Tessa

"Hi Grandma."

"Tessa!"

Tessa enjoyed and endured the thirty second hug on the doorstep, and then slipped through the grasp to the living room beyond. Today, for the first time Grandma's house wasn't perfectly kept. Even with her declining health, Grandma kept an immaculate house. Now, boxes were everywhere.

"I opened a jar of my pickled beets."

"Thanks, Grandma". Tessa tried to sound genuine. She wondered if in the history of the world, any one untruth had been passed down more by a family. No one really liked the pickled beets, but Mom gave the kids the evil eye whenever Grandma brought them out. So Grandma thought everyone liked them. Luckily, it was one of the few things no one liked. Grandma put out great food.

"Mom asked me to come over and help you pack. Looks like you've done a lot already. Where can I start?"

Grandma pointed to a utility closet. "There is a bunch of junk in there. That would be very helpful."

Tessa grabbed some boxes and tape, and had the closet mostly packed within fifteen minutes. She turned to Grandma. "What about the crutches? Are you keeping them?"

"Grudges! Get rid of them."

"I said CRUTCHES, not grudges".

"Oh. Is there a difference?"

Tessa's mother had said that Grandma was losing her mind a little bit and definitely her hearing. Maybe it wasn't just a little bit.

"Yes Grandma, crutches and grudges are not the same thing." Tessa picked up a crutch.

"You see, a CRUTCH is solid." She knocked on the metal of the crutch a few times to emphasize her point. "A GRUDGE has no weight, no substance."

"Oh," said Grandma, "my... how things have changed these days. Well, then you better get rid of those CRUTCHES." She winked at Tessa. "Take them to the thrift store."

Tessa moved on to a long countertop under a picture window. Grandma loved plants. One by one, Tessa placed the plants side-by-side in the boxes.

"Ow!" Tessa sucked her bloody finger.

Grandma looked up. "Watch out for the aloe plant. The thorns are sharp. It reminds me of Uncle Edwin. Prickly on the outside, but sweet on the inside."

Tessa grabbed her backpack and took out her tablet.

"Let me show you the plants that I'm growing, Grandma."

She opened her FarmSite app.

"See, I have three different farms right now: an almond orchard, a grape vineyard, and a peach orchard. My peach orchard is top-100 worldwide. And that is with only eight hours a week. Once the summer hits, I can put more time into it. Hopefully I can break into the top ten before the year is out."

Grandma's face lit with excitement. "You aren't out of college yet and you own three farms? Grandpa could only manage one. Why hasn't your mother told me about your farms? I love peaches!"

"No Grandma, the farms aren't real farms. They are digital farms. They are in cyberspace."

Her Dad would say that Grandma had the deer-in-the-headlights look.

"So what do you do with them?"

"Well..." How could she explain? "You just watch them grow and then when they're ripe you can harvest the fruit."

Grandma looked triumphant. "Just like Grandpa's farm!"

"No, Grandma; they're not real farms, just cyber farms."

"Cider farms?"

"No. CYBER FARMS. Pretend farms."

"Pretend farms? They made me stop playing pretend games before I was ten years old. But I guess you'll grow out of it soon.
You're still in college. Older people don't have time for that kind of thing."

"Actually Grandma, Farmsite is one of the most popular things to do for people your age. It was the number one tablet app for seniors in America. Seniors grew enough food to feed the world last year, just with their spare time. It's a great concept."

"They pretended to grow food?"

"Yes."

Grandma's face defined bewilderment."So why not really grow real food and help someone who needs it?"

"It's just a game, Grandma. Farmers can grow the food we need. We're just playing a game. I don't have time to grow food; I'm in college. I can barely keep up."

"Yes. Certainly seems like you're busy with school and your farms."

Had Grandma rolled her eyes?

Grandma pointed to the kitchen. "Can you clean the counters?"

Tessa grabbed a rag and some cleaner and attacked the first one. Finally, something simple. She frowned.

"Hey Grandma, there are some little white lines on this counter. I can probably remove them with the right cleaner. You can't really see them though. Should I worry about them?"

"Little white lies? They're more visible than you think, even if no one sees them. Always worry about them!"

"No Grandma, WHITE LINNNES, with an 'N,' not white lies. Today we're packing your things and cleaning the house." She smiled at Grandma. "We won't worry about white lies today. "

Grandma nodded slowly and looked like she was pondering. "I see. It's just an ordinary day in our world, then."

After the counters, it was the movies. Grandma needed to come into the twenty-first century. Videocassette tapes?

"What do you want done with all these VHS movies?"

"You want them?"

"No. I only stream movies."

"A movie stream?" Grandma froze, thinking again. She spoke slowly. "Is that like pretending to grow crops?"

"No." Tessa paused. How could she explain?

"Movies come to my phone or house and I don't need to have any type of physical copy."

Grandma slowly nodded. "Okay. Just put them in a box."

Tessa nodded back. "Got it."

Grandma's head shot up. "No. Anything but that! Gossip never helps, only hurts."

"No, Grandma. I said, 'GOT IT,' not 'GOSSIP.'"

Grandma smiled. "Okay. NO NEED TO YELL."

When the movies were packed, she started on books. She hated packing and moving books. So heavy. All these could be put on a tablet with no extra weight. Tessa glanced at each title as she loaded them from the shelf. Grandma loved the classics. Pride and Prejudice. Frankenstein. One Thousand and One Nights.

"What!" "She couldn't contain her excitement. Les Miserables! Her favorite book. She held it up triumphantly. "Les Mis!"

Grandma looked confused. "You're asking me what lame is? Lame is these politicians constantly fighting back and forth. Lame is every contention in the world."

"Sorry, Grandma. I'm not asking what lame is. I was packing Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It's one of my favorite movies. And books."

"Oh. I'm so glad you're reading. It seems like no one reads anymore."

Tessa taped up her last box.

"Hey Grandma, I've got a class in forty-five minutes. I'll need to take off. I can come back on Friday, if you need me.

Grandma gave her another hug. "You've been so helpful. And enlightening. I learn so much when you're around."

Tessa hugged her tighter, mulling over their conversation. She looked into Grandma's eyes. "Me too, Grandma. Me too."