I can see my sister's ghost

chapter 2-meeting Matt

When I calm down, it's mid-afternoon.

"Well I guess we won't need those towels," Sam says, pretending to wring out his shirt.

I smile before replying, "Yeah."

"Do you still want to go to my house?" Sam asks me.

"Sure."

We walk through the woods and reach Sam's house. His mom is sitting on the porch, sewing. She's just like I remember her, working hard and really nice. She waves to us.

"Hello, Mrs. Walker!" I call out at the same time Sam shouts "Hi mom!"

"Hello children! Emma, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Jennifer?" she mock-scolds. "I'm going to go in and check on dinner."

She opens the door and little kid comes running out in his swimming shorts. She laughs and then goes inside.

"Sammy!" says a little kid as he attacks Sam.

"Matthew!" Sam says as he swings the little kid in the air. The child laughs. When he catches sight of me, he hides behind Sam.

"Mattie, this is Emma," Sam says. The little kid looks at me and then runs away. Sam and I laugh.

"Guess he doesn't want to meet me," I say, laughing.

"He'll come around," Sam replies with a shrug.

We walk into the house. It's one of those classic country homes. It hasn't changed since I was here last. We go into the kitchen and Sam gets a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge. He pours two glasses and slides one over to me.

"So, bet you're wondering what's up with Matt," he says as he slides a seat out for me, then sits in a chair himself.

"Yeah, how old is he?" I ask as I sit down.

"Four, but his birthday is in a couple of days and when he gets to know you, he'll be reminding you of it every second," Sam says with a laugh.

"You used to be like that," I tell him, with a laugh. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much.

"Like what?" he asks.

"All obsessed with your birthday," I mock. Sam's birthday is June 8th and I normally get here on June 1st so I get pestered about birthday stuff for a week.

"No! I was perfectly normal about my birthday," he says with a dismissive hand.

I laugh, "No that was so not normal, you left little reminders all over the place!"

"Well maybe I was a little obsessed," he admits, "but Matt is way worse than I ever was."

"We'll see," I say with a smile.

We're laughing and chatting when we hear Matt come in, he's all muddy and he's crying. Sam immediately gets up and brings Matt to the chair he was sitting on a few seconds ago.

"Mattie, what happened?" Sam asks, crouching down so he's eye-level with Matt.

"I-I fell and I-I couldn't get back up," Matt says, "I r-rolled down a hill and I ended u-up in the l-lake."

"It's okay Matt, you're okay. Emma, do you want to go get the first aid kit? It's in the bathroom, under the sink."

"Okay," I say as I run to get it.

When I get back, Mrs. Walker is in the kitchen kneeling in front of Matt. Matt's knee is clean of mud, but it's all bloody.

"Oh, thank goodness, Emma," Sam and Mrs. Walker say at the same time.

Mrs Walker opens the first aid kit and takes out the gauze. Jennifer is a nurse and she really knows how to treat a wound. One time when I was younger I fell off the tire swing and landed on my arm. I was crying and the bone was sticking out, but she was able to stay calm and made me a temporary sling, then drove me to the hospital. I'm always amazed at the way she can look at the injury and not run away screaming, I would.

"Emma, darling, would you please go grab a blanket from the front room? Sam, dear, would you go get a change of clothes for Matt?" Jennifer asks.

Sam and I go to get the items. When I get back Mrs. Walker is attempting to feed Matt a bowl of soup. I bring the blanket over to them and lay it on Matt's shoulders.

"Thank you, dear."

"No problem," I say.

"Oh, honey, could you hold this for me?" Mrs. Walker asks as she hands me a cloth to hold on Matt's knee. She goes over to the sink to wash off the cloth she was using.

Sam comes into the kitchen carrying the clothes for Matt. "I just grabbed whatever I could find," he says as he puts the clothes down and flops into a chair. "This chair is kind of-ow!" Sam says as the chair collapses. Matt turns around and laughs, I do too.

"Sam! Are you okay?" I ask as I help him to his feet, he's a bit heavier than I remember but he did grow a lot, plus he got older.

"Sam was too heavy for the chair!" Matt informs me.

"Yeah, Sam needs to lose some weight," I say, poking his belly.

"Hey! Do not!" Sam defends himself, "besides I'm still stronger than you." He kneels down, takes Matt's hand and starts to arm wrestle.

"Hey! Be careful, Matt's hurt," Mrs. Walker says as she comes back and puts a bandage on Matt's knee.

"I think he's going to be fine," Sam grumbles.

"Yeah, he's in good hands," I reply.

"Do you want to go back to the fair?" Sam asks me.

"What about Matt?" I ask.

"As you said, he's in good hands," he says. He grabs my hand and pulls me out the door.

"So you're just going to assume I want to go?"

"I saw your face," he says. When I look at him and start to protest he starts talking again, "you're still squirmy when it comes to blood, and yes I remembered that."

"Hmm, I seem to remember this one time when you brought me to the butcher shop and then 'forgot' I was scared of blood. What brought back your memory?"

He laughs, "You still remember that, huh?"

"Yeah, you still scared of the little creepy crawlies?" I ask.

"Nope, outgrew that quite a while ago," he replies with a smug smile.

"Really," I ask as I grab a caterpillar off a tree and put it on his shirt.

"Get it off me! Get it off!" he screams. I laugh.

"Oh, you're in for it!' he says as he grabs me around the waist and pulls me onto his shoulder.

I laugh. He walks and ignores me while I tell him he can put me down. We don't go past the docks. We get out of the forest and I'm still on his shoulder. He runs toward the water then dumps me in. I surface and pull him under. We race each other to the rocks that jut out of the water, I win. We sit on the rocks and watch the sun set, it's gorgeous.

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Tell me what you think of Matt. Do you like him? Does he act too childish? Too old? Please tell me what you think, I really want to become a better writer! Dedicated to MissBrightside_ for the amazing banner on the side.