Sam was in unfamiliar territory. Glancing up at the rows of books she felt a little intimidated. Everyone here knew what they were doing. They belonged here. But other than the Penny Treasure, which Sam only read for a dare, she never read books (oh yeah, and the Boogie Bear series. She found lots of books with interesting pictures but when she opened them they didn't contain anything useful. So then she sucked up her pride and went over to the section with books longer than 100 pages; the ones with less pictures, more words, and more likely to give her a major headache.
Breakfast with Socrates; hmm, interesting. Sam picked up the book and sat down on the floor (chairs are for losers). Somehow she found herself intrigued by the contents of the book. 2 out of 2, she thought, not bad. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten and she wouldn't have if Freddie hadn't shown up.
"Sam?!" he said, in complete shock and disbelief.
Unsure of what to do in this precarious situation she did the only thing Sam's do. She denied it. "Fredward?!" she retorted, mimicking his surprised voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"Singing Grand Ole Flag with a dog mask on, what does it look like I'm doing!"
Freddie rolled his eyes at her obvious sarcasm and sat down next to her. "So what's it about?"
"What's what about?"
"The book," he replied with a half-hearted smile, "what are you reading."
"Oh, I'm not really sure. Life, I guess; I think its really good." She smiled for a moment, laughing inwardly at what she had just said.
"Sam Puckett likes reading? The apocalypse is upon us!" Freddie said in mock terror.
Sam laughed and punched him in the shoulder.
"No offense, but how did you even find this place?" Freddie asked, tentatively.
Sam glared at him, "I map-quested, thanks for asking." She slammed her book pointedly, "Anyways. I didn't exactly come here willingly. I needed good material to copy for my essay."
Freddie rolled his eyes even though he felt guilty for offending her inside. But he just rolled his eyes, because that's what Freddie's do.
Sometime later that day Sam brought a notebook, pencils, and a picnic basket to the local cemetery. She carefully spread a checkered cloth in front of a very special gravestone. Brian Puckett: Loving father, and husband.
"Hi Dad," she whispered softly," I'm sorry we never got to do this while you were still around, but I hope this makes up for it." She pulled out two ham sandwiches, and placed one in front of her and one for her dad.
After her lunch she brought out her notebook and began writing.
I'm Sam Puckett and I love food. Don't act like you don't love it either. In fact, what is the first connection anybody ever makes with his or her parent since birth? Food! When you're mother breast-fed you (or bottle-fed, I'm not prejudiced) what were you doing? Consuming! It is a tradition shared between parent and child since the dawn of time and will continue to be shared until we are all dead on this Earth. So it is important that we keep this connection all through our childhood and into our Golden Years. So one day you come home from school, probably you were going to raid the fridge for a pudding cup or a Coca-Cola, when you're mom says, "You know what, Honey? Lets go out. I'll take you to Silver Diner." What should you do? ACCEPT! The only thing a parent wants from their child is precious time spent together. And they love to share their food with you whenever they get the chance. Who eats your pizza crusts and finishes off your chicken bones? Instead of treating them like a garbage disposal, surprise them with a meal, or dinner invitation. You know you've done right when you see the heartfelt smile on their faces. This is the basis of the relationship between parent and child.
She put down her notebook for a while and thought for a moment, afraid that her essay was to short or too sloppy. She looked it over a couple times and decided that it probably wouldn't get any better than this even if she tried. She closed the notebook and lay down on her picnic blanket. "I love you Dad."