CHAPTER FOURTEEN:AN EXPOSITORY OF THE PAST(part 9; I have big eyes!

It was a autumn afternoon and the crisp September breeze was rattling the newly bare tree limbs, leaves of crimson red, orange and golden tones covered the ground like a soft blanket, and the smell of freshly bailed hay roamed the little parking lot full of vendors.

As Natalia Quinn got out of the taxi to walk under the festive tents.

People started traveling through the tents discussing with vendors and other shoppers about an array of things; like the weather or 'this eggplant color is so rich' or 'the healing power of the cookbook.'

Quickly, the small little shopping center that was filled with vibrant colored fruits, vegetables, and flowers became extremely loud.

Conversations and chatter were surrounding me as she began to enter the tiny outdoor supermarket.

An autumn afternoon, a watercolor sunset streaked muted pastel shades across the sky.

A memorable and heavenly man aroma filled the air.

The smell of cherry, wintergreen, apple, and butternut.

These aromas became ingrained in the wood and every cranny of the shop.

Natalia Quinn had gone there to help her mother with selling her vegetables and fruits.

And after the selling, she called over her friend's son to drive her to her home because he had a car.

......

The sunset was beautiful, but not as the beautiful girl sitting next to him as they drove through the city roads.

The windows were down and music was turned up; Natalia Quinn was not shy of being herself.

She sang and danced as her coal black hair blew in the wind.

She was at least lucky that her travel money had not been used thus she could use it somewhere else.

....

In the evening....

The evening sun cast long shadows on the ground.

The slanting rays of the setting sun gave a warm orange tinge to the sky.

The sun was setting behind the mountains making the sky a mixed pallet of blue, purple, yellow and red.

The sky was ablaze with the fire of the setting sun.

The sky had now transformed into a colorful horizon; filled with endless streams of purple and orange.

Rylee Athena opened her blurry eyes, and to her surprise, she could see the setting sun hanging in the sky like a red-orange balloon off in the distance.

There was nobody in the house since Ali Maddox was out to take care of his business together with his Assistant Theo Kenji.

He did not live with anybody else so she was the only one in the whole house.

Most of the interior lamps had been turned off except for the wall lamps which were left to illuminate the walls of the villa.

The exterior lights were all on.

After the siesta, Rylee Athena felt a little bit hungry.

She then tiptoed downstairs and made her way to the kitchen.

She loved the time when she was all alone and could do anything she wanted anytime she wanted.

She went and picked some instant noodles from the cabinet and cooked them.

When she turned around to walk to the dining room with the steaming bowl of noodles intact, she was startled by a dark figure.

She was almost screaming but felt that the timing was not right, she gathered up her courage and switched on the lights.

It was Ali Maddox, why would he not mind his own business and head to his room?

"Why didn't you switch on the lights earlier?" Ali Maddox inquired.

"Because there is no need to add up the electricity bill when I have such big eyes." She answered him as she blinked to show him how big her eyes were.

Ali Maddox's eyes then shifted from Rylee Athena's face to the bowl in her hand.

Rylee Athena then asked Ali Maddox to move out of her way and headed to the dining room where she placed the bowl of noodles on the table and sat down ready to eat them.

They were thin and had some green onions and brown powder sprinkled on them and emitted a faint fragrance of chicken.

Rylee Athena sat down, picked up the chopsticks and started eating while humming.

Her flip phone then rang and she stared at the glowing screen, it was Natalia Quinn.

She pressed the green button to affirm picking up and placed the phone on her right ear.

"Hello?" She greeted.

"Do you have free time tomorrow, come with me and let's go outdoors and enjoy." Natalia Quinn said from the other side.

Rylee Athena turned her head and gazed at Ali Maddox who stood near the door motionlessy as he stared at her.

"What?" He inquired abruptly.

Rylee Athena distanced her phone from her ear and smiled broadly like a little girl asking for a favour from her parents,"Can I go out tomorrow?" She asked in a kind of cute and low tone as she blinked her eyes.

"Yes." He answered and left the room.

Rylee Athena let out a sigh of relief and answered her friend on the phone.

"Sure, text me the time and place of meeting."

After eating, she set down the chopsticks and wiped the corners of her mouth with a piece of tissue.

....

The day dawned crisp and clear.

The sun poured through the french window.

Another wonderful day had dawned, bringing with it new hopes and aspirations.

The light of dawn seeped into the room.

Rylee Athena rubbed her bleary eyes and walked to the window.

There was a pearly glow in the sky.

The first rays of sunlight lit up the room.

The dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in.

The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky.

Golden fingers of sunlight lit up the scene.

The just-risen sun shone softly on the city streets, bringing with it a flurry of early-morning activity.

