Those Nights by Cassidy Shay (the mitten read aloud .TXT) 📕

The sweet smell of watermelon permeated the room as everyone sat down for lunch. The fans were on full blast, all facing the small table. With the combined body heat of eleven people, the fans were necessary.

"Man, I hate summer time," said one of the children. "I'm glad I don't live here all the time." Celyna Cooper, the only adult in the house, shook her head at her grandson.

"I remember when

I felt the same way," she told him. "I loved living in the forest, hated the desert. But as my relationships and friendships changed, the desert became my home." She laughed and wiped the back of her neck. Her hand came away wet, soaked with her sweat. "Not that I wouldn't welcome some colder weather."

Marissa, Celyna's oldest granddaughter, looked up from her food. "Nana, what do you mean that your friendships changed? I thought that Heather had been your best friend since you were a kid. That's what you always told me, at least."

Celyna looked into the corner of the room as she remembered the story of her middle school years. "No, Heather wasn't my best friend until eighth grade. Before that, Rosa had always been there with me." She smiled. "We used to laugh

for hours about nothing at all. It was better than

almost anything I can think of." She looked back at the table. "Tobey, stop taking your sister's strawberries! There are some right here." She scooted the bowl of ripe berries closer to the boy.

She went back to being the responsible grandma for a moment, but her grandchildren wouldn't let the subject drop. "Nana, just tell us the story, please," begged Tucker, Marissa's little brother. "After dinner, will you? Please?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Celyna agreed. "It can't hurt anything," she mumbled to herself. "After you guys are done eating dinner, we'll all get together and I'll tell you about Rosa."

That night, they all took their spots in Celyna's living room. The large chair in front of the fireplace was, of course, Celyna's chosen spot. One child sat on each side of her lap, and two directly at her feet. The rest found places on the floor or the two couches. These were the moments that Celyna loved the most, where her grandchildren were all around her. The love in the room was strong, as the relationships held the family close.

Every time they were all visiting, Celyna would tell a story about her childhood. She shared her memories, gave away her wisdom and smiles. And throughout the whole story, her grand kids would sit quietly, then drag their feet up to the guest bedrooms when the story ended.

Celyna cleared her throat before starting. The room was instantly silenced, except for the noises of a hot, summer night. "When I was in sixth grade," she started, "I had a rough year. My mom was in the hospital, we had a new baby, my dad lost his job, and we got in a car crash. My parents also announced that they were separating. Rosa's situation wasn't anywhere near mine, but she had problems as well. We were both going mad from trying to solve all the problems we were going through

. But on the days that I was with Rosa, I could forget 'em all.

She helped me cope, and I helped her."

The children were still silent. Some had their eyes closed, but Celyna knew that they were still awake. No one had ever fallen asleep during one of her stories. "I would spend the night at Rosa's house. I loved doing that, 'cause on those nights,

everything would be alright. We would stand

on the riverbank as the sun went down, just doing our best to forget the troubles. Sometimes we would even balance on the rocks in the river, and never fall

into the cold water. We just fooled around, and it helped us. Together, we faced it all.

The drama at school, the drama at home, sibling rivalry, everything."

She took a deep breath before going on. She talked rather slow, and took frequent pauses, but no one had ever complained about it. In fact, her slow voice seemed to draw them in even more. "I remember when we'd stay up late and we'd talk all night.

It was always in a dark room lit by the TV light,

so there's sort of a blue tint to all my memories of her. Not all, I guess. But a lot of them. Through all the hard times in my life,

when I lived there, at least, she was there for me."

Celyna takes another look around the room, but she doesn't see her grandchildren this time. She sees a small living room, two girls on the couch, trading secrets and talking things through. She blinks, and it's back to normal. "Those nights kept me alive," she whispered to herself.

"For years, there were so many songs that reminded me of her. We'd listen to the radio play all night

, learning new songs and singing old ones. Every once in a while we'd look at each other and agree that that song was our new song. Then ten minutes later, there would be a new song."

"What songs were there?" asked Patty, sitting on Celyna's right leg.

Celyna shakes her head. "I don't think you'd know them, sweetie. They're old songs." Patty nods, and settles back into her grandma's side. "After my mom got out of the hospital, Rosa started coming over to my house more. Her parents weren't getting along, and she didn't want to go home to another fight. Through all the hard times in my life,

and hers, those nights kept

both her and me alive."

