Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

“I do not want to go!” Alexandra yells. “I don’t want to leave the farm now, not tomorrow, never!”

“But honey, you always complain about all the chores, smells and animals.” Mrs. Arynn says. “You said you wanted to go to the city. So that is what we are doing. Come on, go say goodbye to your grandparents. We will leave in about ... 7 minutes.”

Alexandra sighs silently. “Did I complain that much?” she thought for herself.

“Goodbye, grandmother. I’ll miss you so much! It’s been so fun here…” Alexandra gave her grandmother a big goodbye hug.

“Goodbye, my dear. Please come visit me soon!” Alexandra’s grandfather passed away when she was 7 years old. Alexandra (also known as ‘Al’ or ‘Alex’) is now 14 years old. She never really knew her grandfather, nor her father.

“Would you like a snack for the ride?” Al’s grandmother whispers to her. “Maybe a pack of cookies or some lollies? I have a lot considering I don’t have a lot of grandchildren.”

“No, thanks. All I need is a last hug.”

“Aw... come here.”

Al gave her a big goodbye hug. “Goodbye!”

“Al! It’s time to go! Get your camera from upstairs so that we can leave.” Her mother says.

“Oh! Right… Almost forgot it.” Al quickly runs upstairs and opens a drawer. “What? I thought I left it in here…” Al looks everywhere but can’t seem to find it. “Oh, well. Mother must’ve packed it already and just haven’t noticed it yet.”

“Goodbye!”

“Have a wonderful year, my darling!”

“You, too!”

The Next Day

“Mother, are we there yet? We’ve been driving for like 6 hours!” Xander wailed.

“Oh, we only have half an hour’s drive left. You just wait,” says Mrs. Arynn. “Please get yourself something to do. Then the time will go by sooner than you know.”

“Fine…” sighs Xander.

“Mom! Mom! I see the city! It shouldn’t be 4 minutes or so then we’ll be there!” Al cries.

A few minutes later

“Whoa! This place is bigger than I thought!” Xander exclaimed.

“That is the great thing about the city,” Mrs. Arynn says.

“Wow! Now I see why I wanted to go to the city! It is lovely!” Al said in admiration. “I wonder what kind of food they have here!

“Okay kids, are you ready to see our new house?”

“Of course we are, Mother!” Xander and Alexandra shout.

The car stops at a beautiful modern house. It is really small but looks very, very cozy. They go into the house and all of them exclaim: “Wow!”.

“Wow! This place is amazing! Okay, kids, go explore the house and find your rooms. This house has five bedrooms, so you have a lot of options.” Mrs. Arynn says. “Oh, and remember, the bedroom on the second floor is mine!”

Al laughs, “Yeah, okay, Mother!”

Al walks in at the first floor’s master bedroom and gasps. “This is so my room! I love this place!” It has purple plush cushions with a double bed and a big mirror stand.

“Mother! Come look!” Al shouted to her mom.

“What honey? Is something wrong?” Her mother came running.

“I found the perfect bedroom!” Al says.

“Oh, sweetie! It’s perfect.” Her mom hugs her tightly. “We are going to have a very happy life here.”

Eight Years Later:

Alexandra Marries Michael And They Have A Son, John.

“John! Wake up, honey. You are going to be late for school.”

“Mom! I don’t want to go to school yet. I need more sleep!” John groans.

“Then you should consider going to sleep earlier at night.”

“Hey, Al! Do you know where my keys are?” asks Michael.

“Have you looked in your pockets?” Alexandra laughs.

“Of course!” Michael laughs. “Thank you, honey. Well, I’m off to work. Bye, John!”

“Bye, Daddy! Have a nice day!” John says.

The next day

“John, do you want to go visit your grandmother?” Al asks John.

“Ooh! Yes, Mommy! I’d love to!”

“All right. Michael, can you please help John get his things packed. I’m going to give Mother a quick call to tell her we are coming to visit.”

“Sure, Al.” Michael went off with John to help him pack.

‘Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring!”

“Good morning, Mother. How is it going at the farm?”

“My Alex! It is going slow, but Bob, our neighbour insisted on helping me and Ann feed the cattle and water the crops. He is such a sweet man…”

“That is good to hear. Well, we are on our way to come to visit you! We just finish packing. We will be there at least at 5:30. I can’t wait to see you and Mother again. Bye!”

“See you, my Alex dear.”

*click!*

“Alexandra, do you know where John’s bathing suit is? I can’t find it anywhere.”

“Look in the dryer. I did laundry this morning.” Al answers him.

“Okay, thanks, honey.”

A few minutes later

“Okay, are we ready? Michael, we need to go to the airport. Otherwise, we’ll have to drive for 7 hours. On the plane, it will only take us 2-3 hours.”

“We are ready! Vroom Vroom!”John squeals with delight.

“Oh, John” Al laughs, “At the farm, there will be many adventures and surprises, but also lots of chores and work to do.”

“I’m so excited, Mommy!” John says. “This is going to be the best summer ever!” He says while smiling and laughing.

“It sure will!” Michael says while starting the engine.

The family is singing together.

A few hours later

“John! Sweetie, wake up, darling. We’re at the farm.” Al gently shakes him.

He doesn’t wake up. Al tickles him and gently pokes him, “Come on,” she laughs, “You need to wake up to meet your greatgrandmother and grandmother!”

“Mommy! Are we there?” he yawns.

“Yes, we are at Mable Farm! Come on sweetie, please get out of the car, then we’ll go meet Grandmother.”

“My Alex! You have made it!” Mrs. Arynn exclaims with delight. Al hugs her tightly.

“Oh, Gramms, it is so good to see you! How are you?”

 The old women can not hear very well anymore.

“Alexandra? I-is that you?” Gramms said weakly.

“Yes, Gramms. I’m Alexandra, your grandchild.” Al says, crying happy tears. She rushes to Gramms and hugs her.

“Come inside. We have freshly-baked muffins and some coffee for tea,” Mrs. Arynn says.

“If I may, can I show John around?”

“Sure, darling. Go ahead” Mrs. Arynn answers.

“Oh, John! There is so much to see! Follow me.” Al grabbed his hand and ran towards the well.

“I remember when I lived here I’d go every morning to get water from this well. And sometimes, I threw a penny inside for good luck.”

“Wow! Can I try it, Mommy?” John asks his mother.

“Sure, here.” She gives him a penny. John stands at the well and lets the penny fall inside the water. Suddenly swans come “HONK!” in the river. “Mother! Mother! I throw the penny inside and swans come in sight! It works!” John squeals in delight.

“It works …” Al sighs in astonishment.

“Mommy! Look at that big tree!” John exclaims.

“The tree … It still stands…” Al breaths.

“I remember that we had our finest tea inside there every Sunday. It was amazing.  We had cake, muffins, hot cocoa and sandwiches.”

“Wow!” John really likes the farm. He plays with the dogs, helps watering the crops, and feeding the cattle. He helps a lot.

And Al, her head has been filled with memories…

A few days later

“Mother, Michael and I,” Al smiles widely. “We sold our house in the city!”

“What? Why? I thought you love it there!” Mrs. Arynn says angrily.

“We want to stay here! With you and Gramms! John loves it here, and he even made a wish to stay here.” Al smiles.

“What? Really? Oh! My Alex! Thank you so much!” Mrs. Arynn cries in delight.

“John! Sweetie, we are going to move in with grandma and great-grandma!” Al says to him.

“Wheeeeee! Fun! Fun!” John squeales.

They have a basic life, but the whole family is together.

Family is life.

Author: Elme Steyl (11 years old)

South Africa

Words: 1,369