Walnuts

 

            “Your room is upstairs, third door on the left. The bathroom is straight down the hall. Make sure you knock three times before you open it. The kitchen is right around the corner over here, dinner is usually around five o’clock but you can help yourself to the fridge whenever. Make your self at home, here at Walnut’s Home for the Mentally Handicapped we are very relaxed.” The lady who said this was a short, plump lady with hair the color of fire put up in a messy bun. She talked in a high-pitched, false cheery voice that better belonged with curly blonde hair and bubble gum.

            “Thanks again, Aunt Mable. I really appreciate you taking me in like this.”

            “Oh, you know it was no problem, Aurora dear. I loved my sister very much and would do anything for her. Its such a shame that she died.” I winced as she called me ‘Aurora’. Yes, its my real name, but nobody has called me it since I was three. Now everyone just calls me ‘Rory’.

            Ding Dong

            “Oh, that’s the doorbell. I’ll get it, you just move your stuff upstairs, dearie.” She said as she waddled toward the huge pine door a few feet away. “Coming!”

            I grabbed my suitcase and walked up the stairs, past one man in a wheel chair and another sitting in the corner drooling. This was going to be a long two years.

            “Oh, Seamus dear! I was so worried about you!” I heard her yell, “Where have you been these last two days?”

            “Sorry Mable. I was at my mother’s grave. Yesterday was her birthday. She would have been 39 years old. When I was little, I would always make her a cake and cover it with icing and spend all day making her a present and a card. When I got older, I would even make her breakfast in bed. Of course I would always burn the bacon, but she never cared.” I turned around and saw a cute guy about my age talking to my aunt. It looked like he was on the verge of tears, but then again, he just visited his mother’s grave and I know I would be sad if I had to see the place where my mom was buried. Except that my mom was cremated. So was my dad. But still, if they had been buried then I would be sad to see their graves. I still got sad just thinking about them.

            I decided to let my aunt and the cute guy, Seamus, have their privacy. I needed to unpack anyway. I counted out the doors until I got to the third one. The room was small, not exactly tiny but pretty close. There was a twin-sized bed in the corner, a small dresser beside it, a closet on the opposite wall, and a window with lace curtains billowing around it. The walls were a faded light blue and the floor was a really nice looking hardwood. Well, it looked like it was nice when it was new, but now it had mysterious stains in a few places and looked like it needed a good mopping.

            I set my suitcase down with a sigh and flopped on the bed. It was hard and smelled weird. I missed my old room with my queen sized bed that felt like laying in a cloud, my lime green walls, my walk-in closet, my outdated but still working computer, and my dresser that was nearly as tall as me. Sure that wasn’t saying much since I was a pretty short sixteen year old, being only five feet three inches, but whatever.

            I thought back to the night two months ago that changed my entire life for the worse. I had been mad at my parents for some little reason that I can’t even remember now, and stormed off into the night. I had only gone to my friend’s house to blow off steam, but they didn’t know that. They drove around for hours looking for me, eventually deciding to come home and call the police. Before they got home though, they were hit head on by a drunk driver. The guy who hit them walked away from the crash fine. My parents, on the other hand, both died on the way to the hospital.