This story brings back Elaine Furman from 'Look Homeward, Ray'. It places Ray in a situation where he has to make an important decision that could change the rest of his life. So...enjoy reading.
"Elaine! Hey, Elaine!" A young girl of about 12 with bushy brown hair up in a ponytail stopped walking along the sidewalk. She turned to see who had called her name. A boy with a head of bright auburn hair came running towards her. He came to a stop about a foot away.
"Thanks..." He took a few deep breaths, "...for waiting."
"Well, who could ignore those shouts?" Elaine replied. "Did you need something, Ray?"
"I just kinda wanted to walk you home," Ray replied as he turned a bit red. He scratched his neck and looked at the sidewalk. "If that's alright."
"Oh," Elaine said. She didn't want to hurt the boy since he received plenty of that from other people, but she wasn't interested in hearing about this at school tomorrow. He looked back up at her and on his face was the most pathetic expression the young brunette had ever seen. It rivaled only the look her puppy often had after being scolded. "Okay. Sure."
"Great," he responded with a grin. The young man readjusted his backpack and the two took off down the sidewalk. They walked in silence for a while. Elaine cast a few side glances at her companion trying to figure out his motive for wanting to walk with her. He wasn't exactly the type with a hidden agenda.
"You picked an interesting subject for your project," Elaine told Ray as she broke the silence. "I liked your art."
"Oh, thanks," Ray replied with a sheepish grin. "I happen to like ghosts and stuff like that a lot."
"How do you know that stuff exists?" Elaine asked. "Not many people have seen those things."
"They do exist," the young boy shot back. Elaine stopped and stared at him. "And someday I'm gonna prove it."
"I would like it if you didn't get mad at me," the brunette told him. "You want to know why a lot of people don't talk to you? They don't enjoy being yelled at about stuff you can't prove exists. Until than I'd be careful about what you say." The carrot top boy stuck his hands into jean pockets and looked down at the sidewalk.
"I'm sorry, Elaine. I didn't mean to do that."
"It's okay," she replied than continued walking. Ray went after her and was in step with her once more.
"You look really pretty today," Ray told her.
"Oh, thanks." Elaine gave him a slightly embarrassed smile than brushed down her pleaded khaki shirt than fiddled with the buttons one her light blue blouse.
"Uh, Elaine, can I ask you a question?"
"I guess."
"Do you, maybe, want to, uh....want to...?" Ray trailed off than mumbled a few words the young girl couldn't hear.
"What'd you say? You kinda didn't finish that sentence." He cleared his throat.
"Do you want to...?" Ray started off once again his voice now much higher than before. He covered his mouth and Elaine giggled. "I mean, would you like to...?"
"Hey, Stantz!" The boy froze and Elaine's eyes went wide. They both knew who the voice belonged to. "Stantz!"
"Ray, you need to go now," Elaine frantically told the young man.
"But..."
"Ray, go. I'll hold him off a moment."
"Thank you." She nodded. Ray took off down the sidewalk running as fast as his legs could carry him. The brunette felt bad for him a moment, but she knew siding with him would lead to trouble. Especially with the other kids at school. Elaine continued walking down the sidewalk even as she heard footsteps pounding behind her.
"Elaine, do you know where our little friend went?" She glanced to her side and saw a tall young man with messy brown hair wearing a torn jean jacket with matching jeans.
"I don't know, Alan. He just muttered something and ran off."
"Really? I guess I owe him one tomorrow."
"Why don't you leave him alone?"
"Because I have too much fun," Alan answered. He stuck an arm around her shoulders. "So, how's my girl?" Elaine shrugged off his arm.
"I'm not yours, Alan. I'm not anybody's. I just want to go home."
"Aw, come on. It's a Friday. You don't have to do your homework until Sunday. Let's go to the movies."
"No."
"Elaine..."
"No, Alan. Now leave me alone." The boy grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her to face him.
"I'm not going anywhere, Elaine."
"Leave her alone!" There was a blur of orange that tackled Alan and everything seemed to become loud and blaring.
The brunette shot up as the alarm clock in the hotel room went off louder than she remembered setting it. She hit the clock, turning off the obnoxious noise and rubbed her eyes.
"Bout time, girl." Elaine looked up at the voice. A woman with dark hair who looked to be about in her thirties was finishing up put on her shirt. "I think you were having another one of those dreams."
"Did you set my alarm that loud?"
"I had to. I was tired of yelling." Elaine rolled her eyes.
"Thanks so much, Penny. Yeah, I was having another one of those dreams, but that's why I'm here. I need to get rid of them if I'm going to marry John."
"You could always marry this Ghostbuster guy you've been talking about," Penny replied. "He sounds perfect."
"Stop it, Penny. You aren't helping at all," Elaine said. "I need to figure this stuff out. I can't spend the rest of my life wondering if I made the wrong decision."
"Wish I had that problem," Penny responded with a sigh. "Do I go with the rich guy? Or the famous guy? Both cute, smart, and funny. Such a hard decision." Elaine threw a pillow at the woman and she caught. "You forget, Elly. I played softball for seven years and we won the championship every year."
"I didn't forget. I was kinda hoping you'd notice that meant shut up." Penny grinned as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.
"Come on, girl. Today we're going to that firehouse. I'm tired of walking by it than listen to you complain the whole day that we didn't go in."
"Well, I don't want to embarrass myself." Her friend let out a snort. "I don't want to say or do something I'm going to regret later. I've been thinking about exactly what I'm going to say."
"What are you going to say?"
"I don't know."
"Good job. You sound ready for this alright."
To be continued...