Gran's Cooking

Prologue

The radio plays, filling the silence in the living room as mom and I sit. She has a bag of wool at her feet, the knitting needles in her hands moving swiftly. I have a magazine open on my lap, reading over the latest gossip whilst the breeze from outside blows in through the open front door.

One of the Spice Girls song plays, blasting through the radio and I hear the familiar tune and smile. Mom is a huge fan of Spice Girls and used to play all their songs when I was growing up. A smile breaks out on my face and I set the magazine down before standing up and moving my body to the song.

I look over at mom and watch her blow a strand of her black hair out of her face but I spot that tiny smile forming, her eyes crinkling slightly.

"Come on, mom."

I encourage as I lip sync to the song. My dancing isn't perfect but I'm having a lot of fun and I want her to dance with me. She shakes her head, her smile getting bigger.

"I'm too old to dance."

I roll my eyes and brush her words aside, shaking my head as I reach for her hands. "Just one dance, mom." We both have wide smiles on our faces and I know she can't resist. I can already smell her jasmine perfume from here as she sets her knitting needles down and I turn around to increase the volume on the radio.

When suddenly I hear a thump.

I immediately turn around and my heart gets stuck in my throat when I see mom's body on the floor, her eyes still open, her smile gone. "Mommy?"

I'm on my knees immediately, tears stinging my eyes as I shake her body gently. "Mommy?" It comes out in a whisper and my stomach drops.

~~~

In moments like these I wish we had a car. We never got one since we live so close to everything; my school, the mall, mom's work.

It's been two days since she suffered a heart attack that took her life instantly. It's been two days since I walked around our house, inspecting everywhere she used to sit and gazing ahead aimlessly like a lost soul. It happened so suddenly too.

One second she was knitting and when I turned my back, she was on the floor. I can't even blame myself for it because it would've happened whether I was looking or not.

On the second day I received a phone call from an unknown number and it turned out to be my gran; mom's mom. I'd only ever seen her twice. She came around to visit us one Christmas but mom never let her stay long or answered any of her calls. I figured there was bad blood between the two so I never asked. But she offered me a room at her place somewhere and I couldn't say no.

I'm grieving the loss of mom and I'd rather be someplace that isn't home while I figure out what to do next.

The bus ride is long and I spend most of it with my head propped up against the window, watching as the cities morph into fields and then tall trees.

After about five hours, the bus comes to a stop and the bus driver announces that this is the last stop. I look at the map on my phone and see I have to walk the rest of the way and I internally groan. I get off the bus with the last few passengers and take a second to stretch my whole body after staying seated in that cramped space. I didn't bring much luggage so there isn't a lot for me to carry.

I make the trek forward, following the blue line on the map and hope there's at least cellphone service where gran lives. But even if there isn't, that's alright. I could use a break to sort my head out.

The walk is almost an hour long and I'm ready to give up but I can't. The map on my phone disappears, showing me there's no more Internet and I almost want to break down and cry. I'm in the middle of absolutely nowhere. All I see are trees on one side and an open field on the other.

"Cleo!"

I lift my head up, my vision blurry from the tears that have formed in my eyes.

"Cleo!"

A figure appears in the distance, arms wailing around and I think that must be gran. A sigh of relief escapes my lips and I wipe my eyes and run toward her. She's changed a bit, being much skinnier and more grey hair than her black hair like I remember but I know she's my gran.

"Gran." She embraces me tightly and I sigh once more as I return the hug.

"Welcome, honey."