So now it was Sunday afternoon
and I was standing in front of Grandma’s house. I was mad as a raging bull. As
soon as I had gotten off the three hour plane ride to Willowtree, Massachusetts,
I had tripped over a stray suitcase, stubbed my toe on a revolving door, had
almost gotten my luggage stolen, and to top it all off, Grandma had forgotten
to pick me up.
So
I had to take a cab to the house, wasting half of the cash I had. And now I
have been ringing the bell for the past ten minutes and it has yet to open.
Could this day get any worse? Just then the sky thundered and the constant rain
fell harder. I just had to say that, didn’t I…
After
a couple more minutes of ringing the bell and knocking (more like kicking) the
door, I finally gave up. I sat down on the front steps and stared down at my
muddy rain boots. This was horrible. Mom and Dad didn’t even tell me why I had
to come here. They thought I would have a good time. Wrong! So far it had been
terrible. Worse than terrible. I prayed to God that summer would end already so
I could go back to my sunny Californian town.
As
I turned to observe the potted plant next to me, I caught a glimpse of silver.
I looked closer and found a key. I tugged the chain it was on out and saw that it
had some type of red jewel—ruby?—embedded in the top. I tried the front door to
see if it fit. My hope vanished when it didn’t. I put the chain around my neck
and wore it as a necklace—it matched my shirt.
I
looked around to see if there were any other keys, but the search ended with
disappointment. I finally decided I couldn’t take it anymore and pulled out my
cell phone to call mom. Unfortunately there wasn’t any service available.
Grandma just had to pick this house.
Finally,
after a lot of cursing and kicking the door, a car pulled up in the driveway.
It was a faded baby blue Ford, maybe from the 80s? A woman got out and I
realized that it was Grandma! My fury dissipated and turned into relief and
love for Grandma.
“Evangeline!
I missed you!” she exclaimed.
“I
missed you to, but where were you? I have been waiting here forever!” I said,
hugging her.
“Sorry
I was so late, but I think I got you flight arrival time mixed up. How long
have you been here?’
“A
while. Plus it was raining and now I am soaking wet! This is turning out to be
the worst day every!” I fumed.
“Oh,
I’m sorry dear. Let’s get you inside and cleaned up,” she said, opening the
door. Inside, everything was exactly like the last time I had been here which
was a couple of years ago. There were golden lights and dark wooden furniture.
Grandma went to the kitchen to “cook up some deliciousness” while I went up to
the guest room I always lived in while I was here. I locked the door behind me
and started unpacking. The room hadn’t changed much since the last time I had
been here. It was a large room with a twin bed in one corner with a dresser
opposite it, a study table with a lamp and chair in another corner, and a door
mirrored on both sides that led to the bathroom and closet. There were three
big windows by the bed that overlooked the forest surrounding the house. The
walls were white except for a couple of band posters and a framed painting.
I
soon found out that I was too exhausted to unpack, so I took my bag of
toiletries and went to the bathroom to take a much deserved shower.
