Well, this is it.
I took a big sigh as I got out from the car door. I went behind the car to open the trunk to retrieve my luggage, and of course, it wasn't light. I had to overcome its net force using my two hands while still having the keys in my grasp. God, these were heavier than my old toys. My old toys... I relaxed for a bit when my luggage landed on the ground, still in my clutches. I quickly slammed the back door of the trunk and headed towards my destination by foot. My house, or our house, as Mom says.
As I walk to the sidewalk entrance of the house, I pressed the key lock without even glancing at the car, making a 'beep' sound. I placed the car keys back into my pocket so I can have more of a "free hand" to carry my luggage. I slowed my pace down, second by second, each step I take. I halted. Maybe I shouldn't visit... But that would hurt Mom and Molly's feelings if I don't show up. I took another deep sigh and continued walking towards the door. I stopped as soon as I faced the wooden door.
Well, here goes.
I slowly pressed the doorbell from the side of the wall. I felt a knot in my stomach as I heard footsteps. As they got louder, the knot kept getting tighter. I gave a a sincere smile when the person opened the door.
"Andy?" My little sister, Molly, revealed herself from the side of the partly opened door. She opened the door wide as she recognized me. Her smile grew wider when our eyes met. Yeah, I missed you too, lil' sis. She glanced at the other side of the room to call Mom out. "Mom, Andy's back to come visit!"
I heard other footsteps coming from the other side of the room. I also heard little ones as well.
"Andy!" Mom said as she walked passed the door. She embraced me, but it broke once I heard barking from the ground. I looked down to see Buster jumping for my attention. I knelt down pet his soft head. "Hey boy, I haven't seen you in awhile!" I smiled. I started stroking his his back, and noticed strands of fur falling off. I quickly stopped what I'm doing and stood up to carry my heavy luggage.
"Oh, dear, let me carry your bag." Mom stopped me from carrying my luggage and grabbed the handle with one hand. Gee, don't I feel so weak? "Why don't you go inside and freshen up for a bit? Then we can talk about how college was." I stared at my mom lifting the luggage, but was sort of struggling.
"Here mom, why don't I carry my bag?" I insisted. She suddenly lifted it with all her strength when my hand got near the handle. Mom stopped struggling. She is a super mom. "There, now go freshen up. I can place your luggage in the room." She gave a smirk as she enters the house to go upstairs. I obeyed, so I headed to the bathroom.
I locked the door behind me and turned the faucet. I cupped my hands together to let the water overflow my palms. Once I felt satified with the temperature of the water, I lifted my hands to my face to feel the cool splash. That felt real nice. I did it once more to feel the coolness hit my face again. I turned off the faucet and grabbed the towel hanging from the bar next to the shower. Wiping the wet drops of water off my face with a rough towel really hits the spot.
I came out of the bathroom and headed to the kitchen where my mom and Molly had already been seated at the table to be able to talk to me about my days in college. I took a seat opposite towards them so I can chat with them face-to-face.
"So Andy," Mom conversed, "how's college?" Great way to start a conversation, Mom.
"Well, it's been pretty harsh at times," I scratched the back of my head," but overall, it's a great experience." I gave a small chuckle.
My mom winced. "Great experience, eh?" Uh-oh. I don't like the sound of that tone.
"N-no, it's nothing like that, Mom! Honest!" I said, innocently. I gestured my hands telling her "that's not what I mean!" I glanced at Molly, who was seated next to my mom. She had a confused look on her face. But of course, she was a little young to understand what Mom meant by "great experience"when it comes to college.
"Um, so," I said, trying to change the subject. "Yeah. College is really great. I got to meet some interesting people, and made friends with my professors."
"Hey, is the food there good? Did you get a roommate? Was your roommate bad? Is it true you can gain a lot of weight in college?" Molly kept throwing me a lot of questions, so it was hard for me to answer them all at once.
"Molly, stop giving your brother a hard time," Mom scolded.
