Azalea Pepperhorn (_azalea_) wrote in heureuxlake, @ 2024-04-13 23:06:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | Δ complete, Δ threads, → azalea pepperhorn, → garrick astergrove, ∞ 2000: 04, ◦ heureux lake |
RP: Homeward Bound
Who: Azalea & Garrick
What: Coming home
When: Saturday 13. April 2000
Where: Az & Garr’s house on the lake
Warnings: TBD
Completion Status: Complete
A throwaway sentence. That was all it had been. A couple of weeks ago, back in March, Azalea didn’t remember exactly when, but she had been talking to Iris, when her aunt had casually mentioned that the high school she worked at, would soon be needing a temp for the choir director, and Azalea hadn’t been able to let that go. For the past twelve years, she had been thriving in the northern part of California, surrounded by the ancient redwood forest, loving her job at the local high school, adoring her students and coworkers. Her family, though across the country from her, were never further than a phone call away, and Garr’s letters and packages came to her with a delay of only a couple of days, as Taisy forwarded them to her. Each and every note from him was cherished and saved, and though she sometimes missed his company, she never regretted their separation. He needed an adventure different from the one she did, and his writings were only proof of that. They made her feel warmed and proud in him.
But then Iris had mentioned the soon-to-be-leaving choir teacher, before she had moved on to telling her about one of her new tenants and soon after that, the call had ended. That evening was the first time Azalea had ever felt homesick. She missed her mother, she missed her aunt, but most of all, she missed her home and her husband, and she knew, that her time to return to the house on the lake in Tarrytown had come. Her resignation had been handed in the next day, and she had promised to stay just long enough to find her replacement and get them settled before she left, and once back home, she had called Iris to ask her for the contact information to the high school.
The flight home had been long, but the drive in the shuttle from Newark to Tarrytown had felt infinitely longer. Finally, finally the wooded area around the lake had come into sight, and moments later, the driveway that led down to the house. Azalea picked up her suitcase and guitar case – the rest of her belongings would arrive sometime next week, but for now she had what she needed – and went down to the front door. The house looked exactly like she remembered it, only warmer and more welcoming. She could still see the small cabin it had started out as, but the additions they had made to it over the years only added to the sense that this was their home.
Once inside, the first thing she did, was turn on the lamp on the deck that faced the lake – the light that would show that either she or Garrick was in the house, the light that showed she was home – and then she started opening the windows. Taisy had obviously been keeping an eye on the place, and Az had been by a couple of times every year and during holidays, but it still had that closed-up smell about it. From the collection of records in the living room, her fingers easily finding the one with the song that had occupied her mind for the past couple of hours. Carefully she placed it on the record player and soon the gentle strum of guitar and the soft voices of Simon & Garfunkel filled the room around her. She smiled to herself as memories of her and Garrick listening to that song at a concert in Central Park not long before they went their separate ways.
After a while, she closed the windows and got a fire going in the fireplace. With a cup of herbal tea and one of the annals from Garrick’s file cabinet, Az wrapped the thick blanket around her and started reading her husband’s writings. On Monday, she had an interview with the principal at the high school, but tonight, she was just going to be home.