The Last Laugh

***

Sheridan's POV:

I'm Sheridan Wesley. I'm eleven years old. I've always lived with my dad. He's the only person I've got. He loves me and I love him too. But soon our lives changed. Mine especially.

It was a sunny day in Blueville, a rural small town not far away from Tennessee. The kind of place where everyone knew everyone. My dad was one of the most popular and well-liked people of Blueville. He owned vast land and a big ranch.

I always loved working with him. I loved the farm life. I knew how to ride horses, milk cows, make butter, plant seeds and harvest crops. I was well loved by all my dad's employees and well known too by the people of the town. I was the little boy who always gave a helping hand.

"Sheridan?" my dad called from downstairs one day.

"Yes, dad!" I replied coming over to meet him. He was at the table.

Breakfast was ready.

"Sit down, son."

I did. We ate toast with jam and drank fresh milk. I looked at my mom's picture on the wall. I'd never known her because I'd lost her immediately I was born. My dad noticed me.

"Your mother loved you with all her heart, Sheridan. She wanted you to be that hardworking and kind boy you are today." he smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Thanks, dad."

"When you will be big enough, you'll take over my ranch and company."

"Really, dad?"

My father had always spoken about his company in the city of Los Angeles. I'd never been to Los Angeles nor had I ever seen his company. I only saw it on pictures. Whenever I asked him why we didn't live in Los Angeles, he would reply:

"I wanted you to grow up here in our native hometown. I didn't want you to be obsessed with technology and to be a spoiled brat. I want to groom you for the hard life. I want you to be able to survive tomorrow if you don't have money. One never knows what the future holds, son."

And he was right.

"Yes. Really. All this will be yours someday." he added.

"Thanks, dad." I stood up to hug him. He hugged me tight.

"I love you, son. You deserve the best."

"I love you too."

"Good. Now let's go for a ride with the horses."

"Cool!" I loved exploring the woods with my dad. He was one of the best memories of my childhood.

***

School had just closed for the easter holiday and I returned home with good results. My dad was proud of me.

"Excellent, dear. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, dad."

"How 'bout we have a short stay at Kenneth's place?" he asked.

My eyes widened and a happy smile spread across my face. Mr. Kenneth was my dad's very good friend. He was a very kind man who loved his family. Whenever he came visiting, he would keep me presents.

He too had a big ranch, High meadow Ranch. It was situated far out of Blueville. I'd gone there once because my father couldn't always take me there because of the distance.

I'd lastly gone there when I was six. And I had very good memories of the place. I used to play with his first daughter, Heather, she was four by then and her little sister, Sawyer was still a two-year-old baby. It'd been long and I wondered what they looked like now. Heather was probably nine and a half now. And Sawyer, seven and a half.

"That'll be a great idea! But um, will Mrs. Christina be there?"

Mrs. Christina was Mr. Kenneth's wife. I always avoided her because I found her strange. She wasn't as smiley and kind as her husband. She was quite strict. I remember she used to refuse that Heather should play with me and that caused her husband to be annoyed and scream at her.

"Yes, she will."

"Oh..."

My dad chuckled.

"Don't be afraid son, she's a good person. She's just a little strict."

"Oh um, okay."

That still didn't convince me. But well, I wasn't going let her spoil my short stay at their ranch.

***

I packed my stuff ahead of time so I would not forget important stuff. I couldn't wait for the weekend. We'd be spending two weeks there. Awesome! I couldn't wait. The best part of it all was the road trip with my dad.

The weekend did arrive and I was more than anxious. We said goodbye to the employees and I said goodbye to my horse, Strike. Soon we were off on our tiring but interesting long road trip.

We sang songs, told stories and made jokes throughout the trip. It was a three hour one.

At a point we stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere to fill the truck's tank. Then we continued.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry."

"Don't worry, there's a little café not far from here."

"Okay."

We reached the café and sat down to have breakfast because we'd left our ranch at 8am that day.

***

At exactly 11:30, we went through the high meadow ranch gate. We'd arrived. I was so happy. The ranch was as big as ours. They had very vast lands and enough cattle too. As we drove in, I saw horses, cows and goats grazing as the employees supervised them. I waved and they waved back.

This was going to be fun.

As we approached the farmhouse, a smiling Mr. Kenneth could be seen at the veranda. He came over as we parked the truck.



"My good ol' Paul." he chuckled happily when my dad stepped out of the truck.

"As alive as ever, Ken." my dad laughed and they hugged each other.

"It was about time you passed by." he then turned to me, "You've grown taller than the last time I saw you, son. You're a little man now."

I smiled at him. If I'd ever lost my dad, I could only depend on Mr. Ken. He was like a brother to my dad and a second father to me.

"Thank you." I smiled.

"No problem, son. I bet the girls won't recognize you." he turned to my dad.

"Let's go in, Paul. Christina's made breakfast. Even if you've already eaten, you would have to eat again."

"Hahaha, I know Ken."

"Good. The boys will take care of your bags." he said, calling over some employees.

***

We went into the house. Once inside, I noticed it was exactly as I remembered it. They hadn't changed a thing.

