Welcome to Shady Hills
A/N: Thank you so much for reading. This is my breakthrough back into writing on Tumblr. As a retired fangirl (you can read that work at @brianc521) I'm ready to go back to my days of creating little stories. Please let me know if there is any scenes you'd like to read.
Soft. Fuzzy. Grey.
His cute small ears pop up out of the hot pink hand towel heās wrapped in. Heās squirming around in the older womanās arms while he lets out the softest high pitched meow youāve ever heard. The older woman hands him over to Sailor, trying to make sure she navigates his back feet trying to push theyāre hands away. Sailor takes hold and just gushes over how he is the size of her hand. Heās got her wrapped around his tail already and he doesnāt even know it.
Sailors cheeks feel a pull. Thereās a smile thatās been missing from her face pulling up at the corner of her lips. She looks at the older lady whoās just watching this encounter knowing that Sailor was the perfect owner for this newly available kitten. Sheās half tempted to let Sailor have him for free. She can just tell, in a weird way, that this girl needs this kitten. But alas, bills wonāt pay themselves.Ā
āYou said $50?ā Sailor confirms, eyebrows scrunched as she digs a hand into the front pocket of her sweatshirt for the cash. āHere.ā She says handing the older woman the money, who counts it discreetly as Sailor settles her new kitten against her chest. āThank you so much, I love him.āĀ
āHe loves you.ā The woman says, and with the way she says it you can tell she really means it. She takes a step up onto the curb of the sidewalk behind her as Sailor climbs into her pickup truck. The woman tilts her head and gives a gentle wave as Sailor smiles at her before putting the truck in reverse to leave.
In the truck thatās now turning right out of this woman's apartment complex and back onto the main road sits the redheaded girl, still wearing that smile. Her new kitten sits next to her on the bench seat of the cab scared out of his fur. Heās still wrapped in the dreadful pink towel still shivering from his quick bath.
āWeāll name you Odie,ā Sailor giggles, reaching over to scratch the top of his head. He stares at her with his blue grey eyes, almost as if he understands her and wants to know more. āI know youāre not a dog,ā She shakes her head as she focuses back on the road, āBut Garfield back home is going to love you. He needs a sibling and I think youāll be perfect.āĀ
She suddenly then sees the smile on her face as she checks her rearview mirror. It took a moment for her brain to register that itās still her in the mirror. It had been such a taxing previous year, and the start to this one isnāt looking much better.Ā
Her Grandpaās passing still sits heavy in her heart everyday. Each morning is the same battle of finding the will to get out of bed. From there itās taking things minute by minute as she gets ready for the day ahead. Knowing that sheāll have to face Letta at the store and act as if nothing is wrong.Ā
It doesnāt help her grief and sadness to watch Garfield. He knows Grandpaās gone too. Which is why she thinks heās so gloomy all the time. There might also be the fact that this is Garfield number three. She wonders if he knows, if the wisdom and knowledge of the other two was passed along and he knows that heās not the original. That heās just another because her Grandpa couldnāt let go of the name.Ā
She didnāt have the heart to change his name either. She feels like he could, heās still pretty young, just about a year old now. She just canāt bring herself to call him anything other than Garfield. So when she saw the listing on facebook, shared by an old schoolmate, for āKittens available tonight!ā She found herself cranking up the truck and taking the small drive for a cat for her cat. So rightfully, the name Odie comes as the companion to her Garfield.
Garfield was her favorite part of the paper when she was a child. She still gets the paper delivered to the house, and just recently sheād taken to being able to bring it in and set it at the same spot her Grandfather used to sit. She can still smell the distinct smell of newspaper, mixed with the scent of black coffee. Or feel the touch of the soft paper on her fingertips. Every morning itās on the porch as it always is, but she hasnāt actually touched the paper itself since he passed, just the plastic bag it comes in. It shocks her still that it arrives, they printed his obituary over five months ago and itās his subscription that is in use to have it delivered.
Every morning she can recall coming down the wooden steps of the home she shared with her Grandfather and occasionally her Mother. Only when her mom was in trouble or putting a facade on for a new boytoy about how great of a mother she is. Fateful and true, like her father with his paper at the kitchen table every morning, her mother would come around for a few days with endless promises that were always broken. In an attempt to impress her Grandfather in her young age she remembers the first morning she picked up the paper. It was a section he hadnāt gotten to yet, so she opened it up. It was almost as tall as she was and she couldnāt understand how grown ups read this whole thing so fast, until her eyes danced across the black and white letters and landed on the comic strip at the top. It became routine then. Sheād sip her glass of milk at the same time he sipped his coffee and sheād giggle away at what Garfield had gotten up to that day while her Grandfather worried over the news on the front page.
Her love for Garfield continued to grow when she turned 8. Her Grandfather had rented the Garfield movie. Voiced by Bill Murray and accompanied by Brekin Meyer she fell more in love with that fat orange cat. Her Grandpa ended up just buying the movie from the local Blockbuster because he couldnāt dare ask her to give it back. It soothed her in the moments she needed.
Looking back now it feels silly. To think that movie, of all the movies in the world, was the one that soothed her on the nights where her mother caused her heartbreak.Ā
The tale of her own Garfield goes like this. In an attempt to cheer her up after her mother had missed yet another fair, he took Sailor to the towns local market. They had walked up and down the streets of their small town, saying good morning and hello to their neighbors and friends. Eddie, her Grandfather, worked to try and keep her distracted as they passed a booth with a sign that read āKittens for Sale!ā. Sailor had seen that sign from the top of the block and was not about to miss out on the opportunity to see the kittens. She pulled on her Grandpaās arm towards the both, begging to just take a quick look.
