Rose Through Time by Harmke Buursma

Author:Harmke Buursma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harmke Buursma

18

Puddles Of Water

A good night’s sleep put most of yesterday's ordeal out of my mind; I decided I wanted to do something outdoors. It had rained during the night, leaving puddles of water behind on the dirt pathways snaking their way around the estate. I liked it that way though; it rained so seldom in my hometown that anytime it did, it was like a special treat. My favorite scent was the smell that clung in the air after a good downpour, clean and earthy, as if all the world's sins had been washed away. My grandmother would chide me when I'd run outside, letting the drops fall around me, soaking my clothes and plastering my hair to my face. I knew she was never really upset with me though; she would hand me a towel, and as I dried my hair, I would smell cocoa heating up on the stove. She would use real pieces of chocolate which made the hot drink taste much richer than a single hot chocolate packet. Then I’d top the mug with a mountain of mini-marshmallows. It was funny how a simple thing like a puddle of water could trigger a memory of her. I'd been busy dealing with being dropped back in time, but still, even in an unfamiliar place like this, there would be something that pulled at me and triggered a memory, then the sadness over losing her would hit me like a gut punch. I never lost anyone before, not like my grandma. My grandfather passed away when I was much younger; not understanding the finality of death meant that much of the loss and grief passed me by.

In that moment, with the memory of my grandmother on my mind, I didn't care that, to anyone who paid attention, I would look like an idiot. I wore shoes that were way too flimsy for what I was doing but it felt liberating as I twirled and jumped and danced through the puddles. The rainwater soaked through my slippers and the fabric at bottom of my dress. Just for a few seconds, I wanted to recapture that feeling of freedom I had when I was a child, when my grandmother was alive, and any difficulty I might encounter would be resolved by ice cream and a hug from my parents.

"What are you doing?" William asked, a bemused look on his face. He was leading a horse from the stables.

"Enjoying the rain," I said, both giving him the full answer and no real answer at all.

"Indeed," he said, at a loss for words. “And this is a regular activity?”

“Not very often.” I stopped twirling. “Where are you going?” I asked, pointing at the horse.

“I'm just going into town for a bit. There’s some mail that needs sending and I’ve got to run some other errands. John can tell you more as I am in a hurry," he said. "Look, there he is now." William pointed at the figure of a man walking towards us.

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