The People of Simbria: Bewickton: Chapter 7.10 - December 2022: Part X

Sivert Høyem – Moon Landing

Laranyas notes:

I woke up early this morning, the clock must have been around 5, and I could have sworn for a second there I just felt Deepaks warmth next to me.. and heard the sound of his snore and that soft mumble he always did, but my honey bee wasn't there, and all I heard was the sound of his memorabilia watch ticking..

Out in the woods... tall pine tree woods...

I guess I wasn't quite awake as I made the bed.. and I.. I still don't know why I woke up so early.. I guess I was hoping for.. I slept with the bedroom door open, just in case.. as if.. as if he could be home with me, any moment..
..but of course I knew that.. he wouldn't be let out of the hospital in the middle of the night.. so there wasn't much to do but.. go back to sleep again..

~~~~
Narrators notes:

Upstairs Bodil was having a bit of a restless sleep in the bunk bed.. Back home at school, her friend Edny Sævik was sometimes given a bit of a hard time by the other kids as the news of her moms imprisonment spread around.. Bodil, even though she wanted to get along with everyone, just couldn't be a bystander to watch this happen to her friend...
Nityas notes:

I was a bit groggy this morning as I got out of bed, so I thought I should walk outside to get some fresh air..

Someone had left a plate with a half eaten burger outside. I looked around to make sure nobody was watching.. I was feeling hungry, so I thought I might as well just eat it, instead of letting it go to waste.. we throw away enough food as it is, and I just don't think that's sustainable...

..but then that strange thing happened again that sometimes happens.. I wanted to go inside to eat it, but my right foot got stuck in the parking bumper and I couldn't move.. It freaks me out a bit, because usually when this happens, I seem to get some kind of memory lapse, and if I'm out somewhere, I may even suddenly find myself at home confused and with no idea how I got there...It really makes me think sometimes, if our lives are just a dream?
I got that memory lapse again now, too, but atleast it got me loose from the car bumper, however somehow I also lost the hamburger...

I can't have eaten it, because I was still hungry, but eh.. I think I needed to play some tunes on my guitar now to calm me down, before I could dare try to eat something again.. Maybe I shouldn't try to eat old half eaten hamburgers lying around outside...

Bodils notes:

I felt good when I woke up, after having slept in the top bunk bed in grandmas house. I dreamt tonight that I was the strongest girl in school, and I could beat up everyone that was being mean and saying wrong things!

I thought grandma must already be awake, because I could hear some guitar playing. Grandma would always play the guitar, she said she had so much music in her. I'm not sure how you can have music in you. Music is something you make when you play on an instrument or sing, but maybe it's just one more of those things I will understand better when I get older.

There was nobody in the dining room, living room or kitchen and it sounded like the guitar playing came from outside, so I got dressed and walked downstairs to head out the door. From the stairs I could see my aunt Nitya playing through the window. So it wasn't grandma that was up. Maybe I should learn to play the guitar, too, but all the guitars are so big and I'm only a child. I wish we had guitars for children, I don't know why we can't have that. So many things they say I can't do and understand just because I'm a child! Sometimes I wish I wasn't a child.

Gautes notes:

My boy Orinder has an appetite, that's for sure. I'm sure he'll grow up to be a big strong man, just like his fath.. umm, well, you know what I mean. It's always a pleasure to feed the little rascal, and I never knew I would be such a proud parent.. well, I am proud of both of my sons, I really am, so I do make sure to send some money to Sunset Valley for my boy Robert, too.. I probably do owe Ranveig some for those years, and yeah.. part of me wishes she had told me I actually had a son there a bit earlier... I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if she did..

I heard Robert is with the boy scouts now, and he's already doing great, going fishing and enjoying his life in the outdoors. A solid chip off the old block that one..

Leyas notes:

Gaute is a really good father for Orinder, and a good step-father for Bodil as well, and honestly.. I kind of wasn't expecting that given what I have heard about his, umm, past life and what I first learned about him when I came to town... Oh, well he's still got some of that spontaneous spirit in him, and that's another part of him that I love.. Somehow I got the best of both worlds, finally.

Deepaks notes:

Now, it's not that I'm ungrateful for all the doctors and nurses at the hospital have done for me – I mean, they literally saved my life – but, you know.. I'm getting tired of this, day in, day out, the same routines.. The nurses are sweet most of the time, and sure, it's nice to see that they can have a little fun on the job. I'm not at all opposed to that, but them cracking jokes about me being an astronaut.. I don't know, maybe today is just bad day, but that was the final straw for me...

"One small step for man" just didn't seem all that funny to me, and I knew it was time for me to get out of there. I didn't want to spend christmas at a hospital.. I did my best to walk as fast as I could away from them while distracting myself with thinking about the song I was working on before all this happened.. and as they continued to crack jokes, as much as it annoyed me, maybe now I had found a title for it...

For now I've had enough from you
I'm done and so are you
Go see what you can do
The universe is expanding

I'm going to make this
My own moon landing
I'm going to give this
The best that I've got

Moon Landing.

----
Narrators notes:

Back at the house Laranya was in the kitchen, busy preparing, well, lunch, since they had already slept for well into the day.. Right next to some smelly hamburgers that must have been more leftovers from yesterdays party..

At the hotel Gaute was done with his morning workout, Leya had picked up Orinder, and they were on their way back to her mothers house. Earlier she had tried to call her sister Udisha to hear if they could come over for a visit, but she was, as usual, busy working again..

Nitya, being the youngest adult of the family, and the one most concerned about the environment and the future state of their planet, was busy teaching Bodil about the importance of recycling when the taxi pulled up outside the house.

"If everyone contributes their part.. we can all save the planet together!"

