If he was asked about his life, young Marcus Anderson would probably see it as an "exciting rollercoaster ride," full of fun while it lasts, but it came to a complete stop when Ellie Miller, his childhood friend, had to leave him.
Everything was s...
The 'tick. tick. tick.' sound of a clock is exactly the same, but each and every one of us, 8 billion people, experience time differently based on how we perceive it.
94,608,000 seconds, 1,576,800 minutes, 26,280 hours, 1,095 days, 36 months. All of that equates to 3 years. 3 years of adjusting, growing, and changing, time passed by really quickly, and Marcus is now 10 years old. New York has been treating him and his family pretty decently. To give you a small glimpse of what happened in the past 3 years:
His father now works as an accountant on a nearby accounting firm, while his mom stays at home and takes care of him. Their family also had a dog, a cute golden retriever named Gumi, whom his father bought him for his 9th birthday. The poor dog died after Marcus tried giving her a chocolate bar as a treat.
In the outside world, Marcus has met so much people in the new school he goes to, namely, Rutherford Elementary School. Turns out, he and the next door neighbor's daughter, Ellie, go to the same school.
Ellie has been Marcus' friend and neighbor ever since they moved here to Woodside Avenue, a small neighborhood here in Long Island. The moment the two met eachother, they have been inseperable. They're like puzzle pieces that perfectly fit each other.
From short walks and long talks in the sunlit street, to stargazing and listing the names of all the stars they recognize, tracing the constellations with their delicate fingers, from the start, it was like they were already destined meet each other, as if fate had tied a string to them.
Marcus also made a lot of friends from school! Including Amelia, which is one of Ellie's friends too. Although, she is more an acquaintance.
Billy, whom he met when they were seatmates together in English class, and Joshua, who helped him on the first day and toured him into his new school.
Since they're also here in America, Bernard, his dad can make occasional visits to Grandma June, his mother, and vice-versa. Visits can only be made if it's urgent, or if there's something to be celebrated, considering how far Grandma June is from his family's place. A 7 hour car ride from Virginia to New York (or the other way) can be pretty hefty...
Speaking of which, Grandma June and Marcus have grown close together as they visited each other. Their kinship is like a mini memory garden, at the start, their bond was like freshly planted seeds- fragile, hopeful, and full of potential.
As time flies by, their connection grows stronger, just like the seeds sprouting into young, healthy plants. Marcus would listen in awe as Grandma June told stories of his grandfather, Arthur, who sadly passed away when he fought in the war years ago before Marcus was even born.
She recollects the moments when her now dead husband sent her love letters everyday during his training, telling her to not worry about his safety, and that he would be fine as long as she too, was safe in their own home.
These thoughtful messages didn't age well, as during the first month of war, she got notified by an officer that her dearly beloved husband, Arthur, has sadly been shot dead. The officer gave her a note written by Arthur himself on the day he died, saying "In case I do die tonight, which I hope I don't. Just know that I love you so much that you'll be on my mind even if I'm in the afterlife."
From then on, Marcus has made a vow to himself that even til' death, he would think about his future significant other everyday, every second, and every hour of his life.
Even if he was a little boy at the time, he still kept it in his mind all these years. He saw his grandfather as a role model, that even if grief was earned, love was never lost in the first place.
Which is why his grandma never remarried and continued to be the best nanny to Marcus, with a sweetness like sapodillas in the spring, eyes like blue hyacinths, and scented like fresh azaleas in the summer, all of those things that were redolent of his grandmother were present in the backyard of their house, as Marcus sat at his desk, seeing the view behind his window, the sun streaming through and bathing his paper in a warm, golden glow. He was writing, his pen scratching across the page, but his mind was elsewhere.
I can't wait for my birthday! Soon, I'll become 11 years old! Is that not great? Because I heard it's the age where you turn into a big boy. I'll be a big boy!
I'm also still very sad because Martha died:(
I only tried giving her chocolate because she was sniffing it but after that she was no no well:(
My parents took her to the dog hospital, but the pet doctor can't do anyting. I thought that dogs can live forever, but turns out they can't.
I also heard gramma June will be there. I'm so excited! And Ellie too! She's the girl from next door and she looks so pretty!
