Morning all. Internet is spotty this morning and has gone down twice so I am going to just jump in. Fifteen Minutes and lets see what we get.
I like this. Lots of different elements to play with.
Tuesday, January 27th: He kissed my forehead.
He kissed my forehead. I pretended to be asleep, keeping my breathing steady and even. I cracked my eyelids slightly as he shifted away. He smiled softly, pleased I hadn’t woken up. He turned and left the room as silently as he arrived.
I felt a deep foreboding.
My grandfather had never been a demonstrative man. His smiles were a mere twitching of the lips. His displeasure a twitch in the opposite direction. He kept his arms down and his hands close to his body. Even when eating, his elbows were tucked in, one hand on his lap while the other lifted the fork to his lips in a steady rhythm. Only when he needed to use his knife did his second hand emerge.
He did not hug. He did not kiss. He did not pat anyone’s shoulder companionably.
That morning he kissed my forehead. I felt my heart rate increase, fear rising at the gentle action. I felt the sudden urge to run to him, ask him for an explanation. I sat up, all pretense of sleep gone. I gripped the coverlet but before I could shift it aside, I heard the front door. It opened with a soft whoosh and closed a heart beat later. The soft click sounded harsh, final.
I lay back down, slipping once again beneath the warmth of the blankets. He was gone now. Calling him back would be pointless. I took several deep breaths and tried to talk myself out of my fear. Ther was no reason to fear, was there?
Grandfather often took early morning walks. I looked to the window, curtains still drawn against the night. Around the edges there was a lightening to the cloth. ‘Eastern side,’ I realized. With my window placement the right side of the cloth was lighter in the morning. By the time my alarm went off the sun would be up enough that the line would be much wider than it was now.
‘Still not too early for one of his walks.’
I tried to settle back down but that kiss bothered me. It was out of character. Alien. As I lay there staring at the ceiling, I thought about his sad smile. Then I blinked and sat up. Cold air rushed under my blankets, washing my sleep warm skin and making the thin material of my pajamas feel less substantial than tissue paper.
He was wearing his hiking gear.
Grandfather and his friends survived the great schism that transformed our world. While enough time passed that they no longer felt the need to have all the gear they needed for survival within arms reach, all of them had what we jokingly referred to has hiking gear. They went out a few times a month so the gear was well worn and actively used. We all pretended the items they took with them were normal for a hike and were pleased they no longer needed to carry them daily.
Ten til Midnight 