Writing Prompt: The stars were bright.

Morning all. Time once again for the morning writing prompt. So set the timers for fifteen minutes and lets see what comes wiggling out.

I like the idea of a quiet person knowing a big secret. Not sure what it is yet, but I like it.

Thursday, September 4^th: The stars were bright.

The stars were bright.  With the lack of moon tonight they looked like the sky was hung with black velvet, pin pricks of light showing through.  Ella lay back against the grass.  The earth was still warm from the sun’s heat, but the air cooled the grass so the blades felt chilled against her skin.  It was the in between season.  Summer was over, but the days were still warm.  Autumn had not yet arrived but the evenings were starting to cool.  It was the time of year where people actually spent time outside bit in the day and after dark. 

Inhaling deeply she could not only smell the scent of the sun warmed dirt and green-ness of the yet to be winter dried grass but the lingering aromas of barbeque grills.  At least three of her neighbors had cook outs this weekend.  Each were large family affairs with laughter and the occasional argument spilling out. 

The Andersons next door had been interesting to overhear as they went about their family gathering.  They were overly polite to everyone to make up for the multitude of arguments that cropped up.  In between the arguments there were poisonously polite comments, backhanded complements meant to slide under people’s skin. 

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson kept trying to keep it polite.  Their desire was not just for family harmony but as three weeks prior the Wilson’s family gathering spiraled out of control and devolved into a fight where the police had to be called.  The entire neighborhood was still talking about it and Ella knew Mrs. Anderson didn’t want to teak the Wilson’s place as the event gossiped about. 

They managed to make it through the event without violence erupting and once everyone was cleared out they collapsed on the porch with glasses of wine and decided that next year someone else would have to host. 

Ella knew she wasn’t supposed to listen it.  She didn’t mean to.  She liked laying on the grass and watching the sun go down as the dark overtook the light in the sky.  She liked watching the colors change and shift before the darkness descended and then she liked looking at the stars.  She didn’t intend to eavesdrop on her neighbors, they just tended to not think anyone was there unless they could see or hear them.  Ella was quiet and to see her they would have to actually peer over the fence and into the yard. 

Admittedly it wasn’t just the neighbors who tended to forget Ella was there.  Inside her own house conversations slipped out of the windows and into her ears.  They were open now to air out the house and refresh it before the colder weather arrived.  She knew her parents and siblings knew she was there but like everyone else, if they didn’t see her moving or hear her talking, they tended to forget she existed. 

She never intended to eavesdrop but often learned things.  Sometimes they were things she would rather not know.  At the moment she was turning over a piece of information she knew she wasn’t supposed to have and wasn’t entirely certain what to think or do about it.