Does anyone know that time around vacation, when you go to sleep over at your favorite aunts house? If not then it's okay, because I do and it's a wonderful time well spent at her house. Well... Not last year. But I'm sure I'll never forget.
I graduated middle school and I was super excited about visiting my aunt; she was my favorite aunt and she hardly ever visited us. My mom helped me pack. Before I even finished packing my little brother was already set to go. So maybe now you understand that she was our favorite aunt ever. We got into the car and after a 3 hours we arrived at her house at the other side of town. Her house was huge, the garden was filled with beautiful flowers and plants, there was a lake nearby surrounded by trees with birds singing in them and in the back, at the end of the yard, there were woods. The nature that surrounded the house made that place feel like home. We were just about to ring the doorbell when someone started screaming our names. Yep... That's her alright! She was a tall, beautiful woman in her mid 40's, with a lively spirit, who liked to dye her hair any color she pleased. She hugged us tightly and welcomed us inside. She loved baking so she gave us a each a slice of recently baked cake. It was really delicious! Then she took us to the garden and showed us her pumpkin patch; the pumpkins varied in size and color. Then her bell peppers, her cucumbers, her flowers and she also introduced us to her puppy and a baby rabbit she found in the woods. After 2 hours of talking we noticed that both of our parents had left without saying goodbye. They were acting very strange too. I mentioned it to my aunt and she assured me that something important must have come up at work and that they would call later on. We watched the sun set and went inside. After we took a long, hot shower and dressed up in our pajamas, my aunt called us down for dinner. After dinner we sat at the table, talking about my aunts career as a florist and even had a few laughs. I talked about my school and my little brother did the same. My aunt asked if we still fought and we started laughing because sometimes we do fight, but our fights never last long. We washed our dishes and sat down in the living room to watch TV. Around 11 o'clock we went upstairs to the bedroom she had set for us; it was big, with 2 comfy beds and a walk-in closet and the room was right next to our aunt's bedroom. After she tucked in my little brother and I was comfortable in my bed, our aunt told us she was going to wake us up early the next day, because she wanted to go on a picnic and that after that she wanted to go grocery shopping. I asked if she would like to go to the mall if we had time left and she said that we would have plenty of time left, because her shopping list wasn't very long. By the time she said goodnight, my little brother was already asleep. She walked out and pulled the door shut behind her. Not long after, maybe a few seconds after she went to her room, I heard my brother say something in his sleep. I was curious so I decided to listen carefully and then I heard it :"Goodnight, mommy!". My heart felt like it was about to break because I thought he missed our mom, but the fact that a response like :"Goodnight, my little angel " came from my aunt's bedroom, left me shocked half to death and made me wonder if I should have stayed or if I should have gotten up and away from that place, because a lot of wrong ideas popped up in my head :from my parents suddenly disappearing to the way my aunt was treating us as her own to that unexpected response coming from her room. I felt sick and I tried my best to fall asleep.
It was almost 8 o'clock in the morning and I felt like someone woke me up. I stared at the ceiling for a while then I turned around to face my brother. He was sleeping. I sat up in bed and saw the closet wide open."Oh, so you're up!", my brother said. It made me jump a little, but I answered him as if nothing happened. I looked over at the bed he was lying in and saw it was empty. I asked him if he by any chance had tried waking me up and he said "yes, I did after I got out of the shower. Why?". I told him I thought it was a dream because his hand was so soft. He laughed. We went downstairs and ate breakfast and waited for my aunt to wake up. After a few minutes she woke up and headed to our room and knocked on the door, so we told her we were already up. She looked rather shocked than happy that we woke up before she did. That's where the weirder part comes in: after she took a shower and had put on her clothes, she came downstairs and had breakfast too, but her hands were shaking. Then she washed the dishes and took me by the hand. She told my brother to go watch TV while I help her in the kitchen, then she asked me, while whispering:" How long have you been up?. "I think half an hour before you woke up. Why?",I said."I heard you and your brother laughing in the other room and thought that I'd ask if you had already showered. Maybe I was picturing it that way and let my mind take control, don't you think?"."Yeah, I guess so". After that we took off.
We sat in an open field, on fresh green grass with above us the blue sky with a bright sun. A nice day for a picnic. We had lots of sandwiches & ginger beer and shared stories from while we were apart. My brother mentioned a boy standing outside on the balcony at night. He said it was so cold that the boy looked pale, so he told him to come inside and that he could sleep in his bed. I asked if he was dreaming and he said:" No, he was real! I think he was lost. He just wanted to see his mom but found us instead. He felt pretty cold for someone who is alive. He didn't talk much but I could tell he was scared. I think we went home after I fell asleep, because the curtains were open this morning and I could feel the warmth from the sun on my face". All of what he said made me feel like I was standing in front of the refrigerator at night on the cold floor. Then my aunt told us the reason why she travels so much: When my brother was still a baby in my mother's belly, we as a family visited my aunt around vacation time. My pregnant mom used to sleep in my aunt's room and I slept in the other room with my dad. One night when my mom was asleep, my aunt went outside to smoke and when she went back in she saw a little boy standing next to my mom, saying he was glad he found her again and that he was happy to soon be having a little brother and then he disappeared. This story got so much more interesting. She said it happened many years after that too and that my mom and dad saw him every time we visited. I asked why and my aunt's response was:" That's my secret! Promise me you won't let your parents know that I told you! Back when your parents and I were still teens, we used to sneak out at night to go to parties and have fun. She got pregnant at 16 but she decided to keep the baby; it was a boy. I haven't seen her after that because I went to a different college. A year after I finished college, I bought my current house and asked her to visit. When your parents came the boy was about 7 or 8, a really sweet and well-mannered little boy. He spent 2 vacations at my house and at the last vacation he ran into the woods after a dog I had at the time. He got lost and died out there due to the cold. We found his body the next day. He lay down next to the dog, which got his head stuck in a bear trap and died. For years after that he still looks for his mother". I still can't believe I had a brother before I was born!
"You have a brother and I'm sure he means no harm! He just came to visit! "
