I'm Ruth.
I've never said that to anyone before.
Well, I've never said anything to anyone before.
You guessed it
I'm mute
Nobody's ever been able to read me
Nobody... until him...
So far, Ruth's been doing great. We've spent so much time on this you wouldn't believe it. But, I don't mind - seeing Ruth happy, her eyes twinkling. It's amazing.
Ruth hasn't spoken yet, I doubt we'd be expecting that for years. But, she's started expressing herself more. She thinks that she's ready to let go of her dad and visit his grave. The only emotion I haven't seen her show yet is happiness. I mean, smiling or laughing. I know when she's happy but she doesn't really show it.
Today, we're going to visit the grave so hopefully, she can learn to live without him.
I drive to her house and wait outside in the car for her to come down. S
When I see her, she's wearing all black as if she's going to a funeral.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I eye here up and down and raise my eyebrow, she notices this as she puts her hands on her hips and tilts her head.
"Ruth, we're not going to a funeral. Go and change."
She gives me an annoyed look and walks away
"This is a happy thing!" I shout at her as she walks away
She comes back a few minutes later wearing the exact same thing, she looks amazing in it but I don't want her to see it as a bad thing.
"You know what? WHATEVER." I open te door for her as she steps into the car
She stares at me mockingly and I look back at her, swimming in her eyes
I smile at her and start the car off to the graveyard outside of town.
======================================
The drive was about an hour and a half since Ruth isn't from town.
We got there near 2pm and we were about to get out of the car until Ruth stopped.
"Ruth? Let's go, come on." I urge her but she crosses her arms and looks down at her feet.
Like she did when we just met.
"What's up? Are you nervous?" I get closer to her but she just gets into the driver's seat and enters and address into the GPS
I look at it and see that it's an address in the area. A home address I think. Out of curiosity I sigh and start the car again.
I pull up next to a house in the suburbs, cute. The second I park Ruth runs out and takes a key from underneath a flower pot. Oh, this must be her house.
She unlocks the door and looks back at me, beckoning me with her eyes.
I walk up to the front door and we both walk in.
The house was indeed of an Elizabethan style, with wooden panels along the corridors, ornate chandeliers, and oil paintings of old bearded men in tunics and ruffs. The stairs led down into a tall galleried room with a rug spread out over flagstones and a fireplace big enough to park a car in. A long polished wooden table had been set for two.
I follow Ruth as she walks down a hallway into a room filled with steam and a small figure near the oven, mixing something. She seems to not have noticed us in the house.
You know, I'm starting to worry that we're just in some random lady's house But my worries were washed away when Ruth tapped her shoulder and the lady didn't look scared.
"Roo! Oh, my god! You're here?" She turns around and gives Ruth a hug, Ruth hugs her back and the lady steps back in shock
"W... How... Ruth?"
Ruth looks over at me and that's when I remember her. Ruth's mother. Then she noticed me
"Oh. You again. I remember you from the hospital." Her facial expression changes from shock to annoyance
"Yep, missed you too." I scratch my head nervously
"Ruth, your aunt, and Coco's in the backyard. Go and say hi." Ruth does as she's told and her mom focuses her attention back on me.
"So, Ruth's doing okay?" She fans away the steam and leads me into the living room
"Yeah, she's been great." I sit down and she mirrors my action
"That's nice. So... how did she... y'know, hug me? She doesn't do that. My baby does not hug people."
She intensely looks at me, kind of scaring me.
"Well, we've been working on that. She's had counseling and she's getting better at expressing herself." I smile nervously
"Oh, that's really good. But, why do you help her so much? You've only known her for nearly six months." She stares at me even more forcefully and I try to loosen up for a bit
"The thing is, I'm... I'm in love with Ruth." I run my hands through my hair as she looks at me
I thought she'd ask a whole load of intimidating questions but all she did is grin at me, pat my head and walk back to the kitchen.
Ruth comes in and I smile at her but she looks at me confused.
Oh Ruth. I'm fucked.
We walk back into the kitchen to her mom.
"I forgot to ask, why are you here?" She looks at me and I shrug my shoulders
We both look at Ruth but then she runs upstairs. I sigh and we both wait for her to come back down.
When she does, she has an outfit on her arm. She hands it to her mom.
"You want me to... get changed?"
Ruth looks at me as if she wants me to be her voice.
"I think she does." I look at Ruth and it looks like she's satisfied with my answer
Her mom shrugs and changes upstairs.
==============================================
She comes back down and Ruth walks us both towards the car.
"Um, I think she wants you to come with us." I say as we step in
"To where exactly?" She gets in the back.
"The graveyard. Ruth's father's grave."
She looks at me horrified for a second and then she relaxes again
"Thank god, I've been wanting to do this for years now. I just thought that Ruth wasn't ready for it yet."
She smiles and I start the car and put the GPS for the graveyard in.
===================================
1001 words
God, I'm lazy. I should be doing assignments right now. But NOPE, oh well. This is fun so imma do this.
