Echoes of Us

Four

Avery had already been awake for three hours by the time Harrison finally, came strolling down the stairs at half past eleven.

He waltzed into the kitchen where Avery was cutting up potatoes and greeted her with a light kiss to the side of her head.

"What are you making?" Harrison asked as he settled onto a stool at the kitchen island opposite Avery.

"Lunch. It's almost 12," Avery replied, her tone carrying a slight edge of annoyance, but her eyes remained on the potatoes.

Harrison chuckled softly. "I couldn't sleep after all that talk about kebabs last night. I came down and gamed for a bit," Harrison shrugged nonchalantly.

After sliding the potatoes into some water to soak for a bit, Avery looked up at Harrison with suspicion.

"Just say you wanted to play Fortnite without me," she teased, gathering the potato peels and heading toward the patio door.

"You keep stealing my kills! How is that fair!?" Harrison exclaimed as he stood and followed Avery.

They both had walked out to the back yard as Avery tipped the potato peels into the compost bin.

"Not my fault that your wife is a sweat," Avery scoffed as she placed the now empty bowl down on the patio.

"Don't ever say that again," Harrison said, shivering in mock disgust at her use of gamer slang.

Avery laughed turned to head back inside, but the sound of a clatter from old man Frank's yard caught her attention. Intrigued, Avery peered through a gap in the fence to see what was happening. 

On the other side of the fence, old man Frank was setting up tables and various other pieces of furniture along the ground of his driveway as he got ready for his garage sale later on today.

"Seems like old man Frank is eager to get rid of his junk," Harrison remarked as he joined Avery at the fence.

"Should we ask him if he needs help? Might earn us some brownie points," Avery whispered as she watched old man Frank place random objects onto tables.

"You really think he'll let us touch his stuff?" Harrison asked as he glanced at Avery.

"Why not? It's worth a shot. Plus, maybe he'll give us discounts," Avery shrugged. 

Harrison sighed and stood up. 

"Alright, fine. Let's go brown nose the old bugger," he said with a smirk add he grabbed Avery's hand and made his way to the front of the house.

They walked over to the front of old man Frank's house, where he was adjusting a sign that said 'GARAGE SALE'. Avery cleared her throat as they approached. 

"Morning Frank," she called out softly, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. "Need any help setting up?"

Old man Frank paused and looked him from his work, eyeing them both for a moment as he seemingly weighed his options.

After a while, he nodded, his expression softening a just a little.

"Won't say no to an extra pair of hands," he grumbled as he motioned to a box filled with all sorts of things. "That box could use some sorting, just take out everything and put 'em on the table."

Old man Frank gave them one last look before turning and walking to the other side of the driveway, fiddling with some boxes.

"See, brownie points," Avery quietly joked as she nudged Harrison, a smile on her face.

Harrison chuckled and crouched down, opening the box old man Frank had asked them to sort.

"What's in there?" Avery whispered excitedly as she crouched down next to Harrison.