waiting out the storm

1. milton keynes?

4th january 2022

"mum i'm going out" i said. it's around 4pm.

"hon, i need you back home soon." she said.

"why?" i questioned.

"i've got a friend coming round. she may be bringing her daughter with her so i want you to be home" she said.

"which friend? becky? you know i don't like her. her daughter is so annoying. she follows me around and touches all my things in my room" i complained.

"no you don't know her. she was my best friend in high school. we just got back in contact" she said.

"oh. what's her name?" i asked.

"amanda. she's coming down from milton keynes" she said.

"milton keynes?" i questioned.

"yes hon. i was born in milton keynes. i met your dad in london and then we moved to manchester for his job" she said. i got teary at the mention of my dad.

he passed away last year. it was very hard for all of us but i think it affected me the most. i was always a daddy's girl. we did everything together.

he always had a soft spot for me and gave me everything i wanted but he was also firm with me when he needed to be.

he was in a car accident. it was late at night and some drunk drivers crashed into him. his car went spinning and hit into the fencing of the motor way and then flipped over. he didn't die straight away. they got him in an ambulance and on the way to the hospital he passed. they did everything they could but the injuries were too severe and they couldn't bring him back.

"you? you were born in milton keynes?" i questioned. i never knew that.

"yeah" she said. "are you going to pick ella up?"

"yeah i will" i said.

i left the house.

i went round to my friends house. i just needed to pick something up. then i went to get ella, my 13 year old sister from her friends house.

i knocked on the door and waited. it's quite cold and i forgot to bring a coat.

the door opened and ella came out.

"bye lisa" she said and we walked.

"can we get some ice cream or something?" ella asked. i raised an eyebrow.

"it's freezing el" i said.

"pleaseee" she said.

"fine" i sighed.

we went into a dessert shop.

"you sure you want ice cream? we can get a waffle or something" i said.

"yeah let's get a waffle" she said.

we ordered a waffle with strawberries and chocolate sauce.

we decided to get it as a take out and eat it at home.

me and ella are close. we're like best friends. i know that she really looks up to me. i work in media and do photography and ella always asks me about it. i think she wants to follow in my footsteps. she has never said it specifically and she would never admit to it to me but i can tell.

we were almost home and it started raining very heavily. we decided to run, trying not to get wet. that didn't go very well as the rain started hammering down.

we got to the door and i gave ella the waffle box. i got my keys from my pocket and started fumbling trying to find the right one to unlock our door.

"any day now" she said sarcastically.