We went straight into the little dining room where the table was already set with delicious food like bacon, eggs, toasts, milk and orange juice. There was coffee too for the adults. Six dishes had been prepared, meaning they had already planned we'd be joining them.

"Christina dear, they're here," Uncle Ken called. I saw it preferable to call them Uncle and Aunt. They were literally family.

Aunt Christina came into the dining room from the kitchen. She still had her apron on but that wasn't what caught my attention. She'd dyed her hair blonde. She was a brunette by nature.

"Paul! Welcome!" she said with a bright smile as she hugged him.

"Thank you, Christina. I see you've gone blonde. Gotta admit you're prettier as a blonde."

"Hahaha, thank you. Next time you'll be seeing me, I'll be a redhead!" she laughed.

I had to admit she was prettier in blonde.

She then turned to me with a less smiley face. Scary, I thought.

"I can see Sherry is all grown up now."

I hated when she called me that. She shuffled my hair playfully and I forced a smile.

"So honey, can we sit down?" Uncle Ken asked her.

"Of course! Let me go keep this apron before joining y'all," she went towards the staircase case and called. "Heather! Sawyer! Uncle Paul's here! And breakfast is ready!"

Then she left for the kitchen.

"Okay, mommy!" I heard two girls reply. I got nervous all of a sudden.

I wanted to see Heather. She was one of my closest friends back when I was six. She was a shy girl by then and I wondered if she still was. And I also wondered if we'd still be good friends.

"They've grown as much as you," my dad's voice woke me up from thoughts. "They'll probably be surprised to see how tall you've grown too. Especially Heather."

"Um, yeah. I guess."

Aunt Christina soon joined us at the table.

"Heather?!" she screamed again.

We heard them running down the stairs. I gulped.

***

The first down was Heather. I recognized her. Her pretty face hadn't changed much but she'd grown taller. Not taller than me though.

"Uncle Paul!" she screamed happily and ran over to hug him. She hadn't noticed me.

"Ooh, my pretty little Heather! How are you?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Pauly," she giggled.

"I can see that," my dad laughed. "And where is my other princess? Sawyer?"

Sawyer too appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She was different from what I expected. She had nothing to do with the baby I'd known. It was like her face had changed. She was pretty too. But not as much as Heather. Sawyer had a more serious face. The kind of kid who hardly smiled.

"Uncle Pauly!" she too called happily as she ran to hug him too.

"My pretty Sawyer! You're almost as tall as Heather! Wow! You grow fast."

They both giggled.

"I'll be ten next week Uncle Paul! You'll buy me a present right?" Heather asked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she will be ten! Uncle Paul I turned eight last month! You owe me a present too!" Sawyer added.

Guess I missed out on their ages but they were right. I was turning twelve at the end of the year.

"Girls, stop disturbing Uncle Paul and sit down for breakfast," Aunt Christina said.

"Oh, okay," Heather said softly and obediently went to her seat. Sawyer on the other hand rolled her eyes first before going to her seat.

"Sawyer, what did I tell you about rolling your eyes at your mother," Uncle Ken said strictly.

"Sorry, mommy," she apologized. My dad chuckled.

"This one's gonna be as tough as you, Christina," he said.

"I'm afraid that might be true," she replied and they all laughed.

Heather still hadn't noticed me. Like seriously?

"Who's this?" Sawyer asked courageously pointing at me. And that was when Heather looked up from her plate and noticed me.

"You can't remember him, Sawyer. You were too little. It's my son, Sheridan."

"Sheridan?" Heather asked surprised in her low voice.

"You didn't recognize him?" her dad asked amused.

"N—no I didn't," she smiled shyly at me. "Hi,"

I smiled back.

"Hey."

"Hello," Sawyer cut in troublesomely for being left out.

Everyone laughed.

"Hello," I replied with an amused smile. She didn't smile back though, she gave me a little smirk. Almost not visible. She was probably a tough kid. She didn't seem to appreciate me.

"Okay, now let's eat," Aunt Christina said. We said the Lord's prayer and began to eat.

*

After breakfast, Aunt Christina sent the girls to go clean their room while dad and Uncle Ken went out. I decided to go sit on the grass outside and watch the cows from the front of the house.

I stayed there for like 20 minutes, watching cows until I heard:

"PST! Pssssst!"

I turned and looked up. It was Heather on the little balcony of her room. She smiled shyly. I smiled back.

"You've changed," she said in a low voice. I stood up and went to stand below the balcony so I could hear her better. She couldn't speak loud because her mother would surely scold her for not arranging her room.

"You haven't changed much," I replied in a loud whisper.

"I know," she smiled again. I smiled back.

"Let me finish with my room. I'll be joining you downstairs in some minutes so we go stroll round the ranch."

"Good idea. Won't your mom scold?"

"No."

"Okay," I smiled. " I missed you."

"I missed you too," she replied shyly.

At that moment, Sawyer appeared by her, giving me an impassive stare. Heather turned to me.

"Later."

"Okay."

She went back into the room. Sawyer remained. I waved at her. She didn't wave back.

"I don't like you," she said all of a sudden.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know."

And with that she went back into the room. Wow.

I returned to my grass.