Rylee Athena and Natalia Quinn walked through the city of pavasaris to get to the park.

It was so crowded, that the both of them could barely breathe with all the people and food vendors around.

Rylee Athena could smell a mixture of so many things.

The first thing was the people, some there smelled like they had just taken a shower but others smelled like a dead skunk.

One just couldn't stand the smell you had to walk away from that person as fast as possible.

The other smells she could smell was the food from the vendors.

The one she liked the most was the smoked sausage and pulled pork vendor.

Rylee Athena was in heaven when they stopped there.

It was every lady's dream to see sausage sandwiches in front of her along with some freshly pulled pork with sweet, tangy barbeque sauce.

Rylee Athena had ordered the pulled pork. It wasn't too cold but wasn't too hot, it was just right.

The juice rolled off of the sandwich onto the napkin every time she had taken a bite.

The tanginess was just sensational it was perfect in every which way.

Meanwhile Natalia Quinn had picked up, a nice cold lemonade on that hot day.

When the lemonade touched her dry lips they shriveled up from all of the lemon that was in it.

It was a perfect mixture of lemons and sugar water it was just fabulous.

The icy coldness of the lemonade was wonderful because it was steaming outside.

Entering the park, a slight breeze rustled the leaves making them fall to the solid ground one by one.

The sun had already risen and was high up in the sky.

Flowers were vast, and they conceal the freshly cut green grass.

There are sun-colored daisies, vivid purple lilies, carrot-tinted hydrangeas, and cotton candy pink hyacinths.

The pathway was nothing more than dirt littered with random rocks.

The ground, moist from the night before, causes Natalia Quinn's footing to slip, keeping her on her toes.

There was a white picket fence that ran along the trail.

Looking around watching the leaves fall off tree after tree flying like butterflies, all different colors.

When they stopped, they immediately died and they were not coming back alive again.

Piled leaves filled up under trees and children ran and jumped on them like they were pillows.

Those trees tripled the height of humans with numerous branches holding hundreds of leaves.

While walking the river flows and it was such a beautiful view with the sun shining right off of it.

The ducks and little birds chirping and floating through the smooth water puts a joy to her face.

They sat down and spread a sheet onto the vibrant green grass, sat contentedly on the checked covers and enjoyed the picnic.

It consisted of ham and cheese sandwiches with pickles and bottles of homemade lemonade.

After having finished their satisfying meal, the Rylee Athena took time to chase Natalia Quinn in the open fields in a game of catch me.

Near the rocky road, a plump vendor with a silly oversized hat sold refreshing ice cream to passers-by.

One particularly tanned girl handed over money receiving vanilla cream in a bright purple cone.

She smacked her lips in anticipation of that delicious sweet taste melting on her tongue.

On the other side of the road, boys lined up in a lengthy queue to take their turn at the zip-line.

A patient supervisor made sure no one was skipping the queue.

Nearby multiple creaking swings were occupied by a bunch of toddlers pushed by their caring parents.

They screamed in delight as they whizzed through the cool spring air.

Slightly older children were playing with soft sand building castles with the aid of colorful plastic tools.

A dark-haired boy wearing round glasses tripped over such a construction, falling face down onto the airy sand swallowing a mouthful of it.

He started crying loudly signaling his talkative mother to come over and comfort him.

A couple of meters away, a confident daughter went flying down the metal slide right into the hands of her gladdened father.

Laughing, he exclaimed: "You're so brave going down such a steep one!"

"I need a job opportunity. I need instant cash." Natalia Quinn as she grumbled about her lacking a job opportunity.

"Wait for your lucky day and things will work out, I'll also try and look for job vacancies for you."

"I a lucky fellow!" Natalia Quinn exclaimed in joy!

The downtown restaurant was a sea of people in the afternoon.

Plastic cloths on less than a dozen tables.

Faded Christmas decorations adorned the support beams and door jamb.

The walls were a yellow that, for some reason, reminded Natalia Quinn of a grandma's summer kitchen from the forties.

The chairs looked as though they were rescued from an older, dirtier restaurant – metal frames with faded red plastic seats and backs.

Inside the downtown restaurant, there were huge crowds and the appetizing smell of different kinds of foods floating in the air, making people to slobber.

Most of customers were mere families, the sons and daughters taking care of their elders, little children playing on their own.

As there were no toys, the children played with the chopsticks and bowls, pretending they are playing drums.

A little boy even left his seat and ran in the restaurant.

Since there were many waiters holding hot water and dishes to serve their customers, if the staff not aware of the child, both of them would have gotten hurt.

The child's mother was so worried about her son, she kept yelling his son's name and chasing him simultaneously.