Grandma

Alice cried in the arms of the old woman for a long time. All this while, the old woman consoled her and talked to her in a kind and soothing voice.

When Alice finally had calmed down enough, the old woman gave her something to drink again, but also something to eat. Although it didn't taste very special, it reminded Alice again of the things her mother would cook for her when she was sick, making her almost cry again.

Seeing that, the old woman tried to distract her and asked:

"My dear, you haven't told me your name yet, what should I call you?"

"Alice."

"Oh, that is a beautiful name! Why didn't I think of that for my daughter? Hmpf, you know what, that ungrateful thing doesn't deserve such a beautiful name! My name is Charlotte, but call me Grandma, I haven't heard anyone saying that in a long time."

"O-Ok?", hearing the old woman ranting, Alice was a little flabbergasted. But she still agreed, Charlotte looked just as old as the immortal in her village after all.

"Come on, say it!", the woman suddenly urged Alice.

"W-What?", Alice didn't understand what the old woman meant.

"Call me grandma!"

"Oh... Grandma, thanks for the food."

Calling someone ‚grandma' felt weird to Alice, she had never done that before, but it gave her a strange sense of security and comfort. Especially seeing the happy smile on the old face growing larger.

Alice never had the chance to call someone grandma or grandpa. She didn't even know where her father's parents lived, and her mothers had died when she was still too young to clearly remember.

"Of course. Now, do you want to tell me what happened? You don't have to if it's too hard for you!"

When the grandma asked this of her, Alice wanted to reject the same instant. She didn't want to think of those things again, but when she looked up and saw the kind smile on Charlotte's face, Alice felt a little bit braver and slowly started to tell the old woman her story. All the while trying not to cry again.

....

It was already late when Alice finally finished to tell her what happened in the last few days and the grandma had been listening to her attentively the whole time. When she finished her story, Alice broke into tears again. But this time, although she was still incredibly sad, she also felt relieved, as if a huge weight was taken from her mind.

It was then that the old woman said:

"Stay here, with me! My own daughter and her family only rarely want to talk to me. It's getting a little lonely on my old days, and I'm not as strong as I once was. You can live here with me and help me, ok?"

Alice was shocked, she didn't know what to say, but still, she answered:

"I... I can't..."

"Why? You don't even know where to go now, do you? You should stay here with me, it's the best for both of us!"

Being suddenly confronted with such a forceful attitude, Alice couldn't bring herself to disagree anymore and answered:

"Ok, I will stay here."

"Good! Then let us eat something and then go to sleep! We don't have much but it's still enough for the both of us!"

Saying so, her grandma put a little bit of the porridge they had already eaten earlier into a bowl and placed it on the table. After that, she took the rest, which was more than two thirds, and gave it to Alice.

Seeing that, Alice couldn't help but say:

"You should take more, how can eat so little?"

"It's not ‚you', it's ‚grandma'!"

"Yes, grandma.", Alice couldn't help but smile a little.

"I'm old already, I don't need as much anymore."

"But we should both eat half of what we have."

"Also, how old are you? Ten years old? You are still growing, girls in your age need to eat more so they can grow freely. I can see already that you will become a beautiful woman, but if you don't eat now when it is important, you will always stay as small as you are now!"

"But..."

"No ‚buts', now eat!"

Once again, Alice was helpless in front of her grandma.

Once Alice started eating, she didn't say another word and gobbled down the porridge in a short amount of time. She was just about to ask for seconds when she looked up and saw her grandma who was still eating. If she asked, she feared that the old woman would give her what little was left and force her to eat if she declined. And Alice knew now how it felt to be hungry, so she really didn't want that.

So she just drank some more water instead. She had actually already eaten enough, it was just that she still felt like eating something even though she wasn't really hungry anymore.

When her grandma finally stopped eating, Alice took the bowls and spoons and stood up.

"I will do that, my dear."

"No, let me do it, grandma."

Although Alice still felt a little weak and never liked cleaning the dishes, she wanted to repay the old woman in some way. If would have been before, she would have never even thought about doing such a thing and probably tried to sneak away. But without her even realizing, the old woman had already taken an important place in her heart and she just couldn't help it.

It took her quite a while because she wasn't used to doing it, but when everything was finally clean, Alice saw that her grandma had placed the chair next to the bed and sat down.

"Let me tell you a bedtime story. You like stories, right?"

"Um.", Alice nodded her head, she had always liked stories.

But as soon as Alice lied down in the bed, Alice realized something. This bed was the only one in the little hut, but if she was using it, she had the fear that her grandma would sleep sitting in the chair.

Alice wasn't stupid, in the course of the day, she had already found out how she could bring her new grandma to do what she wanted. Alice thought for a moment and then started acting a little spoiled.

"I want to sleep in grandmas arms, I'm would be able to sleep much better that way!"

She wanted to sleep on the floor at first and let her grandma sleep in the bed because it was not very large. But she knew that her grandma wouldn't let that happen. So this was the best solution she could think of.

"But the bed is a little small for both of us..."

Hearing this answer, Alice knew already what to do, she had expected this after all.

"I don't care!", Alice continued acting spoiled.

"Hmm... Ok."