by Brian Edwards

Created on: November 05, 2008

He was up early that day. The window next to his bed was slightly cracked; opened the previous night to vent the cigarette smoke that filled his room. Falling asleep with it open had allowed the chill to creep in. The sun had just broke through the haze when he stirred and shivered under the covers. Even after closing the window and turning the small space heater on, he could not get back to sleep. He'd never been one of those people that could just wake up and fall back asleep. When he woke up, that was it; he was up. The funny thing was, he actually wanted to be up early today. There was something he wanted to do.

A noticeable chill flashed up his spine as his feet hit the cold, hardwood floor. Pulling the blanket around his shoulders, he made his way into the kitchen, happy to see that his automatic coffee maker had already brewed a fresh pot. It was always set for sunrise. He was never up then, but it was nice to know that there would be coffee ready when he did awake. The steam lifted from the mug that he held close to his face. It mingled around his nostrils as he took deep breaths of the aroma. There'd be no time for sitting around this morning, though. The usual routine of smoking cigarettes for a few hours while drinking coffee would not be allowed today. Work needed to be done.

The small window above the kitchen sink, littered with trinkets and sponges and half-empty dish-soap bottles, looked out onto the small backyard. For some time now, he had neglected to take care of his yard. All summer long, he'd go out every week and spend hours in the yard. It was nothing to watch the day fly by when he was working with his hands; clipping and whacking, pulling and digging, weeding and cutting. There were so many details to the work, losing himself in it was the best part of summer. Once fall rolled around, though, and his sister moved in with her son (having some kind of financial issues), he had let the yard work fall away. Now, months into Autumn, the leaves on the ground were nearly knee-deep.

He'd tackle it today because of the conversation he had with his sister the previous night. Apparently, he needed to get closer with his young nephew. This was true; he'd never known how to interact with children. So, when he was left to babysit, the nights were often spent sitting silently on the couch and watching cartoons. Once in awhile, the two would make eye contact and smile, but they never really interacted beyond that.

Right now, the nephew and sister were

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