Pen Pals

Prologue: O N E

Penelope Bryan

Even with my eyes closed I could see the  morning light begging to be acknowledged. Feeling the familiar silk of my pillow cover between my fingertips I bury my head deep into the feathery cloud. After finally giving up on trying to ignore it I yawn lightly and rub my eyes, I may as well enjoy my morning in peace. I open my french doors that led out to my newly painted balcony. The lingering smell of the fresh paint still slightly noticeable. I close my eyes and listen as the birds start to awaken each other. Their songs further calming my state of mind. I open my eyes when I hear a pair of wings flap beside me. "Penn" The bird sang. My brows furrowing in confusion. "Penn!" This time I was startled by the raised voice of the bird. Wait...I know that voice...

"PENN!" I instantly shot up screaming at the annoyingly familiar voice. Dang it! just a dream..a beautiful dream. 

My face contorted into an amused frown. "Really Owen! You seriously have to SCREAM IN MY EAR!" He kept his face the same indicating how often we did this. "Dad said to tell you that work called you in early and you have to be there in.." He says looking at my alarm clock. Sometimes I wonder why have alarm clocks when you have a loud younger brother. "...72 minutes." He smirked. I gasped and pushed him out of my room, I only have 8 minutes to get ready. It's times like these I thank myself for showering at night. I rush to my overflowing dresser and pull out my uniform. It was a beige dress with a white collar and white apron. I quickly changed and ran in front of my mirror. I didn't bother brushing my hair because it would take up most of my time. As it may seem, this isn't my first rodeo. I spend half of my time rummaging around for my white socks and immediately high tail it to the front door downstairs. I easily find my white canvas shoes lying in their designated spot by the door and slip them on. After quickly retrieving my coat and emergency bag for times like these I yell for my dad. "Bye Dad! Working late tonight, dinner is already in the fridge you know the drill!" I run for the door and hear Owen shout at me. "Bring me back something from the diner!" I smile and respond by loudly closing the door. 

My commute to work is very time consuming and under any other circumstance I wouldn't have even applied, but I was desperate. I needed this job. The jobs close by are already fully staffed and I was starting to loose hope. However on a long journey I found a 'local diner' in need of a waitress. a 'local diner' isn't the term I'd use for this establishment. Maybe it's just my fault for living a good forty-five minutes away, but the closer to town is a higher price to pay for a house. After Mom died we couldn't keep up with our old routine and fell into debt fast, so after we lost the house it was up to Dad and I to support ourselves and the new addition to the family; Owen. We used to live happily near the middle of the city where my mother's law firm was, soon enough when I turned 17 my mom announced that she was pregnant with my brother. 

She was so excited to have him I couldn't help but be excited with her, dad said that mom loved having kids even more than she did helping other's, which to us meant a lot. She was the sweetest person I could ever know and she raised me to be the polite and well-mannered person I am today. But I guess even happy moments must come to an end. Mom began having issues with the pregnancies and had to end up having an induced labor, giving birth to Owen prematurely. My mom made me promise that one of us stay with little Owen when he entered the world and after talking it through with dad I knew he needed to stay with his wife. I remember coming back from the NICU with a bad feeling in my stomach after hearing that little Owen was having issues breathing. Needing to hear some good news I went to find my father. 

Words cannot describe the way it felt to see my dad bent over a stranded gurney with doctors surrounding him. The closer I got the worse the image became, tears stained his face and he was struggling to find the air he needed to survive. He was death gripping the sheets on the gurney when his firmly shut eyes opened to meet mine. They look in his eyes spoke more than needed.  I couldn't take the news I knew I was about to endure so I did the only thing I knew I could do. I turned on my heels and walked back the way I came. The voice of my dad calling for me drowning with only one voice prominent in my head, mom's. 

Don't leave his side Penn. Not for a second. If something happens to me I don't care, don't leave him. I love you.

I was snapped out of my thoughts after I had finally reached the bus station and glanced at my watch. I still had a good 45 minutes till I had to clock in. If the bus takes 37 minutes approximately to get to the closest stop and I have a ten minute walk to the diner then I'd have to run it in order to make it on time. "Running late again Penelope?" A voice said suddenly causing me to jump. I look behind me on the bench to see Sal giving me a jolly grin. Sal was a large elderly man who is a regular at the diner who moved out here for 'a change of scenery'. He was wearing his well-worn light grey sweatpants and a plaid coat. A baseball hat sat gingery on his snowy hair. I returned his smile and began to speak. "Oh you know me Sal, I'm not late, everybody else is just early!" I joked. "Where are you headed?" I asked  "Oh I gotta get head to the hardware store for a new snowplow, winter's just around the corner. I'll head by the diner at about 5 for an evening soup." he said smiling to himself. Ever since I started working I knew that Sal's usual was a hot bowl of tomato soup, I wouldn't question it because the last guy that did hasn't been around since... at least that's the rumor. "I'll be sure to have it ready for ya!" I finished as I saw the bus coming closer. I was Greeted by Wanda who drove the bus and found my usual seat. I decided to take this time to run my brush through my curl mess of hair. after literally feeling the hair being ripped from my scalp I cringe at the hair that will be left behind. 

I'm so glad that I have blonde hair

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It's been about three hours since I clocked in and let's just say nobody was surprised to see me run in out of breath struggling to find my time card. Rush hour had just started so I was running food out of the kitchen and dished into the kitchen at record speed keeping my smile apparent. Mom always said a simple smile can go a long way. "here you go, one grilled cheese, and one order of fries! Can I get you anything else?" I say happily. "All good here." the customer said waving me off. I wiped off the empty table behind them to make room for more people. Most of the customers here are regulars but its not rare o see a new face or two, usually just travelers passing through. 

Time was passing by slower to compliment the calming of the diner. It was nearing five o'clock when I went to make Sal's tomato soup. Sal always liked when I made his soup myself because I 'made it taste better' according to Sal. as I let the soup simmer on the burner I hear Riley -our cook-  call for me. "Penn, customer!" "I'm coming!" I say as I rushed to the front of the diner keeping my eyes trained in my apron pocket while I fiddle around for my notepad. "Sorry about that, can I help you?" Finally finding the notepad I flip to a new page when I see the person in front of me. I wouldn't have been so impolite but I couldn't help but stare at his uniform. Covered in a deep green with big tan boots. His hair buzzed tight on the sides allowing the chestnut hair flow freely on top. His eyes were scanning a piece of lined paper in his hands.

"Actually ma'am I was just asking for-" when his eyes met mine, I swear my world stopped.