What does the air in Pontypandy smell like? Is it filled with a sea breeze blowing in from the sea? Does it smell like the woods surrounding Pontypandy in the mountains? Is it humid in the summer and warm in the winter? I didn't know because I had never really thought about it. I had always thought of the air in Pontypandy as something natural, almost constant, that would always remain the same, no matter what happened. However, if I were to describe it more precisely, I would probably have to ask my sister, maybe she could describe what the air in Pontypandy evokes, after all, she is a girl. And girls are supposed to pay more attention to such details than us boys.

But today, as soon as I got off Mr Evans' bus from Newtown station to Pontypandy, I got my first taste of such familiar air. Although it no longer smelled of freedom to me, it still had the taste of adventure. A characteristic cool breeze hit my face and ruffled my carefully combed fringe. I wanted to show myself from the best side, that I had ironed my uniform, cleaned my shoes and even combed my hair myself, but as you can see, the wind in Pontypandy had a different opinion about every last thing. It didn't bother me at all in the past, no matter what important ceremony I had to go to, my hair was always, at least a little, disheveled. Today, however, I had to show my mother that I had changed, that I had matured and was ready to serve in the Pontypandy firestation. I was counting on my impeccable appearance to show me as a responsible person, but deep down, I was afraid that my mother wouldn't be fooled. After all, a mother is always a mother and I suspected that she wouldn't be convinced by seeing only what's on the surface.

However, I didn't worry about that when my feet led me from the bus stop next to Mrs Price's shop along the main street. Not much had changed in Pontypandy. The shop stood where I remembered it, and old Mrs Price was shouting at her son Norman. He was over ten years older than me, but it seemed that, as you can see, age didn't matter and he still got into trouble, at least in his mother's eyes. With a smile on my face, I turned off at the next intersection, only looking longingly at the quay, and headed towards the police station instead.

I closed my eyes, walking along such a familiar route. I liked to shorten my route when I came back from the bus stop this way after school. I also liked visiting Uncle Malcolm, because he always had candy hidden in his locker, which he would treat me to. Looking at the shiny windows of the building, lost in thought, I didn't notice the person coming from the opposite direction. I bumped into her and despite trying to break my fall with my hands, I still fell on the dirty pavement and felt the dirt sticking to my trousers. Now not only my combing but also my ironing went to waste.

"Watch where you walk, huh?!" The admonishing voice of the person I bumped into snapped me out of my depression over my appearance.

I looked up to see her getting up and gently dusting off her clothes. She was wearing a police uniform, but it wasn't until I looked at her face that I realized where I knew that annoying yet gentle voice from. Her raven hair shone in the sun, falling in single strands along her face, while the rest was tied in a ponytail, slightly to the left. Her brown eyes sparkled in a friendly way, framed by dark lashes that contrasted with her fair complexion. But that smile was something I could never forget, and it was it that made me realize in a blink of an eye who I was looking at. She looked almost the same as she had five years ago, when... let's just say there was no topic.

"Alice?" I asked, happy to have met her.

"How do you know my name?" Aunt Krystyna and Uncle Elvis' daughter looked at me suspiciously.

"Don't you recognize me? Alice, it's me. Griffin" I introduced myself, hoping she still remembered me and hadn't forgotten about me over the years when I had barely visited Pontypandy.

"Griffin?" She repeated, looking at me uncertainly. "I can't believe it, it's really you" her face lit up with a wide smile as she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. I stood there frozen, staring at her with genuine surprise, trying to stop myself from blushing. It took a moment for Alice to realize what she was doing and step back in embarrassment, staring at the ground.

"Nice to see you too, Alice" I said, smiling at her friendly as the shock wore off. "I see you graduated from the Academy?" I asked. If I remembered correctly, when I left, Alice was applying to the Newtown Police Academy, and her outfit today confirmed that she had gotten in.

"Yes. I'm studying under Malcolm and Rose now," she explained. "And you? What brought you to Pontypandy all of a sudden after all these years?"

"I didn't hide the fact that I was coming for the holidays. I wrote, but you didn't reply," I said, slightly offended by her choice of words. What she said sounded more like she was judging me as if I at least left and didn't give any sign of life. Meanwhile I was in regular contact with all my friends from Pontypandy and only Alice didn't reply to me.

"I was... busy, sorry" she finally replied, looking down at her feet again. "I thought you'd be staying in Cardiff for good" she added sadly, but I still managed to hear it.

"I thought so too" I sighed heavily. "But Chief Fire Officer Boyce insisted on sending me to Pontypandy".

"But you know that... your mum is a station officer now?" Alice whispered, hiding behind her hand.

"Unfortunately I know" I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Why did everyone insist on reminding me of that? "I'm supposed to be there for an interview today".

"I guess not now. Because you look like you've at least fallen into a bucket of dirty water" Alice stated with amusement, pointing at my trousers.

"Too bad, I don't have any spares. I only managed to buy this one uniform so far," I groaned as fear slowly began to tighten in my throat.

"I can lend you one of Cedric's. Of course, if you want," Alice suggested with a shrug.

