Element

Element VI

VI.

Let me start off by saying that shopping was something that seemed to have not been passed down from my mother. Granted, I never really had the chance to shop growing up, but even going to the grocery store proved to be an ordeal for me.

After Alora and my aunt Kat got ready that morning, I soon found out that it was absolutely necessary to stop at every store possible to check out "the great deals." By the end of the day, I found myself with seven new pairs of skinny jeans, eight new tanks, some new tops and every single color cardigan you could think of. On top of that, I hade three new pairs of shoes, a sore back, and feet that seemed to have lost all blood flow about four hours prior. Yawning, we decided to grab dinner at the food court and then head home.

"So Helen, you turn sixteen in like a week right? What do you want to do for your birthday?" Asked Alora as she bit into her greasy piece of pizza.

"Well, I was sort of hoping not to do anything really. I never really used to do anything in the past and I sorta like it that way." As I finished answering the question, I could have swore Alora dislocated her jaw by how wide her mouth fell open.

"DO NOTHING?!?" She screamed quickly drawing the attention of everyone in a 300 foot radius.

"ugh...yeah." I quickly stuttered out as my face took on the appearance of a tomato due to all the attention.

"I never really had any friends so me and Michael would celebrate my birthday with a cupcake and a candle if we could." I said focusing all my attention back to my food.

"But we can't just do nothing" Alora quickly argued back. "It's your sweet sixteen so we have to do something!"

It became obvious to me that this was a loosing battle and I shifted my gaze to my aunt in hopes that she could help.

"Alora, if Helen doesn't want to do anything for her birthday then she doesn't have to." My aunt said looking towards me with a gentle smile on her face. I smiled back and then looked back to Alora. She clearly knew she wasn't going to get her way but that didn't stop her.

"What if we had just a simple dinner then? We can dress up and go to dinner then we can swap presents. That way we technically won't be do nothing for your birthday and we won't be doing too much for it either." She explained with a smirk gracing her face.

Looking towards my aunt I soon realized that she liked that idea and so it was up to me to decide.

"Fine, we can do a dinner but I don’t want to dress up and I much rather we have a nice, family cooked meal instead of going out. Is that okay?"

"That sounds perfect!" My aunt exclaimed clapping her hands together looking between me and my cousin. Alora didn't seem to be completely on board but knowing her for as little time as I have, I knew she would cave in and go along with it.

"Okay, we can do dinner at home and not dress up but nothing you can say will stop me from decorating the house!" Alora stated while folding her arms over her chest with a stubborn look on her face.

"Thank you guys, you are too good to me."

"Its what family does for each other." Smiling, my aunt turned back to her food and it was enough confirmation that the conversation was over. Twenty minutes later, we were all done and were on our way home. As my aunt pulled onto the interstate, the day finally caught up to me and I found my eyes slowly shutting. As I succumbed to sleep my mind wandered and I started to dream.

I was out side again at night only this time I was barefoot and I couldn't have been more then five years old.

There was a slight breeze that seemed to wrap my small body in a warm embrace and set my heart at ease. The moon was full and I was facing the forest that I practically grew up in. As the warm breeze picked up, there was a rustling in the trees and my eyes shifted towards the noise.

As I just stared into the darkness of the trees, a distinct pair of gold eyes appeared. Startled, I found myself unable to look away. As I stared into those piercing eyes, one by one, more eyes seemed to appear until the forest was littered with them.

 As I found myself looking into the eyes of each and every pair, the pair of gold eyes stepped out and I seemed to be starring at the largest brown wolf ever. As I stood taking in the size of this large wolf, my five-year-old self was not scared. Any normal human being would run in fright but I knew I was safe and nothing would happen. Looking into those eyes, I felt myself being called to them. As I took a step forward I all the sudden heard the back door to my house slide open and I heard my mother call out for me.

"Helen, it's time to come in. Why are you out here anyway sweetie?" Unsure of what to say, I quickly turned around and ran for the comfort of my mother knowing that the moment to go with the wolf had passed. As I approached my mom, she wrapped me up into her warm embrace and picked me up to carry me inside. As she was shutting the door, I looked back to see the wolf gone with no trace of him ever being there.

Jumping awake, I realized we were nearing home and soon we would have to unload our many shopping bags and head inside. Thinking back on the dream, it felt more as a memory rather then a dream. I mean come on, who would forget something like that.

Deciding it was a dream after all, we pulled up to the house and my uncle Rob met us outside. Like the true gentleman he was, he carried our bags inside for us so we wouldn't have to do it ourselves. As soon as I stepped inside, I quietly made my way upstairs before being stopped by my aunt.

"Oh Helen wait." Turning around, I looked down to see my aunt holding something out to me.

"What is it?" I asked taking the box into my hands.

"It's the new iPhone 5S. I wanted you to have a reliable phone that I can reach you on no matter what." Opening the box, there sat a sleek white phone just waiting for me to turn it on. Smiling, I thanked my aunt for the amazing day and all she has done for me. I then turned and headed the rest of the way up the stairs and went to bed.

Ever since moving here, my life seemed to become a lot stranger and only time will tell until things got normal again...or at least I hoped.