Whispers of gold

Fluffy Hair And Groceries

Henry Kevin Crewshire |

His hand reaches forward and curls around the handle of the door. His breathing is uneven as he pushes the door open. A loud thud echoes out of the market as he sees a pale individual in overalls, with a fluffy mess of brown curls on top of their head.
"I'm sorry, my dude."
as he reaches down putting his hand out to help. The person looks up confused before noticing his offering. They take it with a small thanks looking at him curiously. As Henry pulls them up, they look up at him, taking him in for the first time. He looks young, no older than 20 years old. He can't tell how tall they are by eye, but they don't seem short at all. He notices that they're wearing an oversized shirt, probably from one of the clothes stalls there. Their arms were covered in freckles across their skin and his eyes traveled further up to rest on the face.
He's gorgeous.
The stranger's eyes widen slightly when they notice that Henry had noticed their arm tattoos.
"Your tattoos look nice."
"Uh…thank you?"
They stutter.
"My name is Henry, what's yours?"
"Toni." They reply quickly.
"Nice to meet you, Toni, I have to get back now, but next time we can hang out okay?"
Henry leaves the stall and walks back over to the food cart. He places the basket under his arm as he cruises the general store. Toni walks off with a basket of apples. Once again, he hears the bell above the door ring. This time, however, he doesn't turn. He keeps walking past the vegetable section. His eyes landed on a green apple, a perfect shade of green that reminded him of the where his mom would take him to practice shooting It looked almost as though it glowed, just like everything else here did. He places the apple in the bag along with the rest of his groceries.
Henry returns home, places the apples and oranges into the fruit bowl, and takes off his shoes and socks. He puts them away as quietly as possible. As he enters the kitchen he's with the memories of his mom in her dusty pink apron, covered in flour with a million-watt smile laughing away about something stupid dad had said. The pain of the memory embedded in the tears that roll down his face. He turns away, not wanting anyone to see him cry. He walks towards his room as the waterworks begin to flow once more.
After about half an hour of crying, Henry stops crying. He gets up and cleans himself up. When he gets changed he walks downstairs, trying to ignore the feeling of longing to go back to his childhood bedroom and sleep the day away.
Once in front of the fridge, he opens the door and grabs some milk from the fridge, pouring himself a glass before sitting on the island. He sips slowly, looking out the window. As he looks through the trees he watches the sunlight sparkle from the leaves. It reminds him of when he and his mom used to sit outside during lunchtime and look at the clouds. It was so beautiful. She would always talk about the different types of clouds and Henry always thought they sounded pretty. The sound of the front door opening greets his ears he didn't even have to look up to see who it was.
" Hi, dad how was work today?"
Henry asks trying to lighten the mood. The man smiles softly
"It went well kid, How was your day?"
Henry shrugs
"Same as usual. What brings you home at this time? Thought you said you wouldn't be in until later tonight?"
" Yeah well, got all the crop planted so decided I needed a break."
" That's good, you should take better care of yourself though."
He replies with another smile,
" I will.
Claude sighs heavily watching as Henry finishes setting things up at the stove and moves onto the counter. He sets down the pan and leans against the island. He stares off to the side while Henry stirs his food slowly.
" Are you hungry?" Henry asks suddenly.
" Not yet I'll eat when I finish up." He answers. He turns around looking at Henry and then at the clock.
" Okay, just make sure you eat something, I don't want to come in here after you tomorrow and find a burnt mess."
Claude chuckles at that
"I'll try. Thanks for making dinner, you saved me tonight."
Henry nods in response and starts heading upstairs.
" Goodnight, sweetheart.
Claude calls as Henry climbs the stairs.
"Night dad."
And disappears upstairs.
Henry lies awake staring at the ceiling listening to the noises his father made every night. He closes his eyes and tries to forget that tonight he has no intention of going to sleep. Instead, he listens to his father move around the house in the distance. He feels bad because the face he remembers when thinking about his mother doesn't feel the same. Like his mind is forgetting the details, like her deep smile lines, her brown eyes so bright in life. It hurts to imagine that she isn't smiling anymore. His hands curl into fists and his breathing picks up as tears begin to form in the corner of his eyes. Why does he keep imagining her being alive but still hurting inside? Why can't he stop seeing her?
There' was a moment, right before she died. Just a few seconds before she breathed her last breath. They'd been talking. He'd wanted to ask if she wanted to change anything about her life, would she? Before he could speak again, she collapsed into his chest coughing uncontrollably. He finally falls asleep his mind still fresh with the thought of his mother Cecilia.

Authors note * I don't know a lot about the western era but my grandma loved that stuff so I dedicated this to her love of westerns*

Mukasa kakonge as Henry Kevin crewshire in media