The soaring red sparkler flew over my head with clouds chasing behind. I gazed up and pondered what it would be like sitting in the Red Comet, wind rushing at your face, an old greasy leather cap on, with goggles bigger than your eyes, and you’re just looking ahead feeling so free. My granddad landed the plane as smoothly as a feather falling. When he was gliding down the engine purred like a cat. He hopped out of the plane he received as a gift from the Air Force, the Red Comet. No one ever was allowed to ride in it because he wanted it to be so clean because he believed that it’s important to take care of things close to you. The Air Force gave it to him because he was the best pilot in the world. At least that’s what he said. He did many tricks that would make your stomach fall like you were on a roller coaster. My granddad and I are more like friends than family. He always says I’m his favorite grandson because I’m his only. We always watch TV together. We love to watch basketball at night, especially when the New Orleans Hornets play. I feel bad for my granddad not only because Grandmom died last year, but because he has cancer. He knows it but he’s trying to make the best out of it like very few people would which is what I look up to. He said he doesn’t worry because he’ll see Grandmom in the heavenly skies above. Questions fly through my mind when he says that. I wonder things like are you sure? I also wonder what is heaven? I want to ask will you come back later? It’s tough and I’m scared. We went out fishing in the great Mississippi woods Granddad lives across the street so I go over a lot. It’s great living close to your family. We went out fishing in the great Mississippi woods. Fresh pine smell swirled in my nose, sticks tangled in my laces, and branches clung on my raggedy hat that had a little fishing hook stuck on from when I caught my first fish. Granddad gave it to me. When we got to our little lake the log that we sat on was like a couch with no back because of all the moss grown on. Granddad said it was a birthmark of the forest. As I cast out, glimmers from the fishing line sparkled into my eyes as the line sank into the water. When we finally finished we caught twelve fish. He said I caught more than him, but I saw him add to my pile. That night we had fish. It was great. Hard work would fill in my mouth with every bite I took. I asked my mom if I could sleep over because it was a Friday. She said, “It’s perfectly fine.” When I was tucked into bed I remembered the wetness of the lake below my feet, the moss couch where I sat, and the delicious fish still in my mouth. Wilderness was still around me even in my sleep. When Granddad tucked me in he said something very serious, “Your parents probably told you I have cancer, but I really don’t want you to worry because at this age you already have enough things to worry about. But when I do go will you promise me you’ll take care of my plane in the outside shack?” At that moment my emotions were jumping everywhere from happy because I get to have his plane to an all-time sad because he was slipping through my fingers and I couldn’t let him go. But I replied with a tear hanging in my eye, “Yes.” The next morning I walked down the cabin floor and into the kitchen where I saw Granddad cooking me a slapperjack, which is two pancakes smashed together with jelly and syrup in the middle. It’s kind of like a morning sloppy joe. It’s our favorite. While we were eating breakfast I thought about what he had said last night and it made me really uncomfortable. Granddad looked at me and questioned, “Why do you have that awful stare? Was it about what I said yesterday?” I lied, “No.” After I gobbled up my slapperjack, my granddad guided me to the shed and slid open the creaky old wooden door. The shine from the polished red plane gleamed into my eyes like the morning sun. A thick-knotted rope was tied to the plane so my granddad could pull it out. When he took it out on his runway he said to me something I will always keep in my heart, “Hop in.” My eyes smiled with my mouth as he spoke those words. He tossed me an old greasy leather helmet and I put it on. I slid right in the cockpit while my granddad’s arms secured me as we headed for takeoff. My fingers were shaking with joy. The pitch-black runway streamed by us while the glistening propellers started spinning faster and faster as the front wheels rose. My stomach rose with them. I looked up in the brilliant blue sky as if heaven’s hand was reaching down to touch me. The wind tickled my face just like how your mom would do when you were a little baby. I felt like I could do anything. I could grasp my dreams. It was the most magnificent thing I have ever felt. My soul just soared. A little bit of my soul would be contained in this plane forever. I looked over my shoulder to see my granddad. He looked like a kid again because of how much fun he was having. His soul soared with mine. We just looked at the tiny cars below our feet and the tall business buildings starting a new day. Eventually we landed the plane. The tires screeched as they tapped the ground. Then we
Family
Grandpa’s Locket
