During the night Rose tossed and turned some. She dreamt bits and pieces of her earlier dream of uncle Ralph and grandma arguing. She woke up around seven-thirty am and decided to get up.
“What a horrible night's sleep,” Rose stood up and stretched.
She took out a pair of pink jean shorts and a pink flowered t-shirt and walked to the bathroom. Rose washed up, brushed her teeth, and changed her clothes. One good thing about today is that I get to see Joshes beautiful smile, she thought. Rose brushed her hair and tossed her night clothes in the laundry basket outside the bathroom door. I guess I could do some laundry today too, she thought.
She picked up the full laundry basket and carried it downstairs. She turned and walked past the staircase to go to the kitchen. In the kitchen, she grabbed the kitchen towel that had been used and tossed it into the basket. She set the basket down by the basement door. I’ll get my coffee started first, she thought. So Rose filled the coffee maker with water and put in the filter and grounds. When she got that going she picked up the laundry basket and went down into the basement.
Rose separated her dark clothes from the lights, put some detergent in, and started the washer. She looked around the basement and wondered if she could get some kind of organization down there. I suppose I could box up the rest of grandma’s canning jars, she thought. Rose grabbed an empty box that was down there. With some newspaper that was lying down there too, she packed up the rest of her grandma’s jars.
“I’ll see if Josh will take that bed upstairs and grandma’s jars to the Salvation Army store. If not I’ll have to call for a pick-up,” Rose put the box of jars by the other one.
There were a couple of other boxes that looked like uncle Ralph’s stuff so she moved them under the stairs by his boxes full of pottery. When Josh gets here I’ll ask him to help me pick this bookcase back up, she thought.
Rose trotted back upstairs and sniffed in the glorious aroma of her freshly brewed coffee. She took her cup and poured some hot coffee into it. She added her usual creamer and sweetener and walked to the front door. She unlocked and opened the door. I wonder if Josh would have time to put that screen door back on here, she thought. Rose walked out onto the porch and sat down on the rocking chair.
She heard various chirping from different birds along with the Robin’s. And the butterflies were fluttering from flower to flower in her flower beds. The air smelled like fresh-cut grass and corn silk. There was a cool gentle breeze but the sun was warming everything up. Rose took a drink of her coffee and enjoyed the morning. Even though her night was a little rough, she was ready to make it a good day.
While she was sitting there rocking, she saw the man across the street kiss his wife goodbye and leave. The lady must have seen Rose this time because she waved. Rose waved back at her and then the lady went back inside the house. Rose took another drink from her coffee cup and saw that orange cat again. This time it was coming from the cornfield and walking down her driveway toward the street. The cat turned right as it reached the street, and disappeared after that.
Rose got up and walked back inside. She went to the kitchen to get a refill on her coffee. She carried her cup with her into the living room. Rose turned on the television and tuned it to an 80s music station. She turned up the volume and went back out to the front porch. She glanced at the flowers in her flower beds. I should give you guys a drink later, she thought. She walked to the far end of the porch and looked toward the barn. Rose turned around and walked back to the rocker and sat back down.
“Josh should be here soon,” Rose took a drink of coffee.
Please join me again for more of: Rose’s Ghost.