Good Morning

It has been eight days, twelve hours and five minutes since Derek had received the text. He looked up from his watch, as he stood in line at Greg’s Pizzeria, the only pizza restaurant in the city of Waterloo that opened this early in the morning. The restaurant couldn’t have been larger than his college dorm room and reeked so hard of pizza he thought he could taste the grease with every breath he took. There was silence apart from an Indian soap opera playing from a cracked television, and the restless foot taps coming from Derek’s feet. 

In line in front of him, an old couple had spent the last fifteen minutes deciding on what to order. The old woman marvelled at the menu, staring in wonder as if it were a work of art. She was short, with curly white hair, like that of an amalgamation of cotton balls. Derek anxiously looked up and down from his watch. He couldn’t be late because of these old farts. Today he was going to see Carmen. 

“The pepperoni sounds lovely” the old woman finally said in a proud tone.

The middle-aged man at the counter took a deep breath as he walked towards the back of the shop, with about as much life as a slug on hot pavement. He returned with a small box of pizza.

“OHHH, how lovely!” the old woman exclaimed as she took a deep whiff of the pizza box, the smell of hot and fresh pepperoni simmering the air. “Isn’t she so beautiful?” She said gleaming at who seemed to be her husband.

In that moment the man at the counter couldn’t help but crack a smile for a brief second, before taking their payment. Derek merely scoffed at this nonsensical sight.

The old man held the pizza box in one hand and the old woman’s arm in the other, guiding them as if worried she’d somehow get lost on the way out of the restaurant.

Derek hurried to the front of the line, “Can I get some breadsticks to go?” Breadsticks were Carmen’s favourite.

The man at the counter raised an eyebrow paired with a confused smile. “You again? You must really love these breadsticks?” He said chuckling. “Kids these days don’t value their parent’s hard earned money” the man say under his breath. Derek furrowed his brow and bit his tongue. Like it was any of this guy’s business as to why Derek has been coming to this restaurant for breadsticks every morning for the past five days. Without another word, Derek paid the man, snatched his breadsticks and bolted outside of the restaurant.

Derek jogged toward the main lake in Waterloo Park, a place that was exclusively Carmen and his spot, and any other couples who visited were mere intruders on their territory. Carmen loved it when Derek was late, just so she can hold his tardiness against him. He was already able to vividly envision the face she’d give him when he finally did arrive; an exaggerated eyebrow raise with a sly smile, like a sneaky raccoon. He hoped her pitch black hair would be tied up in a bun, as it gave her a cute librarian look that complemented her thick framed glasses. Carmen couldn’t comprehend how being called a librarian was even in the same stratosphere of being a complement, so she intentionally wore her hair long just to spite Derek. 

Derek arrived at the park bench that faced the glistening lake, only to find it empty. He looked at his watch. He smirked, turns out he’d have the last laugh when she comes running late. He sat on the left side of the bench, placing his breadsticks beside him. The bench has always held a special place in Derek’s heart. He’d never forget his first kiss with Carmen on this bench, where she accidentally snorted while laughing at their combined shy awkwardness. She was the only person he could appreciate a snort from. There’s no one else who could smile the way she did. He sat in silence, the sun glistened from high above with clear blue skies. Birds could be heard celebrating the first day of Summer, while laughter emitted from children riding their bikes. Derek’s breath became heavy, as he slowly frowned. What a terrible, god-awful, good for nothing day. 

“OHHHH!!” Came a shriek from a field near Derek. 

Derek jerked his head toward the noise only to find the old couple from the pizza restaurant. The old lady had accidentally dropped a slice of pepperoni pizza on the grass. The old man looked at her in awe, like watching a child learn to walk. Derek groaned. Somehow this day had gotten worse. 

It has been eight days, thirteen hours and 31 minutes since he received the news. Derek sat slouched in the park bench, cold breadsticks by his side. Carmen wouldn’t be this late unless if it were something important. Her family depended on her as her mother had become quite ill as of late, so she’s probably caught up with some chores. He’d be nice to her today and only mildly give her a hard time for being the tardy one for once. Lost in thought, Derek hadn’t noticed a gosling had walked up to him. When he finally noticed, he jerked back, scaring the gosling a few steps back. Derek couldn’t stand animals, especially one as ugly as this gosling, the awkward middle stage of a goose that illustrated why nobody misses puberty. Carmen loved animals, especially birds. She probably would try and find the beauty in something even this monstrous. The gosling’s eyes gleamed toward the breadsticks and she began walking over toward them with a child-like smile.

“Get out of here! Shoo!” said Derek as he waved his hands in front of the gosling. The gosling ran back, offended and conjured up a hiss that of like a snake. Two-faced bastard. 

“What a lovely ducky!” Came a voice to the left of Derek. He looked over to see the old lady walking toward him, her eyes fixated on the gosling. 

Without asking, she sat on the bench beside Derek. She began waving at the gosling with a huge grin on her face, like a clown at a children’s birthday party. The gosling’s only response was to walk in a circle. It seemed to be enough of a response for the old lady as she clapped her hands. 

“Hey listen lady, that seat is taken so can you find another bench to sit on?” 

The old lady turned toward Derek. It was the first time he’d seen her crooked smile, over half of her teeth missing. He had no idea how this woman could speak, let alone eat a pizza. 

“I think she is hungry” the old lady whispered to Derek, as if it were top secret information others couldn’t discover. 

Derek paused. Then he rolled his eyes and opened up the bag of breadsticks. Maybe this lady will leave him alone if he fed the damn bird. He broke a piece of the breadstick and held it out to the gosling. The gosling, initially suspicious of the gesture, eventually grabbed the breadstick with its beak and began chewing. 

“OH WOW!” The old lady said, her hands clapping once more. “I think the bread is her favourite.”

The gosling had a proud smile on its face, as if waiting for an applause for eating bread. Derek didn’t know that birds could smile the way she did. He stared at the bird, a certain familiarity radiating from the way she carried herself. Comforted by her presence, Derek longed for the gosling to stay. As if she could hear his thoughts, the gosling smugly turned around and flew into the lake, light glistening in the ripples around her. There was no chance for a goodbye. Derek and the old lady sat in silence.

It has been eight days, fourteen hours and two minutes since everything had gone so wrong. Derek stared at the lake, the gosling was out of sight, but he still clung onto hope that she might come back. A sinking feeling weighed his heart down. 

“I think she’s gone” he mustered up, breaking the silence.

The old lady laughed cheerfully. “No, no, no. Of course you will see her again.”

“I don’t think I can” he replied, his voice choking on his words. 

“Of course you can’t!” The old lady replied laughing. She leaned towards Derek. “You can’t see her because she is flying so high in the sky. She can see you, but you can’t see her!” She found this sentiment to be quite amusing. She repeated this to herself as she smiled toward the sky. 

“Do you think she knows what a beautiful day it is today?” Derek asked, looking up into the sky. 

There was silence. The old lady stared into the distance with a blank expression. Derek shuffled nervously, trying to steady his breath. 

The old lady nodded slowly. “Yes, what a good morning it is.”

Derek could feel the warm sun hug his skin. He closed his eyes and thought about what the last good morning of his life would be like. If he would even know it would be the last. 

More goslings approached Derek and the old lady. What beautifully ugly creatures they were. The old lady widened her eyes as Derek handed her the bag of breadsticks, a single tear running down his cheek. 

“Good morning.”