The First Night

Anna-Lena Plett

by Anna-Lena Plett

Story

The smell that had lured her downstairs came from two steaming plates of what looked to be some sort of casserole. The dish the plates had been served from was sitting on the counter, emitting just as much smell and steam as the two filled plates. Sitting down at the table she smiled at Milo and said: “Thanks for cooking, it smells amazing. What did you make?” “Just a vegetable casserole with ingredients I bought from the neighbours”, he started, “but soon enough we can make the same thing with homegrown ingredients.” “I like the sound of that, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. First, we need to finish renovating the house, then we can take care of the garden.” And with those two sentences, Eliana had spoken aloud what she had promised herself while she was up in her room.

After dinner, Eliana walked the now only dimly lit path back to her car while Milo opened the gate for her. Driving up to the house she felt a new sort of excitement, like it had only now registered to her that she was really moving in. That Milo and she would soon actually be carrying all her boxes upstairs, that she would have a new place to call home. As she came to a halt in front of the front door, Milo was already waiting for her. Together they unloaded one box after another and moved them upstairs to her room. She didn’t have much, but after carrying five small boxes and a suitcase up the stairs they were both exhausted and decided to call it a night.

Milo gave her one hug goodnight and headed to his own room while Eliana unpacked all she needed for the night. She thanked her past self for packing her things with foresight and having put everything she needed for the first night into her backpack. Taking out her pyjamas she got changed and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. While it was weird for her to think of the place she visited so many times as her new home, it was also exciting to her. She was excited to give the place the love and care it deserved but barely got as Milo’s Grandma got too old to maintain it on her own after her husband had passed away. Even with Milo’s help, they could only do so much. But now Eliana was here, and she was more than ready to tackle the work ahead of her.

Before she laid down to sleep, Eliana tried to move the bed as quietly as she could. It made a few, thankfully not very loud, sounds as she pushed the bed for the headboard to rest underneath the windowsill. Picking up the nightstand she placed it to the left of the headboard before she lifted the blanket up and enveloped herself with its warmth. While she got cosy, her thoughts drifted off once more and as she was falling asleep her mind was filled with pictures of days long gone and images of what she could only hope were memories to be made. She dreamed of children running around the garden, she herself sitting on a bench underneath one of the big trees. The images changed to herself and Milo taking care of the garden with chickens pecking at the weeds around them. Changing sceneries again, she saw Milo pushing a little girl on the swing that hung from one of the thick tree branches, the girl laughing as she soared higher and higher. While her dreams kept changing, Eliana slept with a smile on her face.

© Anna-Lena Plett 2023-08-18

Genres
Novels & Stories