Memories

I can’t believe mom made me go. I really don’t need more time around my brothers.

Those were the first thoughts that went through my head when we stepped onto the train station. See, I am now 14. My birthday was a few months ago, and I even have my driving’s permit. Unfortunately, this also means I can go to Grandma’s with my older and younger brothers without my parents. 

Josh is 16, and therefore has a driver’s license. He goes to South High School, where I will go next year, and is a part of the “cool group”. In Qitch, the rule is you have to be 14 to drive, permit, and 16 to really drive. It is a little different on the trains. You have to be 14 to go by yourself, and 16 to be able to have a younger person go with you, you being the “chaperone”.

This is where James and Toby fit in. James is 10, this summer he turns 11, and he has to, of course, have a chaperone. He is super annoying, and if he is anywhere near my other younger brother, Toby, then they immediately start fighting. It is so stinking annoying. I promise sometimes you can’t tell who's older, besides the obvious size.

Toby, who you might have noticed I stated earlier, is five. But, being the youngest, and having so many older siblings, he is very feisty. He always is coming up and hitting or pinching you. It is very uncomfortable.

So yes, I am stuck with all of my brothers, no sister, all by ourselves for the few hour train ride. And not just a regular train. A really packed one. The ones where you can barely find a seat. And when you do, your shoulder to shoulder with someone else. This is going to be great.

Another thing about Josh. He is like a smart aleck, and thinks he is above everyone else. Yep, mom, I totally think that you are right, and that this is going to be great. But you were right about one thing. There is no thing like hanging out with my brothers.

After all this, I just realized that I haven’t told you much about me, except that I am fourteen and get annoyed by my brothers. Well, here. My name is Ella, short for Elanor. I know, right? Elanor? Seriously? That is one of the reasons that I tell everyone my name is Ella. Another is because I like hearing people call me Ella at school, since at home everyone calls me Elanor. Another thing about me is that I go to Golden Middle School, and you already know that I am going to South High School next year. I also love books. They are almost the only thing that calms me down after having to spend hours of time with my brothers. In fact, right now I have a Kindle in my hand. 

I pulled it out as soon as we found a seat. I got it for Christmas this past year. It was by far my favorite present, and it is great for traveling. I know this isn’t some Amazon Kindle commercial, but they are pretty awesome.  I got the ad-free, 32 GB storage Kindle Paperwhite. At the bottom of each page there is a percentage, and choices between what page, how many hours or minutes left in the book, or how many minutes left in that chapter. I usually keep it on the percentage and how many minutes left in that chapter.

Ok, now that I am done telling you about myself, and advertising, let's get back to the present moment. I have said that I am being sent to my Grandmother’s, who lives in the next state above, Louisiana. When most people think of a state named Quitch, they think of the middle of nowhere, or Africa. But, no we are just a state below Louisiana. It was found in the 2040, so it has been a civilization for about 25ish years. Not super long, but long enough.

Anywho, here we were going to Grandma’s. I know I have made this sound like a horrible thing, and some of this is, but Grandma is really awesome.

She gets what it is like to have so many brothers, and she makes all of the boys go sleep in the guest house, and I get to sleep in the room next to her’s, in her house.

Also in case you didn’t connect the dots, my grandma lives on a farm. She has a bunch of workers to help, so she isn’t always busy.

You might have also noticed that I said Grandma, not Grandpa and Grandma. That is because my grandfather died with cancer. He died when I was about 9, so didn’t know him very well. But, I do have some memories of him. Fishing at the lake, swimming, hiking, and sitting around the campfire after dinner. There are more. But they are more complicated than this one, and are harder to explain than those ones. 

Some of them are just smells. Grandma making her famous Peanut Butter Pie. Some of them are just tastes. Eating Grandma’s famous Peanut Butter Pie. Some are sounds. The crackling of the fire. The sound of the oven beeping. The sound of prayer leaving all of our lips in turn. And some are touching. Holding hands while we pray. The roughness of my grandfather’s hand joined with mine in comparison to Grandma’s soft ones.

Anyways, after you heard about my grandpa dying, I bet you felt sad. Sad for me, sad for my parents, sad for my brothers, but most of all, I bet you felt sadness for my grandma. Sadness for her now that she is all alone. And you should. But my grandma doesn’t want it. She wanted to be alone sometimes at the beginning, but soon after she wanted people to comfort her.

I pulled it out as soon as we found a seat. I got it for Christmas this past year. It was by far my favorite present, and it is great for traveling. I know this isn’t some Amazon Kindle commercial, but they are pretty awesome.  I got the ad-free, 32 GB storage Kindle Paperwhite. At the bottom of each page there is a percentage, and choices between what page, how many hours or minutes left in the book, or how many minutes left in that chapter. I usually keep it on the percentage and how many minutes left in that chapter.

Ok, now that I am done telling you about myself, and advertising, let's get back to the present moment. I have said that I am being sent to my Grandmother’s, who lives in the next state above, Louisiana. When most people think of a state named Quitch, they think of the middle of nowhere, or Africa. But, no we are just a state below Louisiana. It was found in the 2040, so it has been a civilization for about 25ish years. Not super long, but long enough.

Anywho, here we were going to Grandma’s. I know I have made this sound like a horrible thing, and some of this is, but Grandma is really awesome.

She gets what it is like to have so many brothers, and she makes all of the boys go sleep in the guest house, and I get to sleep in the room next to her’s, in her house.

Also in case you didn’t connect the dots, my grandma lives on a farm. She has a bunch of workers to help, so she isn’t always busy.

You might have also noticed that I said Grandma, not Grandpa and Grandma. That is because my grandfather died with cancer. He died when I was about 9, so didn’t know him very well. But, I do have some memories of him. Fishing at the lake, swimming, hiking, and sitting around the campfire after dinner. There are more. But they are more complicated than this one, and are harder to explain than those ones. 

Some of them are just smells. Grandma making her famous Peanut Butter Pie. Some of them are just tastes. Eating Grandma’s famous Peanut Butter Pie. Some are sounds. The crackling of the fire. The sound of the oven beeping. The sound of prayer leaving all of our lips in turn. And some are touching. Holding hands while we pray. The roughness of my grandfather’s hand joined with mine in comparison to Grandma’s soft ones.

Anyways, after you heard about my grandpa dying, I bet you felt sad. Sad for me, sad for my parents, sad for my brothers, but most of all, I bet you felt sadness for my grandma. Sadness for her now that she is all alone. And you should. But my grandma doesn’t want it. She wanted to be alone sometimes at the beginning, but soon after she wanted people to comfort her.

But now she is back to normal. Ok, well maybe not all the way back to normal. She works harder since Grandpa isn’t there. And she smiles less. But she is better now than she was, and wants zero sympathy. Trust me. I would know.

We are almost there. I can feel it. I know this ride pretty well.

And we are here. I had napped for the rest of the ride. We are all stepping onto the platform. I see Grandma’s truck in the lot.

“Grandma!”, I yell when I see her. I run to her and throw my arms around her. Soon I feel my siblings arms touching Grandma and I. 

“Hey, sweet pea.”Grandma whispers in my ear.

On the way back to the farm. I see a beautiful sunset through the window. And I am not so mad that mom made me come. All of those feelings have washed away. Now all that's left is happiness.