Falling Into Place

“I’ve got a plan. ”

“But Gi-Gi, that isn’t how you start stories!”

Melena pouted, looking up into her grandpa’s soft wrinkly face with a look full of discontent and annoyance.

“Not all stories begin like every other, and this is a special story that I’ll tell you.” He gently pointed out, choosing to pay no mind to the his grandaughters prickly tone, mistaking it for a simple enquiry about his word choice.

 Feeling agitated, Melena looked down instead Her snowball pom-poms bouncing against her leather boots. Grumbling, a bit upset she asked, “Well how’s that any more special than the others?”

Picking up a stray branch in the process, she dragged it behind her. Guilt weighed on her chest like a stone on a cat; heavy and bothersome. It had been a rough day at school for her. Though she would not say what was bothering her, you could see it in the way she looked at everything. How she stared at the people playing and laughing like there was something wrong with them.

               Taking note of his granddaughter’s sour attitude, he’d begun to think. To think of why and to think of how he could mediate the problem. He looked up to the sky in search of an answer. He was stressed about what he was to do, he looked to the sky. His usually dark eyes shone a warm taffy brown as he looked towards the clear November sky. All the leaves had fallen from the trees, leaving only hefty brown arms bear of all decoration.

“Look at that, such a wonderful blue sky out today is it not? Not a single puff in the sky.” Delight seeped through his words like chocolate ribboning off a spoon.

Silence.

Melena was lost in thought; a frown etched her face as she looked around at the other children playing at the park. Parents who had decided to come out this evening were chatting on benches or just watching their children from afar. Looking over, she had clutched her stick tightly not even noticing the biker that sped towards her, from which he could not slow down either.

He swiftly yanked her to the side, a few seconds before the biker swished by, only ringing his bell as a sign of apologies. If it weren't for his old age, he would have gone after him.

he old man had not begun to panic, he instead continued walking enjoying the cool brisk air that carried away all his worries.

At that moment Melena saw the strangest thing a man and a woman who came into view along the path. It was not the people themselves, but in fact, what they themselves were wearing. The man was wearing all green; the lady; red, and each had dressed from head to toe as such. They wore shades of deep forest green hunting caps to minty teal checkered sweaters, mahogany fuzzy bag to pale red lips respectively.

A monotoned matching couple is not something you see every day. Melena certainly did not see such a sight every day. The only person she knew of who wore such a style was Ruth Rose; who wasn’t even a real person herself but a character from her favorite book series the “A to Z Mysteries.” she thought to herself ‘why would they dress like that?’ To her, even just having a fuzzy bag with… A dog?! And a red dog.

She giggled, then smiled, forgetting that she was upset, if only for a bit. The girl looked to her grandpa to ask him why, grabbing his hand excitedly.

“Gi-Gi, Look!”

He looked down to find her eyes sparkling like diamonds on a beach, pointing towards the laughing couple, who were sitting on a blanket blue blanket unpacking their basket while their dog paced around excitedly; wagging his tail ready to play.

“Mhm,” he chuckled “I see, but it’s rude to point at others.” He remarked.

“Oh.” Mel frowned again; looking towards the leaves that crunched beneath her feet, “I’m sorry.”

Her lip trembled slightly. Melena stopped walking. She sat down on the pathway, legs out and fell. Tired and frustrated. She squeezed her eyes shut as a cold breeze drifted by, the events of the day playing out in her head.

“Mel.” His rough voice broke out through everything that spoke to her at that moment. She squeezed her eyes tighter, hoping that he would let her think. Think of why Kat did that. Think of why her parents were unfair to her. Arms out, she balled her fists trying to hold back the tears. ‘Big girls don’t cry. I’m fine, everything’s just a bit bad today I can handle it’

These thoughts circled around in her mind for who knows how long. And she laid there, holding back her tears against all the feelings that pricked her again and again.

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When she opened her eyes again, she felt warm. Cozy. The clatter of dishes and overlapping voices voices melded together with the smell of the warm food that made its way out of the kitchen. Yet his voice rang clearly above all the commotion.

“I see that you slept well Melena.” Her grandfather stated warmly, taking his eyes off his menu, he glanced up before setting it down on the table.

His tone was one she had heard on the occasion. It was the serious voice that he would use on important phone calls, or with the doctor during her checkups. His enormous hands folded, and his right thumb rubbed his hand; it was a habit he had formed that he only used when something of a serious manner came to his attention.

She looked down at the table too afraid to look at her grandfather, the stone in the pit of her stomach had started to hurt again.

“Morning,” she mumbled, her voice barely audible. A feeling of shame made the stone on her feel a thousand times heavier. The booth was the second away from the door, Mel sat in the seat facing away, with her grandfather, who held his hand up to signal for the waiter

of full-sized cakes, brownies the size of your fist and pizzas with gooey cheese and tomato sauce chock full of toppings from salami to olives all the way to chicken and extra peperoni. They didn’t only make pizza, but it was a Friday, the day with the highest amount of pizza sales. The made its way by as waiters and waitresses scurried to and frow across the diner, taking the tasty dishes to the customers. It was some time before he spoke again, breaking the bubble of silence that encased the pair.

“What’s wrong Melena? Did something happen at school?”

Silence. Melena’s lips trembled and eyes watered as she held her head down with shame and guilt. Knowing that she did nothing wrong made the hurt ache even more. She wanted to tell her grandfather what happened, but…

“Mel.” It was more stern this time.

She looked up; tears leaking from her face. She opened her mouth to talk, but all that came out was a croak of an I. She cried. It was a loud ugly cry, one that screamed for help to save her from the feelings that weighed in her heart.

Her grandfather got up and crouched beside her booth.

“Would you like to go outside for a bit?” He asked, just as calm as ever, his words softened to one that spoke eons of comfort and safeness.

Not waiting for an answer, he picked her up and carried her to the door. They got looks of annoyance from some of the customers that they passed. The grandfather’s only response to this was to pat and rib her back, never minding the tears that soaked his shirt through. The bell jingle and the wind whistled a chilling welcome as a greeting for the night.

Minutes passed before she calmed down enough. Head throbbing, she held on tight, too tired to try and fight her way to the ground. The sun’s bright gaze held no warmth as it went down and it was rare for her to get held like this anymore, she was getting too big for such things but….

“I’m… Sorry Gi-Gi”

A pause, maybe a lapse in time, she squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her hands tight.

“Mel look, the sun wants to say goodbye.”

“What?” She whipped her head around to find that the sky had been darkening at a steady pace. Red, then orange, then Purple and Deep blue, all weighing down on the suns yellow blaze. Soon, there was nothing more left other than a deep black sky. The diner’s light beamed down upon them showing the old man’s cocky grin.

“I don’t know what happened today. And you don’t have to tell me, but.”

Setting her down and patting her head, he smiled again. Wiping the tears from her face with his hand.

“Just know that if you ever need to talk about anything, no matter how small. It could be about your favorite tv show, a fight you had with a friend, or even something you’re scared to say aloud. I will listen as long as I’m here.”

“Yeah.” A smile spread across her face. Even if she was tired and hungry, she felt relieved to hear those words.

“Let’s go inside, and order something before we go, alright.”

Melena took the lead, pulling open the door to Starview Diner.