"I remember when we'd go down to the river bank, to the one room school house. We used to drive

the quad, anywhere but

the house. We just needed some air, some space away from people. Some nights, if we'd had enough gas, we probably would have come all the way here, as long as we'd forget our lives

, all the troubles and stress. We were so young and confused that we didn't know

that when you get older, you can't just run away from your problems."

She paused as the kids all shifted, their old positions having grown uncomfortable. Marissa's eyes drooped, and Celyna cleared her throat. "Maybe we should stop. You guys look tired. We can finish this another night."

"No!" they yelled in unison.

"Nana, you have to finish your story. How you used to laugh, or cry

, or whatever you did with her." Marissa sat up straight. "I can stay awake, Nana. You know how much we love your stories. We're leaving tomorrow. And we're hardly ever all here, together. We wouldn't hear the rest for months!"

"Alright, then, calm down, child. I'll finish the story." She thought for a minute, cleared her throat, and then continued. "Those nights,

when we'd sit and talk, were ours

. Everything that we did, that we talked about, I never talked about with anyone else. Only her. Those memories, they will live and never die.

We were always with each other. We were always next to each other at all the football games, pass notes in class, and just have fun. There really wasn't any way to separate us. We always thought that together, we'd stand forever.

"

"Then, we moved down here to Arizona in the summer. I remember when we'd stay up late and we'd talk all night

on the phone. Just for old time's sake, I'd sit in a dark room lit by the TV light.

That period of time was still difficult, because my parents were getting a divorce. She continued to help me through all the hard times in my life. Those nights

, I wouldn't sleep until at least 3 in the morning. My conversations with Rosa kept me alive.

"While we were on the phone, we'd listen to the radio play all night

, and the conversation would stop if one of our songs came on. We'd sing instead of talk, then we'd almost always start giggling." Celyna's arm started to fall asleep, so she moved it to a new position. "We didn't want to

hang up, didn't want to go home to

reality. We fought occasionally, but one time we had another fight

that really destroyed things. Through all the

harsh words we said to each other, I recognized that this was the beginning of even more hard times in my life.

It wasn't a good feeling."

She closed her eyes for a minute, remembering the fight that had started to destroy their friendship. "It was over a stupid boy, who I knew was only going to hurt her. I asked if she'd please, please break up with him. She flipped. Told me it wasn't any of my business. She stopped talking to me for a while. For a couple weeks, I couldn't talk to my best friend. It devastated me. Those nights

were definitely not what kept me alive.

"

She smiled then. "For a while, we fixed things. We went back to calling each other every single night. She was my best friend, and I was going to continue to talk to her. Those nights belong to us

. She's the only person that I can just talk to on the phone for hours. The only one. I had other friends too, of course. But there's nothing wrong

with having that one who you just need to talk to, you know? With us,

things were good for a while." Her eyes close again, and she thinks back to all the fights, the ups and downs, the frustrations and the joys. Quietly, she said again, "Those nights belong to us.

"

"I remember when we used to laugh... and now I

just wish those nights would last

." Celyna continued with her story, outlining some of the fights, the visits when school was on break, and the final argument that had ended contact between the friends. "In the end, after all that we'd helped each other through, Rosa was surrounding herself with bad influences, and I didn't like that. Me outlining some of the influences is what caused her to cut me off. And I haven't talked to her since." She glanced at the clock that hung above the fireplace. "It's time for bed. You guys might be able to stay up late

when you're at home, but you know that it's not gonna happen tonight."

In the morning, the kids dicussed their grandmother's story from the previous night. "That's kinda like what happened with me and Amanda," said Marissa. "We'd talk all night in a dark room

too. But she didn't have a TV in her room, so our talks were never lit by the TV light.

But then she moved. Still, through all the hard

, and easy, times in my life,

she helped me."

Aaron nods his head. "Yeah, I remember that." He looks at his youngest cousin and rolls his eyes. "The walls at my house are really thin. So I had to listen to every word of it. Those nights...

" He shakes his head. "Blasting my music was the only thing that kept me alive.

"


"We'd listen to the radio play all night,

" mumbled John. His plate was pushed to the side, and his notebook sat in front of him. A pencil in his hand, he scribbled