Contemplative Sensitivity

Decisions

It had been five month since the winter formal and Erwin had a lot on his mind. He sat alone in his room thinking about what was to come. His senior year of high school was rapidly coming to an end, and as he cradled the his yearbook in his hands and flipped through it, Erwin couldn't help but smile. It had been eleven years since that fateful day at that he and his friends were adopted. None of them could have imagined how fortunate their life would turn out.

Erwin flipped the pages until he until his search finally came to an end. Erwin rubbed his pointer finger gently against the picture of Levi. He was the first person pictured in the sophomore section of the yearbook. The young man didn't look particularly picturesque because, Erwin recalled, Levi had overslept that morning, but Erwin still found him endearing.

He closed the book and placed it underneath his pillow. Erwin covered himself up with his blanket. Instead of being in school, Erwin was recovering from food poisoning. After Martha witnessed him vomiting up his breakfast, she immediately sent him back to bed. 

The phone rang. Erwin answered it without thinking. He assumed it was Martha calling to check on him.

"Mom?" Erwin asked.

"...Erwin? Is that you?" A light voice asked. It certainly wasn't his mother. "H-hello?"

"Who is this?" Erwin asked. 

"Why. It's me. Mavis Brown." Mavis answered. "This is Erwin isn't it? How have you been?" 

Erwin suddenly felt light headed.  His stomach began to rumble in discomfort. Erwin hadn't thought he'd hear this frail voice ever again, but alas Mavis had called and he had answered.

"Grandmother?"

"What a pleasant surprise! I never thought I'd hear from you again, Erwin," Mavis said gayly. "It's been about four years. So long!"

She proceeded to ask Erwin a plethora of questions and he humored them. He told her about his internship, his growth spurt, and his friends. He told her that he skipped a grade. He told her that he wants to be a biology teacher. He fondly recalled the dance. Erwin even explained that he was currently sick. She listened earnestly. When he had run out of things about himself to tell, Erwin decided to ask her a risky question.

"Grandmother, how are you?"

How was she? Did her leg still cause her pain? Did her home still smell like cinnamon and cat litter? Was she happy? Had she cried? Was her house as quiet as been before?

Had she been lonely?

"I have been decent," Mavis said sweetly. "I've been getting the chills lately, but I think it's because my air conditioning is malfunctioning. Isn't that weird, normally air conditioners break down--not blow out more cold air."

"Haha," Erwin chuckled. "Consider yourself lucky. When our air conditioner stopped working for a while a few years ago, it was so hot in our house it wasn't even funny. Levi and I had to sleep in the nude."

"That's what boys do, I suppose. Boys have been gross for thousands of years." Mavis chuckled. "I've heard that Martha is living her best life."

Erwin paused for a moment. "Yes. The only catch is she has to grade even more papers now."

Mavis laughed. "Anyway, I'm glad that I got to hear from you."

"I'm sorry our conversations have been far and few," Erwin said in remorse.

"Don't sweat it, Erwin," Mavis chuckled. "It's complicated I know. I only felt offended that you felt we could no longer speak. You may not be my blood, but you and your brother are good boys. Don't ever fear to call me. Anyway, I'm overjoyed we got to speak, but I've got to go. The groceries aren't going to shop for themselves."