The Calm after the Storm

Prologue

Prologue

April, 2005

The sun was shining, illuminating the whole room with its lightly warm sunbeams. A breeze of cinnamon and oranges was swirling in the air, smelling refreshing and made the atmosphere immediately more comfortable. The voices of two children were echoing in the hallway, filling the corridor with pure happiness.

An old lady sat in her sofa, her eyes closed while she listened to the melody of Vera Lynn's song called 'One Love'. She always listened to it when she wanted to remember the past, recalling the old memories in her mind to come up again. Nostalgia settled down in the room and the elder woman smiled slightly, enjoying the delightful moment. Some curls of the woman covered her forehead, her hair all tinted in a greyish tone with also some white highlights. The once tight skin was replaced with numerous wrinkles and protruding veins. The strong lady never had a problem with getting old that's why she never stopped smiling pleasantly day by day. Around her neck was a golden necklace with a large pendant which got most likely room for two small pictures in it. On the backside two initials had been engraved.

DW

It was so small you could only see it with a magnifying glass. She never took it off. Her husband was out of house at the moment, telling her he will be back in the evening.

Rain drops pattered against the window and the April weather couldn't decide what it wants, taking turns with the sun and rain. Despite the cold and rainy, but sometimes sunny weather it was warm and comfy within the house, caused by the heat that streamed out of the ancient oven. The old woman hummed along with the gramophone next to her. A collection of records beside it, mostly of Vera Lynn, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and other various artists. Her husband and she always bought one after every date. It was their thing. Just theirs.

"Give it to me, it's mine!" One of the children squeaked with his shrill voice, the woman chuckled in response.

"You've never played with it anyway." His three years older sister snapped and some loud bangs followed after which the grandmother couldn't resolve what it was. She opened her eyes slowly, figuring out what the cause of the noise was. It sounded as if glass had been scattered all over the floor. Seconds later she heard some muffled whispers. 'no, no, no, no'.

"Children, what happened?" The woman asked, her voice raised, but with a sympathetic undertone. She got out her armchair, straightening her posture and made her way to the gramophone to lower down the volume. Her steps were small and weak, lightly shaking limbs bothered her while walking.

"Nothing!" A sudden scream filled the room of Madeline's voice.

The female sighed and a small smile crept on her cherry red lips while she answered back. "Don't say 'nothing' when I clearly heard something break." Her voice was calm and likeable, no trace of anger found in it.

The two slim figures, one a bit taller than the other, popped in the room, a look of worry flashed across their faces and both of their mouths were pressed to a tight line, their heads keeping low. Madeline hid something behind her back and Aiden fumbled with his thumbs, peeking once in a while to his lovely grandmother.

"We didn't mean to break it. We were just..." The girl started, but her little brother cut her off. "She took my car and I wanted it back..." Shame was written in Aiden's face and he looked everywhere, but at his grandmother.

"It's probably half as bad as you both think." She stated, looking down to her grandchildren, trying to lighten up the situation with a small smile. "One of you has to tell me what happened."

Madeline revealed a broken frame with a picture that was black and white, giving it to her grandma. "We know how much it meant to grandpa."

There were two men on the picture, their grandfather and another mysterious man they have never seen before. Curiosity rushed up their worried eyes and stared at their grandmother in anticipation, questioning looks were shared between the siblings.

"Don't be worried. We can fix it. We just need to replace the frame." She claimed and walked back to into the living room, putting the picture on the table and Madeline threw the broken frame into the garbage can. The siblings speeded back to their grandmother who sat already in her armchair again, sitting next to her on the couch. "We'll buy another frame tomorrow and I promise your grandpa won't be mad at you. It happened by accident, right?" Both of them nodded simultaneously.

For a couple minutes none of them said a word, but then Aiden broke the silence. "Who was that other man on the picture?" It seemed like the woman was startled by that question and she looked at him slightly aggrieved.

"You really want to hear that story?"

Madeline and Aiden looked at each other and nodded willingly, positioning their bodies to their grandmother, eyes full of inquisitiveness.

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SO THIS IS THE BEGINNING. AGAIN I AM SORRY FOR ANY GRAMMAR MISTAKES AND SOMETIMES IT JUST DOESN'T LIKE A NORMAL SENTENCE BUT I DON'T CARE RIGHT NOW! IF I KEEP EDITING THIS CHAPTER I WILL NEVER PUBLISH IT! SO I KNOW THIS MIGHT SEEM BORING FOR THE BEGINNING, BUT I NEEDED A BEGINNING. THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GOING TO BE LONGER. I HOPE YOU WILL IT READ YET. I HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN IT, BUT I AM GOING TO POST IT WHEN I AM HALF DONE WITH CHAPTER TWO!

WARNING: EVERYTIME WHEN I AM OBSESSING OVER SOMETHING I FORGET DOING IT AFTER A WHILE. THAT MEANS. LEAVE MOTIVATING AND INSPIRING COMMENTS SO THAT I KEEP WRITING. IT IS HARD FOR ME TO KEEP DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS. BECAUSE MY WRITING SKILLS ARE FREAKING BAD.

ANYWAYS I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS AND DON'T BE TOO HARD TO ME. I HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT HOW TO WRITE GOOD STORIES.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS; JUST ASK!

BYE SEE YOU