Here it is, folks! So it started out as something and the took a complete 180 as I went along so hopefully it makes sense. Enjoy :)
Day 11. K is for Keep.
She brushed her hand down the green and white jersey. The number on the back was starting to fall off, her thumb brushed a corner up as it passed over. Her hazel eyes started to tear when she thought of him. Even now, ten years later, she still thought of him.
"You still hold onto that, Isla?" Her friend, Nick, said as he let himself into the house. He passed her in the living room, heading for the kitchen to grab himself a cup of tea she had made in the pot. She always had some ready for those that came over.
"It's the only thing I have," Isla whispered.
"He's gone now," Nick said, coming back into the room with a steaming cup held between his large, dark hands. "Isn't it time to throw that old rag away?"
She looked up sharply.
"Come on, Isla." Nick sat down in the armchair next to her in front of the window. The round coffee table was what separated the two chairs.
Isla tilted her head. "It's the only thing I have of him."
Nick studied her as he took a sip of his tea. "How old is that jersey?"
"Fifteen I think," she said. "He died ten years ago, today."
Nick nodded. "Don't you think he would want you to move on?"
Isla shrugged.
Nick leaned forward and covered her hand with one of his. "He will always be in your heart."
Isla laughed. "You say the sweetest things, sometimes."
Nick wrinkled his nose and started running his thumb across her knuckles. Isla closed her eyes and sighed, letting his thumb lull her.
"Isla? Isla?" A distant voice called and Isla opened her eyes to find her living room bare, no trace of Nick, and the green jersey clutched in her hands. A little ways away was her son-in-law, Parker, holding two cups of tea and a smile on his lips.
"Do you want a cup?" He held one out.
Isla looked around the room.
"You looked like you were having a bad dream," Parker said and walked towards the other armchair, setting one mug on the coffee table and sitting down. "Are you feeling okay?"
Isla looked down at the jersey and her wrinkled hands. She smiled slightly. "I'm fine," she said and smoothed the jersey over her lap before picking up the other cup.
"I'm glad," Parker said. "Losing Nick was hard enough; I don't know what I'd do if we lost you too."
Isla chuckled. "You're sweet, but you and Lorraine would be fine; you two are strong."
Parker smiled and he looked just like Nick in that light, making her heart stutter. "Lorraine is, me I'm not sure."
Isla took a sip of her tea and sighed as the warmth filled her body. "You hold each other up. Make each other strong. Keep that in your heart, and you two will be fine."
Parker watched as her gaze seemed far away, somewhere in the past, her left hand stroking the green jersey that looked like it had seen better days. He smiled. She always held it today, making sure it was still there, and he had a feeling her love for her brother was the only thing keeping that old jersey together.
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