Over the ticking of her clock, Elle heard, or rather felt, a low vibration in her stomach. The vibration increased until it was a low rumble. Suddenly, a loud noise outside her window, like a low-flying jet, made her sit bolt up-right.
A streak of light, like an enormous falling star, blazed in the night sky outside her window, leaving a smoldering trail in its wake. Just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, followed by a noise like a detonating bomb. Her body and all the furniture in her room vibrated with the aftershock. Elle jumped out of bed and ran to the window, afraid of the scene she would see.
Flames of fire, carnage and destruction…were nowhere to be seen. She wrinkled her brow in confusion and scanned the forest. Her mind raced as she thought of the possibilities: Was it a plane? A lighting strike? A missile strike?! But the Old Wood looked just as innocently peaceful as it had before the blinding light seared its way through the atmosphere. Every leaf and blade of grass was in place, the moonlight gilding the scene in a gentle silvery glow. Tree branches shifted slightly in a soft breeze.
Elle shook her head in disbelief. What is going on? She ran to the bathroom to get a look out the side window at the other side of the yard. But there was nothing--just the stream, her large, flat Thinking Rock and the forest—all perfectly normal.
Suddenly, there was an urgent knocking at the door and Elle hurriedly threw it open to reveal a disheveled-looking Grandpa, his checkered bathrobe slightly askew.
“Grandpa! Did you see that?” Elle asked, pulling him over to the window by his sleeve. He carefully followed, using his cane for support.
“See what?” Grandpa said, bemusedly yawning. He scratched his head under a nest of thinning white hair.
“There was some sort of explosion in the woods! I think a jet just crashed or there was a meteor or something ‘cause everything got really bright and, and, and …but now it’s gone,” she finished lamely, pointing out at the still night. Grandpa blearily peered out at the silent still woods.
“Oh, that happens to me all the time. I always see things that other people can’t see and then everything looks normal again afterwards,” he said.
“Really?” Elle said.
“Mmmm-hmmm. My advice is to not eat any of the mushrooms growing in the yard. They might look delicious, but don’t do it,” Grandpa said, sleepily tapping his nose and missing. “Now if you will excuse me, dear, call of nature!” And with that, he shuffled her out of the bathroom and shut the door firmly behind her.
Elle stood in the hallway trying to make sense of what she had just seen. Was it all a dream? She rushed across the hallway to her bedroom window again, just to check to make sure that the forest hadn’t spontaneously combusted while she was talking to her grandfather.
She peered out of the curtains. There was nothing. Maybe it had just been a dream. Or a nightmare. Or maybe grandpa was finally rubbing off on her.
Elle's mind was made up: She needed to go investigate. There must be some evidence of the explosion out in the Old Woods, and she was determined to get some answers. She put on her pink bathrobe and combat boots and grabbed a flashlight.
Quietly tiptoeing down the creaking stairs, Elle paused, listening for any noises. As she turned the corner onto the landing of the staircase, she ran right into something. She screamed, and then it screamed. Elle clicked on her flashlight, and pointed it at the intruder.
“Elle! My goodness! You scared the daylights out of me," Aunt Mindy breathed out, patting her chest. She squinted at Elle in the light. “What are you doing up at this time of night?”
“Getting some water?” Elle invented wildly, clicking off the flashlight and tucking it into her robe pocket, as her eyes readjusted to the dim moonlight from the window. “And what are you doing up?” Elle demanded.
“I was getting some water, too,” Mindy said. Elle noticed that she, too had just slipped something into the pocket of her robe.
“Where’s your glass?” Elle interrogated, suddenly suspicious.
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“I drank the water downstairs and put the glass away, and now I’m going to bed, if you don’t mind,” Mindy said, trying to brush Elle aside.
“What did you just put into your pocket?” Elle demanded, blocking her way.
“Nothing," Mindy said quickly, looking innocently up at Elle while she scowled back.
After a moment of a silent glaring competition, Mindy gave up and said, "Oh, this?" She pulled out a small bottle. "It’s just some medicine for Grandpa. It helps with his memory, you know. But he hasn’t been taking it like he should.”
“Grandpa doesn’t need any pills,” Elle said, defensively, crossing her arms across her chest.
“Oh, yes he does, my dear. Now go ahead and get some water. I’ll go give these to Arnold.” Mindy stepped past Elle and huffed up the stairs.
Nice try, Elle thought, This is the part of the movie when the Evil Aunt (who’s not even the Real Aunt) poisons the Poor Unsuspecting Old Man. Well, not on my watch!