Inside Laranya had finished cooking, and was about to call everyone in to eat just in time for Leya and Gaute to join them eating.

Gaute: It's always a pleasure to visit this house – I feel really welcome here. There's so much warmth – and food on the table!

Nitya: There's no better chef than my mama! She has always made sure everyone has had enough to eat – and then some!

Nitya: We just have to remember to save the leftovers! I would hate having to throw away food!

After everyone had eaten and their bellies were well and full (and the leftover food safely stored in the refridgerator) calm and tranquility and classical music from the stereo filled the house... and Gaute thought he'd make use of this moment to ask his wife for a slow dance. ;)

At the hospital Deepak was ready for take.. I mean, departure, but not without being something special from the hospital shop first...
Store clerk: Do you want me to wrap it for you?
Deepak: Yes.. yes, please.

"Christmas lights are up.. well, we could probably handle to pay a little more on our electricity bill.. It's only christmas once a year.. but after New Years these lights are going down..."

Leya: Dad..? You're home! We weren't expecting...
Deepak: I just couldn't take it anymore... And the doctors agreed, I had done more than enough progress to be able to care for myself while at home, so there was no need for me to stay there any longer...

Deepak: ..and they didn't really want to hold me there over christmas anyway, because you know.. it's christmas.. It's so good to be back home again..
Leya: It's good to see you home again too, dad...

Deepak: Now there's someone upstairs I have to see again..

Laranyas notes:

Woohoo yeah! My man was back from the hospital, and I was flushed with the most intense joy! I couldn't hold it in, and why should I? Now, christmas could come! I didn't really notice at first, that he came walking over with a cane, I was just to excited!

Of course, it is true, we aren't getting any younger, but just in that moment I felt as young as I haven't felt in years – and certainly not for the past few weeks! When we kissed again I was on top of the world, almost like floating in space!

I was in love again! Well, not that I ever really fell out of it, but you know.. My eyes couldn't do anything but follow him as he went into the kitchen to prepare himself a meal.

We spent the rest of the night watching an old christmas classic on tv, and I'm pretty sure I had a big smile on my face the whole time. Or, atleast until Gaute came with an inappropriate question I don't feel like repeating..

I don't think he meant any harm with it, but that was a reminder of what happened that I don't think any of us needed right now.. Now, Gaute is a good man, though sometimes he can be a little tactless... We all had that anxiety, and we all feared for the worst, and we were all relieved when it didn't go that way, but really.. come on..
Gautes notes:

Sometimes my mouth works a little faster than my brain, and things come out not quite like I intended.. We had a nice evening, but the mood got a little weird towards the end.. Deepak didn't really reply to my question...I just made a fool of myself in front of my parent-in-laws. Not the first time, and it probably won't be the last..

I could hear Laranya making a sarcastic remark about being bright as a llama as I watched Deepak walk off to go to bed... I was.. really surprised.. I was concerned he would fall over, but..I mean, he came here this evening on crutches and walked with a cane, and now he just went on his way, without any support, like nothing had happened.. ..well, that's recovery! Or maybe he just forgot he came here with a crutch, I don't really know, but it certainly left me impressed by the man!

Deepaks notes:

That Gaute! Oh, he's an interesting guy.. I think Laranya took his comment much worse than I did. We've all had these thoughts, I'm sure, and he just verbalized them. I know the man is good at heart, and I can see where his comment came from, so there was no reason for me to be offended. It was actually a bit of a relief to hear him say it, as it shows he's had a great deal of concern. Of course, it came out a bit wrong, but we all knew the meaning behind it. I'm pretty confident my daughter is in good hands with this man, and I have no worries at all.

Gautes notes:

I gave an apology to Laranya about my comment, I didn't mean for it to come out like it did. She didn't necessarily mean the llama thing either, as she explained, the past few weeks have been pretty hard, but now that Deepak was back home things were alright again.

I was still a little concerned though, how he seemed to forget using his cane and taking off like a rocket to go to bed. Laranya assured me, that was just his nature, stubborn as he was. When he had a goal in mind, he could really be unstoppable sometimes. Aiming for the stars was just his thing, she said. Yeah.. I can see that, and I'm probably not the right person to say this, but maybe it would benefit him to take it a little easy, atleast for a while....
Leyas notes:

Visiting my mom and the house I grew up in is always a pleasure and today doubly so, when we all got the surprise of dad returning from the hospital. Though it was getting late, and a certain aroma filled the air (Orinder needed his diaper changed...), so I figured it was time to retreat to the hotel for the night.. and prepare for tomorrow..

Dad and my sister had already gone to bed, so it was best not to disturb them, but I gave my mom a solid good hug before saying good night. I could hear Orinder crying as Gaute picked him, so it was definately bedtime for big and small...

Bodils notes:

I have done my homework and done my best to be a good girl all year... Dear Santa, it wasn't me starting those fights at school, I only did that to save my friend... so I hope Santa has got something special for me tomorrow! Well, I don't really believe in Santa anymore, I know it's just mom and dad and I'm just pretending... but I still love christmas! I love the snow, all the candy, the presents, the music, the food, and my grandma and grandpa... Grandpa came home from the hospital today, and he wasn't in the wheelchair anymore. I think he was really happy to be back home in his house again. I think the hospital must be a really boring place. I don't think anyone wants to celebrate christmas at a hospital, but if you are really sick, maybe you have to. I hope a Santa Claus comes to visit all the people at the hospital, too, especially the children. I'm happy I'm not sick and have to be at the hospital for christmas. Ok, good night.

Narrators notes:

..and so everyone went to sleep once more, dreaming dreams of Santa, hospitals, rockets and treadmills (or rocket fuel fueled treadmills perhaps...?)