Sea of Daisies

I woke up around 8:00 am today. And as you know I'm not much of a morning person, so getting out of bed isn't exactly a skill of mine. The purple quilt Jemma made me before she passed has a way of holding me to the mattress for much longer than I'd like. But I suppose it doesn't really matter these days; I'm not in a rush to do anything. Anyway, I would have liked to sleep in but I had left the window to my bedroom cracked open last night and it was too cold to convince myself that getting out of bed was the right choice. I don't know why the window was

open, I have a rule that I close and lock every entry into this house, no exceptions. I must be getting old.

After I finally got out of bed I made some breakfast. The usual peanut butter on a toasted english muffin. Actually a funny thing happened when I went to take my pills afterwards. Cindy, my aide, has been on my case about taking them lately. And I suppose I've been forgetting to more often as there was a note on the mirror in the bathroom reminding me. She must have snuck in there before she left the night prior. If I had forgotten I'm certain I would be in trouble when she came by this afternoon. But I digress.

It was crisp outside, cold, slight breeze and thin air. So rather than go out on the porch like I would during the warm months, I decided to sit in and read my book, "Sekret Machines" by Tom DeLonge and AJ Hartley. Of course my bookmark was in the wrong place, but I was able to find the right page and continue from there. It's a long novel so it's taken me some time to get through it, but I'm close to finishing.

Around noon my eldest son James came over for lunch. Together we made sandwiches and now I don't remember what kind but it did remind me of the time Jemma and I had a picnic in a field full of yellow daisies. James hadn't heard this story, it happened before he was born actually, when his mother and I were still dating. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, she was vegetarian so ham and cheese was off the table. The weather was clear, a slight breeze, it truly was a perfect day. I told James about it, about the day we got engaged. It's my favorite story. I tried describing her to him but Jemma always dyed her hair, I couldn't recall what color it was at that moment. One thing I did remember was the sun bouncing off her golden brown eyes as Jemma sat in on a blanket in a sea of daisies. It was nice to tell that story to James, I'm excited to hear a story of his own like that someday.

My boy is doing well though, or so he told me. He had just been promoted a few days now and has taken on a lot more responsibility at work. I'm proud of him and how far he has come these past few years. I know he's busy, but I wish he was able to come by more often rather than once every few weeks. I'm too old and sickly to drive to him, but the holidays aren't too far and then I'll be able to see him more frequently for a while.

After lunch and some chitchat James headed back home. And shortly before the afternoon became night Cindy stopped by as she usually does. She helped me lay out my clothes for the next day and go over the pills I need to take in the morning. But of course she left a note on the mirror to be sure I remembered. And really that's all that happened today. It was a short day, mostly uneventful, but it was a good day. One for the books!

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Leopold closed his journal and sat up from his desk, blowing out the candle as he massaged his cramped wrist. He was never good at writing for such long periods of time. It was close to 9 o'clock, which meant the elderly man did his last rounds, turning off all the lights and checking all the locks. The house was cozy, but Leo preferred the cold, it helped him fall asleep. And so, as he does every night, Leo opened the window just a crack, enough to cool off the room but not so much that it allowed the outside air to completely dominate the temperature indoors. The window in his bedroom was his only exception to his rule of locking all the entrances to the house. Jemma used to always make fun of him for being paranoid, but he just saw it as being cautious.

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Leo woke around 8:00 am as usual. He was cold because of the window he had left open the night before. He pulled the purple quilt closer to his chin trying to keep warm and cursed himself for being so forgetful. Eventually he felt awake enough to pull himself out of bed and close the window to start his daily routine. First going to the kitchen to make some toast; wheat bread with butter, cinnamon, and sugar as he does every day. After eating his small breakfast he made his way to the bathroom and chuckled as he saw a note his aide had left him. She was always adamant about him taking his pills.

The old man finished getting dressed and made his way to the glass door that lead to the porch. Through the door he could see a dim sunlight muted behind clouds. The grass leaned out of the way of leaves that danced in the wind. Leo knew it would be too cold to spend time on the porch today. Instead, he grabbed his book, Tik Tok by Dean Koontz, and made his way to the living room. Leo sat down and got comfortable, knowing he had a few hours to kill. He opened his book to the mark he had left in place and began reading. Only a few sentences passed before he realized he didn't know what was going on in the story. Frustrated, the old man flipped backwards through the pages until he found a scene he recognized. He was about halfway through the book but had all the time in the world to read.

A few hours later Leo was startled by the doorbell ringing, it was too early for Cindy to come by. She's been Leopold's aide since before Jemma died. He placed the book mark towards the end of the novel where he left off and made his way to the door. Skeptical, he creaked it ajar.

"How can I help you?" Leo asked the man standing in the doorway.

"I'm coming over for lunch, like always." replied his grandson, Kyle.

Leopold's face changed from confusion to joy, "James, my boy, how are you? Come on in."

Kyle looked towards the ground while following his grandfather into the kitchen as he had everyday for the past 3 or 4 years. Reaching into the cupboard Kyle grabbed the bread and peanut butter as he retold Leopold about the promotion he had gotten a few weeks ago.

The duo began to craft their lunch as the elder looked up from the counter and said, "You know, this reminds of the time I proposed to Jemma. Did I ever tell you that story?"

Kyle paused before replying, "No, I don't think so."

With a huge smile on his face Leopold chuckled, "Well it was before you were born, that's for sure. We had gone for a picnic in this field just full of yellow daisies. And she had. . . well I don't remember the color of her hair actually, you know your mother she was always dyeing it. But she had these golden brown eyes in a sea of daisies. . . "