‘You think you’re somethin’ special don’t you?’ She smiled with her bold cheeks and her charismatic approach as they were sitting on the park bench.
‘Ha. No. Trust me. I was nothing before her. Before my girl I was as bad as the rest of em. Always trying to be somebody. As soon as you’re the parent, you have to be somebody. You are somebody. Doesn’t happen all in one day, but it is a requirement.’
He kicked his feet and pressed his hands down thinking back. Then, he kept speaking.
‘You know better than I do. Your legacy as grandmother Annabelle. You probably see right through me.’
She laughed that knowing laugh then put her hand on his adjacent shoulder. ‘You try so good to be good. All these years I knownya, you don’t seem to have a bad bone in ya body.’
He kicked the dirt getting ready to retreat that ground.
‘Wait, hear me out.’ She explained. ‘To have to be good so damn much of the time, you’re running away from your darker self. Ying and yang my darling. You know that.’
She continued. ‘If you ever need to show your dark side of the moon or what have you, I’ll still be your friend. Ain’t right that we must suppress each other into being so darn good all the time. For the most part, we are. But for all time, we’re not.’
‘Too old to pick fights, but I’ve still gotta lotta fight.’ He looked up toward the structure.
She spoke quickly. ‘That’s for your daughter, yeah?’
He then looked at her very seriously. ‘Of course.’ Then he smiled a wry smile as he picked up his daughter as she ran toward her father.
Short Stories