Alice

The last day of another weekend was here. Just another Sunday, with nothing to do. All the housework had been taken care of yesterday, no jobs to go to for either of us, and as usual nothing was on TV. I sighed. "Just another Sunday." Shun was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, when he raised an eyebrow at me. "That would make a good title for a song." I rolled my eyes.

"Everything sounds like a good song title to you." He flipped a page in the magazine and said, "Not everything. Here, like this. Who would want to listen to a song called 'Best Facial Cream'? I know I sure wouldn't." His finger was pointing to an ad, and sure enough that's what was written on the page. "I guess you're right. That wouldn't be very popular." He went back to reading an article. I didn't know what magazine it was, but guessed it may have been a People magazine. We had a tone of them laying around the house.

They weren't for me though. My grandfather may of not seemed like the type, but he was a huge gossip hound. I always found it funny. Why would anybody want to know about another celebrities' business? People go crazy about the stupidest things. Like I'd care if these two people show up with the same dress on, but one wore it better. It doesn't affect my daily life. I can go on with a normal day with, or without, knowing that.

"I'm happy that damn cat is gone." It was something unexpected for Shun to say, but I knew it was a matter of time. We had found the owners of the cat yesterday, and they came about an hour earlier and took him back home. They had brought their little daughter, who looked about six and had blonde hair, with them. When she saw the cat, her face lit up and she scooped him up.

Happy to have her friend back. The owners thanked us for finding him, and went on their way. "You know you liked him." Shun shook his head in disagreement. "No. I never liked that cat, nor will I ever like him. Not now, not ever." For some reason, I looked upstairs at the little balcony that looked over the living room for the hallway. I never paid much attention to the iron railing, and saw that there was a pattern in it. Bent and twisted pieces of metal, with flowers stemming off from them. It had been ages since either me, or Shun, had been up there.

It seemed like such a long way from the living room, when it wasn't a long distance at all. We basically abandoned the upstairs now. There was no need to go up there. Everything we really needed was downstairs. Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and so forth. We only went upstairs on days we cleaned. Just because we didn't go up there anymore, doesn't mean we should let it dissolve away.

But many memories floated in those rooms. Too many to count. I found myself walking up those carpeted steps. My bare feet sensing the familiar place. My hand held on loosely to the arm rail, and I picked one foot up at a time. There were old and forgotten pictures hung on the wall leading up the stairs. Pictures of people I didn't know, places I have never been, stories I had never heard.

They were all memories of my grandfather', and I had never thought to ask or mention the pictures to him because I never really noticed. Too late to ask now. Some of the pictures were absolutely beautiful. Large pine forests, covered in white snow. Rolling hills, high enough to touch the sky above them to where you could tell where it ended and began. And sparkling blue oceans, with the water the bluest form of blue known to the world. I wished I knew where these places were. I'd love to go see them one day. I bet they'd be gorgeous in person. It seemed to take me a lifetime to get to the top of the stairs because I spent it all on looking at those photos. My hand found the light switch, and flicked it onto the on position.

The hall burst into the world, and it looked the same as we left it last time we cleaned up here. All the doors to rooms were closed tightly. Doors to bedrooms, bathrooms, and even closets. There was a lone window to my left, and it showed the sun vanishing. Only for it to appear on the other side of the world and tell other people to wake up and start their day. Just for us to end ours. Dust clung to the windowsill, and I gave myself a mental note to go up here late and clean up a bit. It's due for a cleaning up here anyway. The only rooms that weren't on the left of the hall, was a closet/storeroom on the very end, and my grandfather's room to the right of it.

My old room, and the guest room where Shun stayed in for a while, was to the left. They were both visible from the downstairs living room. I began walking down the hall, passing the guest room, and then stopping at mine. I opened the door and turned the light on as well.

