Ella's Saga

Rushed Meal

Sometimes, I wished I just had a little time to relax. And, someone to enjoy it with. Daddy was always packing for the next business trip. We mainly talked on the phone. Now that I was 18, Mama went with him and I watched my younger siblings. That could be a full-time job. 

Jo tried to help, but she's 16 and the others don't listen. Especially my daredevil brother Karl, who's 14. Jo and I are in high school but we don't share any classes together as we hoped. Quiet Rose started middle school and I see her crying a lot. She's 12 and in 7th grade. And Karl teases her so I can't get a min to ask her about it. He's there with her, but thank goodness, he's not in her classes to torture her! Allison is 8 and in elementary school in 3rd grade. She feels left out because none of us are in her school. 

Millie was, until she died of COVID. At 5. Not many kids die of that, but she had Down's Syndrome and caught everything. It went into pneumonia. She was due for heart surgery, but every time they scheduled it, she caught something, and they rescheduled. If I think about that much, I'll cry and I won't get any work done!

And, I'm going to graduate high school with my Associates in Business Data Processing from GSU, and I work 15 hours a week at GSU learning Fortran in the Math Department, helping write research software for faculty. Here I am snarfing a Reuben at Highland Bakery and shivering at an outdoor table before I go to that job, and my brain is mush. Gotta get techie, but I'm tired!

A handsome fella walked through the cafe and came over. "Excuse me, can you help me find the library? All the doors are marked Authorized Personnel Only, and I fear to enter the GSU campus." He wore a deep blue pinstriped suit with a diagonal sash in lighter blue. Lots of sparkling pins. Wonder what that's for?

I swallowed. "Oh, that's just to deter people from coming on campus who don't want to use the library or study. If you have a reason to go in, even if you're just looking for a snack in the Refectory, it's okay. I'm almost finished, and I'll walk you down." I smiled and took the next to last bite. Drank some of my coke. Seemed to take longer than I thought it would and I almost got choked, but the last bite took less because I sipped with it. I wiped my face and tossed my empty containers. Kept the coke, hoping I'd be able to finish before we got to General Classroom Building. I put my Milky Way mask back on. "Okay, let's go!"

He had blond curls that bounced and a very athletic build. His mask was plain deep blue. I'm smiling too much. 

Quickly, he held the door to inside for me. Our hair's almost the same color, but I have to work at curls. "I am Farleikon, Diplomat Of Esta Faho, but for you, I am Farley." He gave a very formal bow with one leg far behind him. Quite a feat in this crowded dining room!  Tables and chairs were stacked to the right of the door as we came in. Social distancing leaves most seats taped. We went through the mostly-empty dining room to the outside door. 

"I'm Ella Farnsworth. Pleased to meet you, Farley! Call me Ella, if you please." I gave a curtsy in my middie length skirt. Loved the purple ruffles. My dress shirt has a spaghetti stain from last week and it didn't come out in last night's wash. This white sweater vest isn't white as it should be. I kept sipping that Coke. Really, I should've gotten a juice. Almost got a cold headache. If I burp, I'm gonna die!

He took my heavy backpack with my PC in it and offered me his arm. "May I, Ella?" Oh, his smile made my heart flutter, even behind that mask!

"Thanks, Farley!"

At the outer door, he held it yet kept my backpack on his shoulder. A careful fella.

"What do you study?"

"At the moment, Business Data Processing, but next term, I'll start my Bachelor's in Computer Science. Because of my part-time job, I'm learning Fortran, so I'll have a head start, since I already took BASIC and COBOL. But, these days, C++ and Java are more important, so I'll be learning as many computer languages as possible."