Dawn West-Allen

03

Mom and I waited for Nora for over an hour before we came to the conclusion that Nora wasn't going to show up again.

"Hey, She was probably just held up at CCPD" mom said cheering me up.
"Yeah, probably!" I replied, forcing a smile.

After dinner mom and I were washing dishes while listening to music when her gauntlet began ringing. Mom dried her hands and answered it while I finished the dishes up by myself.

"Who was that?" I questioned Once they hung up, hoping it was Nora.

"Uh papa joe, he wants me to come pick up some things!" Mom said as she sat her gauntlet down on the kitchen table.

"Can I go?" I asked.

"Are you sure it won't take me long?" Mom said, grabbing her shoes." and Papa Joe said it's really messy over there right now, with the move and all!"

"I'm sure!" I replied as I began putting my shoes and jacket on. " It can't be that bad plus I'm papas Joe favorite granddaughter!"

"Stop saying that Dawn, I'm sure papa joe and mama Cecile doesn't have any favorites and love all of you equally!" Mom said as I followed her out the front door!"

"That's not what he told me!" I mumbled

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"Dad?" Mom yelled after she opened the front door, stepping over boxes of all sizes.

"Up here!" A deep voice yelled back.

I followed mom through the maze of boxes stacked high, Then up the stairs. I Peaked into what use to be aunt Jenna's old room which was uncle Wally's room before and in moms, both were almost empty besides a few boxes. We then climbed the ladder to the attic where Papa Joe was sitting on a stool surround by boxes, dust, and cobwebs.

"Last time I cleaned the attic, I remember telling all of you to take anything you want from your childhood to your house!" Papa Joe said upon seeing us. " I think it's safe to assume nobody listened!"

"It's good to see you too dad!" Mom said kissing his forehead.

"Hey, baby!" Papa Joe said, giving mom a hug.

" Papa Joe!" I said, giving him a big hug also.

His gray and black beard poked my face as he kissed my forehead.

"How's my favorite granddaughter doing?!" he asked as he held my hands.

"Told you!" I said to mom.

"Dad!" Mom said defensively.

"What?" Papa Joe said, pretending to be confused. "I say that to all of my grandkids!"

Papa Joe quickly winked at me, unbeknownst to mom.

"Where is Cecile?" Mom asked as I walked around looking at all of papa Joe stuff.

"Cecile and Jenna are visiting Joanie in star city for the weekend, leaving me to finish packing and cleaning By myself!" Papa Joe sighed.

"I can't believe you're moving!" Mom said as she browsed the attic."after all these years!"

"Well, the nest is officially empty now, Cecile and I figured it was time to downsize to something smaller and more manageable!" Papa Joe said following mom with his eyes. "You kids grew up so fast, too fast if you ask me!"

"Tell me about it!" mom said, looking at me with a small smile.

"It seems like it was just yesterday you two were running around here-" Papa Joe voice trailed off as if he was in deep thought. "Anyway, there are a few things you might want to keep downstairs!" Papa Joe said as he stood up and slowly walked to the ladder." and a few for Wally, he's stopping by later with the twins!"

Mom and papa Joe continued talking as they climbed down the ladder, their voices becoming softer the farther they went, Leaving me to explore the attic alone. I was intrigued by everything in the attic, it was filled with old clothes, old devices, and of course family pictures.

In a box labeled WW, I found an old photo album filled with pictures I've never seen before. I took one picture out of the album of a small boy and woman, I didn't know who they were until I read the neat cursive on the back of the photo.

"Wallace and Francine, 2002!"

I then realized it was uncle Wally and grandma Francine and a small smile appeared on my face as I stared at the picture, She looked like a younger version of my mom in this picture. Mom doesn't talk about her and were not allowed to ask about her either, she's a part of mom's past which is an off-limit topic. As I continued looking through the pictures I noticed there wasn't any of grandma Francine and mom when she was a kid.

"Weird..." I thought as I moved on to the next box.

I'd opened almost every box in the attic, where I found more clothes, old devices, and a couple of photo albums filled with pictures of aunt Jenna alone. All that was left was a flat box at the top of a shelf, too high for me to reach. Unlike the other one's, it wasn't labeled and it was the only box with red duct tape.

I grabbed the stool Papa Joe was sitting on and set it close to the shelf. I climbed to the very last step and tried reaching for the box, My fingertips could barely reach it as I pushed it forward. I felt something tickling my fingers, but I ignored the sensation as I continued pushing the box forward.

"Got it!" I said with a smile after I pushed the box forward enough for me to grab it.

Just as I was about to bring the box down slowly, I felt the tickling on my arm. My eyes followed the sensation until it landed on a Giant brown spider crawling up my arm. I screamed as my arms retracted which caused the box to fall and me along with it.

"Ugh!" I groaned swiping the dust and cobwebs off of my clothes. The spider had landed on the floor next to me, but it quickly crawled away disappearing under a shelf.

My attention turned to the box, I got on my knees and turned the box right side up and began removing the layers of old tape. The first thing I saw when I opened the box was a navy blue sweater neatly folded with white letters written across the chest.

"S.T.A.R Laboratories-"

"Dawn!"

I jumped at the sudden sound of my name. I turned around to see mom coming up the ladder.

"Are you okay, Papa Joe and I heard a loud thud and screaming- you didn't answer when I called your name!" Mom said panicking.

"I was just trying to get this box, but I fell!" I explained."- sorry I didn't answer,"

Mom sighed in relief when she saw that I was perfectly fine.

"It's okay, just please be careful next time and you shouldn't be snooping in papa Joes things-" Mom paused when she noticed what box I was talking about.

I stepped out of her way as she walked past me to get a better look at the box.

"Where did you find this?" Mom questioned as she opened the box.

"On that shelf!" I replied as I stood next to mom looking down at the box.

Mom seemed as if she was in a trans as she lightly rubbed her fingers across the white letters on the box and Her eyes began to glisten the longer she starred. I wondered what did she see in this old sweater or was it something I was missing.

" What's S.TA.R laboratories?" I questioned, drawing her attention back to me.

Mom cleared her throat as she stepped in front of the box, blocking my view of its contents.

"Uh, Were leaving soon-Why don't you say goodbye to papa Joe before we go!" Mom said ignoring my question.

"But-"

"Dawn!" mom said.

"Okay, " I huffed as I began climbing down the ladder reluctantly as I wondered what was in that box an why my mom was being weird about it.