21 June, 1960
"What do you think we should get them?"
"I don't know, what do you think we should get them?"
"I dunno, what do you think, Darry?"
"Guys, why are we whispering?"
Me and Pony looked at each other. "We don't know," the two of us replied.
Darry sighed. "Well, we'll have to get them something.. nice. Mom likes nice stuff."
"Racing cars are nice. Do you think she'll like one of those cool red ones that come with those special boxes of Bran Flakes?" Little Pony grinned, thinking he had put forward a brilliant idea.
"No! Mommy wouldn't like a race car. She told me that she thinks they're too noisy," I objected, my voice rising a little.
"We need to get them something they'll both like. Think of something else," Darry said as he got up. "I'm going to grab some cookies, do you guys want any?"
"Yes please," we yelled back. I was just in the mood to yell.
"What about goldfish?" Pony asked as Darry got the cookies.
"Yeah, maybe," I shrugged, "Daddy likes to go fishing."
"Do you think they would like some goldfish, Darry?" I asked as Darry came back in with a plate of chocolate chip cookies.
Darry laughed. "What does goldfish have to do with anything?"
"Daddy likes fishing," Pony replied helpfully.
Darry shook his head. "He likes eating fish, not keeping them as pets."
I sighed. "I don't remember picking out a present being this hard last year."
"What did we get them again?" Pony asked, and Darry laughed.
"We thought we were buying them a weekend away, but all we did was subscribe them to the Tulsa Weekly."
I smiled at the memory. Luckily, Mom and Dad hadn't been too hard on us. I think they're still subscribed to the newpaper.
"What are people supposed to buy for anniversaries, anyway?" Pony scratched his head.
"I'm not sure.. it's not something people really talk about," I shrugged. I bit into a cookie thoughtfully.
"Well, we don't have long to think about it. Mom and Dad are coming home in half an hour and their anniversary is tomorrow," Darry added, his mouth full of cookie.
"You're the oldest one of us, Darry. You should know what to get." I took another cookie and bit into the chocolately goodness.
"Soda, I'm thirteen. I haven't exactly experienced having an anniversary yet," Darry grinned.
"What number anniversary is this again?" Pony asked Darry.
"Uh.. their ninth, I think."
"Well, we'll just have to make this a very special day. Nine is a lucky number," I said. Everyone knows that nine is a lucky number!
"No it's not!" Pony objected.
"Yes it is!" I argued.
"No it's not!"
"Yes it is!"
"No it's not!"
"Yes it -"
"Guys!" Darry yelled, and we stopped what we were doing. "Stop arguing! It doesn't matter if nine is a lucky number or not. What matters is that we get Mom and Dad a special gift for their anniversary."
I sighed. Darry was right.
For the next half hour we tried to think of something to get, but nothing came to us.
Before we knew it, we heard the sounds of slamming doors outside.
"They're home!" Pony cried, and we quickly scrambled into our room, as if we had something to hide.
"Boys!" Mommy cried, and we ran out to greet her.
"How was the appointment?" Darry asked as Daddy came in behind Mommy.
"It was good, I'm very healthy according to Dr. Jones!"
"That's good," I replied, sitting down on the couch.
"I have to get ready for football practise, Dad. I promised Paul I'd meet him," Darry said.
"If you hurry up and get changed now, I'll walk you over," Daddy replied, grinning.
Darry raced into our bedroom.
"Soda, honey?"
"Yeah Mom?"
"I believe you have homework to do," Mommy looked at me with her eye brows raised.
"So, can't I do it tomorrow?" I pleaded. Mommy shook her head.
"You know that tomorrow is a special day, Soda. Go and start it now, please. If you do, I'll come and help you."
"Fine then," I mumbled, walking slowly to our bedroom. Darry was putting on his football jersey when I entered.
"Are you ready yet?" I asked.
"Yeah, see yah. We'll talk later," he replied as he grabbed his boots and left the room.
