Serendipity

One.

A young woman crossed a bridge that was plastered with snow. Her soft footsteps marked the bridge along with the many others that were already there.

She looked up at her old childhood house and smiled slightly. It had been ten years since she had been there.

The mailbox still had the family name 'Carson' painted on. Wooden stairs that led to the front door had been redone lately and the windows were clean. The brickwork was painted a sort of cream colour and around the windows was white.

She glanced to the house next door with a fond smile. It had hardly changed apart from the now lack of play equipment peeking over the fence in the back garden. A thought crossed her mind of what had happened to her childhood friend.

The thought quickly left as she felt a warm hand take hers. "Isn't it good to be home? I can't wait to meet your father," her boyfriend grinned.

"Leah! Chris! Come on in you two!" the girls father shouted happily from the stairs.

He didn't look a day older despite being ten years older. It was almost like time had stopped around here. Leah's father wore an old maroon sweater and a pair of mutely coloured trousers. He had no socks or shoes on but was wearing a warm smile.

"Coming dad," she smiled as she headed to her father, holding her suitcase in one hand.

Her metal foot clinked softly against the new redone stairs. She had to have it amputated a few years back but it never brought her any trouble.

"It's lovely to meet you Mr. Carson." Chris grinned, putting his suitcase down and holding his hand out to shake Leah's father's hand.

"Please, Chris. Call me David," David kept his warm smile. "Come in, you guys must be freezing!"

They quickly entered the house, shuffling about to remove their coats, hats, scarves and shoes. Leah hung her scarf up and went to pick up her suitcase but her father had already grabbed it.

"I'll take this to your room, Chris follow me. Leah just go wait inside the living room," the boys disappeared off upstairs.

Leah sighed and headed to the living room. It was her favourite room during the time she spent in this house and was glad to see it was still the same.

Snow globes from the different places they had been to lined the fireplace. Leah dragged her finger along the wooden mantelpiece, fondly remembering most of these trips. She stopped when she reached a photograph that had a vase of flowers next to it.

The photograph was of Leah's parents on their wedding day. They had gotten married 21 years ago to the month. She couldn't believe that her father still kept a wedding photo on the living room. Leah looked to the flower vase, the flowers were just like the ones her mother was holding.

That's when she noticed it. In a frame above the flowers were her father's engagement and wedding rings. She smiled, he was still proud of his faulty relationship. Leah gently stood up and smelt the flowers. There were always flowers in this vase and they would match the ones in the photograph every December.

Leah crossed the room to stand by a wall. This wall was painted light blue and held pictures from her childhood. Old memories that were now long forgotten. A smile crossed her lips as she saw a certain photograph. The date in the corner read December 21st 2006, it was her parents anniversary and the day that the girl next door moved in. It was the day she met her neighbour, Ashley.

The photograph showed them sitting on a stone wall outside their houses. They were both wearing boots, coats and hats. The duo were smiling widely and holding hands. It didn’t take long before they were best friends. Leah remembered a night that had happened a few years after that.

“Ashley! Come back!” Leah shouted. She was running into the forest after her friend.
“Just run faster!” Ashley responded.

It was late, past midnight. The pair had snuck out of their houses to spend the short hours Leah had left in their hometown together. Ashley was devastated that her only friend was leaving but decided not to let it show. She wanted to make this night perfect.

They were only ten. Leah was moving away and hadn’t told anyone her reasoning, not even her best friend. Ashley stopped running in a clearing and turned back to her friend. She pushed her dark brown hair over her shoulder to her back and smiled at her friend.

“I don't want to leave.” Leah began to cry as she walked closer to her friend.
“It’s what you have to do,” Ashley weakley smiled at her friend.

Ashley hugged her friend gently with a sad smile. Leah melted into her warmth and coated the shoulder of the other girls nightgown in tears.

“Hey babe, is that your old friend?” Chris said warmly, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Yeah,” he had brought her away from the sweet memory.
“Ashley is still around this town somewhere, last I heard she made a new friend,” David spoke from the doorway, smiling at his daughter. “Sweetheart, could you nip to the store to pick up some groceriories? I would like to spend some time with Chris,”
“Yeah. Just give me a list and some money then I’ll head out.” she responded.

David held an envelope out for his daughter. She quickly crossed the room and took the envelope then went back to the hallway. It didn’t take Leah long before she put her boot back on with a coat and her scarf. “I’ll see you guys soon!” She shouted cheerfully then left.

She smiled as she walked through the snow. The shop she had in mind was closer to the centre of town then her family house. Leah pulled her scarf over the bottom part of her face as she walked and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

The young women would look down alleyways as she passed them and cross roads carefully. She noted to herself how much the town had changed, it didn’t feel as safe anymore. Maybe that was because she was older now and understood the way the world around her worked.

As she entered the store, she heard laughter from the back and sighed. There was always a drunk group here whenever she went there and the back of the store happened to be where she needed to go.

Leah headed quietly to the back of the store with her head down. The group stood right in the middle yet she hadn't noticed. She continued to walk until she walked directly into someone's back.

"Oh! I'm so sorry," she said, looking at her feet.

He turned to face her and so did the rest of his group.

"Oh shit. Look who messed up, what's your name girlie? I like to know who I'm beating up."