Ellie or El

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" Ben winced with disgust. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." It was a relief to throw up the blue Slurpee even if was next to his dusty pickup truck. She gave him a hard look. "Its my sister who's expecting twins. Not me."

"Oh." He looked away then. "I didn't mean anything-"

"Its OK." She felt better. She had too. But she felt wobbly too as she looked around at the farm. She didn't remember it at all.

Ben got out her stuff, and they made it up to the old porch. It creaked with every step. It shocked her a little. She would actually be staying here for God knows how long? She nursed her bottom lip. What had she gotten herself into? How could her mother have been here?

She looked up and saw a wasps' nest. That creeped her out. Just what she needed, a wasp sting.

They went right on in. No knock. Nothing. She looked around at the livingroom. There was a bed. She looked up at all the old photographs in black and white in dust covered frames. Did they ever clean this place?

To Ellie it looked more like a bedroom to her. Then they went into the dining room. There were windows, but still it looked like a dark room. Except for the huge painting of the goose on the wall. Lots of shelves for jams and jellies and other canned goods. The fridge stood out to Ellie. She'd never seen a fridge in the dining room before.

Ben called for her Aunt then.

Ellie looked to the parlor where the French doors were closed. It was totally dark. Perhaps the TV was in there. She hoped.

She'd never been in a place so miserable. How would she manage?

Just then she saw Aunt Maggie in her walker. She looked weak, but mean. Ellie could sense it from the moment she saw her.

Ellie tried not to hug herself. She smiled the best she could.

"What are you?" Aunt Maggie growled. "A Mexican."

"No, no its just me, Ellie," Ellie froze. What could she say about her hair or anything else?

"Elanor," she said. "Elanor Rigby?"

Ellie didn't mean to make a face, but if she had to be called Elanor her whole time here, she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"Everybody calls me Ellie or El, but not Elanor." Ellie tried to explain. How was she going to get through this?