The Give Away

Chapter 13

4 days till Christmas and the house is buzzing with people. Keirans parents and little sister, Roberts parents, Bekki, Annabeth, Kai, Mark, Jane and myself are all here and decorating the house. The christmas tree is up, twinkling in the sunlight coming through the window. There are fairy lights all around the windows. Roberts parents are putting up the massive advent calendar. Kieran's parents, his little sister, Bekki, Annabeth and Kai are making cookies in the kitchen. Mark and Maria are out the back doing something while Jane, Keiran, Robert and I are raking leaves out the front. The smell of the biscuits Keirans parents and the little kids were making made its way to the front yard, it smelled amazing. It smells of cinnamon, ginger and honey, and it fills my nose as I breathe in the chilly air. I hugged my jumper around me and shiver, I keep on raking. The leaves are crunching and scraping against the ground as I pulled them all into a pile. The grass is covered in dew, the tiny droplets of water shine blindingly bright as soon as the suns rays touch them. I look up, Robert and Keiran rake their leaf piles together to create one huge pile they look at each other and with a knowing nodd they run. Robert runs towards me, Keiran runs to Jane. Robert picks me up around the waist easily and whispers one word to me 'ready?' Is all he says before he tosses me into the leaves as if I don't weight anything. Suddenly Jane is tossed beside me. I burst out laughing as I pull a leaf out of my mouth. Jane is giggling uncontrollably, cold tears are streaming down our faces. I struggle to stand up, then I get am idea. I look at Jane. She smiles deviously. 'I....I cant get up' I giggle. 'Here' Robert says as he holds out a hand. I grab it tight and linger just for a second. I pull him towards me. He falls beside me face down in the leaves, I hear a crunch as Keiran falls into the leaves as well. We all burst out laughing. My stomach and jaw ache from laughter, I didn't mind though. It was a good pain. I kiss Roberts cheek 'call that a kiss?' He says. He kisses me, his lips brushing against mine made the seconds feel like hours.'Nawwww' Jane says. 'Shhhh you' I say with a laugh as I playfully punch her in the shoulder. We all struggle to get out of the leaves, it took us about 5 minutes to get up. When we finally did get up we had to finish raking. So, with a sigh we all pick up our rakes and continued raking. We finally finished, the front yard was spotless. It looked so much better. I was wearing short denim overalls over a white t-shirt and I had black volleys. My hair was pulled into a high pony tail and I felt great. Jane was wearing old denim shorts and a Marvels Superheroes t-shirt with red converses. We all walked inside, the smell of the biscuits was overwhelming, the whole house looked amazing. The whole house was the picture of Christmas. Everyone was in the dining room having lunch, there were only 2 chairs left. The guys sat down and pulled us onto their laps. I looked up at Roberts parents. Their faces were expressionless. That could be a good thing and a bad thing I decided. They could be annoyed at the fact I was on his lap or they couldn't care less. Either way I had no idea whether they liked me or not. I looked away, I wasn't going to worry over this. Instead I looked over at my baby brothers and sisters. Bekki and Annabeth were chatting away, Kai looked very shy though. He was sitting next to Keiran's sister Jackie. They looked so cute sitting side by side. I smiled. We finished lunch, and lounged around the house for the rest of the night.

It's now just 3 days till Christmas, everything is in full swing. We are all tired after working yesterday so today we just lounged around in our pyjamas. I was wearing a black singlet with my valentines day pyjama shorts on, the shorts had little hearts on them with 'Be Mine' written on them. I played around with the four little kids for a the day. I got pretty close to Keiran's little sister Jackie while playing with her. They were all so cute! Robert saw me at one point and smiled. I ran up to him and hugged him tight. I kissed him before going back to the kids. It was so much fun. I was exhausted. After I helped Maria and Roberts mum put the kids to bed I went and brushed my teeth then went to bed. I found Robert already fast asleep in my bed. He must of gone in there by mistake, but I was freezing so I didn't complain. All the parents were downstairs so they wouldn't know, Jane was downstairs with Keiran watching a movie and the kids were in bed. Roberts Armstrong were thrown open, one hand hanging off the bed, the other across the other pillow. The sunsets golden glow shined through the gap in my curtains. I pulled them closed and climbed in bed beside Robert. I pulled his arm that was off the bed onto his stomach, it rose and fell as he breathed. I pulled the covers up, they were soft and warm from Roberts body heat. I curled up underneath Roberts shoulder. I pulled his other arm around me and then the covers over us. The door was locked, the window shut, the fan on. Robert groaned in his sleep and his head turned towards me. I sat up a little and kissed his forehead before curling back under the blankets with him beside me. I am 17 now, everything is so much easier. I can walk with Robert, holding his hand, in public without people staring or judging. I can kiss him in front of Mark and Maria without feeling guilty. My thoughts drifted away, they turned to an empty darkness.

