EXPERIMENT #010

Chapter 1: Illness

It all started as a boring day. Well, all thanks to the homework and teachers that Marilee had to endure. Sometimes Marilee wondered about known rumors, she was always the detective one in the entire school and her group of friends. She never minded what kind of "case" it was as long as she knew what were the bits and sticks, nuts and bolts of information. Even so, her information about rumors was never fun or interesting, as she tried to avoid trouble from her father and the police. And because she had trouble from both sides alongside her friends.

Today, she was in afterschool class, helping the others or doing her assignments in order to go home and rest. As she was helping a student, one of her best friends, Randy, came by and lightly tapped her shoulder a couple times before getting her attention. Marilee turned her head a bit to see his best friend. She smiled warmly before gretting Randy.

"Hey, Randy. What's up?" Said Marilee in a calm yet cheerful manner, Randy smiled softly. He only moved his hands, he was the only one in the group that had trouble speaking, all due to a very weak vocal chord that he had in which if he spoke, it vibrated violently and vigorously, causing him pain. Luckily, Marilee knew about sign language due to her young sister, who was mute as well. Randy soon finished with a manly smile, indicating that he had done work by himself.

"Wow! Nice, dude!" Marilee complimented Randy. She knew he wasn't lying. She could tell by his smile and the face Randy was making. Randy, although he barely speaks, was a very honest person, he only lies when he knows trouble or when it was necessary. The only way you could tell he was lying was by his face expressions. It was safe to say that he was a terrible liar, since he can never keep a straight face when lying. But Marilee knew well about his signs. Then, he moved his hands as if he wanted to tell her something interesting. She looked at Randy in a "can I get this done?" look on her face. He quickly understood and simply "told her" his goodbyes. She quickly went on to help the student.

"Man, I wonder if he had something important to tell me? Maybe he wanted to tell me some rumors? I don't know... Should I ask him later in text?" Marilee thought as she helped the student. Once she was finished with everything she headed out of her school and took a deep breath. She was feeling glad that she had finished early.

"Finally, out to go home..." Marilee muttered to herself, she soon started walking on her way home. Suddenly, she saw her father in his car, clearly indicating something must have happened. She made her way towards the car and knocked on the window and signaled him to unlock the door. He did so without a second thought, letting Marilee in. As Marilee entered the car, she looked at her father, who looked a bit expressionless. He then stroked his beard, as if he had bad news. He turned to see Marilee and locked his eyes on hers in pure sadness and seriousness. Marilee was getting a bit anxious. This meant something bad, to her at least.

"Marilee... You remember Grandma? Grandma Jammy?" He finally broke out the silence, Marilee felt suspicious.

"Yes, of course I remember Grandma Jammy. What about her?" Marilee said in pure worry, her Grandma was a very special person to both her father and her. Jammy knew many recipes to make and would always bring happiness in her family. She was the light to Marilee's and her father's dark days.

"She fell incredibly ill... She might not be with us much longer..." Her father said, small yet noticeable tears streamed down his face, but he tried to keep a straight face and deep breathed to further prevent heavy tears. Marilee was soon in tears, but she was not as heartbroken as her father, she already knew that Grandma Jammy was weak and would soon fall ill.

"So, you're saying that Grandma Jammy might not be with us this christmas?" Marilee asked, her father simply nodded slowly. He then decided that he was going to head to the hospital and began to drive. Marilee looked outside the car window and began staring at the sky. The sky this morning was dark blue and free of cotton-looking clouds, but now it looked a bit grey and had even darker clouds, meaning that it might begin to rain soon. Marilee began to think why the clouds looked greyer than the sky.

"I bet the Good Lord knew about this incoming day... Maybe he decided to make the sky look like this to set the appropiate scene for such situation and emotion... Maybe..." She thought before she got interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. She looked at her father and then outside, she was infront of the hospital where Grandma Jammy was.

"We're here." Said Marilee's father.

End of Chapter 1