STORY...WHAT SHALL WE DO?

 Nikos

The smell of saltwater and the tireless labors of sailing were the only two things that have been keeping me going. Well, that and the promise of a traditional Greek meal when I dock.

The Thessalonikis are like family to me and like any true Greek family, they know how to cook. They own a restaurant right in the middle of town and I am their main provider of fish. Whenever I stop by, they make sure I know that my services are appreciated by stuffing me full of food. Each time I visit my sadness intensifies, knowing I might never see Grace again. Grace is the Thessaloniki’s youngest daughter and my closest childhood friend. Although she was always something more to me. She left for university and hasn’t come back since, leaving me to think of all the “what ifs”.

My stomach growling interrupted my thoughts making me change directions and head to dock up for some food. Once my ship was all tied down, I made the short trip up to Agnanti.


***


Grace

The sun was already beating down on the Greek island of Skopelos. The short breezes that occasionally rustled the leaves of the trees was a welcome break from the stifling rays. Trudging up the hundreds of steps to work was not ideal by my standards. But when I looked out over the icy blue water, I knew I made the right decision in moving back.

I’ve been back for a few days now and I finally have to time to go to my family’s restaurant. I make my way on the cobblestone path to Agnanti, a path I’ve traveled a thousand times. I turn to open the electric blue French doors and I am assaulted with the smell of my childhood. Closing my eyes I take in all the smells. Freshly caught fish and bread just out from the oven overlay the soft salty breeze coming through the open windows.

Opening my eyes again I realize I am face to face with my best friend from childhood.

“Nikos!” I almost scream with excitement. I run into his open arms and he swings me around like he would years ago.

“Gracie! I didn’t know you were coming home. What changed?” He asked. Setting me down and pulling back to look at me. He was always good at reading my face so I let my hair fall forward to hide my blush.

“Ah… It’s a long story. We’ll have time to talk later, your food is ready.” I say pointing behind him to my mother, holding his favorite food, baked aborigine and beef shin with spaghetti.

Narrowing his eyes he looked at me and slowly turned to his food. Knowing his weakness to my mother’s cooking, I was able to escape his interrogation for the time being. We make our way over to our old spot on the balcony and sit so he can eat. There was a different feeling that accompanied this reunion but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

Before he has time to take a bite, little voices from below reach our ears.

“Should I, Oh! Should I?” One of the little voices says. We turn to match the voice with a person and see a small boy. No more than eight years old.

“What should we do?” Replies the little girl sitting on a cobblestone step next to the little boy.

“I will kiss you.” The little boy declares. The little girl’s eyes go wide and before she can react, the little boy gives her a short kiss on the little girl’s lips.

When I look back up at Nikos, we both burst out laughing.

“Poor girl! She had no idea what was coming for her.” I say between laughs. When we quiet down Nikos eyes darken as he looks into mine.

“I will kiss you, Grace.”





Author’s Note

I used a nursery rhyme from “The Nursery Rhyme Book” to create this short story. It was lot harder to create a story from something else that was already in existence like this. I started off thinking I was going to have the two characters I created kiss as if they were the two kids in the nursery rhyme. But, as I continued writing, I decided it would work better if the two stories connected in a different way. So, that is why I had them overhear the kids and then react. The island is a real place and I got the idea to use it because this is where the movie Mamma Mia was filmed. The restaurant is also a real place on the island but everything else is fictional.

This was the nursery rhyme I used:

There was a little boy and a little girl
Lived in an alley;
Says the little boy to the little girl,
“Shall I, oh! shall I?”
Says the little girl to the little boy,
“What shall we do?”
Says the little boy to the little girl,
“I will kiss you.”


Bibliography. “The Nursery Rhyme Book,” edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke, 1897, Web Source.

Photo Credit: Taken by: Yorick_R on June 22, 2010