Serendipity

I had to create a short story using our favorite group words....

                Serendipity
Lori woke up with her mother on her mind. It has been a long time since Lori seen her beloved mother so she came up with an arbitrary idea.  She opened her bedroom’s red wine curtains and rays of light zoomed into the room. She stretched while she yawned and then strolled down the stairs to find her two boys in the living room. She saw them playing video games as usual.
“Alex and Adam, we are going to go see Grandma today!” Lori said.
“Mom, we don’t want to go, we want to stay and play more video games”. The two boys whined.
“Come on kinds, we need a little adventure, plus we haven’t seen Grandma in a while now and it’s a beautiful day out. We should take advantage of it. We can stop by Mrs. Raggen Muffen’s Bakery on the way there”.
“But mom she always has a mess on her bakery”. Alex the oldest said.
“Darling we have known her for years and they don’t call her Mrs. Raggen Muffen for nothing”. Lori couldn’t help but laugh.
“Mom we are knackered from last night. We stayed up watching movies”, the little one said.  “Both of you are being fuddy duddys. I won’t put-a-pon with this nonsense, we are going and that’s finally. So pack for the weekend because Grandma will be ecstatic to see us”, Lori demanded.
“Whatever mom”, said Alex.
“Whatever!” Adam repeated.
“We are leaving in an hour, so get ready now!”
Lori and the kids bounced up the stairs to start packing. While the kids packed their belongings, Lori already had her plain beige t-shirt and her high waist light blue jeans with a pair of simple white sneakers out.  She packed for the whole weekend.
As Lori closed her suitcase, she remembered to pack her sweet honeysuckle rose shampoo and conditioner, because she knew that at grandma’s house there would only be that dollar cheap shampoo that smelled like dish soap. Lori always hated those shampoos.
“Alex! Adam! Are you guys ready yet? Remember to bring your toothbrush and warm socks.”
They all assembled into the minivan. Lori pulled out an old map she held in her front compartment and handed it to Alex who sat in the front seat. A while passed since they visited Grandma and Lori’s memory in how to get there, became blurry like an undefined drawing.
“Buckle up kids” Lori demanded.
“We have to be in tandem if we want to get there without getting lost”. Alex said to Adam.
Adam just repeated, “tandem”, and smiled.
They rolled their windows down for some fresh country air as they retired from the city.
Lori drove miles and miles till her memory fogged her completely.
“Alejandro! A bifurcated road is coming up” said Lori.
“What does bifurcated mean?” … Alex shyly asked.
“It means that it divides into left and right, so tell me which way to go!!”
 “Go right, mom”, Alex said.
  “I’m wasting my money in your school” Lori without noticing whispered out loud.
 “What Mommy?” asked Alex with a puzzle look on his face.
“Nothing, Nothing Honey”
Forty-Five minutes passed and finally they reached Mrs. Raggen Muffin’s Bakery. As Lori and the two boys entered the bakery there stood an older couple waiting in line. Lori and the older couple made a small conversation, enough to know that they were headed to the same town we were, Shimmer Ville. The old couple took their order and said their goodbyes, Mrs. Raggen Muffin opened her eyes and you can hear her screams of joys from the other side of the street.
“Oh My Gosh, look who’s here, It’s been forever Lori, are those two cuties your two boys?”
“Hello Mrs. Raggen Muffin, it’s so good to see you, Yes, this is Alex the oldest and Adam, he is going to be 4 years old this summer”.
“Your boys are getting so big, what can I get for you guys today?”
Alex took a double chocolate crème donut and Adam took a sugar coated strawberry tart and Lori took Mrs. Raggen Muffin famous cheese flan. While the kids ate their treats Lori and Mrs. Raggen Muffin had small talk. “This buttress wasn’t here the last time we came, Lori said to Mrs. Raggen Muffin.
 “Yes, it’s been there for almost a year now, it gives better support for the bakery. We put it there just in case a storm comes”.
“Yeah I heard the last storm that hit an hour away from here hit bad” Said Lori.
“Oh Yes, poor people, we always have to be prepared” Mrs. Raggin Muffin added.
Lori and the kids left after they finished there sweets and headed off to the road.
Thirty minutes later they were in grandma’s neighborhood.
As they approached grandma’s door step, she was waiting for them ecstatically happy. Her shout of joy couldn’t have been louder and her hugs couldn’t have been tighter.
“You boys have grown up so fast”, said Grandma.
Alex, the oldest one, gave her a kiss and said, “Grandma Margie you look like butter, sweet and beautiful.
Grandma Margie smiled and said. “Oh come here you crazy monkey, I’ve missed you so much”.
Lori was happy to see her mother again after years of not being able to visit each other. They sat down in the living room and the boys went outside to play with Max the family’s Golden Retriever. Margi couldn’t stop talking about a man she was dating. She met him at the market a few of months ago. It was Mr. Oatman this, Mr. Oatman that. Margi wanted Lori to meet him but he was out of town in a business trip.  That night they had barbeque for dinner. They had ribs, steak, and, chicken on the menu. It was a retarted evening. The weekend went by fast and it was time to say good bye.
“Come here you silly goose. Come give grandma a last hug before you leave. I love you”. Grandma said with a tear falling down her eyes. Here is a 20 dollar bill, don’t tell your mother. Grandma added.
“That’s retarted, grandma!!! Alex said.
 Retarted, what do you mean? Grandma asked with a curious look on her face.
 “It means it’s awesome”, thank you grandma, said Alex.
Everyone gave Sweet Margie a hug and left. Five miles down the road Lori remembered that she had forgotten her favorite shampoo.
“Oh Fudge, hold on we need to go back, I forgot something!”
As they arrived to Grandma Margie’s house there was a red ford escort parked in the front yard.
 “Stay here kids I’ll be right back, I’m just going to grab the shampoo and leave”
As Lori opened the front door the man sitting in her mother’s living room had a familiar face. He was an older man, tall with gray hair and a thick mustache.
Lori’s mother said, “Oh your back this is…”
And before she could say anything, Lori remembers who he was and asked.
“Hi, what are you doing here, nice to see you again, where’s your wife?”
 His face looked like all the blood had drained from his head into his feet, pale as cow’s milk.
“Oh Fuddle Sticks!” he said.
He stumbled and moved his head like if he was searching for a way out. Lori was looked into her mother’s eyes confused. Lori couldn’t believe how badly she had messed up, that that was Mr. Oatman the gentlemen Margie has been talking to these past few weeks. Margie didn’t know he was a married man.
“Oh Fun!” I am so sorry mom I didn’t know, Lori cried.
 It’s okay Lori, I am going to have a small talk with Mr. Piddle.
“Oh okay Mom; do you want me to leave”?
“No Lori, I am going to say it right here, Mr. Oatman I am not going to be your clandestine lover, so FUDGE OFF and get out of my house”!
That’s when Lori though to herself and noticed. This was all serendipity.