Vanishing Alley

-11-

      I have to be honest with you, the next few days were filled with anxious impatience. All I could do was think back to Monday afternoon and the mysterious alley that just appeared out of nowhere. Amy and Philip texted me a few times during the 3 days that followed, to tell me that they also couldn't wait to go back and walk all the way through the alley. But we had all agreed to wait for Jamie and Sarah, who both told us they would be there by the end of the week. Sara got there on Wednesday, and Jamie on Friday. I wondered if I should tell them the story about the watch, and what happened, before showing them, but eventually decided that it was best to tell them first - at least if they had a bit of a back story, they wouldn't be too lost when we showed them. Amy also thought we should warn them, while Philip loved the element of surprise. Either way, it had to wait until Monday.

That Saturday, my parents got together with some of their friends, which they had already done a few times that summer, so I had to babysit my sister again. I didn't mind babysitting her, I still don't, although she is 11 years old now. Actually, I had fun with her, we got along really well and still do. I didn't mind watching movies she liked or listening to music with her, unless, of course, she wanted to listen to the same kids song on repeat, then I had to think of a way to get her interested in something else. We also had some fun playing Pictionary and having mini drawing competitions where one of us would mention something to draw, and the goal was to draw it the fastest. I don't think I have to tell you that most of the time, they didn't really look like they were supposed to.

"Clara, can we watch a movie?"

"Sure Elena. What do you want to watch?"

"Um... I want to watch... Despicable Me!"

My sister loved watching cartoons. She preferred them over live-action movies. Luckily for her, I didn't mind watching them either.

"Ok, we can watch Despicable Me."

"Yayyyyy!!!!!"

The movie ended with enough time for her to get ready for bed before my parents got back around 10:30pm.

Sunday was family day, as it always is. We spent most of the day at the lake, having lunch and enjoying an afternoon snack on our boat, while listening to the birds singing in the trees and the gentle breeze that was blowing. It was hard for me to enjoy the weekend though, because I knew that on Monday, we were all going to head back to that store and possibly embark on the adventure of a lifetime! At least I was able to not worry about how I was going to tell Jamie and Sara about what we were doing because I had decided to give them some information, but just about the watch, not the alley. If I told them we were going to go see a mysterious alley appear out of nowhere, they may not have come with us, especially Jamie!

When Monday finally came around, I woke-up that morning with excitement for the day ahead. I've never been more excited for a Monday than I was that day, well, except for the Monday when I went with Amy and Philip. But this time it was different. I think I was even more excited this time because I knew what was going to happen, I just didn't know what we were going to find once we walked through it. I have to say that I was also REALLY hoping it would work again, because we'd seem pretty ridiculous to Sara and Jamie if it didn't. That afternoon, we all met-up in the Square and decided to grab some coffee while I told them about the watch. While we sat and enjoyed our drinks, Jamie was the first one to ask,

"So, what's the plan for this afternoon?"

And there it was! Time for me to give them some background story first. I should mention that Jamie and Sara are both very skeptical of a lot of things. Well they were, since then they've become more open-minded. So, telling them about the watch... well... I already knew what they were going to say. I made sure to choose the right words and just the right information to give so that it would pique their curiosity. But, before I did that, I told Amy and Philip what I found out.