Sunshine Valley

For the answer of todays prompt, the next section of my story. Enjoy.

Emotional vampires

     Dillon knocked on Evie’s door. The smell of food filled his nose, causing his stomach to growl. 

     She opened the door with a smile but her mood quickly changed. There was a light dusting of snow on Dillon’s shoulders. His nose was turning red from the cold. With a gentle touch, she brushed the snow off his coat. “Snow.” It was a whispered breath like she had never seen snow in her life. “Snow!” She shouted, running, twirling, through the snow. There was a skift on the ground; she kicked at it. It puffed a little before falling back to the ground. 

     Being ever on duty, he shut her front door before following her with curiosity around the house. First, she made at a snow angel. Then she rolled back and forth in the snow, giggling. He got as much snow in his hands as he could, letting it fall on top of her. She kicked and waved her arms at it, laughing the whole time. He said down with her in the snow, “do you know how beautiful you are?”

     She pursed her lips, looking quizzically at him. “Me?!” She questioned.

     He know longer cared that it was cold. That is clothes were getting wet. With an unsteady touch, he caressed her cheek. He wasn’t paying attention to her hands. A scream of surprise escaped him as snow flowed down his back. She laughed. They rolled around in the snow, playing for hours. 

     “Do you always have a change of clothes in your truck?” She asked as they walked into the hall at the same time.

     “One in my truck. One in the suv.” In the kitchen, he leaned over the pot, inhaling the steam. “Granny soup,” he gasped. 

     She blushed, “granny soup. There should be plenty for you to take some to work and for dad to have a bowl.” 

     “Cornbread?” He asked about the time a ding filled the kitchen.

     “Cornbread.” 

     “This is amazing.” He moaned. 

     She giggled, “it’s not quite right but it’s close.”

     “Delicious.” 

     “Dillon, thank you.”

     He stopped, looking at her. “You’re welcome?” His tone questioned.

     She played with her soup for a moment, “thank you for not being an emotional vampire.”

     ‘Emotional vampire,’ he sat there thinking about that phrase. ‘Emotional vampire.’ Finally asking, “would you care to explain that in some detail? You have always loved playing in the rain and snow.”

     Her glance was toward her soup. She mindlessly stirred at it before speaking. “Remember me telling you, you and dad never made fun of me?” He nodded, yes. “If mom was able to tell the difference between playing or getting caught outside, she would lecture me for hours. Doug did the same thing but on a different scale. His was being unproductive. Every waking minute of the day had to be full. Laying around on the couch, sleeping in, play for the sake of playing was a no-no. They had the ability to suck the joy out of a situation.”

     “I didn’t know.”

     She shrugged, “thank you for not doing that.”

     “You’re welcome.”

Sunshine Valley