Bear Child (Book 1)

Chapter 26

     26. A Mother’s Lie, A Photo’s Truth

It was so dark in the attic that I had to trip on everything at least once and break what must have been an old lamp just to find the light chain. When I finally found it, I turned it on, and a yellow murky light lit up the room. There were a bunch of cardboard boxes everywhere, along with an old-looking leather chair and about three floor lamps; one of which I had knocked over and broken in my search for the light. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. I walked over to the closest box to me and opened it. Nothing useful was in there, just some old sports jerseys that I assumed use to belong to Ben. Closing it back up, I wandered around the attic, opening box after box in search of pictures. I found a few. They were of Ben and some unfamiliar faces of friends. None of them looked like they could be related to me. However, I did find of picture of Ben when he was a child. He was at a beach, standing next to two boys and a smiling woman behind them, her arms wrapped around all three boys.

Ben was in the middle, looking around ten years old, his hair a lighter reddish orange than it was now. To his left looked a boy to be around fourteen, his hair the same color as mine, but his eyes brown like Ben’s. The little boy to the right of Ben, however, who only looked to be about six years old, had both brown hair and brown eyes, only a slight tint of orange in his hair. The woman behind them, though, had emerald green eyes like me. Even though her hair was brown, she looked so much like Ben and the other two boys. Maybe this could have been my grandmother? Maybe that’s where I had gotten my eyes! She had to be my grandmother! The other two boys must have been my uncles. I couldn’t help but wonder where they could be.

As I scattered through more photos, I kept an eye out for anyone with copper orange hair or emerald eyes. I found a photo of what must have been my grandfather. The six-year-old boy and Ben were at a baseball stadium, standing at the sides of a man with brown eyes and copper orange hair that was about two shades darker than my hair. I would ask Ben the names of my uncles and grandparents later.

I rummaged through three more boxes and had found about ten photos of my family. It turned out that green eyes skipped a generation. So since Ben nor any of my uncles had green eyes, I would end up with them. What made me feel a little sad was the fact that not a single one of them seemed familiar. Hadn’t I ever met any of them? Come to think of it, I haven’t ever met any of my cousins, or aunts, or uncles. Ben was the only family I’ve ever met. I wanted to be able to meet the rest of my family. Pushing the thoughts aside, I opened up another box. Inside, there were many pictures of my parents. Actually, they were all photos of Ben and my mom.

The first photo I had picked up was my mom on her wedding day, standing by herself under an arch of flowers in a beautiful white dress. Her hair was pinned up in a fancy flower bun, her eyes dancing with joy. Everyone had always said that I looked exactly like her, but I had always thought that she was much prettier. But just out of curiosity, I looked at the picture and imagined her eyes green and her hair copper orange. Could that possibly be me one day? I set the photo gently down to the side. I wasn’t going to use it for my project, though. I wanted to keep it for myself. The next few pictures were my mom standing next to people who looked like her, the same brown hair and brown eyes. Maybe this could be my mother’s side of the family. I decided to use a few for my project. However, after a few pictures, I had found a photo that made me stare at it wide eyed.

My mother and father were hugging each other close their noses touching, their lips just an inch away. They seemed so . . . happy. If they were this happy, why did they ever split up? However, it wasn’t their happy, loving moment that made me stare in shock, it was the background behind them. There were snow capped mountains, and the northern lights were frozen in dance against the starry sky. They were in Alaska. They had gotten married in Alaska. My mom had always said that they were married in New York, and they had stayed in New York. Maybe the picture was just photo-shopped. But I had found it hard to believe.