Wait! I Wrote That? (A Collection of Old, Horrific Stories)

Story 12: Mystery of the Paperblank Forest (The Green Guardian 2nd Draft)

"Sure. Let me first get my things, Mom."

"All right. Just don't take too long."

"No problem."

As Evie finished up in her room, her mother sauntered downstairs to the screen-in porch that overlooked the house's backyard and pool. She set the table for breakfast.

Her husband, Keegan, was sitting and reading the morning newspaper. A steaming cup of hot coffee rested next to his hand.

Also sitting at the table was a little, old woman. She was about eighty years old. She smiled as she worked on a crossword puzzle. Just recently, she had her hair washed and cut at the barber shop, so it looked quite pretty. She wore a denim shirt and a pair of khaki pants. Silver earrings dangled from her ears.

The lady was Ms. Gilbert. She was the family's next-door neighbor. A sweet woman, she lost her husband to illness ten years ago. Since then, Evie's family promised to look after her while she lived alone. It had been ten years since they took her in, so Ms. Gilbert was now part of the family. Evie was only a year old when her husband died, so she saw Ms. Gilbert as another grandparent. They got along wonderfully. The old woman was always invited to meals, church, and teatime, so there were plenty of opportunities for her and Evie to communicate.

A few minutes later, everybody sitting at the table heard pounding feet. Evie emerged at the bottom of the staircase. "I'm here!" she excitedly announced, acting out an excited twirl. She dragged an enormous suitcase with wheels behind her. The suitcase was almost the size of Evie herself.

"Oh my," her mother mumbled when her daughter came into the kitchen to impress her with her packing. "What's all that?"

Evie smiled and answered, "It's just all my camp stuff."

Charlotte shook her head and kneeled to her daughter's bag. She opened it to check what she packed. All she saw were clothes, jewelry, and makeup. "These are all clothes," she murmured, as she pulled out an adorable, little sundress.

"Not just clothes," Evie shared in a proud voice. "There's also jewelry and makeup. I also packed some nail polish."

It was times like these Mrs. Madison knew her daughter was starting to turn into a teenager. She looked her in the eyes and asked, "Do you know what this vacation is about?"

"To become better aware of the environment."

Charlotte nodded. "Right." She shuffled by her daughter and opened up the hallway closet. From it, she pulled out a puny, white backpack and a single suitcase. Charlotte returned to Evie and plopped the backpack down on her enormous suitcase. "Which means all you need is this."

Just at the sight of the backpack, Evie's face turned a bright shade of red. "Aw. Seriously?"

Mrs. Madison merely smiled and nodded. "Trust me, my dear. You are not heading off to war. You don't need over half the things you have in your bag. Why don't you head out to the porch and say good morning to your father and Ms. Gilbert, and I'll repack for you? You'll be amazed at what I can do."

"Okay, Mom. Sorry."

"No problem. You're still learning."

"Yeah." Evie bobbed her head up and down and slipped out to the porch.

Her mother immediately got to work.

Evie avoided her father when she stepped onto the deck and went straight to Ms. Gilbert. She waved her hand in front of her face. "Good morning, Grandma Gilbert."