"But mom," she whined. I couldn't help but laugh at this moment. It kind of reminds me of how Molly and I used to whine at Mom when we were young.
Molly pouted at me. "How long are you going to be here anyways?" I got up from my seat to grab a glass from the cabinet and filled the cup with water from the refrigerator. "About four days. This is only considered as Day Zero though since I just finished my classes today," I responded as I waited till my glass was halfway filled with contents. "Aren't you glad you're only going to see me for four days?" I merely added, seeing how she would react.
"Technically it's five, if you count today," she corrected. "And yeah, as long as you spend some time with me." She gave me a smirk.
"Sure thing, squirt," I responded with her pet name I gave her before I left college. I took a small sip of my glass of water and headed back to my seat. I placed the glass of water on the table after I took another small sip.
I suddenly saw my mom clasp her hands together, laying them on the table. "So Andy, have you met any girls that I should know about?"
Wait. What?
I felt a blush creep up my face after that sentiment. "Mom!"
"How do you know it's a girl? It could be a guy," Molly retorted. I was sipping my water when I heard what Molly said, then spat out most of the water in my mouth when I heard her. I coughed a little bit after my flabbergasted moment.
Oh my god.
"Oh, you know she's only kidding sweetie!" Mom said jokingly, gesturing her hand up and down. Molly laughed at my reaction. "Yeah! You know I'm only kidding with you!" She gave me an assuring smile.
"Very funny," I said sarcastically. I got up from my seat again to grab a paper towel to wipe off my DNA all over the my table area. "And anyways, no, I haven't found anybody yet." I soon disposed the semi-wet paper towel in the trash can.
"Hey, I'm going to take a walk for awhile and be back before dinner," I informed my mom as I head to the door.
"What about your luggage? Aren't you going to unpack your stuff to get it over with?" my mom asked, quite perplexed on what I was going to do outside. "I mean, you just got home. Come stay here for a little longer."
"Yeah, and I still got a lot of questions for you," Molly added.
"Well," I scratched the back of my head trying to find the right words to say to them. "I won't be out too long. And besides, I have four days, so you can ask me anytime later this week, ok?"
Molly smacked her lips together. "Fine."
"Well, ok dear. But remember to unpack your stuff first thing when you get home," Mom reminded me.
"Don't worry, Mom," I rest-assured her. I stepped out of the front porch and headed to who knows where. I honestly just wanted to get out of the house for awhile so I can have the nostalgic feeling to look around the neighborhood. It's been awhile since I walked in this neighborhood.
I walked across the street and down the side walk to remember the houses from here. It's safe to know that the houses didn't change since I went to college. I suddenly halted when glanced at a particular house. It was blocked by small, wooden fences, but had a gate entrance. I stared at the window next to the front door to see if anybody would notice me staring. As expected, I didn't see anyone at the window but my own reflection. I suddenly glanced at the top window when I heard screaming laughter at that area.
It seems like Bonnie is having fun in there. Maybe I should visit the house to see her and her toys... But it would be a stupid reason because her mom would think I'm too old to play toys. Why would I want to visit the house just for her toys? But Woody is there, so I guess it couldn't hurt to say hello to my favorite childhood toys.
I found myself slowly opening the white, wooden gate. My ears suddenly twitched and stopped what I was doing when I heard a truck parking in front of the house. But it wasn't an ordinary truck; It was a garbage truck. Strange. Why is the garbage man here at this hour?
The garbage man got out of his truck. He was wearing plain old, blue jeans with lumberjack boots. He wore a yellow vest over his black T-shirt with a skull imprinted on his chest. He was He was also listening to his music with yellow headphones over his green hat, which was turned backwards.
He seemed too distracted with his music that he didn't even notice me. I heard him get in rhythm with the music and kept banging the metal truck as he walked towards the trashcan. I analyzed his face for awhile to notice that it was the same garbage man who picks up the trash at our house when I was a student in High School. I can tell that it's him since he's the only one who gets in beat with his music so well. Plus he had a small goatee, which you don't see that often.