“So, Grandpa, how’s life been treating you?” my older brother asked cheerfully. My grandpa just shot back an icy look, looking at him for a long time without a blink. “OK,” my brother whispered, raising his eyebrows. “So, Dad,” my mom said with a fake smile, “are you planning to go on vacation or something? All you do is roam around your house in Wisconsin. That’s no fun.” We were in a nice, Italian restaurant in Hollywood, trying to get Grandpa to at least move. Grandpa is hard to explain. He doesn’t like to do really anything, except scratch the back of my dog, Storm, who doesn’t even like Grandpa scratching him. He always wears a checkered shirt with gray suspenders and a brown hat that covers his bald head. Once again Grandpa just stared at my mom with that same look. She moved to the back of the velvet chair, deciding not to talk again. “Hello, what would you like today from our fine cuisine?” the waiter said as he came in his nice shirt and silk vest. “You have pancakes?” Grandpa muttered. “No, sir, but we have scrumptious past-. . .” But Grandpa interrupted him and stood up, walking away from the table grumbling, “What kind of restaurant is this?” We drove away from the restaurant into the dark freeway in silence. I flicked my auburn hair away from my eyes as the heater of the car grumbled, warming the cold night. “Grandpa just ruins everything,” I said to myself. “What did you say?” my mom asked, turning around from the front, with her silver glasses rim on her nose. “Come on, just think about it,” I said with annoyance in my voice. “I’m supposed to be at Emma’s party, Kyle’s supposed to be at a football game, you’re supposed to be at a meeting. We blew off all those events to see Grandpa walk away from a restaurant.” “Your grandfather will always be your grandfather, and when he’s in town we’ll do anything that he wants, even if it includes missing some pleasurable events.” “God, I wish Grandpa hadn’t come. I just wish he’d stay on the farm, he doesn’t like us anyways,” my brother, Kyle, said as he rubbed his blue eyes from sleepiness. “Yeah, why does Grandpa always have to bother us? I wish he’d just disappear,” I said as I pulled the ribbon on my blue dress. I was changing from the dress into my pink pajamas when I heard my mom and brother talking softly. “Why do they always have little conversations without me?” I said to myself. I walked into the kitchen where they were talking. Mom and Kyle were still in their evening outfits, sitting on the short, wooden stools. “What are you guys talking about?” I asked, giving a yawn. “I don’t have to stand Grandpa anymore!” Kyle shouted with a huge smile on his face. “Kyle, that’s not the way to say it,” Mom said while reading a letter. “What are you reading, Mom?” I asked as I looked over her shoulder, seeing a long letter with the word “Congratulations!” printed on the top. “I got accepted into the honor football team in New York! It’s for a month! We even get to go on first class of the airplane! I’m leaving in two days, if Mom lets me,” Kyle said, standing up from the stool. “Well, it’s summer break. I guess you . . .” “Yes!” Kyle shouted. “Thank you, Mom!” My mom gave a sigh and looked at me as he skipped into the room. He stopped to look at me and gave a smirk and muttered, “Good luck with old man grump.” Kyle had left, “generously” giving Grandpa all to me. “Mom, let me leave too! You got to!” I begged. “For the tenth time, no!” I growled at her and slammed my door as I went into my room. I saw an envelope on my bed. I quickly opened it, hoping it would be a letter that would send me away from Los Angeles. It wasn’t, but it was an invitation to Derek’s birthday. It was tomorrow. Gosh, I thought, they should tell us sooner. What if we have plans or something? I opened the little clip and saw a picture. It was Grandpa holding me as a baby The phone rang. “I got it!” my mom shouted. I slumped down on my pastel yellow bed and continued to read the invitation. I heard Mom answer the phone with a friendly “Hello,” but then she immediately dropped her voice down. I let go of the invitation and walked toward the living room. “OK, I’m coming as soon as I can,” I heard her say. “Where?” I asked. I saw her wringing the telephone wire on her finger with a worried look on her face. She nodded and hung up the phone. “Get your jacket,” my mom said quickly. “We need to go somewhere.” My mom drove to the hospital nearby. The red ambulance siren was ringing and I saw a few men carry out an injured man. “Oh my God, something really bad happened,” I said to myself as I thought who could’ve got injured. I ran in with my mom as her blond hair flew ahead of mine. We jerked to a stop in front of the emergency room, and saw a nurse with a white gown and a tight bun. “Excuse me, I’m a relative of Steven Jonas,” my mom said to the nurse. “Follow me,” she said. We walked in and I saw Grandpa in numerous numbers of tubes. I screamed and the nurse quickly led me out of the room. “What happened?” I asked the nurse. “Your grandpa had a surprise heart attack,” she said in a calm voice. How could she sound so relaxed? I sunk down into a chair behind me and started crying. Emotions spilled out for a person I thought I hated. Someone I had wished
Playing Periwinkle