The room was barren. The bed had no sheets or blankets on it, the desk where I used to do homework had all its old contents whisked away and put into the room downstairs. All my dressers where I kept my clothes were now empty. Everything in them was also moved into the downstairs bedroom. The only color in the room, were the walls. They were still painted a light purple, but any pictures I had hung up had been taken down. Without all my belongings, the room seemed much bigger.

I remembered it always seeming cramped, and never having enough room to put new things into the room. There weren't any memories of me and Shun in this room. Only memories of thinking about him, or the last big fight we had that pushed him out of the house. But that was right around the time I was pregnant, and neither of us knew about it yet. I turned off the light, making the room shut down again after giving its few minutes of life. Once I closed the door, I didn't bother going into my grandfather's old room.

There was only one moment I had with Shun in there, and it was when he was showing me a guitar that my grandmother had when she was still alive. There were too many memories of my and my grandfather, that I wanted to relive, but just couldn't.

It would cause just a little too much grief. It was always one thing to have a spur of the moment and think back to something he may of done or said, but being around the personification of his life was too much. I began walking back towards the stairs, and halted at the guest room. The one we had allowed Shun to stay in when we found him. I stared at the door, already seeing every minute, every moment we spent and had together in there.

I didn't need the door open to relive them, but I wanted the door open. Once with the light on, the room was the same as mine. Empty. Everything was in the same place. All the dressers, nightstands, and bed. But it all looked uninhabited. The bed, like mine, had nothing on it. And any drawers were empty as well. I smiled when I thought to all those nights where we were cuddled up next to each other, just looking up at the ceiling and talking.

I stepped into the doorway, but didn't go any further. It was as if there was a barrier up. Maybe I felt overwhelmed at the change in the room, from what I remembered so many months ago. I looked over at the bed, then giggled as I remembered all the times Shun fell off when he would try and give me more room. I was sure there was a dent in the wood floor where he had landed all those times. I felt something snake around my waist. I glanced down and saw Shun's arm, then felt him press into my body.

"It looks so different." By the sound of his voice, I knew he was thinking about all the seconds of our lives spent in there. It felt like all of our life to me. He said smoothly, "It seemed like such a long time ago. That it was me and you laying there. And that I was being pushed off the bed when I said something stupid. We seemed so young and crazy then. Now it seems like we've grown up so much, that it's scary."

He was right. We joked and played around like any teenager you'd see in school or on the street. But with the news about the baby, it was like something flipped on in both of us, and we seemed to of both matured. We now rethought our choices, looked at the world in a new view, were more careful, and it was scary. How a person can change overnight. Neither of us may act like we used to once the baby was born. The baby would be our top priority, and that was how it worked.

There wouldn't be time to act childish and joke around. Not for a while at least. My stomach was warm where Shun's arm was still around me. The timbre of Shun's voice sounded in my ear. "Maybe, it wouldn't hurt, to relive that time once again. What do you think?" We both wanted that lost time again. We both wanted to lay there and talk, and for me to push him off the bed cause of something insignificant. But would it be the same? Like he said, we've grown and matured. Would it just be a waste of time? Or would it be like it used to?

"It's up to you, Alice." The want in my voice reminded me of the want in my mind. I leaned my head back at him and smiled. I took a step into the room, and it felt like going back in time. Everything was like it was all those months back. The same blankets were messed up from when we got out of bed last, shoes tossed in the corner, lights on, and belongings scattered throughout the room. I smiled brightly. This definitely wasn't a waste of time.

today was...different. to put it in simple terms. when you let a bunch of band kids loose in a fast food place, you should always expect the unexpected. even if that means tons of inside jokes, and insults to your ex-boyfriend. ;) he deserves em anyway. there is still a possibilty for an upload tomorrow. all depends on if i go to the fair or not (i dont have a game, thanks heavens). i noticed when i uploaded this, it was 1,800 words on the dot. i was like 'SWEET!' even if it isnt as much as i have uploaded in the past. oh well, live and learn and win epically. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~