I stood outside my 7-year-old[u2], mother’s room and watched as she sat with my aunt playing with their cabbage patch dolls. I could hear my grandmother singing “you are my sunshine” in the kitchen. The smell of fresh vegetables filled the air. I turned looking towards the back of the house and quietly made my way back. I stood glancing past the side of the house while keeping my body hidden. My grandfather was kneeled on the ground dirt filling around his knees. His hands were becoming more and more dirty as he pulled carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, and green beans from the garden. My eyes filled with tears the moment I saw him. My chest tightened and I fought back the urge to sob out loud. There he was sun shining down on him, dirt between his fingers, and a smile of success on his face.
My grandfather died when I was twelve; he was my best friend, my hero, and my protector. I weighed the pros and cons of running over to hug him and talk to him one last time. My brain told me “no,” but my heart told me “yes.” Just as I started to unhide myself from the brick wall along me, I felt something move between my calves. I covered my mouth to muffle my scream and fell back. Between my legs sat Mr. Muffin, my grandma’s cat. He meowed as he pushed himself all over me. I heard my grandfather start walking my way and I panicked. I opened my eyes and saw Samuel standing in front of me.
“Where did you go?” he asked while looking at the tears that were now pouring down my cheeks. I told him every detail of my trip and asked to be excused.
I walked through the cabin door after a long walk in the woods. Anna was the only one home. I sat on the couch next to her.
“How was your day,” she asked smiling.
I turned to speak and burst out in tears again. I told her all about it and spent the next few minutes in a hug with my best friend. Anna always made things better. She was always there for me when I needed her. “I’m going to go take a shower. I’ll talk to you later on,” I said as I made my way to the bathroom.
Chapter 16: Annalisia
Other than Kenna being sad after seeing her grandfather, today had been a pretty good day, which was much needed after yesterday’s record. I stood still at the edge of the wood’s enjoying the breeze this beautiful day had brought. The sun shimmered down painting the area with dancing shadows. I glanced into the woods debating if I wanted to go for a walk through. The breeze hit me once again and I decided a nature walk might be mentally therapeutic. I pushed my way through some bushes and stepped into the forest taking in a deep inhale to smell all the surrounding smells. I loved the smell of wild flowers and pine. A smile started slowly forming on my face. I walked into an open area and spun around in circles taking it all in. I started thinking about Jonah. “You know he’s really not that bad of a guy,” I thought. My smile began widening. “Maybe I kinda like him a bit.” I giggled to myself.
A warm heat fluttered through my body. Soon, that warm heat turned to a blistering pain. My skin felt as if I had been thrown into a fire. I clenched my teeth in pain grabbing the nearest tree for stability. “Why does this keep happening?” I wondered anxiously. My fingers began to tingle with a pulsating electricity like it had before. I stretched both hands out in front of me wiggling my fingers all the way. The strangest feeling came crashing over me like a wave. I gripped my eyes closed. It felt as if I left my body for a moment. Everything stopped. I was no longer under the agony of burning pain, no longer a tingling sensation in my fingers, I felt perfectly fine.
“Strange,” I thought while opening my eyes. I screamed leaving my jaw hanging to the floor. The trees had more than multiplied in size, and the grass was a tad taller than me. I slowly, full of panic, glanced down at myself. I screamed again, which sounded more as a squeak. I peered down at my newly furry fingers, which had very long curved nails poking out from under the fur. I turned gazing over my shoulder to see a huge fluffy gray tail popping out of my back. “I’m a freaking squirrel?!” I screamed releasing more squeaks. “How the heck did this happen and how on earth do I become me again?” I wondered perplexed and frightened.
I ran out of the woods and started towards my cabin. I hoped the girls would be able to help. I noticed that the door was, unfortunately, closed. I looked down at my tiny hands realizing I wouldn’t be able to open it. I peered around and noticed the kitchen window was open. The blue and white polka dot curtains wiggled in the breeze. I thought about how to get up there. I realized I was a squirrel, which meant I could most likely climb. I ran to the window and sat gazing up at the long distance from the ground to the window. I tried to grab the wall and climb, but I continued slipping back down. I glanced around thinking of what to do. I ran a few feet away wiggled my little nose and ran full force to the cabin wall. I jumped as much as my tiny body would allow digging my nails into the wall to help propel me upwards.
I plopped onto the window sill peering around the kitchen. I heard a scream and watched as Kenna jumped up from the table sending her cereal crashing over.
“Eww, Eww, Eww, rabies! Get away shoo!” Kenna screamed in panic.
Sable came running from the living room to see what Kenna was screaming about. “Awe look she’s a little cutie,” she said smiling.
I jumped down to the ground and ran towards them. Sable now joined Kenna in screaming with, “Never mind! Not cute! Not cute!” Both girls took off running down the hall. I continued running after them. They made their way into the bathroom and I followed.
“It’s an evil stalking squirrel!” Kenna yelled.
