Animal Space

Muriel sighed at the table in the Sunny Plum.

“What’s wrong?” Lewis asked. The old biddy rubbed her forehead.

“It’s my daughter,” she said. “She’s coming home.” Everyone in the café turned their attention to her.

“What?!” the old biddies asked.

“Why?” Lewis asked.

“She says that she’s moving here for work,” Muriel complained. Aisha blinked at first.

“So… Is she moving back into the house?” she asked. The middle-classed old biddy shook her head.

“Not permanently,” she said. “Only for a short time.” Clyde lowered her head and took off her hat.

“Sorry ta hear tat,” she said. Aisha smacked her in the head.

“Ow!” she complained.

“Talk properly,” the leader hissed under her breath.

“No!” Clyde barked.

“Cheers, guys,” Muriel said. Her friends looked up at her. The old biddy rubbed her forehead.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said. The old biddies could hear someone clear their throat. They turned to see Annie standing behind the counter, frowning with her arms folded across her chest.

“Are you going to order something?” she asked. The old biddies looked at each other for a moment.

“Four teas,” Aisha said.

“Coming up,” Annie said. Muriel put her head down on the table and groaned.

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Meanwhile, the ten o’clock train pulled up at the station. The crowd of people all walked off. One of them was a woman dressed in a white dress suit with shades. She pulled her dark purple suitcase along with her. The woman lowered her shades and looked around. She frowned at what she saw.

She’s not here yet, the woman thought. She looked at her watch. I should’ve told her what time to meet me. The woman looked at her watch. I guess that it’s too early. She began her exit from the station.

“It feels good to be back,” she said to herself.

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The woman made it into town. Everything looked the same as it did when she first left for university. Despite the charm, she couldn’t get what her bosses saw in this place. Sure, Brit-Wales looked cozy, but why would anyone want to do business out here? The woman looked around and shook her head.

“There isn’t much out here,” she said under her breath. When she turned around, she noticed an old man with two young ladies by his side walking out of the post office. The woman lowered her shades and tilted her head. After a few seconds of staring, a light bulb went off in her brain.

“William?” she asked. The old man looked up at her. At first, he made a strange face at her. Clover turned her head.

“Who is that?” she asked. The woman walked over to William and his nieces. She broke into a huge smile.

“It’s me!” the woman said. William narrowed his eyes.

“Huh? Juliet?” he asked. “Is that you?”

“Yeah,” the woman answered. Liz and Clover looked at her confused.

“Juliet?” they asked. Juliet took off her shades.

“Oh that’s right,” she said. “You girls were really young when I went off to college.” William blinked at her.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’m here for business,” the woman said. “My company is looking to expand out here in Brit-Wales.”

“Why?” William asked. Juliet shrugged her shoulders.

“I just go where the boss sends me,” she said.

“Does Muriel know you’re here?”

“I told mum over the phone, but I don’t think I told her what time I was coming.” Juliet nervously laughed as she rubbed the back of her head. “I think that was an error on my part.”

“Oh,” William said.

“Say, is the Sunny Plum open yet?” Juliet asked. “I am feeling a bit peckish.”

“I think so,” Liz said. “I’m not too sure.”

“Cheers,” Juliet said. “I guess I will see you all later.” The woman dragged along her suitcase as walked down the road. William waved with a nervous look on his face.

“Oh boy…” he muttered.

“What’s the matter?” Clover asked.

“Muriel’s not going to be too happy to see her,” William answered with clinched teeth.

“Why is that?” Liz asked.

“She likes her freedom too much,” her uncle muttered. He turned and walked down the road. His nieces followed behind, confused.

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Juliet walked up to the Sunny Plum. She smiled as she put her hand to the glass door. Wow, how long since I have been here? The woman wondered if Annie and Tucker were still there. Only one way to see. Juliet pushed open the glass door. When she stepped inside, the woman found herself in for such a shock.

“Mom?!” she asked when she looked at the table in the middle of the room. Muriel and the other old biddies looked up with big eyes.

“Jules,” Muriel said. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to get something eat,” her daughter said. “What are you doing here?”

“Same,” Muriel said. Clyde started making faces like a money as she could see where this was heading.

“Excuse me,” Aisha said. “Where do you plan to be staying until you get your own place?”

“I’m moving back home,” Juliet said. Muriel quickly shook her head in a panic. Her daughter pushed back her short blonde hair.

“It’s only going to be temporary, though,” she said. “This will just be a start. I will be out at work for most of the day, anyway.” Her mother pressed her hand to her forehead. Juliet looked up to see Annie and Tucker staring at her from behind the counter.

“You’ve grown so much,” Tucker said.

“How have you been?” Annie asked.

“Fine,” Juliet said. “Do you still have the breakfast special?”

“Coming up,” the older woman said. Juliet pulled out a chair from another table and sat down with the old biddies. Muriel forced herself to smile but screamed on the inside.

But, Juliet wasn’t going to the only one to come back into Muriel’s life.

Family Life