I remember the first time we played Periwinkle. I was ten and my sister Lou was eleven. We were just under a year apart, eleven months exactly. It was her birthday and her party had just ended, leaving just the two of us and a pile of presents. I picked one up, a funny little stuffed pig, and leaned it over by Lou. “It’s Pig’s birthday, too!” I giggled. Lou rolled her eyes in an attempt to look mature but ended up laughing with me. After living together for our entire lives, we were both pretty good at figuring out what the other one was thinking. I glanced at the table set up for the party then at the pig, then at Lou. “Sounds fun, right?” I asked her. She knew what I meant, and we raced through the house, picking up every stuffed animal we could carry and dumping them on the table. “Now the pig can have a party right Lou?” I said. She surveyed the heap. “Sure,” she told me with all the authority of being one year older, “but not here. They need a house of their own. Like, oh, somewhere in the woods.” So we picked up the animals once again, and started walking through the woods near our house in search of a suitable spot for a party. Finally, Lou paused under a big tree. “This looks like a good spot.” It didn’t seem any different from any of the other spots under any of the other trees that we had passed, but I didn’t want to argue with Lou on her birthday. We laughed as we arranged the animals around an imaginary table, moving their little arms to eat invisible cake. Suddenly, Lou looked up. “What time is it, Jen?” she asked me. We laughed as we arranged the animals around an imaginary table I looked at my watch. “Six-forty-five.”We both knew what that meant. We were forty-five minutes late for supper, and Mom was not going to be happy with us. Lou took off through the trees, and I followed. * * * A we were lying in our bunk beds that night, almost asleep, I thought of something. “Lou!” “I’m tired, Jen. Go back to sleep.””No, listen! We left all the animals out there! I don’t want to leave them out all night; what if it rains?” “Well, what do you want to do about it—go back and get them?” Lou said sarcastically. “Now?” I asked incredulously “Lou, it’s the middle of the night.” She swung her legs over the side of the top bunk and jumped off. “I was kidding, but I guess we could. It’s now or never, if it rains.” That was true. “OK, wait for me.” We tiptoed barefoot into the kitchen. Lou rummaged around in the drawers, looking for a strong flashlight, then we slid on our shoes and slipped out the door. The forest path looked eerie in the dark. I had second thoughts about our plan, but once Lou made up her mind to do something, there was no stopping her, so we continued until we reached the tree. Looking at the animals reminded me of how much fun we were having. We had never really finished Pig’s party so I turned to Lou. “Do you think we could maybe play a little, while we’re out here?” She stared at me like I was crazy. “What if Mom and Dad find out?” “We’d be in enough trouble already” I pointed out. She shrugged, always willing for an adventure. “Sounds fine to me!” We sat down in the dark. It wasn’t really so scary after all, I noticed. Once we propped up the flashlight in between us, it lit up the surrounding woods well enough so we could be sure that nothing was hiding out there, and the house was pretty close by. We played for almost an hour when Lou decided that we had better start back, but both of us were sad to leave. That was probably what made Lou say, “Jen? Let’s try to come out here again tomorrow night.” And it was what made me say, “Yes.” “This is almost like a little world,” Lou said thoughtfully. “Maybe we’d better name it.” I thought for a while. “I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?” “I’m thinking.” We eventually decided on Periwinkle, because as Lou said, “Periwinkle is such a pretty color, but I don’t see it very often. When I see it, I think of thousands of possibilities.” * * * Two years later, we were still playing Periwinkle. Sometimes during the day, I was embarrassed to think of what some of the kids at school would say about such a “baby” game. But the nighttime always made it seem special, even magical, and I couldn’t even think of ending the game. We never really talked about it, but I think Lou felt the same way. We had improved the game since that first night on Lou’s birthday. Lou and I made popsicle-stick furniture for the stuffed animals, and walls to separate different rooms. Sometimes the Periwinkle characters would go to school, sometimes they would play, and sometimes they would even go on vacation and take a trip somewhere. We made different cardboard buildings for everywhere they went. One hot August night, Lou and I appeared at our tree to find nothing. Everything was gone. We couldn’t think of anything to do but stare in shock. Who or what could have done this? Dog tracks covered the muddy ground. I turned to show Lou and see what she was thinking, but she was not there. She was already running back toward the house, fists clenched. I sighed, blinking away a tear as I looked at the mess, then I followed her. Back in our bedroom, Lou was still angry. I was upset too, but I wanted to try to calm her down. “Listen. It’s not the end of the
