"Here, let me give you a hand," she said, gently extending her arm to brace the old woman as she took a seat on the park bench.
"Oh thank you sweetie," said the old woman. "My knees aren't what they used to be. I bet you can't imagine the day when sitting down will take all of your effort."
"Actually I've had that day already! When I was little I broke my hip. When I was recovering, standing up and walking weren't too bad, but sitting down, well, that sucked. So I don't really take it for granted anymore," she said.
"Wow, a young lady who understands the plight of the old! I broke my hip a few years ago, but that's pretty typical for an old gal with brittle bones. How does a strong young lady like you manage that? Did you fall out of a tree?"
"No, nothing like that," the young woman responded quietly, as she turned her gaze away from the old woman.
"Oh I'm sorry. I shouldn't pry," said the old woman. She placed her hand on the young woman's shoulder and continued sternly, "It's none of my business."
"That's okay, it's just a little personal. It's my fault for mentioning it, you were just being polite to keep the conversation going," said the young lady with a soft smile.
"Yeah, I have a habit of forcing strangers to have little chats with me. I've always been like this, for as long as I can remember!"
The young woman flinched a little at this remark, as the old woman continued, "I'm sure you have things to do, go ahead and go about your day."
"Well actually I was just going to sit and read for awhile, but I'm happy to keep you company if you like," replied the young woman.
"Well isn't that lovely of you to want to keep a random old broad company. What book are you reading?"
"Wuthering Heights, have you read it?"
"Oh yes, that's a classic. I thought girls your age were more into those racy books now. I'm glad to know people are still reading the good stuff," said the old woman with a chuckle.
"Yeah, my mom was really into the classics and used to read them to me. I guess it stuck."
"Oh I'm sorry sweetie," said the old woman with a tender look in her eyes.
"For what?"
"You said was. Is your mother no longer around?"
"Oh," said the young woman, looking down. "No... she's not. But it's okay, we weren't really close."
"How come?" asked the old woman.
The young woman shuffled her feet a bit, and as she was starting to open her mouth to reply, the old woman jumped in, "Oh my, there I go again. I'm sorry, I truly don't intend to be so nosy. Here you are being so nice to spend your afternoon chatting with an old bat and I keep asking questions I have no business asking. Forgive me."
"No, actually it's okay. My mom just... well, she was her own person."
"Okay. Yeah, sure. You don't have to talk about it sweetie, I'm sorry I asked," said the old woman.
"No, it's okay. I can talk about it if you're interested," said the young woman, looking up to meet her conversationist's gaze.
"Well I'm certainly intrigued," replied the old woman.
"Well...," the young woman started, "My mom just didn't pay very much attention to me growing up. She only read me classics because that's what she was reading. She left me alone a lot. When she was around, she'd flip out on me if I made too much noise or did anything to try to get her attention. She's actually the reason I broke my hip - I tried to get her attention by climbing up on our roof and I fell. I don't know, it just wasn't a great situation. I ended up moving in with my dad when I was 12 and never heard from her again. About a year ago I tried to get in contact with her, and that's when I found out she was gone."
The pair sat in silence for a moment before the older woman replied, "Oh sweetie that's terrible. I never had kids, but I can't imagine treating a child that way. You deserved better."
"Really? You think so?" asked the young woman,
The old woman grabbed the young woman's hand and said, "I know so."
A tear slipped down the young woman's cheek.
"Oh no, now I've gone and made you get all upset. Cheer up, you're too kind to be sad," said the old woman.
"Oh, don't worry about me, I'll be okay. Actually, I should probably get going. I hope you have a good rest of your day," said the young woman as she stood up.
"Okay dear. Thanks for chatting with me."
The young woman walked up the path and entered a building in the center of the park.
"How was she today?" asked the lady at the front desk.
"Fine, I guess," mumbled the young lady, as she picked up the pen.
"One of these days, I'm sure she'll remember. You just have to have hope. I see miracles here everyday."
"Yeah, well my mother was never one for miracles," said the young woman, as she closed the sign out booklet.