I had them cornered. I needed help desperately. “Guys, it’s me!” I moaned wishing for words to exit my lips. The only sound filling the room were squeaks and mottled screams. I ran towards Kenna jumping and climbing up on her shoulder. She screamed utterly terrified and threw me off where I smacked into the door before making contact with the floor.
“Kenna, be careful. We can’t hurt the poor thing, even if it is evil,” Sable pleaded.
I let out little whines, as the door had really hurt my arm. I decided I would have to look for help elsewhere. I began making my way to the exit, when I felt that overwhelming heat hit my body once again. Thankfully, this time it was significantly less painful. I groaned while closing my little squirrel eyes. I sat perfectly still, other than the occasional nose wiggle hoping for it to pass. I got that weird feeling leaving my body for half a second and immediately heard screams echoing behind me.
“Oh my gosh, Anna!” screamed Kenna.
“You were the squirrel?!” yelled Sable.
I opened my eyes to see all ten fingers were fur-free. I glanced over my shoulder overjoyed to see my tail had left as well. “I’m me again,” I thought happily. I remembered the girls who were standing behind me in shock. I swung around stating, “Guys, you will never believe what just happened to me!” I started laughing, maybe from confusion, maybe from fear, I’m not sure, but I laughed and laughed. They made eye contact with each other, picked their jaws up off the ground, and stared at me in shock.
“What…..the…..heck….,” Kenna slowly released.
“I haven’t got a clue,” I said in all honesty.
Chapter 17: Annalisia
I sat on the couch my head spinning… so I had 2 powers… both my parents’ powers swirled within me. Object manipulation and shapeshifting. This was so cool! I debated calling my mother to tell her about it all before deciding to wait till morning, as it was already 11 pm. I looked out the window across from my bed and glanced at the moon the way its light danced along the grass and earth.
My mind was spinning with the thoughts of my new power. Was there anything I couldn’t turn into? Was there anything dangerous you shouldn’t turn into? I sat thinking about back when dinosaurs were alive. I wondered if there were people there and if they could turn into a t-rex or a velociraptor. I loved velociraptors and thought of how cool it would be to be one, even for a few minutes. I would run through the forest with their speed hopping over rocks and branches. As my mind continued filling with these thoughts, I fell asleep and took them with
me into my dreams.
I opened my eyes and released a yawn while stretching my arms above me. I rolled over to face Lorraine’s bed. She was still lying perfectly asleep. I looked at her for a moment longer thinking of how much she resembled sleeping beauty (Arora). Lorraine was usually out of bed before me. I clicked the home button on my phone to check the time; it was only 5 am. Usually, no one is up until eight am. I hopped up and got ready for the day.
By the time I finished getting ready, it was only 5:43 am. I decided to go for a jog around camp before we had to meet our guardians.
Chapter 18: Kenna
I walked to the living room to verify that Anna was really gone. I didn’t know where she went. I wanted to talk to her about what all happened yesterday. That was so scary in the moment, but such a cool power. I wondered if she could turn into whatever she wanted. I imagined her turning into things big and small, whale vs fly…elephant vs snake…
I was interrupted by Sable’s loud yawns as she marched through the living room to the coffee pot in the kitchen. “Morning, sunshine!” I said laughing as I walked in behind her.
“Ughhh, hi”, she replied with a groan. She then walked to the table and sat down with the cup gipped tight between her hands sipping it carefully. “So last night was crazy,” she said after taking a few more sips.
“Yea,” I said as I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat with her. We had a pleasant conversation about our day with our guardian and what we learned. Lorraine fumbled out of bed shortly after and came to join us.
“Hey, sleepy head!” I called out with a giggle. Lorraine gave me the best death glare I’d ever seen. I should have known not to talk to her before she had her coffee.
When we all sat back down from filling up our cups again, Lorraine said, “Where is Anna? She’s never up this early.”
We all glanced at each other and shrugged.
“No clue,” I finally said.
We made our way to the dining hall for breakfast. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.” I said as I started making my way to Bradley. He was such a dream. His red hair was all messy today and I loved it.
“Hey, handsome,” I said smiling as I plopped on the bench next to him. So two days ago, Bradley asked me out and, of course, I said yes.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said smiling.
He leaned towards me and landed a kiss on my cheek. I could feel my face become hot and I just knew my cheeks were redder than tomatoes. “I grabbed you breakfast, all your favorites,” he said while pushing a tray in front of me.
I looked down at the fruit salad, pineapples taken out and put to the side, cinnamon roll, and apple cinnamon oatmeal. All the little details like the removed pineapple and the color fork and napkin. He knew me so well already. I thanked him and placed my head on his shoulder.
After we finished eating, I met up with the girls again and we decided to go back to the cabin for the last hour before we had to work with our guardians. The walk back was peaceful. It was a beautiful August day today.
Chapter 19: Annalisia
I jogged past the dining hall and past the bench I was getting friendly with. I decided to jog down the path that led past the boys’ cabins; I had never been down that way. I remembered Jonah’s words in my mind… “I’m in cabin 8, cupcake.” I smiled as his voice rolled around my mind. I was definitely starting to develop a crush on him. The way his eyes twinkled in the light and his hair moved gently in the breeze made me feel warm and tingly inside. The way his arms felt wrapped around me as he carried me that day. I longed for that feeling again. I wanted to go somewhere alone with him and feel the way his lips would feel against mine. I wanted to feel his hand on the back of my neck as he looked deep into my eyes into my soul. I wanted to feel his arms around my waist as we watched the sun go down.
