Chapter 8
After relaying the night’s details to Anne, who absorbed them with genuine interest, I tended to Pandora. I led her outside and sat on the back porch while she ran about. She was more eager to play than to take care of business.
“Silly dog,” I muttered. I quietly laughed and drew my knees to my chest and rested my head on my arms. Pandora sensed my introspection, quit running and came over to me where she nudged my arm. I lifted my head and stroked her. “I can always count on you, can’t I?”
Pandora perked up and her ears seemed to be searching for some noise that was beyond my own hearing. Suddenly she bolted towards the back fence and growled angrily. I had never seen that side of her before and was taken aback.
“What’s gotten into you Panda?”
I stood up and looked into the darkness, but didn’t see anything. Other than Pandora, the night was calm.
“Silly dog,” I repeated. “Let’s go in.”
After showering I pulled on my white t-shirt and began brushing my teeth. I motioned for Pandora to go into my room. As a matter of habit I went to the window and looked out, seeing nothing. Pandora was next to me, watching as I had been, and seeing what I couldn’t. But I heard the howling – faint and far away. I returned to the bathroom to rinse my mouth out. I placed my toothbrush in its holder and spotted some of Anne’s nail polish and chose a pale pink. I entered my room and noticed that Pandora was alert, not having relaxed her stance. I rolled my eyes and plopped down on the bed. I began painting my toenails when Pandora let out another angry growl. Startled, I almost spilled polish on the comforter.
“Knock it off Panda,” I scolded. She didn’t pay any attention to me.
While I waited for the polish to dry I listened to Within Temptation and began to journal. In writing I could pour my heart out, something I was reluctant to do in person. After I wrote a short entry about my fun evening with Reece, I casually flipped through to read some back entries. My eyes settled on one I had written shortly before my dad’s death.
Dad and I had a wonderful day today. We made chicken salad sandwiches and went on our weekly picnic. We talked and dad expressed concern that my grades weren’t where they should be. He believed I was capable of more. At one point he said to me, “Willow dear, you take life so seriously. You really need to lighten up.” He also told me, “There will be times of heartache, but life is made of moments. Don’t waste them.” And when we went home I brought my homework into the kitchen and sat down at the island. While reading, I felt something hit me in the head. I looked up and dad was grinning. He was popping popcorn. Laughing, we had a food fight right there in the kitchen. The little moments indeed…
I put the journal down, rolled onto my back and tried to stop the tears. They came anyway. I sat up and grabbed some tissue from the nightstand. Pandora left her position at the window and came over long enough to lick my hand. Satisfied that I was okay she returned to her station and kept standing guard. I reached over and turned off the light. I turned onto my side and draped an arm and a leg over my body pillow and listened as Anne’s classical music drifted throughout the house. East of Eden I identified. I heard her open cabinets as she put some dishes away. The clanging of silverware and the all-around homey sound made me long for my dad and the comforts of my real home.