Easy Laughter
“I don’t care if you never saw him mom, he was definitely sitting in our kitchen!” Ari protested. “I told him I had to get some chores done, and I was about to invite him to stay for a little while, and then he told me that he had to go anyway, and he thanked me for inviting him in, and walked out the back door. Three seconds later, I turned around to ask him if he wanted to take a shower or something here because he had been camping, and he was gone!”
“I’m telling you. He was a ghost.”
“No he wasn’t, I touched him.” Ari said, then glared at her mother as she raised her eyebrows in question.
“When he jumped out of the tree. I ran over and grabbed his shoulder to make sure he was alright.”
“I think you better start from the beginning.” Her mom said, and settled back onto the couch, turning the volume of the television down so she could hear her frustrated daughter.
“Okay, so I went out for a morning walk. And I’m muttering to myself, as usual, and I think I said hello to the wind, and then I hear him go ‘hi, human’, and it scares the shit out of me. So I look up, and he’s sitting in this tree, that has like, no branches for the first ten feet of it. I asked him what he was doing on our property, then why he was in a tree, and such, and then he jumped down.”
“Why?”
“Why what?” Ari asked, confused.
“Why was he on our property?”
“His grandmother owns the property behind ours, and he was camping on it.”
“You didn’t travel that far back, did you?”
“No, he was definitely on our property. Deep into it.”
“Okay…we’ll get back to that. Why was he in a tree?”
“He said he climbed it.”
“But why?”
“He never said. I don’t know. You can ask him later.”
Arkonel hovered above the frantic daughter and her amused mother with interest. He hadn’t realized that he had made such an impression on the first day.
“Oh, did you invite him back?”
“Um…no, but I think I’ll see him again.”
“Oh, really?” Her mom asked again. “I take it, as little as you met him, he made a good impression.”
“Well his story wasn’t too solid, but he seemed to have good intentions, and he was fun.”
“Attractive?”
“Yes, mom. I never liked guys that look like him before, but I’m definitely liking it.”
“What is he…black?”
“No, he’s Greek, and he has a nice build.”
“Muscular?” Her mom was taking notes in her little blue notebook – again. Ari noticed and rolled her eyes.
“That’s what I meant.”
“Your daddy was that way, too. I’m not surprised.”
“Eww, mom. I don’t want to have the same tastes in men as you.”
“Sorry, baby. Its just true. But your daddy was special – I never dated anyone after him. Ever. I don’t want to.” Her mom started jotting faster, and Ari could tell that she had just given her mom an idea.
“I know. Its just me, you, and the three children. So what’s the idea forming in your head?”
“Ah, nothing. Just a thought for later. Hey, do you want to go shopping with me up in town tomorrow night? Maybe you’ll meet a few friends?”
“In the local grocery store? I doubt it, mom.”
“Maybe you can find a job. They might still be accepting summer camp counselors or something. Maybe a lifeguard?”
“I’ll think about it. I’ll look online, alright?”
“Just trying to make this move easier on you. We moved after you graduated, so you don’t really have any way to make local friends.”
“I have a local friend now.” Ari protested.
“Yeah, one whom I’ve never met and you met and spoke to for about an hour.” Ari’s mom retorted. “When I see him, I’ll believe he exists. Until then, he’s probably just a figment of your imagination.”
“Aw, c’mon mom. I’ve never had a hallucination in my life.” Ari protested, playfully hitting her mom’s shoulder.
“Well, its never too late to start. Hey, do you want some more macaroni and cheese? I want seconds.” Her mom changed the subject. Ari shook her head. “Okay, be back in a minute. Want to put a Disney movie on?”
“Sure.” Ari agreed. She rose, setting her plate down on the coffee table her feet had been resting on and walked around it to the DVD collection. They had recently bought most of the Disney classics on DVD. Apparently, they made for good writing inspiration.
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