I shook my head and brought myself back to the real world. “I’ve been reading too many romance novels,” I thought laughing silently to myself. I noticed that I was now peering out from behind a tree gazing at Jonah who was sitting on the porch of his cabin coffee in hand staring up at the clouds in the sky. I watched noticing how peaceful he looked. I wondered what his power could be since no one seemed to know except maybe Lorraine, but she wouldn’t tell anyone. I wonder if he is embarrassed by his gift or if it’s something so crazy that he can’t tell anyone. I watched as his lips met the glass rim of the coffee cup. I sighed wishing I was the object he placed his lips against.
I took a step back crushing sticks beneath my heel. I shot my eyes to his direction. He was now standing looking towards the tree I was behind. I took off jogging through the woods back out past the dining hall hoping he had not seen me.
Chapter 20: Jonah
I made my way to the kitchen pushing past the guys. I grabbed my team mug from the cabinet “Go Husky’s” and poured some coffee in. I added the usual creamer to it and made my way to the porch. I sat down and peered around; it was such a nice day today. I hoped it wouldn’t get too hot. I looked up at the clouds; they were overtaking the blue of the sky only letting little squiggles of blue peer through. The sun was hiding behind a decently sized cloud illuminating it from behind.
I looked down and brought the coffee to my mouth to take the first sip. I could feel the warmth of the coffee travel past my tongue down my throat over my heart and to my stomach. My chest remained warm and it felt nice. It reminded me of the way I felt every time I saw Anna’s smile. She had the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. When she smiled, it caused a chain reaction; her smile, then her dimples appeared, followed by her eyes lighting up with joy, and finally the smiles of others erupting after seeing hers. Her smile was dangerous it could pull even the strongest into her eyes and make the weak crumble. I smiled just thinking about it.
I shook my head and took another sip of my coffee and heard sticks snapping in the woods. I stood up gazing in the general direction of the snaps to see what it was. Squirrel maybe or a rabbit or maybe a person. I saw a body move through the woods in the direction of the dining hall. They moved too quick for me to notice who it was. I shrugged and sat back down to finish my coffee. I wondered what it would be like to be with Anna to hold her in my arms again… of course in less of a panic than last time. I dreamed of her almost every night. In my dream, I would walk to the lake back in the woods, and when I got there, Anna would be standing on the rock in a blue flowy dress just dancing and spinning in the breeze. In my dream, I would approach her and pick her off the rock her arms around my shoulders, fingers through my hair, and legs around my waist. Then I would lean in and kiss her with every ounce of happiness in my body. Then she would disappear right out of my arms and I’d spend the rest of my dream searching for her. I remember being told once that dreams are what the heart wants but can’t have. I hated that saying because I wanted to have her and I didn’t like being told that I couldn’t have her.
I placed my mug in the sink and went to my room to get dressed for the day. My stomach growled and I made the decision to head to the dining hall for breakfast. Maybe I would see Anna and start my day off right. As I walked into the dining hall, Kenna, Sable, and Lorraine walked out the other door heading towards their cabin. I sighed hoping I hadn’t missed Anna. I grabbed a tray of food and glanced around the room to see if she was hiding somewhere among the groups of people. I sat down feeling defeated after not seeing her anywhere.
When I was almost done with the food on my tray, I looked up to see Anna jogging up to the door and walking in. She flipped her hair off her shoulders to land behind her back. Her face was lightly blushed from her jog here. Her eyes sparkled as she looked around the room. I watched as she grabbed a tray and plopped various foods onto it. She swung around and took another good look around the room. I smiled as she sat down in front of me.
“Morning, cupcake!” I said with a cocky smile on my face.
She shook her head with a laugh and said, “Morning, Jonah.”
I loved the sound of her voice I let it sink in and settle in my
ears.
Chapter 21: Annalisia
I made it back towards the dining hall and continued jogging. I went all the way up past all the girls’ cabins and back down the other side and back around to the dining hall. I walked in the door pushing my hair away from my face and looking around for the girls. I didn’t see them, so either they were still sleeping or I missed them.
I grabbed a tray and looked at the food in front of me. I grabbed the spatula and placed a cheese omelet on my tray. I also grabbed toast, a banana, and a cup of cranberry juice. I turned around with my tray in hand and peered at the crowd again looking for anyone I knew. I noticed Jonah sitting alone and looking in my direction. I hoped he hadn’t seen me this morning, as that would be embarrassing. I plopped down on the bench across from him. His face lit up with a smile as he let out his “good morning.” I said it back and began to eat the food on my tray. The jog was fun and all, but man did it peak up my appetite. I finished my food in a matter of minutes and looked up to see Jonah laughing.
You Call This a Gift? Page 7