Leave it in the past

Chapter 1 - Back home

I remember it as if it was yesterday. The whispers, the hurtful comments, the intimidating stares. It's all stuck in my head, no matter how old I get, I'm still that scared kid. Sitting in my parent's living-room reminds me of that little kid. I'm 28 now and somehow this small town still seems to be the same. The same people still live here, they're just older.

"You know, most of them just grew older and got married and had a bunch of kids."

"You mean like you did?" I respond to my brother, Josh.

"Hey, I got a great job too and you love my kids."

"Yeah I do. I don't know if I turned out much better though."

"Of course you did. I mean look at you! You have an amazing job and you live in one of the most amazing cities in the world. People here know that... and I'm telling you, it's impressive."

"I don't know how you managed to stay here."

"This town is my home I guess. Couldn't bring myself to move away from it."

"It had its moments."

"Yeah it did."

Best part of being back home is the home cooked meals. My mother's waffles makes the mornings so much better. She used to make me and my brother waffles on Monday mornings. She said that it would give the week a good start. It also made it easier for her to get us out of bed and off to school. My brother got our mom's brains, whilst I got dad's artistry. 

We have some of his amazing nature paintings hung up on the walls. My favorite is the one in the kitchen where he made us throw paint on a canvas blindfolded, suffice to say that most of the paint ended up outside of the canvas. I can't remember a day where we all laughed so hard as we did that day. It's one of my best memories with my dad, not that there were many afterwards. He was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor when I was 16. Not long after that the doctors told us that he could have anything from six months up to a year, none of which was enough time.

After his passing I didn't care for much, except school. I was determined to do good and leave this small town, to be free and breath again. And so I did. For the longest time I didn't think I'd be back here. My mother visited me from time to time to see how I was doing. She still had my brother back home, even though he'd gotten married and had his own house. After the last time she came to see me I'd promised her to visit during the holidays. Work had piled up and leaving for thanksgiving was no longer an option. I decided to wait for Christmas and with my brother guilt tripping me for missing thanksgiving, I'd try to stay for a longer time.

Having the kids run around and laughing with everybody in the house felt nice. It was filed with life again and it made everything seem joyful. Well... almost everything. Christmas shopping is still the worst and grocery shopping with my mother can be everlasting. She says that you can never have enough food on the table during the holidays. Honestly with the amount of food my brother can fit in, she's not completely wrong.

"We need sweet potatoes, celery, cranberry jam, carrots and those yummy olives for the sallad."

"Is that the last things on your never ending list mom."

"I hope so, or else you'll have to run back here to get it."

"Great, can't wait to eat everything instead of carrying it."

"All good things come with patients."

"Does that include hunger, because I'm really hungry right now mom."

She laughs at me and takes the bag of potatoes and carrots from my arms to put them in the cart, leaving me with the jam and celery. Right then I see a familiar face approach us. As soon as I realize who it is I start to turn around to walk away quickly. My mother seems to also know the girl and greets her.