Return to Neverland

Chapter 2

Our bodies smashed together as we hugged, crushing the small old lady with our embraces. Grandma broke away from our grasps and hugged each of us individually, planting kisses on our foreheads. She commented on how much Charlie was looking like Mom, which was the first time I had ever seen Charlie grow shy. She just stood there playing with her fingers.

"Kids, go help Grandma find her room and unpack," Mom said. Jamie stole the bag from under Grandma's arm and used both hands to drag it inside. I lead Charlie inside.

Grandma grabbed her cane from the car, and we waved to our uncle before he drove away. He looked a little shaken up, and I started to grow uneasy. What did he see that we were going to discover?

Charlie absolutely loved Grandma. From the moment she stepped foot into our house. Charlie's mouth was like a motor, talking at a rapid pace. Grandma silently listened, nodding. Jamie trailed behind, hauling Grandma's bag. I waited for him.

"Do you need help?" I chuckled, extending my hand.

Jamie gladly took my offer and handed me the luggage. I curled my fingers around the handle and I could see why Jamie was struggling. There must've been bricks in there because I could barely lift the bag off of the floor.

My old room was empty. My bed had been broken down and rebuilt upstairs in my sibling's room hours before Grandma came. All there was in the room was a bare mattress and a small dresser. I set the bulky bag down onto the mattress. Grandma unzipped the bag with a bony finger once I let it disappear from my hands. Once the cover was flipped off of the suitcase, the oddest thing occurred.

Inside the bag wasn't clothes or bathroom supplies, but a bagful of junk. There were old cups, bowls, jewelry, and other stuff that no one needed. I wrinkled my nose as dust floated into the air from the old objects. Charlie lifted a chain necklace with an acorn hanging from it. The bottom was chipped, and the beautiful orange color was slowly turning dark brown.

"Grandma, what are these?" Jamie asked. He held a candle in one hand, and a book with gibberish on the front in the other. Charlie set the necklace down onto the counter.

"These," Grandma's voice was low and shaky. She cleared her voice and continued. "These are how I make magic."

The words struck my chest hard. Magic? I couldn't process the fact that the words just came out of her mouth. Charlie's eyes lit up. Grandma's did, too. Grandma looked like a little kid as she started to talk about all of her stuff. She was talking so fast that I couldn't hear a word that she said. All of her words smashed together into strange phrases. I kept on asking the same question. Magic?

"Go grab your old jewelry box and put this stuff in it," I whispered in Charlie's ear. She began to whine and complain, but I pushed her out of the room before I could hear the further protest. Charlie was back with a white box in a heartbeat, quickly placing all of Grandma's things into it carefully. I hung things such as belts and whatever couldn't fit into the box on a hanger. Leaves and yarn were woven together to make belts. Pouches hung on them.

I grabbed a small bag that was tied with a thin purple ribbon. I checked to see if Grandma was looking, which she wasn't. Grandma was still talking to Jamie and Charlie about all of her junk. I took that as an opportunity to untie the ribbon. I stuck my hand in, digging through to see if I could find anything.

All I found was sand. The specks of grain fell through my fingers and back into the bag. I stared at it, trying to piece together why she would keep something so useless. Another set of questions filled my mind. Instead of overwhelming myself with the questions, though, I set the bag into the jewelry box next to all of her other suspicious things.

Jars and books filled the walls, and by the time we were finished unpacking her stuff I could've sworn that I just entered a witch hut. Grandma hung empty bottles with random objects onto the ceiling. "It reminds me of home," she explained.

At dinner, we sat at our small table. Charlie found this as an excuse to continue yapping at Grandma. Grandma didn't seem to mind, though. She would just continue the conversation, chuckling and smiling. Jamie forked down his food - which was weird because he was a slow eater - down in three seconds and sat on the couch to learn about his new guest.

I ate silently, listening to their conversations with my thoughts running. There was something about the sand and the acorn that I had seen before.