My mother always spoke of God, and what really stuck with me was her explanation of the pieces of God that existed throughout the world, possibly even scattered about the universe, as she wasn't so arrogant to think we were the best He could do. We were all a piece of God, our bodies returned to the earth upon our demise and our spirits returned to the Heavens, for our gifts and talents and intellects and personalities all belonged to our Lord Almighty in Heaven. My mom believed in a simpler, looser interpretation of who she thought God was. I missed my mom now, and my dad. It had been so many years, yet it still felt like a fresh wound perpetually in need of nurturing.
"Do you want to go for a hike?" Dianna asked as she trampled into the rear parlor. "I have all this nervous energy I need to burn."
"Still haven't heard?" I said as I rose from the sofa to my feet. "I'll be ready in a jiffy," I affirmed. I skipped to the foyer and barreled up the marble stairs and to my bedroom on the second level. I found my favorite workout attire for summer, a purple tank top and some navy blue, long form-fitting polyester pants. I slipped my feet into my sneakers and laced them up just tight enough that they wouldn't fall free if my foot stuck in some mud along the nature trail.
Dianna was my favorite piece of God, having been my closest and dearest friend since we were but wee babes. She was all the beauty I saw in the world, all the things I wasn't. She lived in the northeast wing of my home ever since the man she loved had gone unaccounted for in the South Pacific while he was on an anthropological expedition, studying cannibalism.
"I have heard back from my aunt, Evie," Dianna said solemnly as she shuffled her feet through the debris that collected beneath the canopy of maple trees.
"Yeah?" I replied and I sucked in a gulp of air as we launched forward in a fast-paced stride. I took the bottle of water from the harness at my side and poured the icy water down my throat.
"My grandmother is seriously ill," she said. "She isn't expected to last more than a few months."