Chapter One
Opening the front door of her home she lived at with several other women her age, Ella Adams walked out onto the front porch with her white and light pink sneakers causing thudding sounds with each stop she took on the hardwood floor of it. She took the time to straighten out her white tank top, and her light pink and white flared track pants before her hands moved up to where a black ponytail holder kept her long, curly, thick hair up and off of her shoulders.
Today looks like a great day to go for a run. The sun is out...there isn't a cloud in the sky...and the early autumn air makes today the opportune time for me to head out before I have to be back in time to get ready for my dinner date with my mom and dad.
Ella looked forward to spending time with her mom and dad that night. She lived near them in the suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky, but missed staying with them and waking up to seeing their loving smiles as they laughed at one another from doing something stupid with each other the previous evening. They showed her how to stand on her own two feet with no one else helping her, and to not be too proud to ask for assistance when the time arose for her to need help in doing something that she knew she wouldn't be able to deal with on her own.
After finding her hair to be tight like she wanted it to be, Ella pulled the door shut behind her with a little force to it. She reached into one of her pockets on her pants, and retrieved her mp3 player and black ear buds. Ella placed her headphones on her ears as she began moving down the front stairs of the home with her music device in one of her hands.
"Good morning, Ella!"
She caught the sound of someone shouting at her before she started to turn on her mp3 player. Ella focused her attention in the direction of where the sound had come from.
Her eyes discovered Mrs. Nelson, a kind, little old lady, waving at her with her usual gardening clothes, as well as the large straw that she wore most of the time outside, on her body. She flashed a warm, friendly smile from where her body was on the other side of the white fence that separated their properties.
A smile danced across the soft, fair skin of her face from discovering the source of the voice to be that of her neighbor that she liked to spend time with sometimes, helping her around her home, and playing a game of cards with her. Ella lifted up her free hand, and waved towards her as she called back over to her from where she stood.
"Good morning, Mrs. Nelson." Ella said, loudly. Her southern accent drifted to the surface of her friendly tone in her voice, causing it to sound much louder than what it truly was at the moment. Bringing her hand back down by her side, she walked across the front lawn of her shared residence to the white fence as she spoke to her elderly friend. "How are you doing this fine day?"
"Well, I am doing a lot better now than how I was earlier that's for sure."
"Oh really?" Reaching the fence, Ella placed her arms across the top of it, lightly, while she maintained the conversation with her. "What happened earlier?"
"Well," Mrs. Nelson said, "for starters, Mr. Nelson woke up in his usual grumpy ass mood, and went off on everything from his clothes not being comfortable on his pudgy body to his coffee not being the right temperature until he finally left the house to visit with some friends. Then...It went from that to having to deal with these rude ass telemarketers that would not take the hint to leave me the hell alone."
Ella struggled to keep from letting out a loud laugh due to how her elderly neighbor was behaving towards her at the moment due to her husband's grouchy behavior and dealing with some customer service reps that wouldn't leave her alone. Her smile widened a little bit more towards her as she spoke up with a slight chuckle in her voice.
