town animal shelter / laundromat owned by Mr Gregor. The rusty old car sighed when it was able to stop and Seth led us inside through the heavy glass door where a tiny bell announced our arrival.
Washing machines were active already, rumbling like monsters in kids' storybooks. The two ladies from the big nose society stared at me when I carried in the tiny kitten and when I turned my back, I heard whispering.
The whispers always seemed to follow me, as closely as my own shadow.
"Seth, Mollie!" Mr Gregor said when he saw us, "what can I do for you?"
Mr Gregor was a tiny man, just taller than me with a pudgy round belly and a shirt that never fit. His wide smile faltered just for a moment when I shrugged off my jacket and he saw the scars that ran over my arms but he didn't start whispering like everyone else did.
"Mollie found a kitten, near the dump yesterday," Seth said helping me place Chester on the table.
"Well, he's not old enough to be micro chipped and has no collar..." That was what I liked about Mr Gregor. Everyone else started their sentence with: "are you okay?" Or they eyed my scars until Mum brought up the C word.
"So I guess he can stay here, or you can take him." The tiny man laughed when I immediately took the kitten into my arms.
"I don't think he's staying here," Seth said.
Chester meowed.

I soared through the icy cold wind, my feet out in front of me and the clouds all around. The rusty old swing set creaked as I came back down and I pumped my arms so I would go higher. I closed my eyes and imagined I was flying somewhere far away where nobody cried or got sick or died.
A little girl ran, her tiny cubby legs pumping and she tripped over the wood that held the tan bark in. I remembered when I was a kid with long pigtails and pink fairy costumes and had fallen off this exact swing set and hit my tooth on that piece of wood. The shiny white tooth fell out in my hands and I laughed excitedly, as I anticipated the tooth fairy's arrival.
I had fallen and picked myself up, barely any scars had been left. I'm sure my parents didn't even remember that day anymore. But I guess harder you fall, the harder it is to pick yourself up unscathed.
Cancer was a pretty hard fall.

The tiny ginger kitten sat on the older boy's knee as he watched Mollie soar into the air on the park swings. The sun peeked through the thick autumn clouds and reflected off the shiny new park equipment where screaming kids played. One child slid down the slide into a pile of orange leaf pile and laughing he ran off with his other friends.
Seth scratched Chester behind his ear and brushed some leaves from his hair that had fallen down from the tree behind them.
There was a scream and Chester was off the boy's lap before he had time to hold him.
He ran as fast as he could towards the familiar scream, towards the little girl with the short blonde hair and eyes that changed colours in different lights. He came to a stop as soon as he reached Mollie who was sprawled out on the tan bark and he rubbed his head against her cheek. She closed her hands around the kitten and lifted him into her arms as she laughed.
"Mollie, are you okay?" Seth asked, puffing hard. The little girl spread her arms and legs out over the tan bark and smiled up at the angry grey clouds.
"Never been better," she said, her laugher spreading across the park like a tidal wave. The parents, children, teenagers and anyone else who had swarmed around to see what had happen breathed a sigh of relief and laughed as well.
"I fell, and I'm okay." She whispered so softly only Chester could here. "If only I was okay every time."