When they walked up to the booth Kristen gave them a sympathetic smile as she rounded the table to greet them. Kristen was the local veterinarian. She had lived in Shady Hills just as long as Eddie had. She was close with his late wife and a good family friend.Ā
āGood morning Ed, hi Sailor.ā She said, āHey Sailor, Iāve got some eight week old kittens in that pen over there. Why donāt you go say hi, they need a good playinā.ā She pointed to the end of her booth where one of the nurses from her clinic was filling up water dishes.Ā
Eddie watched as Sailor went rushing off the kittens, he smiled as she was careful to not step on them. He then looked back to Kristen who again, held the same sympathetic look on her face as did everyone else this morning. It was a look Sailor was noticing, now at the age of 10. She had overheard the whispers in Ronnieās coffee shop when they stopped for a drink. Everyone in town, including her, knew that it was her mother who had spent the night in the drunk tank at the jail. Which told her that the phone call that they had gotten in the middle of the night was probably her mother. Which meant she was calling to be bailed out, and when Grandpa said the last time was the last time, he meant it since the call went unanswered.
āHowās the morning Krissie?ā Eddie asked, looking back over to Sailor for a moment.Ā
āIām guessing mines better than yours,ā Kristen sighed, bumping her shoulder into Eddieās. āHannah make it home this morning?ā She asked in a lower tone.
āIām not sure,ā Eddie gruffed out, āSheās an adult. She makes the decisions in her life, she has to deal with the consequences. Bailing her out only tells her that itās not a big deal to go to jail. So she wasted her call on me.āĀ
Kristen just stared at Eddie before responding. She was trying to be sensitive to the subject but could tell it was taking a toll on Eddie. It canāt be easy having to allow your child to fail for their well being. āYouāre right, but itās not fair what sheās doing to you.āĀ
āNo no,ā Eddie shook his head. āIt has nothing to do with me. Itās not fair what sheās doing to Sailor. Thatās her mother you know? She doesnāt get another one. Sheās just stuck with this old man of hers who doesnāt get around as good as he used to.ā He shrugged looking down at himself. āAnd you know, sheās sad all the time. I worry about her not smiling enough. So I try like hell to get her attitude lifted back up but there is only so much I can do.āĀ
āYouāre doing fantastic,ā Kristen puts a hand to his shoulder, āSheād be proud of you, you know.ā She had that knowing look in her eye. Kristen was one of the few left in town that knew of Martha. Martha was a doting mother who was a part of the PTA and helped lead the HOA of the neighborhood. She was loved and cherished by this community. So when a drunk driver took her from Eddie and Hannah, and the town. Everything was in a standstill, shut down, for three days.Ā
āI hope so.ā Eddie choked out. Still to this day speaking of Martha is a sore subject.Ā
āHey Grandpa!ā Sailor called out, waving him over. āCome look.āĀ
Eddie shot Kristen a look. He knew that that meant she found a kitten she liked and that heād most likely be making a stop on the way home to pick up litter and a scoop. He nodded at Kristen and headed over to the pen where Sailor was seated in the corner.Ā
He stopped short when she looked up with a smile. The brightest smile heād seen on her face in months, maybe even a year. She looked like her Mom. Like her Grandma and it made his heart swell. She looked down into her lap and thatās when he noticed. There, curled up in a ball and purring away, was an orange cat.
āHe looks like Garfield!ā She softly exclaimed.Ā
And thatās how the tale of the Garfields started.Ā
Looking over now, blinking out of her memory from her first cat, she sees her brand new kitten now sleeping in the towel. Sheās not far from home, and since he now looks so cozy she decides to take a detour. She just wants to drive by the store to make sure everything is okay. The alarm system is still sitting in a box on her desk, yet to be installed, so she likes to take the extra two minutes and thirty eight seconds to drive by the store on her way home.Ā
Not that sheās worried about intruders or robberies. Shady Hills is a small community that looks after each other. Her grandparents had lived here as kids, got married and had kids here. Had grandkids here. Everyone knew her and they knew what she looked like when she got braces and her first zit in the same week.Ā
She rounds the corner and hums along to the radio, softly, to make sure she doesnāt wake Odie. Slowing a few miles, she starts to pass the store. Everything looks just as she left it the day before. Except for the yellow paper taped to the front door. She knew that was from Ken. She rolled her eyes, Ken should know that sheās closed on Sundayās.Ā
Kenās her attorney, whoās working with her in this small battle against her mother. Itās ridiculous that at the age of 25 sheās fighting with her mother like this. Itās her mothers doing, thatās caused all this drama. Hannah Hartley, now Hannah Wellington was fit to be tied that her father left all of his assets to her daughter. To Hannah, Sailor was ājust a childā and ācouldnāt handle the responsibilityā. When in reality everyone knows Hannah just wants the money to drink away.Ā
Sailor blinks out of the thought, pushing it out of her mind. Nope. Sundayās were her day off. From everything, including her feelings towards her mother. As she goes to speed back up the road she notices that the shop across the street from the store has its lights on. Which was odd because Sal from Salās Bait and Tackle had been gone months before her Grandfather. Neither of his sons wanted to take over the store, so it had been shut down. It was an empty memory to this town as it sit in the dark. She stares into the window as a younger man walks by carrying a box. Heās new, not someone sheās seen before. He has dark hair tucked under a backwards baseball cap and a red and black flannel on. Heās wearing cargo shorts and work boots, which is an odd combination she thinks to herself.
She notices, finally, how creepy she must look when his eyes cut over to her through the window. Itās then that she speeds up and curses herself for how odd the whole moment was.Ā
Odie lets out a soft meow and she nods to him. āI know Buddy, weāre almost home.āĀ
She looks into her rearview mirror and catches a glimpse of the glow in the street from Salās. It seems she has a new neighbor across the street.
And heās kind of cute. Before she knows it, sheās smiling about that too.Ā














