limp arm and
pressed a few buttons on the watch hoping one of them would
activate the alarm. Success. The rhythmic beep started up and her
body flinched as the beep-beep-beep pushed its way into her sleepy little inner
sanctum.
Time enough for me to cast
my gaze around her bedroom. It had changed a lot since we were
kids. On her desk sat a laptop I assumed was one of Dad’s latest
purchases, with a monitor so huge it doubled for a TV. On her desk
sat a stack of DVDs from horror films, many I recognized and some I
didn’t. She had a row of six lava lamps on one shelf, of varying
shapes and currently in their stagnant mode, looking like boiled
eggs floating in goop. Below the row of lamps was a shelf brimming
with figurines from movie and TV shows – Alien , The
Ring , Star Wars,
X-Men .
I’d come to accept years
ago that of the two of us, Dad loved her more. My proof? He’d given
her presents while I’d received none.
Stuck around the edge of
Audrey’s dresser were dozens of photos of her and an Asian girl. I
ripped one photo off and turned it over. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH was
written on the back. Did Audrey have more than this one friend? Not
that I was here to improve her social life, but the twinge of
regret that I hadn’t made the effort to stay connected with my
half-sister was like a punch to the stomach. I had to grit my teeth
against the wave of guilt rushing around inside me. I also had to
remind myself that a little over a week ago it had been a growing
baby causing that churn, so I had every right to be here attempting
to resolve the unfinished business between Leo and me.
Audrey’s body on the bed
was now fully awake. She sat up, looked at me curiously, and as her
eyes widened my body was dragged under a surface. Like stepping
through a waterfall, I waited a moment for the sheen to clear and
then I looked around the room with fresh eyes. Things were the
same, but also different. The room was brighter; the goop in the
lava lamps glowed, the figurines seemed more lifelike, and at the
exact moment when I adjusted to this very real world the aromas hit
me. I’d been without this particular sense for over a week, so I
picked up everything with wolf-like clarity. Dirty socks in the
corner, onions frying in the kitchen, flowers in the window box
outside Audrey’s bedroom, remnants of incense burned earlier
downstairs. I greedily breathed in these aromas.
When my stomach next
grumbled I knew it was the hunger of the living. Coffee and
chocolate before anything, it commanded. Having gotten this close
to Leo, I told my stomach that it could wait. So, cramming Audrey’s
phone into the pocket of her jeans I snuck my way across the
hallway, but I was brought to a full stop at the kitchen when my
stomach decided to pull rank and twisted my body into a series of
unnatural yoga positions.
Hurriedly, I ransacked the
cupboards searching for a quick bite to ward off anarchy by any
other parts of my new body.
“ What are you looking
for?” Teri asked.
I jumped, though I
shouldn’t have been alarmed. This was her house and I was meant to be her
daughter.
“ Coffee. Donuts.” I’d have
eaten over-boiled broccoli right now.
Teri pointed to the
cupboard above my head and returned to cooking whatever she was
cooking – garlic and onion hung in the air. It smelled divine and
only added to my stomach’s cries for attention. Staring down at me
was a shiny gold-foil wrapped parcel of coffee beans, a coffee bean
grinder, a coffee plunger, and a sugar bowl in the shape of a cat.
Looking down, three mugs were stacked in the sink begging to be
washed. I threw my hands up in the air. Aargh, this was too much
effort. No surprise why cafés did a roaring business.
Stuffing a handful of
not-so-fresh cookies into my mouth, I spun around and took a few
steps toward the door. Down this set of stairs was a small garden
where Teri had once grown herbs for her psychic readings, and from
the smell of rosemary and oregano she still
pressed a few buttons on the watch hoping one of them would
activate the alarm. Success. The rhythmic beep started up and her
body flinched as the beep-beep-beep pushed its way into her sleepy little inner
sanctum.
Time enough for me to cast
my gaze around her bedroom. It had changed a lot since we were
kids. On her desk sat a laptop I assumed was one of Dad’s latest
purchases, with a monitor so huge it doubled for a TV. On her desk
sat a stack of DVDs from horror films, many I recognized and some I
didn’t. She had a row of six lava lamps on one shelf, of varying
shapes and currently in their stagnant mode, looking like boiled
eggs floating in goop. Below the row of lamps was a shelf brimming
with figurines from movie and TV shows – Alien , The
Ring , Star Wars,
X-Men .
I’d come to accept years
ago that of the two of us, Dad loved her more. My proof? He’d given
her presents while I’d received none.
Stuck around the edge of
Audrey’s dresser were dozens of photos of her and an Asian girl. I
ripped one photo off and turned it over. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH was
written on the back. Did Audrey have more than this one friend? Not
that I was here to improve her social life, but the twinge of
regret that I hadn’t made the effort to stay connected with my
half-sister was like a punch to the stomach. I had to grit my teeth
against the wave of guilt rushing around inside me. I also had to
remind myself that a little over a week ago it had been a growing
baby causing that churn, so I had every right to be here attempting
to resolve the unfinished business between Leo and me.
Audrey’s body on the bed
was now fully awake. She sat up, looked at me curiously, and as her
eyes widened my body was dragged under a surface. Like stepping
through a waterfall, I waited a moment for the sheen to clear and
then I looked around the room with fresh eyes. Things were the
same, but also different. The room was brighter; the goop in the
lava lamps glowed, the figurines seemed more lifelike, and at the
exact moment when I adjusted to this very real world the aromas hit
me. I’d been without this particular sense for over a week, so I
picked up everything with wolf-like clarity. Dirty socks in the
corner, onions frying in the kitchen, flowers in the window box
outside Audrey’s bedroom, remnants of incense burned earlier
downstairs. I greedily breathed in these aromas.
When my stomach next
grumbled I knew it was the hunger of the living. Coffee and
chocolate before anything, it commanded. Having gotten this close
to Leo, I told my stomach that it could wait. So, cramming Audrey’s
phone into the pocket of her jeans I snuck my way across the
hallway, but I was brought to a full stop at the kitchen when my
stomach decided to pull rank and twisted my body into a series of
unnatural yoga positions.
Hurriedly, I ransacked the
cupboards searching for a quick bite to ward off anarchy by any
other parts of my new body.
“ What are you looking
for?” Teri asked.
I jumped, though I
shouldn’t have been alarmed. This was her house and I was meant to be her
daughter.
“ Coffee. Donuts.” I’d have
eaten over-boiled broccoli right now.
Teri pointed to the
cupboard above my head and returned to cooking whatever she was
cooking – garlic and onion hung in the air. It smelled divine and
only added to my stomach’s cries for attention. Staring down at me
was a shiny gold-foil wrapped parcel of coffee beans, a coffee bean
grinder, a coffee plunger, and a sugar bowl in the shape of a cat.
Looking down, three mugs were stacked in the sink begging to be
washed. I threw my hands up in the air. Aargh, this was too much
effort. No surprise why cafés did a roaring business.
Stuffing a handful of
not-so-fresh cookies into my mouth, I spun around and took a few
steps toward the door. Down this set of stairs was a small garden
where Teri had once grown herbs for her psychic readings, and from
the smell of rosemary and oregano she still
Similar Books
