Nostalgia

o3.oo

1 9 6 2

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Soon enough the hot weather had returned to San Fernando Valley. The air was thick and still. Even the birds seemed to think it was too hot to chirp as cheerfully as they did on normal days.

Annette's grandpa was sitting at their small table in the little kitchen. His silver framed glasses were rested low on his nose and his pale blue eyes skimmed the newspaper skillfully. He took fruitful sips of his cold lemonade. He had a bit of a potbelly, but he still got around really well. At least for being sixty four.

Annette skipped over to the round wooden table and sat in the other chair. She rested her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm. "Grampa?"

"Mhm?" he hummed, not taking his eyes off the paper.

"Are we going to do anything today?"

He folded up his reading material and slid off his glasses, folding them and placing them on the wooden tabletop. "We sure are, darling. Go get that dog of yours and we'll head into town."

Annette's eyes lit up and she smile. She sprang out of her chair. "Okay!" She ran outside to find the stray dog under the caravan. It wasn't technically her dog, but it always seemed to hang around her home.

"Hi, Roach," she cooed to the tan dog. His tail wagged and he crawled up to her. She pet along his black snout and his head, which had black fur set sparsely about. Just like his tail had black fur traced in a line down the enter and his ears were just barely tinted black.

He sat at her feet and licked her loving hands. "Come on, boy," she told him sweetly, leading him through the front door.

Her grandpa had his car keys ready and they bounded into his faded red pickup truck. He never locked it, so they just hopped right in after they put Roach in the bed of the truck.

"Where we heading, Gramps?" Annette asked, opening the little window in the center of the three behind them.

Grampa leaned over and pulled a nice leather collar from the glove compartment. He handed it to his granddaughter. "We're going to Moby's so I can get a hair cut, and then we'll see about getting your dog a name tag."

Annette smiled. "Thanks!" she exclaimed as they started driving downtown. The ride was quiet, but enjoyable, with the windows down and the wind dancing in their ears.

They reached Moby's Barber Shop and Annette's grandpa went into the building. Moby was a nice man. He always seemed to have some kind of new story to tell and new jokes to make you smile. He was probably in his sixties, just like Grampa. His dark skin was leathered and his curly hair was more gray than black.

Annette sat outside the brick building on an old bench. She tapped her feet and hummed the tune of some song she couldn't name. She watched Roach sunbathe in the bed of the truck.

She liked when things were like this. She liked hearing the birds chirp and watching people walk by. She was amazed by the idea that everyone had their own thoughts and were in their own little words. She liked when things were peaceful.

She averted her attention to the door as she heard the little bell on it ring, indicating someone was exiting the building. She leaned forward and peered around the faded brick wall. Her eyes met the dark cyan eyes of a familiar boy.

She felt her heart jump a little and her cheeks heated up when she made eye contact with Alan. She didn't know why. Maybe it was because she didn't know him very well.

Meanwhile, Alan's breath hitched and he stopped in his tracks for a split second. His grip on the baseball he was holding tightened. He smiled and sat beside her.

"Hi, Annette," he greeted with a nonchalant grin as he tossed the baseball up and down.

She smiled back and nervously tapped her index finger against the metal armrest of the bench. "Hi Alan."

He let out a short chuckle and said, "You can call me Yeah-Yeah."

She wanted to hide. How embarrassing! Hi Alan. How lame was that! She knew he preferred to be called Yeah-Yeah, had told her, after all. She knew her cheeks were rosy.

"Right. Yeah-Yeah," she corrected herself awkwardly.

An uncomfortable silence set and they could both feel their insides crawl. Annette searched every nook of her brain for something to say. Yeah-Yeah's eyes grazed the younger girl. The corners of his lips tugged upwards.

"You want a piece of gum?" he offered, sliding a pack of Bazooka Bubblegum out from his jeans pocket.

"Sure," she accepted.

He handed her a strip of the pink candy took one for himself. He always loved Bazooka, which anyone who knew him had taken notice of. He peered through the shiny window of the building and into the shop. He saw an elderly man that looked just like Annette. In a way, at least.

"That your grandpa?" he asked, cocking his head toward the man.

Annette turned around curiously and looked to who he was indicating. "Yeah," she confirmed. "How'd you know?"

Alan shrugged and popped his gum. "You guys look exactly alike," he explained blatantly.

Annette giggled and replied, "We do not!" She was grinning wide. She loved being compared to her grandpa, for he was the person she loved most.

Yeah-Yeah's lips mimicked her playful smile. "Do too!" he argued rollickingly. "You guys have the same look."

She laughed good heartedly at him. He didn't seem like he was a very interesting person at first, but if you talked to him he had a very lively character. He was someone she wanted to be friends with, and to find someone she longed to be friends with was rare. She didn't think many people were quite as genuine as they used to be. There was just something about him.

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