With some difficulty Alexis dragged open the gate to his home. Nice place that was, not too much but never too little, you know? His wavy black hair, rippled in the wind as he watched his mother pull into his driveway with rehearsed accuracy. As he rolled the gate back into place, he realized a few things, a) it's a Friday. Halle. Freakin. Luia. b) he was frowning, Sam would have none of that and c) its Friday, Sam's probably waiting. As he questioned the peculiar redundancy of his thought process, he trotted up his driveway to the garage and the eventual final destination of his back door, oh yeah, his house didn't have a front door, he wondered why, he'd probably never quite know. He'd come to love that little 50 meter walk, in which his mind could run wild and free, not withheld by the infinities of this world, delving into the great unknown with unwavering bravery, for about 8 seconds at least. He would miss that walk, along with most other things about his home town, striding into reality and into the garage he met his mother, who had now gotten out of her car, smiling with some hint of sadness she said,
" You almost ready for next week?".
"More or less, I hope I don't forget anything" he said.
"Don't worry, you won't forget a thing" she shot back.
"How are you so sure ma'am?" he said with a smile inching its way across his face.
"Because, I will make sure of it" she said.
Throwing his hands up in surrender he said, "Sounds like you want me gone".
"If I did, you wouldn't be here right now my dear..." she said, full blown Texas Ranger style.
He laughed. He would miss his mother dearly, she was his only real family, his father went to a better place a long time ago. Cancer had stolen his life like robber steals from a bank, months of unseen actions and one unexpected act of shocking realization. Whatever little he knew about his, father, he loved. He loved the memory of big hands cradling an ever small body and memories of a smile big enough to hold the world, he always would, and of course when family sailed through his thoughts, Sam was on board. Upon thinking about her, he remembered that there was a phone, with a message waiting for him in the kitchen. Entering the house, then passing through the foyer, into the kitchen he grabbed up the phone, and listen to its voicemail, sure enough Sam had left a message. Without having to look he dialed her house number,
"Hello, afternoon" said a deep voice.
"Hey Uncle Frank" he said.
"SAM!" Uncle Frank shouted out.
"Thanks Uncle Frank" he said.
"Sure thing kiddo, how's prep going?" he asked.
"I'm doing ok, it's a lot to do, how's Sam going?" he asked.
"About the same, but she's a girl so naturally she's got drama up everything" he said.
"Uncle Frank, you're gonna get me in trouble" he joked.
"Get you in trouble for what?" said a voice he loved and knew all too well.
"Samantha Stratt, good day" he said, like an officer.
"what's up doofus?" she said.
"long day, lots of prep, stressed but decent" he said.
"Frupples?" she asked.
"Frupples" he said. He put down the phone, grateful for the smile she always managed to put on his face. His mind drifted to how frupples came to be. They were both five, Alexis was eating an apple in the yard, at the back of his house. The whole neighbourhood had come over to welcome them. Alexis was usually to himself and when he was five, was no exception. Without warning , Sam walked up to him and demanded to know what he was eating. He said, quite simply, an apple. She said her mother said it was fruit. They then pondered on what this mysterious food really was. In the end, they decided to call it a frupple. Since then, whenever they wanted to talk or wanted to hang out, they called it frupples. This was one of those times. He needed Sam after a long hard day, and she needed him, I guess you can say they existed like that. Trudging up the stairs, he smiled, he had an evening full of Sam ahead of him, and that simple beautiful fact made him smile, so big it might've been able to hold the world.
