This story is about a topic that means a lot to me, however it is not meant to be a parallel of my own experience, nor are the characters meant to represent specific people.
"Okay, I've got to go, if none of you are going to say anything interesting." Gloria got up and left.
Now they had something safe to talk about.
"The nerve!" Emery and Sariah said.
"She's no fun!" Mark and Elena sighed. Talking about Gloria didn't last long. As they sat in the basement, suffering the most uncomfortable silence they had ever experienced, each child silently willed the other to bring up the real reason they were here together, their grandmother.
It was Elena who finally broke the silence.
"So sleepovers?" she said. It was a weak attempt at acting as if everything was fine.
"I don't know," Sariah said. "Mom and Dad said... well they said this summer wasn't really for vacation. They said it was for Gran..."
She said it. The room seemed to get a bit colder.
"Let's face it," Emery said, trying to shrug the feeling off, "Gran is sick. It'll be okay."
"Sick" was an understatement. The children's grandmother had contracted a very fatal blood disease and the cousins knew it.
"I'm scared," Elena said.
"I'm not," said Mark, though his voice trembled.
"It'll be okay," Emery said again.
But for once, Sariah didn't feel like she agreed with Emery. She wanted to. She really wanted to.
The next morning witnessed how strongly Gran's illness was affecting Sariah's cousins.
Sariah was doing yoga in the hallway upstairs when she heard muffled noises coming from Gloria's parent's bedroom.
For heaven's sake! Sariah thought, How about some peace and quiet, it's six AM!
So naturally, she ignored the sounds and connect with her spirit through yoga.
But gradually the sounds became hard to ignore, and Sariah could simply not help but eavesdrop on the now crystal clear words emitting from the doorway. Now please don't think ill of our young heroine. She was a kind girl, a very kind girl. But every one has a weakness. And one of Sariah's was curiosity.
"Mother! I can't! I'm scared!" Gloria was trembling.
Sariah's eyes widened.
"I can't believe it! I'm not prepared!" Gloria continued.
"Glor, honey. Gran will be happy to see you.
"It just wont be... the same. She will never be the same!" Gloria whispered.
A distant memory rushed to Sariah's head. A nursing home.... Gloria. She was frightened of the people there. She had thought they looked strange. Alien.... Gloria clinging to Sariah's hand.
Yes, Gloria had never been fond of sick people, especially if they looked different. Sariah's understanding heart took over her mind, which may have jumped to judgemental conclusions about Gloria. Sariah sighed, it must be hard on her cousin.
All through the day Sariah saw the affect of Gran being in the hospital on all her cousins.
It was like a poison. Inside each of them pulling at their hearts and minds constantly. It was in Sariah too, and she knew they had to let it go. Let go of the thing they could not change, and try to make the best of it.
Even carrying this burden inside, the cousing tried to carry on a usual summer. The adults were wary of the "poison" as Sariah called it and changed the status of the summer from, "for Gran" to "to be together". And the cousins had fun. Except for when the poison bubbled over to the top. It was a good thing Sariah had a plan. A plan to keep the cousins together, and become stronger.
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