The Gift of the Ghost

The Move (Part 1)

Morning came by and I was the first to wake up. It was 6 in the morning. I got out of bed and went to my parent's room to wake them up. We had to get everything prepared. The moving trucks were going to arrive at 7. After I got them up, I went to go eat breakfast. "Do you want to try some coffee," my dad asked me. "No, thanks," I said to him. He always asks me if I want to do grown-up things with him like trying coffee and doing business work type things. We decided not to wake Emma up until the movers are here. I went to my room, got dressed, and then went to the living room. I gathered all of the packages to one side of the wall. An hour passed as I finished gathering all the packages from my room, the living room, the kitchen, and my parent's room to that one side of the wall. The doorbell rang a few minutes later. "Hello," my dad said to the movers as they stepped inside. "Brian, go wake Emma up," my mom hollered at me from her room. I went into Emma's room to wake her up. "Huh," she said in a sleepy tone as I called her name. "Time to wake up, the movers are here," I told her. She got out of bed as I left the room. "Mommy, where is my muffin that I left in the fridge," she asked as she went into my parents' room. Oop, I thought. I didn't know that was hers. A few minutes later she came to ask me if I knew where it is. I told her that it was spoiled and I had to throw it away. I didn't know what else to say, because I ate it last night. "Okay, can you make me a bowl of cereal," she asked. She likes how I make cereal because I always add extra things like sugar and little bits of fruit. "Sure," I say in return. I go to the kitchen and make her a bowl of cereal. "Emma, come get it," I holler out to her. She comes into the kitchen and eats. I go help dad and the movers move the packages into the truck. "Son, get those boxes right there," my dad tells me. I pick up the boxes and take them to the truck. There were 3 trucks outside and they were extremely large; bigger than the normal moving trucks. Emma finished her breakfast and got the small boxes. Our family and the movers all put effort into packing up the trucks. We finally finished the whole house at 3 pm. We got the small stuff that we were taking on the trip, which was blankets, a bookbag full of food and drinks and some other things, and two Nintendo switches. We got in the car and the movers got in the truck. Dad started up the car as we got comfortable in our seats. "Alright guys, this is going to be a long trip. But, we should arrive in about a little longer than a day." "Alright," we all agreed. Mom turned on some music. "Oh, do we have to listen to this," I asked. I hated the music she listened to. She always listened to music from the '80s. "No," she said in return. I was relieved. She changed the channel to a "today's hits" station. "This is alright," I said showing her my relief. "Okay, now calm down," she said to me. I relaxed a bit and grabbed my Nintendo switch. I played Mario Kart and Emma watched. An hour passed and I turned it off. I grabbed the bookbag that all the food and drinks were in. Emma asked me to get her some crackers. I got myself some popcorn, her some crackers, and both of us some bottles of apple juice. We ate. "We'll stop at a restaurant for dinner," mom says. "Okay," I say. "Yay," Emma yells in joy. I look in the bookbag for the coloring book I put in there. I was going to give it to Emma as a present to occupy her during her first move. When I first moved I was extremely nervous even though the move was in the same city. I found it and told her to close her eyes. "Why," she asked me. "You'll see, it's a surprise," I say back. "OK," she says. I put it in her hands and tell her to open her eyes. "A coloring book," she says. "Yes," I say. She thanks me and gives me a hug. "You're welcome," I whisper in her ear as she hugs me. A couple of hours pass. Emma is next to me working on coloring the first page of the book. I start to get tired, I lay my head on the seatbelt and fall asleep. An hour passes and my mom wakes me up. She is standing outside of the car with Emma on her side. I can't find dad so I ask where he is. "Brian, we're at the restaurant, he's inside getting a table," my mom says. "Oh," I say in realization. I get up, take the seatbelt off me and get out of the car. Mom closes the car door and we head in the restaurant. She sits Emma in a chair and we get the menus. The restaurant looks a little weird. I never have seen a restaurant like this in my whole life. "What kind of restaurant is this," I ask my dad. "This is a type of restaurant that is only found in this city," he says back. "We're in a small city," mom says. "Okay," I say in confusion. Small city? What kind of city is small? I never heard of a small city, I've heard of small towns but never a small city. Well maybe it's because I have lived in Chicago all my life, I guess. A waiter comes and asks us what we want. "The chicken salad with a large coke," my dad says.  "Okay, and for you," the waiter says pointing to my mom. "I would like a hamburger with a small garden salad and a large diet Dr. Pepper, please," she says. "Now, Brian, what would you like," the waiter asks me. I get freaked out. He knows my name and I didn't even tell him it. "uhh... I would like a chicken sandwich with fries and root beer," I say forcing it out even though I was super scared. "And you, Emma," he asks my little sister. I can tell that she is getting nervous. She whispers to me, "how does she know my name?" "I have no idea, she knows mine too," I whisper back. "Look, tell me what you want and I'll tell her," I whisper to her. "I want a salad with chicken nuggets and fries with Pepsi," she says to me. "Okay, Emma wants a salad, chicken nuggets, fries, and Pepsi," I say to the waiter. "Okay, alright. The food should be here in a few minutes. The cooks make the food really fast here," he says to my dad. "Alright," my dad responds. As soon as the waiter leaves I ask my parents how did the waiter know my name. "Mine too," says Emma. "I have no idea," says my mom. Dad stays quiet. "Do you know, dad," I ask. "Well... No I don't, son," he says to me with a worried expression. "Mhm," I say. "Look, don't worry about it," my dad says to us. "No, I want to know right now," I declare. "Brian," my mom yells at me motioning at me to calm down. "What, this is ridiculous," I yell. "Brian, I will tell you later," my dad says in the calmest voice ever. Are you serious? This is how you're going to act? What is going on? I get extremely annoyed. Emma starts to look at me like she's about to cry. I put my arm around her and whisper, "everything is going to be fine, don't worry about anything, if anything happens to you I will save you, calm down, there is nothing to be afraid of, now." She hugs me tight and sits up in her chair. "Now, you guys have been good during the drive so far," my dad continues, trying to change the subject. Are you serious? You're going to act like nothing just happened? I got more annoyed than I was before. "Yea," agreed my mom trying to get dad to finish what he was going to say. "Well, I might just have to get you guys an award once we get to the new home," he says. Mhm, I thought. I wonder what award it is now. Another psycho knowing me and my sister's name?