From Sunport to Windenburg

This is a light hearted fantasy/love story. It started out as a one shot, but I am thinking about adding more onto it. Here is a snip of it. The rest will be avaliable on ValentChamber.

~Sunport~

Adrian holds onto June’s hand and waits patiently as Joshua kneels in front of his wife’s grave. The cool summer breeze and warmth of the sun soothes him as he speaks to his deceased wife. “Hey Gloria,” he scratches the back of his head and clears his throat. He stares at the headstone. It was hard to believe that the woman he loved now lays there. “Gloria, this is the last time I’ll be able to visit you in a while…” He pauses, searching for the right words to say. “Today is moving day,” he breaths, a small smile on his lips. “I finally made up my mind and decided that we are moving to Windenburg. June loves it there. She has made quite a few friends and she really enjoys Adrian’s company.”

Joshua looks at his boots and grazes his fingers over the blades of grass that cushioned his feet. He wipes his dew covered digits on his jeans and allows his sheepish smile to widen a bit. “Adrian is good for her, ya know? The other day, when I went to pick her up, I found June in the kitchen with flour all over her cheeks. They didn’t hear me come in cause they were singing so loud; so I just sat there and watched them spoon cookie dough onto a pan.”

Joshua thinks to himself as he reminisces that day. He remembers the chocolaty aroma that filled the air as Adrian and June opened the oven to retrieve the first batch of cookies. He recalls the excited shriek that escapes his daughter’s lips when he answers her question as to whether or not he’d like the cookies they made. He listened to his daughter talk about her day as the three of them sat at the round table in the small dining area, munching away on sweets. He watched as Adrian brushed the bangs from out of June’s eyes and uses a warm cloth to wipe the flour off his daughter’s face. And when it was time for him and June to take their hour trip back home, he watched as his little girl wrap her arms around the kneeling woman with all her might.

“She loves June very much,” he continues, his voice barely audible to even himself. As his mind slowly comes back to the present, he dusts his hands off onto his pants. “This is the right thing to do. June needs stability. Bear and Adrian helps give her that security.” Joshua kisses his hand and places it on Gloria’s grave before lifting himself to his feet. “I love you Gloria,” he adds as he turns to leave.

“Is Daddy finished?” June asks in a hushed voice. 

Adrian’s brown eyes meet those belonging to the little girl. Although she had her mother’s olive skin and pouty lips, her ocean- green eyes and the expression she wore on her face made her look more like her father. She smiles, “I think so.” Adrian glances up to see the man walking their way, his hands in his pocket and eyes to the ground.  “Come on, let’s go to the car.”

***

Adrian listens in on the chatty, little child as she drives the rental car to the train station. June was carrying conversation with her brown, stuffed rabbit, Walter. They were talking about June’s new room and all the tea parties and picnics they were going to have. Adrian glances over at the passenger side to see Joshua quietly staring out of the window. It was obvious something was on his mind; hopefully it was something that they would later talk about. Adrian looks in the rearview mirror upon hearing her name.

“Yuh huh, Walter! Auntie Adrian tell him!”

She smiles, “Tell him what, June-bug?”

“Walter thinks Magik is fake. He says only babies believe in Magik.”

“Whaaat? Walter said that?”

“Mmm hmm...”

The woman’s smile widens as she nods her head. “Well of course Magik is real. I mean, just cause you don’t see it every day doesn’t mean it’s not there, right Josh?”

He glances over at Adrian and then turns in his seat to face the young child. He reaches out and rustles the girl’s dark curly hair and then gently brushes the tip of her nose with his thumb. “That’s right!”

Adrian was happy that June was keeping things lively. Her voice and laughter seemed to take Joshua’s mind off of whatever he was pondering over.  After about 20 minutes of driving, they finally reach their destination. Joshua helps June out of the car, making sure that she had her pink book bag on her shoulders and Walter in hand. He tells the little girl to take Adrian’s hand so that she could help return the car while he unloads the cased weapons from the trunk. As they are about to board the train, Joshua is stopped by the Conductor.