"We had a dream about my parents." I say, breaking the thin ice, now cracking with every inch of anticipation for the answers to our questions, my questions.
PawPaw continues into the kitchen and grabs a plate for what I assume is a snack.
"Well you've had those before punkin'." He chuckles, collecting some bread from the counter.
"This is different." Conner says.
I look at him, still surprised that all of this is happening, that it's real.
PawPaw looks at us. "How so?"
"Um." I hesitate, glancing to Conner.
He nods, telling me to say what we're both thinking.
"It was a memory." I finally blurt out.
PawPaw stops making his sandwich and glances to Mimsy. She looks just as nervous.
Why would they be nervous?
"Uh, why do you think that, sweetie?" Mimsy asks, hoping for a different answer than the one that she knows I'm going to say.
"Because it felt real, and I feel like it was my brain trying to remember something. Something to answer my questions about my mom." My mouth starts talking before my brain can stop it.
"What happened to her? Why did we have dreams about her and my dad?" I ask. They hesitate.
"You know, don't you?" I whisper, the betrayal hanging in every word in my voice.
"Jessica, we didn't want to-" PawPaw starts. Now I know that it's true, he never says my real name.
"No. Don't say you didn't want to hurt me. Or that you wanted to protect me. I'm not just a little kid who thinks that it's normal to not know about her parents. To not know their face, or their voice. If you really do care about me, then you'd tell me the truth." I hate talking to them like this, but I need to.
"Tell me. What happened to my parents?" I demand.
"Jess, maybe we shouldn't-" Conner starts, softly placing a hand on my arm.
"No." I interrupt, shrugging his hand away. "It's time for me to know."
PawPaw sets down his plate, walking into the living room where we all are.
Mimsy grabs my hands gently, leading me to the couch to sit down with her.
PawPaw soon follows, along with Conner.
"Your mother loved to explore the highs and lows of the Earth. So she made it her job. She went on her journeys and still made enough time to spend with her family. I don't know how she did it." Mimsy says, shaking her white curled head.
"I don't either. She was such an amazing woman." PawPaw speaks. "She gave some of that to you Punkin'." PawPaw speaks, nudging my shoulder with his.
"But one day on one of her adventures, she got into a bit of trouble with some bad people. She didn't mean any harm in what she was doing, but somebody thought that she did. So when she was home that day, that same someone came to, well, get their so-called revenge." Mimsy rubs her thumb across my hand as she speaks.
"Okay, so." I pause, sniffling from my now stuffed nose.
I glance at Conner.
"What about my dad?"
YOU ARE READING
Hope
Non-FictionI can't move. I can't think. There she is. Her hair floating in the water so freely. Her limbs floating peacefully. There's just one problem. She's surrounded by blood. A lot of blood. I fall to my knees and I sob. I quickly grab my phone out of my...
