Kelly closed her book, put it to one side and stretched her legs out in front of her. It was a cold day but when you sat in just the right place the promise of summer warmed you. There was a bench next to her but she chose a patch of grass since it hadn't rained recently. She was over half way into her book and she was enjoying every word printed on every pretty page. Sometimes when she read a book as good as this one she wanted to last it way longer than the rest. And so, after putting her book to one side she watched the lake sing its song.
It danced slowly, as if the waves were meeting up with long lost friends, enjoying every second of being back together again. A boy leant down and touched the top of it with his finger and giggled. "It's cold mummy!" he squealed and his mother looked at him, proud. Happy. Kelly grinned to herself and took a bite into her apple.
She found strength in this time of year. Soon it would be warm, but for just a little while longer we'll live with this chill that reminded us to stay grounded. Kelly felt grounded. Her photography business was really getting somewhere and she reminded herself every day to stay thankful. Stay motivated.
Just the day before she worked for a lovely lady's wedding. At fifty Joy never thought she was going to find true love. And then her sweet Sammy walked into her life and she thanked her lucky stars every day. After she survived a long battle with cancer, she made a promise to herself that she would make every day her own. Her best.
It took everything Kelly had not to jump with joy when the two of them said "I do" the day before. She remained focussed and took shots she knew Joy and Sammy would adore. She just couldn't wait to have them all sorted and meet up for lunch with them in a week or so. She lived for that smile her customers gave her. Happy. Really happy.
It was afternoons like this that Kelly was able to reflect on how busy the last year had been. How awesome it had been. She took a few photos of the sky; the trees; the lake. She pulled out her polaroid and turned to the mother and her son. She took a snap and sighed. They just oozed beauty. So happy with each other's company. Kelly gathered her stuff and walked to the mother and son. "Hiya," she smiled warmly.
Confused but pleasant, the mother smiled, "Hello?"
"I'm sorry to intrude and I'm sorry if I've overstepped the line, but you and your son looked so lovely. I hope you don't mind; I took this." The woman seemed less confuse and began to smile as Kelly shook the polaroid. She had a quick look herself- her mother grinning at her son as he stood with his arms spread in the air. She passed the picture to the woman, "Be careful not to smudge it. That's happiness to treasure."
"Who is she mummy?" the boy asked happily.
"She's our little Thursday Guardian Angel, lovely."
Kelly laughed and the woman thanked her, "This has made my day."
Kelly knew she couldn't always do things like this. And it wasn't an often occurrence. It was never enough to apologise for taking a snap of someone and simply expect "sorry if I overstepped" to be a good enough justification.
Kelly thought back to when she was young; before her dad died. He took her hand and said, "You must promise me you make memories and make them last through photographs. Better never stop experiencing them, Kelly-Jelly."
"I promise."
~
Books & Lakes,
The Girl in the Moonlight.
P.S. HERE is my last post!
No comments:
Post a Comment