That Summertime Feeling

When I woke up the next morning, the house was deathly quiet. I sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. The clock read eight a.m. yet I heard no noise coming from any part of the house, save for a few dogs barking outside. I got up and exchanged my pajamas for some shorts and a tank top. Jersey was a bit warmer than I'd expected.

Upon going downstairs, I was greeted with a note on the kitchen table. It sat on the tabletop along with an envelope and a pair of sunglasses.

Erin,

So sorry we didn’t get to see you this morning. Your uncle and I took an early trip to the gardening shop, but we'll be back later. Until then, I’ve left you some money; go explore Jersey a bit. Have fun!

Love, Aunt Terry

P.S. I wasn’t sure if you had sunglasses, so I left you a set that I thought you might like.
I put down the note and picked up the shades. I slid them on over my eyes and went to look in the mirror. Though I normally wasn’t one for sunglasses, I had to say, these didn’t look half bad. I picked up the envelope filled with a little cash and slid it into my pocket. I didn’t really intend on spending any of it, but I wanted to have it just in case.

Since I hadn’t been to Jersey in so long, I didn’t really know where I was going, but I soon found a little path that I decided to follow. It was a bike trail that led me, somehow, into a small town center. There wasn’t much to it; a park, some shops, and a few little restaurants. It was cute though, like one of those little towns in corny movies. I looked around, probably coming off as a total tourist, which technically, I was. There weren’t many shops or really much to look at, but I was able to pass the time window shopping by the few stores that were there.

Since I hadn’t really learned my way around my aunt and uncle's house yet, I hadn’t gotten the chance to make myself coffee that morning, and from the lack of sleep I’d gotten in the past two nights, I was in dire need of some caffeine. I ambled around for a little while longer before finally finding a small café amongst other boutiques and shops. It was cute and cozy, even in the summer. There wasn’t much to it, just a few tables and arm chairs.

I ordered an iced coffee, which normally I didn’t like, but it being much warmer than I was used to, I figured a hot coffee wasn’t the best idea. I paid for the drink, the only money I’d spent from the cash my aunt had given me, and made my way out again to see the rest of the town.

I’d grown bored of the shops and stores and I wasn’t hungry or in the mood to spend money at a restaurant so I decided to cut my losses and check out the park.

Immediately upon coming to the clearing where the picnic tables were located I was thrown back in time. It had been a while, but the park hadn’t changed. When I was a kid and I used to visit my aunt on the weekends, I used to play at this very park with other kids from my aunt’s street. They were probably all grown up and well into college by now because, if I remembered correctly, they were all a few years older than me.

The swings were rusty and the spring horses had seen better days, but the park was still the same as I remembered. There were a few kids running around, playing tag and climbing on the jungle gym. It reminded me of the times I’d come here and I grew nostalgic for my days spent in Jersey.

It also made me miss my dad. He’d been the first person to ever bring me to this park and he continued to take me there nearly every weekend afterward; that is, until he got sick. When I was seven, my dad was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was too young at the time to understand it, but you learn a lot and quickly when your dad is sick for three years. He’d beaten it twice, but by his third relapse, his body just wasn’t as strong as it used to be.

When I was in the fifth grade my dad passed away. I remember sitting at my desk, reading some excerpt about marine life when my teacher came over to me. She asked to speak to me outside of the classroom, and even at that age, I expected the worst.

I knew my dad had been sick, but never in a million years did I expect him to die. He was daddy; strong, resilient, immortal. He fought the monsters under my bed, but the monstrous cancer inside of him had won the battle. Daddy was gone and I was devastated.

Even though I was beyond upset, I can't say that I hadn't readied myself for his passing. He had been sick so long that I had to face the possibility of his leaving us, but that didn’t make it much easier. I still cried my eyes out and begged him to come back every day for months. Daddy never did come back to me.

I felt my eyes watering at the thought of my dad and how much I missed him. As much as I loved that park, and would most likely make plans to come back to it, the memories had hit me harder than I had anticipated. Leaving the park behind me, I decided to wipe my eyes, toss my empty coffee cup and make my way back to my aunt’s house.

Notes

I'm really sorry that I haven't been on in a while. My computer was getting really wonky with the mouse and I had to send it away to get fixed for a week. That, unfortunately, also means that I haven't been able to write for a while (I have plots written but nothing actually created yet) so I will apologize in advanced that my updates may be a little slow for the next couple of weeks, especially since I still have my internship till the middle of August. Thanks for sticking with this story, if you have, and I'll see you again next week!!!