SIX FEET UNDER THE SKY

                     Nenad Vuletic

                      PROLOGUE

She steps towards me and whispers the words I wish I have heard years ago , and I know I have to wake up now ,  but I don’t want to . I never wanted to …

                        Chapter 1

After so many years , still , every time a wind blows a bit harder , every time smell of hot sand from the beach licks my nose, I can remember it . I can see it . In the shadow of the trees , in the smell of burning asphalt , in the whisper of the birds , I can see that moment again , just like the first time .

It was end of spring and beginning of summer and first really warm week has snuck upon the town so I wiped the dust from my bike and went to the bridge right away , going  from one side to another whole day never taking a break . The winter was really cold so I didn’t ride my bike at all , maybe three of four times when sun would show decency to warm up the air a little bit , and even then I couldn’t really enjoy it since snow on the roads was in process of melting and it was all wet and muddy . For a kid who has a small adrenalin addiction and likes to speed through the streets on his bike rain and snow were worst enemies . Last time I got home all muddy and wet because according to my mom I went through every single pond in the town she locked my bike in garage !

Before I knew it sun started to sink into the river far away into horizon and it was getting chilly again , so I decided its time to go home . My empty stomach was begging me to go home for last two hours but I refused to give in to basic human necessity such as food .

I have just turned right at the corner and entered my street when the moving truck passed me leaving me in cloud of dust that sting my eyes and invaded my throat making me lean over my bike and cough like some sick old man . As I was slowly closing in on my house I noticed the truck is parked in front of the house next to mine . I figured family of Mrs. Norris is moving in now that she passed away . I liked Mrs. Norris . She always had cookies or chocolates which she would give me whenever she saw me . She stopped giving me treats not long before she died and my mom told me she has this sickness that old people have sometimes . It has some weird complicated German name that I cant even pronounce right and makes them forget stuff . Like , even their names . I remember thinking that there’s no way someone could just forget their name , I mean it's their name not their car keys .

Her grandkids used to play with me when I was younger or that’s what I was told by my parents and Mrs. Norris’s daughter when she would come to our house for dinner sometimes . My dad grew up with her and they are good friends so they were both always so happy when they talked how their kids are now friends though I don’t remember playing with Mrs. Norris’s kids because I was too small and now when I see them we barely talk . They didn’t even come for dinner last time their mom was here . It was some time after the funeral of Mrs. Norris . I felt anxious thinking how , if they moved in next to my house our parents will force us to hang out even though both boys are at least five years older than me and we have nothing in common except that our parents are friends . Some woman came out of Mrs. Norris’s house , woman I didn’t recognize , and she started talking with the person who was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck . I parked my bike in the garage and was standing at the front door of my house watching two guys unloading some boxes from the truck . The guy who was in passenger seat was husband of to me still unfamiliar woman . I figured that out after he stepped out of the truck and they both looked at the house and then kissed. It was gross honestly . I don’t even like seeing my parents kissing . The woman took one box and read the label that said “SHEETS” and called out a name . Jenny.