Light in an Empty Home

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Aurora's pale blue eyes focused on the large oak door that had not accepted a visitor since the accident five years prior. She was sprinkling homemade garlic seasoning on fresh broccoli she picked up the day before from the Eagle River farmer's market. Outside her kitchen window, the sun glistened high above the snow-capped Chugach mountains.

Her house was not anything special, but it did the job. The two-story cabin, once full of energy, sat in silence at the top of Grizzly Drive. She remembered the days when John would be outside at 6:00 AM firing up his Husqvarna chainsaw as he roamed the two acre property looking for a project to conquer.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

An intense memory of the policemen sprung to the front of Aurora's mind as she heard the knuckles slowly pound on the wooden door. In an attempt to avoid social interaction, Aurora crept upstairs to her bedroom window to see who was the culprit of the knocks.

The front yard was rather barren since John was no longer around. The patchy lawn had not been mowed in weeks and many of the pine trees had begun to wither away as the unusually dry summer wreaked havoc on the Alaskan landscape. Beside the driveway, the family totem pole sat in gloom with years of dirt hiding the once vibrant colors of the spirits. The front porch consisted of three dark green Adirondack chairs that owned hundreds of summer memories under the midnight sun.

As Aurora scanned the front of the house, she noticed a tall and lanky teenage boy wearing a football t-shirt, awkwardly standing outside her door. His legs anxiously trembled as he peaked in the front window and waited for an answer. His thick brown hair and rigid facial structure reminded her of what Chip would have looked like when he made it to high school.

Typically, Aurora would have just stayed locked away in her room until the stranger gave up trying to reach her, but this time she did not.

"What are you doing? Don't answer the door", Aurora thought to herself as she cautiously treaded down the stairs and turned the corner to the large oak door shielding her from the pain of the outside world.

Her hand slowly extended as she gripped the cold chrome knob and began twist. She had forgotten how heavy the front door was as she gave it a violent pull backwards, allowing sunlight to invade her empty home.

Creeeeeeeeeek.

As her eyes adjusted to the influx of light, she noticed the boy standing on her porch give an uneasy smile as he struggled to make eye contact.

"Hi, my name's Jay and I...I...I play football for South Anchorage High School." he stammered as his eyes remained locked on his white Converse tennis shoes. "Would...would you like to buy a coupon book to support the team this year? We're going to use the money to buy...buy new gear for the team." he said as he pointed to his black t-shirt with cigarette holes in the armpits and letters peeling off the front. It was obvious he had spent hours rehearsing these lines.

An overwhelming sense of sadness overtook Aurora as she imagined Chip walking door to door selling coupon books for the Wolverines. She remembered him running around the now barren front yard with John, pretending to be Jerry Rice; catching passes left and right in his bright yellow Nike football cleats while dodging the pines. He would always energetically tell Aurora about his ambitions to start on the varsity team as a freshman and eventually earn a full scholarship to play at the University of Southern California.

"Ma'am, do you mind if we come in to talk?", the police officer and his partner had a look of dread on their faces as they entered the house to tell her John and Chip had been found near a patch of fireweed about twenty miles off their trail in Eagle River. No one quite knew what happened that led them so far away from their path, but it was apparent they had run out of crucial supplies fairly quickly.

"So.....so do you want a coupon book?"

Aurora snapped out of her daydream. "Uh yeah, lemme get my wallet. Can I get you a drink? I have some Pepsi in the fridge."

"Yes ma'am. That would...would be great." Jay muttered as he followed Aurora through the large front door and into the home.

"So tell me. What grade are you in, Jay?

"Uh, I'm a freshman."

"Oh, that's exciting. You know, my son would have been a senior this year. He always dreamed of playing for the Wolverines." The words spilled out as she immediately regretted bringing up Chip.

"Oh...umm...yeah. It's cool to be on the team I guess. The older guys are really nice to me." Jay replied with his usual awkwardness. "Where is your son now?"

"Oh, he's just with his dad." Aurora replied to keep the conversation from becoming awkward.

Aurora could not help but to have a motherly love for Jay as she imagined herself sliding the shiny, blue Pepsi can across the black marble counter top to Chip. She remembered the quirkiness of Chip as he was going through puberty and how similar Jay was to him. From the patchy facial hair, the gangly arms and legs, and the untimely whiteheads; all she could think about was her son who spread joy and energy through the house.

"Well, umm, I'm sure you have a lot of houses to stop at still so I'll let ya go." Aurora said as she handed Jay a wrinkled ten dollar bill.

"Uh, okay....thanks...thanks a lot ma'am." Jay said as he bumped his shoulder on the door frame.

Aurora stood at the door and watched the lanky boy in his worn out t-shirt lunge up her driveway with his coupons in one hand and a Pepsi in the other. Jay did not know it, but his visit to the dilapidated house on Grizzly live gave a woman hope.

*************

"He's at the forty, the thirty, the twenty, the ten. TOUCHDOWN TROJANS!", the television roared as Jay scored his second touchdown of the day for the University of Southern California.

Six years had passed and Aurora sat in her empty home every Saturday, watching Jay in his cardinal red jersey and gold pants run up and down the field as thousands cheered. The fans saw a strong, muscular football player with incredible speed while she remembered the awkward boy standing outside her front door with a handful of coupons. The house felt a little less empty those days.