"Where's Cedric?" I asked curiously, looking around, which amused Alice.

"He went to Swansea for an additional pilot course," she explained, grabbing my hand to pull me along to one of the houses in a side street.

I recognized her parents' house by the windows and the distinctive door, which still had a penguin sticker stuck to it. Cedric and I had put it on as a joke when we were kids and Uncle Elvis liked it so much that he wouldn't let anyone take it off. Apparently he still wouldn't let me, or they had simply forgotten about the sticker.
I waited outside the door for Alice to open it, but I could see her fingers shaking as she searched for her keys in her pockets. I just didn't know why... When Alice finally managed to open the door, she waved me inside. I didn't have to be asked twice, but I immediately felt uncomfortable as I entered. I inhaled the air that made me travel back twenty years. It smelled like the same pasta Uncle Elvis always cooked when I stayed with Cedric, Alice's twin brother.

"Is that you, Krystyna?!" I heard a familiar voice and immediately smiled.

"It's just me, dad" Alice replied and before I could say anything she pulled me up with her.

I walked up the familiar stairs, which even creaked like they used to when Cedric and I would sit on them all evening playing games. Alice led me to the familiar door and I followed her into their shared room, which looked as if time had stopped there. At least in the part painted blue, with a cluttered desk and a wardrobe that barely closed. The other part was just as clean with light furniture and order kept to a shine. The twins, unlike me and my sister, had never been given the privilege of having separate rooms and I accepted with strange calm that some things never change.

"Try these on," Alice snapped me out of my reverie, handing me a hanger with neatly folded trousers. "I guess you know where the bathroom is?" she added, smiling teasingly at me.

"I know," I replied just as teasingly, then left the room.

A few minutes later I returned with trousers that were hanging on me, being a size too big. Cedric must have been a bit taller than me, because the ends of his pants were resting on top of my shoes and I almost tripped over them as I walked back into the room, which made Alice laugh immediately, noticing my clumsiness.

"We'll wrap them up a bit and you'll be fine," she stated, taking a closer look at the trousers.

"How? They're a size too big for me, Alice," I groaned, devastated. I wasn't sure whether it would be wiser to show up to my mother in dirty or too big trousers.

"Don't panic," Alice reassured me, searching for something in her desk drawer. "Didn't they teach you at the Academy that remaining calm is the most important thing?" she asked teasingly, before telling me to stand on a chair so she could wrap my trousers.

"They did," I nodded. "But you know how my mother is."

"What exactly happened between you two?" Alice asked shyly. "You always had such a good relationship."

"We did," I admitted, sighing at the memory of those happy years. "But after Dad died, she changed. She closed herself off and when I told her I was becoming a firefighter, well... we had a bit of a row."

"I guess not just a bit, since after you left, the whole of Pontypandy said you slammed the door so loudly they could hear you all the way to Newtown."

"I had no choice. Mum wouldn't have let me go if I hadn't stood up for myself," I confessed.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit. The way I see it, she's just trying to protect you," Alice gently convinced me.

"You say that because your parents didn't say no when you wanted to be a police officer" I noticed, offended.

"Done" she replied, but her voice seemed strangely absent to me. She turned her back to me, adding briefly. "You can give the trousers to my dad at the fire station".

I could see that something was wrong, but I understood the hidden meaning of her words - I had to get out of her sight. Knowing Alice, something made her want to cry, and she never had the courage to do it in front of others, so I respected it this time too. I took my bag, thanked her, closed the door behind me and quietly left.

However, I didn't go the way I usually went home when I visited Alice and Cedric. I didn't want to risk ruining those trousers too. So I went down the street and although it took me longer, I still had a few minutes to spare.

So I decided to look around the fire station for a while. However, I ended up just looking at Jupiter the whole time I was there, completely unaware that someone was watching me.

"Still in love with Jupiter just like his father as you can see" someone whispered playfully behind me.

"I like Jupiter too" a second voice replied more calmly.

"Another one in love" the previous female voice teased again, but this time much closer, making me jump.

I turned around immediately, but the fear left me when I saw the amused faces of Aunt Ellie and Uncle Arnold. They hadn't changed at all over the years. Aunt Ellie still cut her hair short, and her eyes sparkled just as teasingly as before. Uncle Arnold still combed his hair up, but, unlike Aunt Ellie, it was obvious on him that some time had passed. He wasn't as confident as he used to be and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"You've grown, Griffin," he noticed and was the first to approach me.

"Or maybe he's shrunk a bit, because his trousers are clearly hanging off him," Aunt Ellie whispered teasingly.

"You haven't changed, Auntie," I replied, smiling as she punched me admonishingly in the arm like old times.

"Time flies, but Ellie doesn't touch," a voice behind us said cheerfully. I turned to see Uncle Elvis running up to me to hug me. "You haven't changed at all, Griffin. Cedric and Alice will be so happy when they know you're here," he said, patting my shoulder encouragingly. His cheerful reaction clashed with what I had heard as I left his house - Alice was clearly crying and I didn't think her dad would notice.