“I’ll come with you,” Elle said, running up the stairs behind her. Mindy abruptly stopped at the top of the stairs and Elle jostled into her backside.
“I thought you were getting some water?” Mindy asked peevishly.
“I’m suddenly not thirsty.” Elle said, defiantly raising her chin.
Mindy glared at her, but said nothing. "Fine!" she muttered impatiently when Elle didn't budge. Then she knocked loudly on the bathroom door. No answer.
“Arnold—it’s Mindy. You accidently forgot your medicine….in the garbage can!"
There was silence. No running faucet, no flushing toilet, nothing.
“Are you sure he’s in there?” Mindy asked. Elle nodded and tried the knob. It was locked.
“Arnold—It’s Mindy. The door’s locked, dear.” They listened intently, and after a moment, they heard a gentle snoring.
“Great, he’s fallen asleep in the bathroom again. I’ll call the fire department,” Mindy sighed.
“No-wait---let me try. Grandpa, it’s Elle," she knocked again. "Can you please open the door?” A moment of silence followed. Elle knocked again, "Grandpa..?"
Just as she was about to give up, the doorknob turned slowly, and grandpa peered out of the small opening.
“Did they leave yet?” He asked, looking around.
“Did who leave?” Elle asked, confused.
“Arnold—you forgot to take your medicine,” Mindy said, butting in, shaking the pill container in front of his face, while stealthily sliding her foot forward and wedging it into the space in the open door.
“Nope! I took those already,” he said, shaking his head.
“No, Arnold, they were in the garbage can,” Mindy sighed.
“I already took those—that lady gave me some," he said.
“What lady?!” Elle and Mindy chorused together, looking at each other suspiciously.
“The one with the hair,” he said.
“Oh, well, that narrows it down,” Mindy said sarcastically, sighing and rolling her eyes.
Grandpa was agitated, Elle could tell. He wouldn’t open the door to the bathroom, and thanks to Mindy’s foot, he couldn’t shut it, either.
“Grandpa,” Elle said, soothingly, “Will you let me in?”
He peered at her, then his face broke into a smile. “Oh, Mira, it’s you!’ He said, suddenly happy.
Elle’s stomach dropped. Her grandpa thought that she was her mother.
“Yes, can you please let me in?” Elle said, face red, feeling terrible for going along with the charade.
Mindy shoved the bottle in Elle’s hand and whispered, “Make sure he takes one, or he’ll get worse.”
Elle cautiously entered the bathroom, and closed the door. Her grandfather looked disheveled and worried. He slowly paced back and forth with his cane, glancing out of the window every time he passed it.
“What’s wrong-why are you so worried?” Elle asked gently.
“They're coming… I don’t know if I can keep them away for much longer,” he said shaking his head. He ran his gnarled old hand over his forehead.
“Keep who away?” Elle asked, trying to sound calm, despite her sudden anxiety. She was used to grandpa's sudden memory loss episodes, but this was not like him. Usually he was silly and sometimes confused. But the strain and worry Elle heard in his voice was new.
Elle patted his hand, as he sat down on the edge of the tub. Then she remembered the pills that Mindy had slipped into her pocket. She looked at her Grandpa, trying to determine if giving him the pills would make things better, or worse….maybe he really had already taken the pills, and that was making him worse? What if Aunt Mindy was poisoning him to make him loopy? She wouldn't put it past her.
Elle didn’t know what to do. After a moment of introspection, she made up her mind. She tucked the pills back into her pocket, sat on the bathroom floor and leaned against the tub, still holding her grandpa’s hand. She briefly thought about the bright light and explosion, and her plans to scour the forest for evidence of a crash. But that would have to wait. Her grandpa needed her.
She started humming one of the old songs that her mother used to sing to her. It seemed to work. Grandpa was calming down. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, but continued to gently hold her hand while she sang.
"The day is over, the night will come soon,
I'll find you again by the light of the moon,
We'll be together, just you and me,
Sailing together, the Sea of Tranquility.”
Elle finally crawled back into her bed at 6AM after making sure Grandpa was sleeping comfortably in his own bed. Fortunately, that meant she could get a good 30 minutes of restful sleep before her 6:30 alarm. But there was absolutely no hope of getting to sleep.
Grandpa sounded absolutely serious—he really thought that someone was coming for him.
She stared at the ceiling, studying every bump and crack, while her heartbeat pounded in her ears. She counted the minutes until her alarm went off.
When the alarm finally buzzed, however, Elle was slipping in and out of bad dreams. Aunt Mindy had to pound on her bedroom door to finally wake her. Elle moved like a zombie out the door to catch the bus.