ISLAND FREE

Chapter 1: Grandpa's visit

She was shaking my shoulders and I realized I was still in bed. The whole thing was a nightmare. "Whew," I gasped.

"Are you ok." she asked. I didn't answer. Then had a sorry look on her face.

"You were having a bad dream. Weren't you?" I nodded then got out of bed. Feeling as lazy as had been the night before, I went to wash my face. That always helped me forget about the nightmare. As I soaked my face with freezing water, I felt the shiver on my skin. It was as though my face was going to freeze to ice.

"What do you think you're doing? You'll catch a cold." Sally shouted. "Do you know what the weather's like today?"

Without looking back, I went downstairs and opened the back door. I found out what the weather was like today. I felt the cold air come in as well as some snow. I could feel the snowflakes on my skin. At first I couldn't see anything because of the brightness. But then I saw that the ground was stacked with at least 2 feet of snow. From an astonished feeling, my face lit up with excitement. But before I could let out my joy, the partypooper ran down and slammed the door shut. She looked angrier than the time I read her diary and found she had actually felt sorry for all the times she had been rood to me. From then on, whenever she got angry with me, I knew right away she knew she was wrong and that I was right; and no matter what she said.

"I'll tell you what the weather is like." Her face was on fire. I could almost see the steam coming out her ears. She showed me a frozen thermometer. I squinted my eyes and tried to read the temperature. "Negative 47 degrees."

"That's right." She said in a surprisingly calm voice. " Now turn on the heater!" She was angrier than a troll could be if you broke its bridge while crossing it.

I didn't feel like a fight so early in the morning. So I did as she said. Then I started at the fridge when heard her phone ring. She didn't hear it, because it was ringing somewhere near me. But I didn't bother to let her know. I opened the fridge and got out the milk. I poured it into my favorite bowl, which was the one with the red roses. I got out the cereal  and started leaning it so the delicious, Rice Krispies  would fall into my bowl. But I realized there was none left. So instead of cereal, I got a box of cookies and ate them with the milk.

    She was probably writing in her diary. Maybe about me. My head was filled with thoughts. It hadn't been long since Mom had left to Florida to figure out what had happened to Dad. It was well over a year since Dad went missing. I wish Mom would find Dad and come back home so we can all sit around the table and have dinner together. That is probably the first thing I'm looking forward to when mom returns. Other families have dinner together every night. I wish it could be that way for us. I really missed how Dad would tell us jokes with no meaning, and because of that we would laugh. And how Mom would make a small menu for dinner every Friday. And I even missed how I would always have to be the one to do the dishes after dinner because Sally would have found an excuse not to do them. I never thought I would miss doing the dishes. Those were the days our house was filled with love and happinessm. But now it was only Sally and me. The house felt empty and lonely. But I'm still thankful for that. If I was the only one left, then I would probably be sent to an orphanage or something. Since Sally is only 17, I guess you can say that we aren't supposed to be alone. But Grandpa gives us a phone call daily. And he also sends us money for the house and groceries and other stuff we need. We don't let anyone know we're alone, because neither of us would be able to bare the thought of being separated. The neighbors don't mind. They actually help us out. Even grumpy Mrs.Daisy. But we knew that someday, Mom would come back home and would have brought Dad with her as well.

  Winter vacation was almost over. I was going to turn 14. Sally was making dinner, when the back door swung open. Wind gushed in and brought the snow with it. It made my hair fly back, and the coldness reached my neck and ears. I thought they had turned red. It was freezing. I felt the wind penetrate through my jacket, like spears would through an animals fur. It felt as though the snow on my face would never melt. Small snowflakes felt like icicles on my skin. Sally ran and shut the door. Then she locked it as though telling the wind to never come in without knocking first.