"Mmh, Elvis..." Aunt Ellie cleared her throat. "We don't even know if Griffin is staying long."

But I didn't have time to answer when Uncle Arnold's question interrupted me.

"Are you looking for someone?"

"My mother..." I answered in my first, almost natural reflex. "I mean Station Officer Morris," I corrected myself, although the words barely passed my throat. They suddenly seemed strange.

"She's upstairs in the office," Arnold directed me. "Will you hit it, or...?"

"I'll hit it, but..."

"What's up, Griffin?" Uncle Elvis turned to me, while Uncle Arnold and Aunt Ellie also stopped to look at me questioningly.

"What's her mood today?" I finally asked, when I knew I couldn't escape their gazes any longer.

"Relatively good," Aunt Ellie admitted. "Anyway, I haven't heard her talk to herself, so I guess she'll be glad to see you."

Surely, she'll jump for joy and start dancing - I thought to myself and, although the vision itself amused me, it still caused some pain, touching on sensitive memories. Trying to stifle them, I went up the stairs and knocked on the door with an unsteady hand.

"Come in!" A calm voice answered me from behind the door.

I looked over my shoulder to see Aunt Ellie, Uncle Arnold and Elvis watching me closely. None of them would pass up the opportunity to see my own mother throw me out the door as a former firefighter candidate. So I blocked their view as much as possible as I slipped inside through the small gap.

"What..." my mother began, looking up from the papers, but her voice quickly froze in her throat as I smiled sheepishly. "Griffin?" She repeated my name silently as the pen fell from her hand.

"Good morning, Mom," I greeted politely, struggling whether I should use a more formal form at the very beginning. After all, she was first and foremost my mother.

"I don't believe it," my mom rubbed her eyes in amazement as she came out from behind the desk and approached me.

Her hair still retained its golden color that I remembered from the beginning. After Dad died, however, she had cut it and for many years she had not worn it in a ponytail, but let it loose, barely reaching her neck. However, her eyes had not regained their sparkle and remained the same empty pool of brown, although they still retained their gentle expression. She stood before me in a white shirt with the emblems of a station officer and in service trousers, but her gaze was proudly looking me up and down. I saw her brow furrow, clearly recognizing what I was wearing. Her gaze filled with pride for a moment, but I was more inclined to believe that she was looking down on me, because the last time we saw each other I had announced that I would never return to Pontypandy. Today I stood here in the fire station, and just like my parents once did, I was going to have my first job conversation. Except that their possible future boss was not their own mother.

"It really is me, Mum," I replied with conviction.

I saw the hesitation in her eyes as she looked at me more closely. There was no way she wouldn't recognize me. Even after what she had been through and what had happened between us since, she had always recognized me, even in full firefighter uniform in the Academy photos that Reilynn regularly showed her.

"I see," she finally replied, glaring at me one last time before she sat back down at her desk and looked at the folder in front of her. "I got your report," she informed me indifferently, but I could hear the familiar bitterness in her voice.

"Uh-huh," I breathed, feeling how awkwardly I had started this conversation.

"Exemplary results, excellent reviews. You've even won over Chief Fire Officer Boyce," she stated coldly, glancing at my file. "What do you expect from me?"

"So..." I stuttered, unable to tell what my mother could have meant by that.

"You're not sure what you want or you're just afraid of me," my mother's assessment was accurate, and if it weren't for the slight twitching of the corners of her mouth, I would have been more than certain that I could forget about being a firefighter now. My mother was one of the few female station officers and one of the few women who had made it this far in their careers as a firefighter, which earned her the respect of even the most old-fashioned of firefighters. That was why I dared to say that if she hadn’t hired me, no other station officer in the area, with or without an order, would have hired me either. “None of those attitudes are justified, my dear,” her words brought me relief, although I didn’t yet know why. “I won’t disobey an order, so whether you like it or not, you have the job,” she announced in a businesslike tone. I could barely contain my joy, when inside I wanted to jump for joy, but my brain told me that it might be better to hold off on the dance of success. “But don’t think I’m going to give you any favors just because you’re my son,” she emphasized.

“Yes, Mom, sir!” I replied, this time finding a good way to subtly improve myself. My mother accepted this with an amused smile.

"You'll have to bring a health card, just in case, but this way it all seems to be in order," she stated, looking at the folder with my name on it. "You're showing quite a bit of promise for such a young age," she complimented me, although I wasn't sure if that was what I thought, because she said it in a clearly bored tone.

"That's all?" I asked, trying not to let on what I was thinking.

"Where are you staying?" My mom asked, unexpectedly changing the subject.

"To be honest, I didn't think that through," I admitted, embarrassed.

"You didn't think I'd let you sleep in the firestation, did you?" My mom looked surprised, and I saw a teasing gleam in her eyes. "Take my keys, your room is still where it used to be," she joked, placing the bunch of keys on the desk in front of me. "Your first day is free. You start tomorrow with a full-day shift," my mom informed. "And for God's sake, shorten those trousers," she added with amusement. I just shook my head before leaving. It had to end like this.