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(Page 2 of 11) The Key by Liliana V.
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She moved around the bench towards Mrs Parker's back, grabbed the handles positioned at both sides of the lady's wheelchair and started pushing it out of the grass and onto the path.
Mrs Parker lived one block off the park, in a small unit with a colourful garden always crammed with birds and butterflies. They met in that park eight months before, one Saturday afternoon when Lauren needed to be alone, away from everything.
Mrs Parker approached her; she was so nice and understanding. Lauren told her her story: how at the age of eight she became an orphan and went to live with her relatives; how empty she felt since she lost her parents and how much she needed them. After that long chat, Mrs Parker invited her to the church at the other side of the park, to pray for her parents, for her and for all the lonely souls that needed comfort.
That was the only time Lauren talked about her parents, after that both women were bound by an unsaid agreement.
They would met at the park, when weather permitted, after a chat (usually concerning Lauren's life) they would visit the church and then Lauren would drop Mrs Parker into her home where they would enjoy tea and home made scones with jam and cream of course. Lauren loved Saturdays, she awaited them so dearly. Mrs Parker was like an angel who was interested in everything she did and seemed to know exactly the way she felt and why.
On the other hand Lauren didn't know much about Mrs Parker, she was not the type that would talk about herself, she was more of a listener. She vaguely mentioned at the beginning when the introductions were made that she'd been in a wheelchair for most of her life and didn't have any close relatives to share her life with, reason why she lived alone.
She liked to spend lots of time at the church and at the park, ‘to purify her soul and her mind' she said ‘and to appreciate the magic around'. It was hard to guess her age, no more than fifty Lauren thought many times; dress and cardigan were her dress code which gave her a classic look and matched perfectly with her neat short hair, very dark and highlighted by a few strands of grey. Her eyes were kind same as her expression; in all you could tell that Mrs Parker was a regular woman, good natured and nice, however, there was something singular about her, something that Lauren had noticed from the start but couldn't precisely name.
Maybe it was her understanding, the way she listened when Lauren spoke; maybe it was her words always right and wise, or maybe it was her silences as Mrs Parker knew perfectly well when not to speak. Whatever it was it didn't matter but one thing was clear from the very beginning, they understood that each other had their private matters and accepted an unspoken agreement not to ask for more than the other one was willing to disclose.
But today Mrs Parker broke the agreement; she had talked about Lauren's parents and brought up that absurd idea about magic. Lauren was upset but more than with Mrs Parker, she was upset with life itself.
Lauren walked at a quick pace, pushing the wheelchair immersed in her own thoughts.
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