Eye Drops

"Gram!" called Ty. "Did you put in your drops yet? Remember the doctor said 4 times a day!" He pushed open the door to his gram's bedroom, but found the bed empty. He twisted his head and shouted down to his sister, "Juxi?? Have you seen Gram?" Juxi, short for Jasmine, came wandering up the stairs with her pet tarantula, Prince, clinging to her shoulder. 

"No... Let me ask Si! SIIIIII!!!" Si, short for Simon, slammed his door open and glared at the both of them,

"What?!?!" Juxi glared back, but then asked,

"Have you seen Gram?"

"Wait? Is the old woman not up yet? IT'S NOON FOR GOD'S SAKE!!" Simon stomped over to her bedroom and yelled, "Gram! Gram? Are you up.... yet?" He too found the bedroom empty. He turned back to the two of them. "She's not here." Ty crossed his arms, sighed annoyingly, and answered, 

"Yeah, no dip, Sherlock. Why do you think we got your attention?" 

"Was she here last night?" asked Juxi.

"Yup, I put her to bed last night," answered Simon. Ty just sighed and wandered into the full bathroom. 

As Simon and Juxi made the bed, they heard Ty's voice from in the bathroom, "Uh, guys? The mirror's broken." Simon hurried over into the bathroom and found that the mirror was indeed broken, but instead of there being a blank wall behind the glass, there was a dark, gaping hole, and a dank breeze from inside it caused the shower curtains to flutter. Juxi appeared behind Ty and Simon, and let out a gasp. 

"What the heck happened?" Ty straightened and turned to the both of them, 

"Should we go in?" Juxi peeked outside, and then shrugged, 

"Well, we've got nothing better to do. It's been pouring rain since I woke up this morning." Ty nodded.

Simon was the oldest, but he didn't really hang out with his younger siblings. So, when Simon was out of the house, Tybalt took on the role as the eldest sibling and looked out for Jasmine, who was 2 years younger than him. Simon was 19, but his size and maturity gave him the image of a 16 year old. Tybalt was 17, but because he'd taken on the role of being the eldest and towered a whole 4 inches over Simon, he looked 20, and was seen as the oldest in the family. Then came Jasmine, who was 15, but because she was as tall as Simon (who was 5' 10"), she was often mistaken as a junior in high school. 

Simon's phone rang and he answered with a "helllllo?" His face brightened and he walked out of the room with a "Jessi's invited me to a party, don't wait up!" over his shoulder. Ty sighed. Juxi petted the tarantula and asked, 

"Well, are we going after Gram or not?" Ty looked at Legs, his nickname for the spider, and its eyes were filled with begging. Ty stood up straight and decided, 

"Yup! But, let's get on some boots, suitable clothes, and jackets. You get the flashlight and fill a backpack with stuff. I'll pack some food." Juxi nodded, Legs chirped, and they sped to their task. Ty moved into the kitchen and packed sandwiches, bottles of water, a couple of apples and granola bars, and a baggie of crickets and grasshoppers for Legs. Juxi appeared dressed in her hiking boots, army-green cargo pants, and her heavy winter coat. In her arms, she hugged the full backpack and Legs was nestled on top of her shoulder. 

"Here." Ty took the backpack and put in the food, while showing Legs the bag of crickets. Legs chirped happily. Then, running into his room, he changed into a t-shirt, topped with a long sleeve shirt, and a winter jacket. Then, he pulled on jeans, durable socks, and his hiking boots. On his way out, he grabbed chalk, his pocket knife, and a case of batteries, in which he stuffed into his pocket. Juxi and Legs appeared with the full backpack. Ty swung it on to his back and together, they ventured into the bedroom and through the broken mirror.

The cavern was damp and smelled like a sewer. Even though the ground was dry, the walls looked slick with muck and slime. The tunnel's ceiling was high and the beam of light disappeared, as it tried to touch the top of the cavern. Occasionally, there was a skitter along the ground, and a squeak. "Rats." stated Juxi.

"What'd you do?"

"No, dummy! There are rats. Look." Juxi pointed into the dark fog. There were red dots that floated close to the ground, and flashed as the beam of light exposed them. "You can see their eyes."

"Eek." joked Ty, in which Juxi rolled her eyes to. Suddenly, a rustle, that was quite loud due to the echoing of the cavern, made Juxi jump and Ty squint his eyes and travel forward until, to his surprise, the flashlight found palm branches. Juxi peeked from around him, tilted her head (Legs did too), and asked,

"Why are there palm branches... in a sewer?" Ty shrugged, and pushed through the branches towards the speckles of light that were noticeable at the end of the jungle path. As Ty and Juxi (with Legs) explored the jungle/beach forest, they noticed that the temperature in the cavern had been cold, but the temperature in the forest was warm and the breeze smelled of salt. The sun they could see overhead, peeking through the canopies, and feel against their backs, which caused them to shuck off their layers and stuff them into the backpack, while tying their jackets around their waists. Juxi fed Prince (Legs is just Ty's nickname for him) some grasshoppers, while the two siblings chopped on granola bars and apples, and brushed through the leafy path until they reached a clearing in the brush.

The forest opened up to a massive beach that stretched miles and miles in both directions until they couldn't see it at all. But, it was the most peculiar of beaches.

To the right, the beach's waves were rough and choppy, and the sky exploded with thunder, rain, and lightning. The land looked torn apart by flood and debris, and the forests were chopped down and burned.

