| Bonding With Siblings They are gone by the time we wake up – all of them except Grandma. “Grandma, where’s Mom and Dad and our aunties and uncles?” Relatives from Virginia are staying with us. “They went to the flea market.” We eat Apple Jacks and watch Saturday-morning cartoons. “When are they coming back?” “Later. They’re going to Sam’s Club. ” We build robots and cities out of Legos. We play Super Mario Bros. 3. Grandma opens a can of Vienna sausages, cuts them in half, and puts them in dinner rolls for our lunch. “They’ve been shopping for a looong time, Grandma.” “They went to the shopping outlet in St. Augustine. They’ll be back by 8.” My jaw drops in resentment. “But I want to go there too!” “So walk there,” Grandma says. Glenn and Allie giggle. We play more Nintendo and have drawing contests with Grandma as judge. Allie and Glenn win most of the time, but when we decide to see who can draw Grandma the best, she chooses my picture. I’m proud. After leftover lasagna for dinner, Allie starts crying for Mom and we try to console her. It’s past 8 o’clock. Raindrops start to fall harder and faster outside. I lie on the couch and listen to them hit the windowpanes. I ask Grandma if she thinks they might have gotten in an accident. She tells me not to think about such things. We watch Jurassic Park on our laser disc player. Thunder is still crashing outside. Glenn pretends to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Allie and I pretend to be scared. Then we hear someone unlocking the door and walking inside. We race to greet Mom, Dad, Auntie Susie, Uncle Joey, Auntie Amy, and Uncle Ed. They’re carrying mouse-eared balloons and shopping bags from Disney World. 298 words ::02/04/03:: (written for a class in 09/02) |
 |
 |
 |
| Copyright 1999 and beyond. Merv/Marv Productions. |