Strum

Strum: Uno

Uno

I picked up my guitar and opened the front door, stepping out onto the porch. I instantly smelt the salty water from the waves, the pineapple from the pineapple trees, the smell of fresh air. The smooth wooden floor felt warm against my feet and the sun instantly started beating down on my lightly tanned skin. I lock the front door and put a pair of thongs on before hopping down the steps leading up to my house and tossing my guitar in the backseats of my red convertible car. "Goodmorning," my neighbour calls out from across the yard.

"Hello Mary!" I call back cheerfully. She gives me a little wave, holding a handful of daisies in her hand. Gardening, as usual. Bless her.

"What are your plans for today dear?" she asks, walking towards me.

"I'm just about to go down the road and get new guitar strings, why do you ask?" I smile at her, leaning against my car.

"Oh, it's just that Danny wanted you to come over today," she smiles back, giving me a quick hug.

"I'll pop around in half an hour if that's alright, I won't be out long," I promise her.

"That'll make him very happy, thank you Morgan," she says, sliding a daisy behind my ear smiling at me.

"I'll see you soon Mary," I give her a quick hug back and get in my car, sliding the key into the ignition and back out of the driveway.

○ ○ ○

I push open the door to the shop, Six Strings, and walk up to the counter. There's a cute looking guy leaning against the counter reading a magazine. He has dark blonde hair and lightly tanned skin. "Hello?" I smile at him, placing my guitar on the counter. The cute guy puts his magazine down and places his hands on the counter, looking me up and down as if he were checking me out.

"What can I help you with hot stuff?" he smiles back, giving me a little wink- which had no effect on me at all. I could already tell he would be a total tool.

I frown at him and point to my guitar, "I need new strings."

"Hold on a minute," he says. I catch a quick glimpse of his name tag which says Andrew on it. He walks to a shelf in the middle of the store and grabs a packet of guitar strings before walking back to the counter.

"How much are they?" I ask, eyeing the product in his hand.

"Fifty dollars," he smiles as he tosses the packet on top of my guitar. I frown at him again.

"I'll take them, thank you," I grab my wallet out of my back pocket and pull out a fifty dollar note. Andrew snatches the money out of my hand and prints out a receipt. He pulls a pen out of his shirt pocket and starts writing on the receipt before handing it to me.

"Here's my number, incase you have any... difficulties," he winks at me again and picks his magazine up, returning to his world of skanks laying across motorcycles. Typical.

○ ○ ○

I walk up to Mary's front door, taking in the scent of her flowers around her yard. It was quite beautiful, to be honest. Considering Mary is in her late fifties, she's doing quite well for herself, being a single mom and all. I press my fingertip against the doorbell and listen to it chime, waiting patiently for her to answer.

Mary opens the door and places a finger against her lips, grabbing my hand gently and pulling me inside her home. "What?" I question her, confused.

"Danny's asleep," she states, guiding me towards the kitchen. I nod at her and quietly take a seat on the bench seat she has in her window. I stare out the window, watching happy couples walking across the beach hand in hand. I was about to start daydreaming when I hear a bang coming from Danny's room. I quickly stand up and rush to his room and see that he's fallen out of his bed.

"Oh dear Danny," I shake my head and grab his wheelchair, wheeling it over to him and help him into it. "Are you okay?"

"Morgan!" he beams at me, clapping his hands together. I smile at him and give him a quick hug. Danny was only eleven years old when he was involved in a car accident and was paralysed from hips down.

He went through serious depression and locked himself in his room for weeks, keeping a food stash in his pillow case and wore diapers. Danny never went to school since he became paralysed and had little contact with other people, so his English isn't excellent, but he has a home-schooling teacher come over every week to help him out.

Mary came rushing into Danny's room and rushed to his side. "Is he okay?" she asked sadly. I hated to see her upset, she's a great lady, practically like a mother to me.

"He's fine, he just had a little fall out of bed, didn't you Danny?" I reassure her. Danny looks at me with a questioning expression on his face, he didn't understand what I said. I chuckle and shake my head at him.

"I am hungry," he states, looking up at Mary.

"Come on darling," she replies, pushing him in his wheelchair into the kitchen. I smile and follow them to the kitchen.