To the right, the waves gave a gentle crash and the sound was quite soothing. The sand was nice and warm, and there were seashells that could be seen, peeking out of the sand. The sun was hot and enjoyable, and the breeze glided the scent of salt across the air.

Ty and Juxi found a spot on the beach and set all of their things down. They stripped off their layers and Juxi revealed her swimsuit. "Really, Juxi? You actually brought your swimsuit?"

"Hey! You said to prepare for anything! And I also got a feeling." Ty sighed and muttered under his breath,

Planned for everything? (sighhhhhhh)

Ty stripped down to his shorts as Juxi tucked Prince away in his little cage inside the bundle of jackets. Prince huddled under the small handkerchief that was his; he did not like the beach, sun, water, any of it. They placed their things safely away from the waters and ran into the waves laughing.

After a while, they grew tired, and it felt like the sun should be setting, but the sun up above did not set, nor did the heat reduce. Ty popped his head out of the water with a grand shell, that he held over his head. "Got one!" He looked around for Juxi, who popped up next to him and said,

"Look with your eyes open underwater! The salt doesn't hurt your eyes and the view is awesome!" So Ty followed her to a deeper part of the ocean, and then he dunked back under to look.

The sea itself was magnificent. The water was clearer than glass, but held a beautiful hue of turquoise and indigo. The salt of the ocean was present, but it didn't hurt their eyes, even as they moved their heads and blinked rapidly. There were crystal rainbows that touched down from the ocean's surface and caressed the soft, white sand along the bottom. There were coral reefs with colors as vibrant as tangerine, ruby, amethyst, and magenta. There were schools of fish that seemed to be as large as the reef itself. They caught the reflection of the sun and shimmered like stars as they swarmed around Ty and Juxi. Within the reefs, the siblings pointed out the electric eel, the spotted octopus, the yellow starfish that tickled their fingers as they held it up to the light. The sea anemones wavered with the currents and gave away the clown fishes' hiding spot. The barnacled arches gave passage to angelfish, seahorses, and foureye butterflyfish, and leatherback turtles swan through the water like peregrine falcons slicing through the air. Along the surface of the reefs, were pieces of glass that had been eroded away and left behind as sea glass. They sparkled as the colors of bottle green, wine red, cobalt orange, and silver white. Ty stuffed a hand full into his velcro short pocket, and shot up to the surface. Juxi poked up next to him and they admired the finally setting sun. As they waded onto shore, they spotted a silhouette walking towards them with the sunset at it's back, casting a massive shadow. Ty and Juxi made it to their pile of stuff, and Prince climbed up Juxi's shoulder again. Ty squinted against the sun and his eyes widened. "Gram???" The shadow slowly came into view and standing in the sand was their gram. She was smiling and barefoot, sinking down the sandy slope into the waves. Ty ran up to his gram and gave her a massive hug. "Gram! Where have you been? We found the broken mirror and thought the worst!"

"I'm sorry. I usually come here at night to help my sleeping patterns, and it seems I've stayed too late." She looked around Ty to see Juxi and Prince. "And I see you've brought your sister and... the tarantula. Hello, Jasmine," and she regarded the spider with a tone of distaste. "And Prince..." The tarantula chirped distastefully as well. He as well had a disregard for Gram. Gram picked up their jackets, Ty hefted on the backpack, and Juxi gathered their clothes. "Come along children. It's time for dinner." Juxi looked confused and asked,

"But, Gram! How are we supposed to get back home? We came through the mirror, through a tunnel-cave, through a forest, and now here. How do we get back?" Gram chuckled, and answered,

"Oh my dear child. The cave was only the passage through the walls of the house, and the forest was the wild curtains I keep hidden in the living room. This beach is also part of the house. You are near the kitchen." Ty looked mortifying confused and asked,

"But, Gram! How are we still inside? And what is with that stormy part of the beach?"

"That part of the beach is connected to our weather outside. Because it is stormy outside, the beach is stormy. It changes through every season no matter what state the house is in. Even if the house is in tatters, the mirrors still stand. The mirrors are the entryways into this place. No matter how many times the mirrors are broken, they form over again. If we were to travel to the stormy part, and found a mirror, we would be outside. Now come this way, I will lead us back to the house." Ty looked at Juxi. They both shrugged and followed Gram with their belongings. At the base of the grassy sand-cliff, there stood a mirror. In it's reflection, the view of their kitchen could be seen. Gram shifted the jackets to one arm and picked up a jagged rock and smashed the mirror into pieces. Then, the four of them ventured through the mirror and found themselves in their kitchen. Gram covered the floor-length mirror with a curtain, and turned to the two of them.

Simon opened the door of their house and saw his grandmother, cooking up something in the kitchen. "Hey, Gram! What's up? Did the two find you all right?" Gram looked at him with a smile, and answered,

"Why yes, Simon. They lured me out of my hiding spot in the attic. They found me some very pretty sea glass." In her hand, was the pile that Ty had saved. Simon, who had arrived drunk out of his mind, just said,

"Coolio. I'm going to go shower." He stepped into Gram's bathroom and drunkenly noticed the mirror. "Huh. I could've sworn it was broken. Oh well." As he got into the shower, he didn't notice a rat huddling in the corner of the shower.

Ty, Juxi, and Gram were eating their dinner as they heard Simon's shriek. All of them looked at each other and just started laughing. Gram stated through the giggles, "Ahh. The adventures of hidden passages and staying inside." Juxi stopped laughing to ask,

"Oh, by the way, Gram. Did you put in your eye drops yet?"

"Oh dear. That would explain why my eyes have been dry all day." Another round of laughter erupted from the table.