I sighed as I sat down at the small desk. I didn't feel like doing my homework just yet.
I got up to close the door, and then I made my way over to the tiny toy chest. I dug to the bottom of the chest to see if there was anything interesting there, and I felt something smooth. I pulled it out. It was an old photo album!
I took this strange album over to my bed and opened it. It looked like.. someone's wedding? I squinted at the photo. There was a beautiful lady in the photo, and she was wearing a very beautiful dress. She also wore flowers in her hair, as well as the flowers she was holding. The man next to her was hugging her, and he wore a nice suit with a flower in the pocket
Suddenly it hit me. My parent's wedding album! I hadn't seen it before. I don't think any of us had. It had dust on the cover, and the fact that it was in the toy chest seemed weird to me.
I opened the small draw and put the album in. I finally had an idea of a present.
x
"Finally, we're done," Darry grinned, holding up our handy work."
"Do you think Mom and Dad will like it?" Pony asked, gathering up the little bits of paper left on the floor.
"I think they'll love it," I replied, attempting to wipe the glue from my hands.
"And to think, we didn't have to buy anything," Pony commented. He had a point.
"This was a great idea, Soda." Darry slapped my back softly.
"I hope she doesn't mind that we used the last of her christmas paper," I replied.
The other two didn't say anything. The idea hadn't been much, really. All we did was decorate the cover of the album using coloured paper, glitter and crayons. We also put in some more photos of Mom and Dad, which they kept in a box under their bed.
"They'll love it," Darry repeated my words as he went to wash his hands.
"I sure hope so," I replied.
x
"Come on, let's go," Pony bounced on the bed me and Darry shared.
"Pony, it's eight in the morning," I said groggily, looking at the clock on the wall.
"So? Come on, let's go and give them the present!" Pony grinned as he continued bouncing.
"If we go and give it to them, will you let us sleep?" Darry asked tiredly, and Pony nodded.
"Fine, let's do this," Darry said, getting up. He got the present out of the drawer.
Last night during dinner our parents were very suspicious of me because I was being very quiet. I was thinking about how happy our parents were going to be once they got our gift.
"Good morning Mom and Dad!" Pony cried out as we reached the bedroom, and he began bouncing on their bed, too.
"What time is it?" Dad asked tiredly.
"It's eight," Darry said quietly.
"Pony, stop it," Mommy sat up, yawning.
"Happy anniversary!" I said, grinning at them.
Mommy and Daddy smiled. "Thank you, Soda!" Mommy replied, holding her arms out. I gave her a big hug.
"We made you a present!" Pony said, and they looked at us.
"It isn't another 'weekend away', is it?" Daddy asked, and Darry laughed.
Darry handed Mom our gift.
"Is this my good wrapping paper?" Mom asked, trying to look stern. But she was smiling.
"Oh my god-" Mom said, her mouth open. She stared at the cover of the album.
"I'm sorry that we didn't ask if we could decorate the cover, I mean, it was meant-"
"I love it!"
"-to be a- really?" I looked at my mom. She was wiping her eyes as she opened the album.
Dad leaned in to look. Me and my brothers watched as our parents looked through the pages of the album.
"Boys this is.. thank you!" Mommy cried, and the three of us tackled her in a hug.
"I love it so much! Thank you!" Mom said, and I felt proud of myself for thinking of it.
"You're welcome, Mom," Darry replied. I could tell he was smiling, too.
x
21 July, 1967
The wind blew my long, blond-ish hair into my eyes. It was a rainy day out. I suppose it suited the mood.
There was no one else there, it was only me. Me, my thoughts and the wilting bunch of lillies I had bought from the store.
I felt myself kneel down, next to the cold piece of rock. I felt myself lean against it as I cried.
I remembered their ninth anniversary seven years ago. It had been one of the first I had actually been proud of myself.
I felt my cries subside, so I stood up.
I wiped my eyes as I began walking away.
"Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad."