April 30, 1995

Phil Morrison seemed to be downsizing. As he moved a box into the house on the north side of Clearwater Lake, he thought about how he was leaving his apartment downtown to live in his grandparents' house. He would miss the independence of living on his own, but in the end, it was for the best. Grandma and Grandpa were growing old, and he needed to be there for them. Holly couldn't do that - she was a four hour flight away from Clearwater Lake - so it was up to Phil and his new wife to support his grandparents.

Audrey carried a large box into Phil's grandparents' house, but when she spotted Phil, she asked, "Phil, how are you doing? Do you need any help with that?"

"I'm fine," Phil said, setting down his box on the floor. "How's that new job going?" He had never gotten a chance to ask Audrey about her new job as a social worker in Green Bay the night before.

"I really like it so far," Audrey said. "Hopefully, I'll stick with this one, even though it's a bit of a commute from Clearwater Lake."

"It's better than commuting all the way from Chief Lake," Phil said. "Besides, my job is in Green Bay too. Maybe we can carpool."

"I'd like that," Audrey said.

"Come on, you two!" Phil's dad shouted. "I know that you're newlyweds, but there's a yacht club meeting tonight, and I intend to be there!"

"Fine, Dad," Phil said. He went back outside, picked up another box, and brought it inside. Mom and Dad helped him, but in the end, it was Phil and Audrey who did most of the work. Dad's legs had never quite worked right, making it difficult for him to do heavy lifting, and Mom was merely directing traffic.

A few hours later, Phil and Audrey had finally finished moving all of their stuff into Phil's grandparents' house. As they began to unpack, Phil looked around at his new home. As a child, he had visited this house countless times. He could find the pillows that he and Holly had made a fort out of, and the stain where Phil had spilled apple juice on the carpet. As an adult, he still visited Grandma and Grandpa from time to time, but every time he came here, he couldn't stop thinking about his childhood.

It would be strange sleeping next to his wife in the same bedroom that he had stayed in when he slept over at his grandparents' house as a child. Then again, perhaps it was fitting. Audrey was part of the family now.

As soon as Phil and Audrey finished unpacking, Mom and Dad left. "I'm already late for my meeting," Dad complained.

"Oh, come on, Edward," Mom said. "You know that those meetings never start on time. You're not late at all. We probably should get going though. Goodbye Phil and Audrey. We'll see you tomorrow for the race."

"And we'll win it for sure!" Dad added.

"We've beat you before, and we'll do it again!" Audrey replied.

Dad smiled and said, "Phil, this is why I let you marry this girl. She's got a competitive spirit. I like that about her."

"Thanks," Audrey said. "Phil, let's go wake up your grandparents."

Phil couldn't figure out how Grandma and Grandpa had slept through him and Audrey moving all of their stuff into the house. They had been heavy sleepers when Phil was younger, but they had gotten even worse in their old age. Phil gently knocked on their bedroom door, and knocked harder when that didn't work. Eventually, he just opened the door and found the two of them curled up in bed. "Hi Grandma and Grandpa," Phil said.

"Philly!" Grandma exclaimed, using Phil's childhood nickname. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Phil said. "Audrey and I just brought all of our stuff in here."

"Audrey's here?" Grandma said. "Can I see her?"

"Of course," Phil said. "Audrey?"

"Yes?" Audrey said from the living room.

"Come on in here," Phil said. "Grandma wants to talk to you."

Audrey entered the bedroom, and Grandma's face lit up when she saw her. "It's so nice to see you again, Audrey," Grandma said.

"It's nice to see you too," Audrey said.

"What's going on?" Grandpa asked.

"Audrey's here!" Grandma exclaimed.

"Hi Audrey," Grandpa mumbled.

"Is there anything that we can do for you two?" Audrey said, asking a question that Phil wished that he had thought to ask. He was a subpar grandson at best, and this conversation was only proving it.

"I'm kind of hungry," Grandma said. "How about you, Melvin?"

"I'm hungry too," Grandpa said. "Just pick up something from Tiffany's Diner."

"Tiffany's Diner closed ten years ago," Grandma said.

"Really?" Grandpa said. "That's a shame. We used to go there with Edward all the time."

"I'll just make you two something," Audrey said. "How about some scrambled eggs and toast? We'll have breakfast for lunch."

"That sounds lovely, Audrey," Grandpa said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Audrey said. "Phil, let's get started."

At that moment, Phil knew for sure that he was meant to be with Audrey. She got along better with his family than he ever could. The two of them went out to the kitchen, and Audrey got started on making scrambled eggs. Phil stuck some bread in the toaster and then asked his wife, "What do you think of this arrangement so far?"

"It's kind of nice to spend some time with your grandparents," Audrey said. "It's just a shame that we're not going to get a lot of time alone together."

"That's true," Phil said. "We can still go out every once in a while."

"That's not the same," Audrey said.

Phil nodded and said, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea. My old apartment was close enough that I could have visited Grandma and Grandpa every day if I needed to. You could have just moved in there."

"Well, there's nothing that we can do about it now," Audrey said. "Besides, I like being around your grandparents. They're nice people."

Phil looked around the house one more time and remembered what Grandma and Grandpa had put in their will. This house would be his someday - Phil's parents had no need for it - and although Phil hoped that day would be far away, his grandparents were getting older. There was a chance that he could inherit the house soon, and his children would grow up here, right next to Clearwater Lake just like Phil had. Phil knew that he and Audrey both wanted kids, but it wasn't until that moment that he was sure that he wanted his children to grow up in Clearwater Lake.

All of a sudden, Phil's toast popped out of the toaster, and he put it onto a plate. Audrey finished making her scrambled eggs, and Grandpa walked into the kitchen. "This smells delicious," Grandpa said.

"Melvin, you'd say that about any food that Audrey made," Grandma said. Nevertheless, the two of them took their plates and ate. Phil and Audrey ate with them, and as Grandpa rambled on about the yacht club, Phil decided that his wife was right. He would enjoy spending this time with his grandparents.

In the afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa went on a walk, while Phil and Audrey rearranged the furniture in their new bedroom. Once they were done, Phil decided to catch up on some reading. Audrey, with her constant need for social interaction, was on the phone with an old friend from college for two hours, but Phil tuned her out as he read his science fiction novel. When Grandma and Grandpa returned, Audrey and Phil cooked dinner for the two of them. Phil's grandparents once again praised Audrey's cooking, and although Phil loved his wife, he couldn't figure out how she had managed to impress his grandparents so much. Perhaps they were just impressed that Phil had fallen in love and gotten married at all.

Once dinner was over, Grandma and Grandpa went to bed early. "It's only eight o'clock," Phil objected.

"Yes, and I know that Opal will get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning," Grandpa said.

"I like waking up with the sun," Grandma said.

"Okay," Phil said. "Goodnight, Grandma and Grandpa."

"Goodnight, Phil," Grandpa said. He and Grandma entered their bedroom and closed the door, while Phil looked towards Audrey.

"What are we going to do now?" Phil asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"Why don't we watch a movie?" Audrey suggested.

"That sounds nice," Phil said.

After some debate, Phil and Audrey decided to watch Forrest Gump. Audrey slid the cassette into the VHS player as Phil made some popcorn, and they watched the movie with Audrey curled up in Phil's arms. Phil had already seen the movie twice, but even as he finished Lieutenant Dan's sentences and laughed at the jokes before they were told, he still enjoyed the movie.

Near the end of the movie, as Phil watched Forrest run across the country on his TV screen, Audrey began to panic. "What's wrong?" Phil asked.

"Do you see that out there?" Audrey asked.

"What?" Phil said, still confused. He glanced out the window, but he didn't see anything.

"There are a whole bunch of animals outside," Audrey said. "They look like Rottweilers or something."

Phil reluctantly got off of the sofa and looked outside. "I still don't see anything," Phil said, wondering if he had married a crazy woman. He had dated Audrey for four years before marrying her, so he thought that he would have noticed any sort of mental illness earlier, but he couldn't count it out.

"How?" Audrey asked. "There's one on the porch!"

"That's a raccoon," Phil said.

Audrey looked closer and said, "You're right. That is a raccoon. I've never seen one that was so big."

"They're usually that size around here," Phil said.

"I didn't know that," Audrey said. "Why are they that big?"

"I'm an engineer, not a biologist," Phil said as he and Audrey returned to the couch.

Audrey took the last handful of popcorn and asked, "What did I miss?"

"Forrest reunited with Jenny," Phil explained.

"Oh, okay," Audrey said. "It's been almost a year since I last saw this movie, so I've forgotten a few things."

"That's normal," Phil said. All of a sudden, he heard a loud crashing noise. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but I think it came from downstairs," Audrey said.

"Let's go check it out," Phil said. He and his wife went downstairs, only to find a strange form sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, limbs bent at unnatural angles. Phil flipped the lights on and shouted, "Grandpa?!"

"Phil?" Grandpa said weakly.

"I'm calling 911 right now," Audrey said as she ran upstairs to call them.

"Grandpa, what happened?" Phil asked.

"I needed to get something from the basement, and I tripped on the stairs," Grandpa answered.

Phil looked at his grandfather one more time and saw that his leg was broken and bleeding. He ran into the bathroom downstairs to grab a bandage, but he couldn't find one that was large enough. Phil tried to make do with a roll of paper towels and a box of small Band-Aids; however, he knew that this wasn't enough. Grandpa moaned as his blood spilled onto the floor, and Phil felt awful, knowing that there really wasn't anything that he could do.

When the ambulance finally arrived, Phil realized why he was here. Grandma and Grandpa, who had done so much for him in his childhood, needed him now in their old age. Phil, still young and strong, could do that, and he promised that as long as they were alive, he would find ways to ease their suffering. He would do whatever he could for his grandparents - in his own way, he could finally repay them for the many memories that he had made in this house, with his loving grandparents watching over him.