The Worst Year Ever

Cookies

Sunday July 7th, 2012

Cookies

I've been keeping to my room lately. I mean, I've kept to my room a lot before but now it's more than usual. It's mainly because I only live with Mom now and she's constantly crying and bringing her depressing atmosphere with her everywhere, and I just don't want to be around that. And if I'm being honest with myself, I feel like my room is the place where Skylar is more likely to show up again. But I haven't eaten much all week. I didn't eat since Skylar died until the night of her funeral and even then I had a lot on my mind so I didn't eat much, so the growl of my stomach made my decision to get up and get food for me.

I descended the stairs and I heard Mom sobbing in the living room and it's just a good thing that this house is circular so there are two ways to get to almost every room in the house, and I took the way to avoid my sniffling mother.

I wish I could go in there and tell Mom that it's alright and that Skylar is still here but she might think I'm talking figuratively and it won't really make her feel any better and if she actually thought I meant it and thought that Skylar never died then she might become worried about me and put me into a mental hospital. In the end, though, I know neither solution would actually help any, so I continue making my way to the kitchen, trying my best to ignore the sounds of her depression.

When I enter the kitchen, I see that the counter is absolutely full of trays of baked goods and food and I also see elegantly decorated gift baskets and over-stuffed food baskets. My mouth drops as I see all the food just sitting there, waiting to be eaten.

"Yeah, mourners have come by almost non-stop to drop off food and offer their condolences." At the sound of this very familiar voice, I spin around and see Skylar standing there, watching me.

"Hey!" I greet her as enthusiastically as I could while feeling suddenly exhausted. "And how do you know that?"

"When you're dead, you know everything," she says, giving me a cocky smirk.

"Do you know the reasoning behind your death yet?" I ask her.

Her smirk disappears. "Except for that."

I laugh while picking up a chocolate chip cookie off of a tray and examining it, thinking. "So, Skylar, if you're dead and you're just spirit, can you eat anything?"

"No," she responds.

"What will happen if you do try to eat something?" I ask her, curiously.

"It will go right through me. Literally," she says, laughing a little but sounding sad at the same time.

"Do you miss eating?" I ask her.

"I miss mashed potatoes," she says, and I laugh. Yes, mashed potatoes were her favorite food.

Suddenly, I hear a weak voice calling me, "Helen." I recognize the sound of Mom's voice and go to the living room to see what she wanted, and Skylar follows me but right before I enter the living room where Mom is lying on the couch, I turn around and put up a hand to stop Skylar. At first, she seems confused. "If you get within eyesight of Mom, you'll have to disappear, right?" I whisper, and she seems to understand now and she nods. "Yeah, so stay here, you're not going anywhere."

She rolls her eyes as I enter the living room and stand in front of Mom. She literally looks like she's dead. Her face is pale besides the fact that her face is red in places from crying so much and her eyes are all puffy and they are red to match her face. She doesn't look like she's showered all week which she probably hasn't because she's been too upset to even get off the couch or to stop crying.

"Yeah, Mom?" I ask her.

"Seriously, who are you talking to?" she asks me.

"No one," I respond, simply.

She seems confused, but replies, "Okay."

I turn my back on her and walk out of the living to where Skylar was waiting for me. She looks like she's about to burst out laughing. I raise my eyebrows at her. "Mom totally is starting to think  you're crazy," she says.

"Whatever,"  I say, laughing tiredly.

Skylar is smiling when she suddenly disappears into thin air. I am shocked for a moment and I wonder what caused her sudden departure when I turn around and see Mom standing there with a confused look on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay, Helen?" she asks me.

"Yeah, Mom. I'm fine," I assure her. "I just came down to get some food but now I'm gonna go back up to my room.

"Okay," Mom nods and then she goes back to lying on the couch.

I go back into the kitchen and take the whole tray of cookies and bring them upstairs to my room with me, and at the same time, I can't help but feeling angry at Mom for getting up to see what I was doing because that made Skylar disappear, and I didn't want her to go yet. I never wanted her to go.