Unexpected Changes From Unexpected People

Chapter 8: Memories

I don’t really understand how one forgets all of that. How I managed to forget. He hasn’t been dead that long. So really I shouldn’t have forgotten it all. Yet I forgot I had an uncle completely. I may have lost one but I didn’t lose both.

            “God I am so confused right now.” I said aloud.

            “It’s okay Serena. We didn’t expect you to be strong enough to put up with it. Some people just deal with problems differently. Your brother talked. And I mean he talked. We could never get him to shut up. And then the tears, we never thought they’d end. I couldn’t come near him for years because all he’d do is burst into tears and cling to me saying I love you uncle Roger, you know that right? You on the other hand did just the opposite of what we expected. When Dan and I were around you were completely different. The damage your parents had accidentally done seemed like it didn’t exist. You were a normal little girl. I guess we should have known that you would shut down, but how were we supposed to. And I didn’t mean a word I said that day. I’m sorry I even said it. I understand if you hate me and never want to see or speak to me again but if nothing else know that I love you.” Uncle Roger said.

            I looked at him. Blankly I assume because he looked hurt. I’ve always been good at putting up masks. Of course then again I could be wrong because that’s all I saw before I passed out again. For someone who normally couldn’t fall asleep I’ve sure been getting a lot of it these past couple of days.

One moment I was looking up into three worried faces and hearing a very lame apology from my uncle and the other two say something about how if I was dead I couldn’t help and the next I was back in my bedroom as a little kid. It was kind of freaky. I was in my bed under my Tweety quilt. My grandmother had made it for me. The back was made of a soft yellow fleece and the top was made of different fabrics all with Tweety and Sylvester on them sewn together. There were four different fabrics and big squares were cut out to make it look almost like a window of Tweety and Sylvester.

I was half sitting up and half laying down waiting. At first I didn’t know what I was waiting for and then my door opened. I could clearly see Uncle Dan…or was it Uncle Roger walking in. there was a book in his hand and a coat in the other. He took the coat and hung it on one of the posts of my bed. They were tall because it was a queen sized bed, so his coat didn’t hang on the floor instead it only went halfway down the post.

He then finished walking around the bed and sat next to me on the right side of the bed. I scooted over to let him sit better, instead of being half on and half off. He put his arm around me and then opened the book to the first page and began reading. Because I was advanced it wasn’t a book you’d pick up on a kid shelf at Wal-Mart. Instead it was a book that a first grader would pick up. Or maybe it was more advanced. I don’t really know.

            “What book is it tonight?” I asked.

            “Well what does it say?” Uncle Dan asked. I knew because of his voice. Where Rogers was more of a boom Dan’s was more like air.

            “Beverly Cleary, Ramona’s World.” I said the best I could mispronouncing Ramona.

            “Do you want to read first?”

            I shook my head. “You go first. I like it when you read.”

            “Okay.” He said and proceeded to read part of the first paragraph. He then stopped and allowed me to read; though it was a little choppy I managed to read well enough to understand.

The reading stopped and there was a new memory. This time I was on the swing. I was trying to get it to move but I couldn’t. Something was stopping it. I looked up on the ropes holding it to the swing set and saw a pair of big hands a few inches above my own small ones. I looked behind me to see one of my uncles again. “Hey, let go, please. I want to swing.”