Hello there :)

This is my 2nd Edward Scissorhands fanfic, but also the first one I write in English. Since it's not my mother language, you'll probably find some mistakes. If so, please tell me, so I can correct them.

Anyway, I hope you like it...

.

One of the issues of having worked as an Avon representative for such a long time was the unavoidable ability to spot every sign of aging -from the first, almost invisible wrinkles, to the rough crevasses in which those gradually turned-, and an even less avoidable inner voice that would, without exception, say "you're getting older" to her every day before the mirror. Despite this, Peg wasn't the kind of woman who cares about those things, for she knew it was only natural to grow old someday, and was used to seeing and accepting her changing face.

But that sunday morning, just after having breakfast, she glanced at her reflection in the sun-bathed window, from which the colorful town and the darkish hill crowning it could be seen, and it was suddenly very clear to her... That she was, in fact, old.

"I'm old" she murmured, her eyes open in an expresion of mild surprise.

She had spoken out loud, even when that had not been her initial intention. Her inner voice, the one that sounded like another tiny Avon representative, had just found a way out. She wasn't alone, though. After her husband passed away, and since her children had built their own lives and were not children anymore, she had hired a lovely little lady to help her with the house chores. Her name was Rosie. Rosie heard her, and thought an answer was expected.

"Mrs. Boggs, don't be sad..." she said, smiling at her from the other side of the table.

"I'm not sad, I'm old" Peg replied simply.

She still sounded surprised... Pleasantly surprised. As if she had just found the missing clue to an everlasting mistery.

"I'm old enough..." she whispered.

And her voice echoed through time.

Maybe her daughter was wiser than her... Kim, her little Kim, was a wise woman now, a beautiful one. She had confessed the truth to her more than a decade ago -probably out of love, though also guilt. She had kept the secret to herself for so many years, and even so, she hadn't done anything about it. She knew it was for good, for the best. For the sake of the silent snowmaker up there, somewhere.

Somewhere up there...

What a strange sensation.

Peg stood up with an unexpected energy and grabbed her purse. She carelessly put the edible remains of her breakfast in one of its pockets, and inmediately went to the door. It was a sunny day.

"Mrs. Boggs, wait! You're wearing slippers!" Rosie exclaimed, quickly running towards her.

"Oh, that's ok sweetheart. It doesn't matter" Peg answered, right before proceeding to walk through the garden, and then along the street. Rosie followed her in confusion.

"But where are you going?"

"Up the hill".

"Up the hill...? The one with the mansion?"

"Yes, my dear".

"Oh, Mrs. Boggs..."

Rosie knew about the Scissorhands. Everyone in town had been told the story, even the youngest children. Mrs. Boggs had never mentioned anything about him, at least not when she was around, but Rosie could easily tell that she had not forgotten... She had seen her in the winter snow a couple times, facing the hill, wondering. And Rosie being a clever girl -or thinking of herself as one- she walked right after her and tried to softly convince her to go back inside, as a dedicated nurse would do with a stubborn child.

"Mrs. Boggs, it's been too long... There's no point in visiting his grave now" she said.

"It's been a long time indeed, but I don't intend to visit any grave" Peg replied, showing a kind smile.

Of course, Rosie thought... There was no grave. Her mother had told her how everything ended.

"But then you could see something horrible, don't you think? It might be better to forget about this... Let's go back inside" she insisted.

"You can stay, my dear. In fact I was planning to go alone, if you don't mind".

"But what are you going to do?"

"I'm going up the hill".

"I meant, what are you going to do up there?"

"I guess I'll figure that out when I get there... For now, the first part is hard enough to think of".

Peg kept walking for another block. She was dressed in lavender, her favorite color, but her slippers were pure white. The neighbours were starting to notice her, and many faces became visible behind many windows.

"Mrs. Boggs, people are watching..." Rosie murmured, hoping that would scare the demure old lady out of her strange plan.

"Well, it's sunday. Most of them have nothing else to do"

"But look, the women are coming outside..."

"Yes, they can be pretty curious sometimes"

Rosie was begining to get a bit tired. Peg could still walk amazingly fast for a woman her age, as if her legs were still young and healthy. The neighbours did not intend to follow her, leaving the self-proclaimed and now regretful caretaker to solve the problem, but a lot of them, as usual, started launching their opinions into the air.

"Is she going to the mansion? That's a horrible place!"

"I thought we had all agreed not to go there anymore..."

"She might be senile by now... I think she turned 76 last year, isn't that right?"

"Poor thing... She was like a mother to that creepy scissor boy, I still remember..."

However, Peg did not pay attention... She just kept walking, fast but calmly, as if she was only a merry visitor in town. She was old enough for the neighbours to think she was crazy, or lonely, or sad. She was old enough for them to stop caring about her actions, for she would probably be crazy, or lonely, or sad.

Unpunishable, unimportant, like a stubborn child with too much of a memory.

Finally, she reached the end of the main street, and at that point Rosie grabbed her shoulder.

"Stop!" the girl pleaded, her patience gone, her smile turned to an exhausted, disturbing grin. She had heard enough about the mansion to be absolutely sure that she did not want to see it. Ever. "What is this all about, anyway? Can't you see how they were staring at us...? How they were staring at you?"

Peg stopped for a moment, but did not turn to her.

"Who?" she asked, as the begining of the greyish path up the hill called her in a silent tongue.

"Everyone!", Rosie shouted, "The neighbours, the whole town!"

A cold, vibrant breeze came from behind to gently tap their backs, and it gave Peg the breath of fresh air she needed to gather up all her strenght -all her love- and seal it in one simple answer:

"I don't give a damn".

Rosie just stood where she was, with a frozen look upon her face that would have been hilarious to whoever saw her, though Peg did not laugh out loud. She left her there, frozen, and kept going... Up along the abandoned path, turning her white slippers into grey ones. It was a long way to the top, and a difficult one, indeed. But it didn't exactly feel like she was walking. "Jumping" would have been a much more accurate word, she thought. Jumping over Rosie, and the neighbours, and the whole town. It was a pretty fun idea, specially coming from her.

That sunday morning, after so many years, a joyful Peg jumped to the top of the hill and lovingly smiled once again at the pale, surprised figure who left the dark to receive her...

.

.