Memories of Summer

[A Memory of Summer: Laura]

A day a little more than five years ago in June when the sun was shining brighter than ever and the air was full of laughter, a girl sat alone on a bench with a piece of cake as she watched all the other parents greet their children who had just finished their seventh year of school.

Her hair was loose over her shoulder and lightly curled, it had been hard to manage the curling iron on her own.

She is wearing a plain pink dress with smaller red flowers covering the whole thing. As she looked in the mirror this morning, she thought she looked pretty, but as she met the other kids with their moms by their sides and clothes which don't look as if they had spent ten years in a closet (which was the case of this dress), she might have felt better about herself.

Through the crowd of kids screaming "Look mummy" walks a girl with her hair looking like a thundercloud. She isn't wearing a dress and there absolutely isn't a mother by her side.

She is wearing jeans with holes in their knees and her shirt which originally probably was green has now clearly faded.

The girl with uncontrolled curls of black sits down quietly on the bench next to the girl. The two girls, in the beginning, pretend to not see the fact that these are the only two which are here alone.

"Where did you get that piece of cake?"

Suddenly the girl with a shine of attitude turns to Laura and speaks with a hint of curiosity. At the same time, as she answers the girl, she motions to the direction of the cake.

"Right next to Mrs. Diaz."

Without hesitation, the guest on the bench rises and heads towards the cake. Laura heaves a sigh as she once again is alone on the bench and she just wants the time to pass along to her father to get home from his football cup. He promised he would be there to see the ceremony at eleven, but the clock has already turned one.

"Is it strawberry?"

"Huh?"

Laura looks up as the girl, now with a cake, once again comes and sits down next to her on the bench. Her shoes are dirty as if they have walked thru miles of clay.

"The cake."

"Oh, yes I believe it is."

An awkward silence falls down between the girls since Laura doesn't know if she thinks it's more awkward to be sitting alone without a parent, or to be sitting beside a girl which looks like a something the cat dragged in.

"I'm Samantha by the way. But you can call me Sammy, it sounds cooler I think, don't you?"

As Mrs. Diaz has already asked Laura about five times if her parents have forgotten the time or date or if she should call someone, Laura figures that she at least now can pretend to be too busy to answer Mrs. Diaz constant question which she can't answer truthfully.

"My name is Laura."

"So your mum couldn't make it either?"

There's a certain tone that Sammy uses when she says the word 'make it' as if they both have a secret agreement to not point out the obvious, they are the only two children here alone.

It's like when everyone at home always calls the phone to either talk to mum or dad and Laura simply have to answer that neither of them are home. Dad always waves the phone away and...

"No, I guess not."

Just as it looks like Sammy is preparing for rising from the chair and walk away something grabs Laura. The idea that she actually doesn't want Sammy to leave.

"Really, my mother just left my family. So I don't think she is swinging by to see my graduation."

The small words of truth leave Laura's mouth before she has a chance to stop herself. She looks blindly for them in the air, as if there was a way to take them back, to put them in a pocket and forget about reality.

"My mom isn't coming, either."

Even though Laura doesn't show it, there is a small piece of her which is surprised by Sammy's calm reaction to the words that just left her. But at the same time, there was also a part of her which understood that something must be wrong in the relationship between Sammy and her mom since she wasn't here either.

"I don't really care you know, I can take care of myself."

Something about this Sammy girl really gets the interest of Laura. She with her mind of a child can't really tell what it is, but it's both feels like something exciting and dangerous. And to not come off as childish she shrugs her shoulders and rests her back against the wall just like Sammy does and lose her posture.

"Me neither, I'll be fine without her."

They both sit quietly for a while and just look out into the ocean of memories which every parent tries so hard to capture, but which probably between work and stress will shortly  fade away.

All those cameras giving off a sound every time someone is asked to smile, will in the end just end up as memories in some forgotten box in the attic.

"But it must be... nice, you know. To actually have someone who actually cares."

Laura doesn't meet Sammy's eyes as she doesn't want to see what she think she might find if she looks into them. Instead, the answers in the same low voice which Sammy just used.

"Yes, it would."

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6th of April