"I lifted up my head. I was lying on my towel in the sand on a beach somewhere. 'You alright Hope?' Robert asked. My head was spinning, I looked up at him. 'Yeah I think so.' I sat up. 'Where are we?' I asked. 'Robert?' I looked around, he was gone. Thunder clapped above me. Lightning struck beside me and suddenly I was falling from the sky, hurtling towards water, I took a deep breath just before I hit the water. I sunk deep, I had no idea which way was up. I opened my eyes and saw my baby brother and sisters in the water. Their eyes were open, they looked terrified. They saw me and swam towards me. I swam up frantically as they clung on to me. We broke the surface of the water. We were beside a ladder attached to what looked like a pier. I lifted them up one by one, they climbed the ladder as fast as they could. I grabbed a wrung not he ladder and climbed, higher and higher. I get up onto the pier and collapse. I cough up water and blood. The salty, dirty metal taste in my mouth was terrible. The coughing fit subsided and I stood up. I was on a deck of some sort. I looked around, there was no end I could see. I heard a growl. A deep, terrifying growl. I knelt down and looked through the crack in the floorboards, I saw a huge creature walk under the floor. It was orange with black stripes. I screamed. A tiger was right beneath me, and it sounded mad. I got up and ran, I chose a direction and ran. I heard a roar and the sound of paws thundering on the earth below me. I saw a chair, it was a black, worn office chair. I jumped onto it and hugged my knees. I started crying as the chair rolled across the boards. I see a hole in the floor a while in front of me and the tiger jumped up onto the wooden boards. It came towards me, its teeth were showing, it was growling. The chair was rolling towards the tiger as it crept forward. I took a deep breath and just as the tiger reached me and I jumped up over the tiger and in the hole"

I woke up to Robert shaking me. 'Hope! Are you ok? What's wrong?' He asks frantically. I can still taste the salty, dirty metal in my mouth. I sit up and jump out of bed. 'Where are they?' I try and say but all that comes out is a raspy whisper. I open the kids bedroom door and run to the cribs. They are all still fast asleep. I fall to the floor breathing heavily. Robert comes in, picks me and carries me back to my room. 'Hope, what's wrong?' He asks. He has this look in his eye, determination. I know he will not stop until I tell him everything, every little detail. I tell him what happened in the dream as best I can. 'Its ok, you're safe now. I've got you baby girl, shhh' Robert says as he cradles me, rocking back and forth gently. A tears speeds down my cheek, it lands on his shirt. He doesn't notice. We walk over to me bed and lie down. Our bodies curl to face each other. Robert is stroking my forehead, I am stroking his fingers. We fall asleep again.

'I look down at my feet, I am standing in a field of grass on top of a huge cliff. I see the field far below, there are words burnt into the grass. 'Things aren't always as they seem' it reads. I gasp, it can't be. An arrow points up, I see a lady standing as if she is on the edge of a cloud. She is wearing a long, red dress, her hair covering her face. Her arms are thrown apart and she falls. Her body falls, her face towards the sky and the cloud she fell from. Everything goes in slow motion. I don't know why but I am drawn to her. I know who that is. I run down the stairs beside me as fast as I can. I jump over the last two stairs and stumble when I land. I sprint to her, I run faster and faster. I skid to a stop as I see her almost lifeless body below me. 'Aunt Magora!' I gasp. Tears streak down my face like a burning fire. 'Its ok my darling, it's over now. It's all over' she says. 'No! You can't give up, not after everything. Stay with me' I plead desperately. The Aunt I never knew and possibly never will is dying at my feet and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I pick up her hand and hold it tight, I lift her head up. 'Its ok my child, you saved me.' She says. 'Please' I whisper 'don't leave me' I cry. 'Shhhh, you are safe now my child' she says. She takes another breath and stops. Her whole body relaxs and goes limp. She is gone'

I wake up, the tears still burning my face. I open my eyes and wipe the tears away. The sun is blindingly bright. 'Robert' I croak 'are you awake?' I plead. 'I'm here baby girl. Everything ok?' He asks. 'Shes gone' I say, that's all I can say. 'Your Aunt?' He asks. I nodd. He pulls me into his chest and holds me tight. 'She is ok now, no more suffering, no more agony, she is in a better place. Right now she is with my Mum and Dad, she is happy' I cry softly. 'Shhh, I'm here. I'm here' Robert whispers. I sit up and wipe my eyes. He sits up as well and I hug him. 'Thanks baby, I I don't know what I would do without you'