Back when I was in High School, I'd usually just say "hi" to the garbage man and he would usually ignore me because he was into his music, or reply back, which was pretty rare. But that's just it.
I can't help but notice he looked familiar, like I knew him before as a garbage man. Do I know him?
I watched him pick up the trash bag with his bare hands(gross) and throw them in the air to make it land on the back of the truck. "Ba dump ba dump ba daaaaa!" he sang as he smacked the metal at the back of the truck.
Unexpectedly, he turned to my direction and looked at me. This is the first time I witnessed him removing his headphones. He usually keeps them on all the time.
It was for awhile until he was the first one to break off the silence. "Say, you look vaguely familiar." The garbage man came up to me to look at my face more clearly. He removed the goggles away from his eyes and perceived. He finally came to a realization by the snap of his finger. "That's it! You're the guy who always says 'hi' to me sometimes when I pass your house! I remember now."
I nodded. "Yeah, but you sometimes don't respond." I gave a small chuckle. "Why are you here at this hour?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Eh, long story. I don't wanna talk about it," he said carelessly.
"Sid! Get your lazy butt in the truck!" the man from the passenger seat of the truck yelled. "We have no time for chit-chat! Let's go!"
Wait a second. Sid?
"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Sid scowled when he turned his head to the man in the passenger seat. He then turned to me and waved for a "good-bye". I waved back. He placed his headphones back on his ears and ran to the truck door to drive to a different neighborhood. As I dart my head to the moving truck, I hadn't realized what I was doing here in the first place. After I lost sight of the truck, I glanced at the house in front of me. Maybe I'll go visit tomorrow...
Before evening, I came home safely. During the walk home, my mind wandered many directions. One was about visiting Bonnie's house and my reason for going there. The other is about the garbage man named Sid.
Sid, Sid, Sid... That name sounds really familiar.
When I entered home, I immediately ran upstairs to unpack my things in my room just like what Mom told me. After I was done unpacking, I lied down for a bit in the bed. I still can't believe my bedroom turned into a guest room. I stared at the blue ceiling, recollecting my thoughts before I just got home.
OK, tomorrow, I am going to Bonnie's house for a visit! But it'd feel kind of embarrassing if I only came for the toys. Maybe if I bring a new toy for her to play with... That actually just might work.
And that garbage man, Sid. He looks familiar, but why can't I remember him? Maybe he was an old friend of mine. Nah, then I would have remembered.
While I was in my own little world, I heard a knock coming from outside the door. I heard a faint voice call out of the door. "Hello? May I come in?" It was Mom.
Before I could even answer, she opened the door without my permission. She was impressed to see that I was done unpacking my things. Her eyes darted aroung around the room to double-check a few things.
"Wow, you're already done so fast," she complimented. "Why don't you go eat downstairs? It's almost supper time."
I shook my head. "Nah, it's OK, Mom. I'm just so tired for today. I'll go change and brush my teeth early so I can get a good night's rest." I gave out a loud yawn, indicating how tired I was.
"Sure thing, hun. Good night." She turned around to head out of the room.
"Wait, Mom," I blurted. She halted to glanced at my tired face. "Yes?"
"Do you know someone named Sid from long ago?" I asked as I stopped looking at the ceiling to look at her.
"Sid?" Mom placed her thumb and index finger on her chin. "Isn't that our old next-door-neighbor's kid before we moved out of their neighborhood? You used to be scared going near that kid's house when you were young."
I furrowed my eyebrows when Mom said that. I remember now. He was the neighborhood kid who harasses toys. And what Mom said was true: I was afraid to go near the house. That kid creeped me out.
"Oh yeah, I remember now," I said to myself.
"Why do you ask?" Mom questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Just wondering," I simply replied. "Well anyways, good night, Mom."
"Good night." I heard her step out of the room and shut the door.
Whoo, I'm finally done! Please read and review! Enjoy!