Irene's Life Story

Chapter 2

"Maybe next year, Matthew," Mrs. Mumford said as she stood up again.

After Mr. Mumford assigned rooms for everyone, Irene and Melissa cheered about receiving the loft and both went racing to the stairs to see who would make it to the top first. Matthew took his suitcase and his phone and went into his room before closing the door.

"Cameron, I want to talk to you about something," Mrs. Mumford said with a soft and concerned tone as she grabbed her husband's wrist. "It's about Irene."

"Is there something wrong with her?" Mr. Mumford quietly replied as he took her hand.

"No, it's something else. Do you think it is time we tell her? If she finds out on her own, I don't know how she will react and it could ruin things between our family."

"Carla, are you afraid of losing her since she replaced the one we lost?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around his lovely wife.

"Yes, I am. I want Irene to remain as one of us while she is still our child. I don't know what to do if we tell her the truth. She has to learn about this sooner or later. Should we even tell her during our vacation?"

"Carla, don't worry about this. I think the best idea is to wait for her to reach out to us. That will tell us when she is ready to learn about the truth." Mrs. Mumford was a little unsure at first, then she smiled.

"You're right, Irene will let us know when she is ready. Thank you," Mrs. Mumford before reaching up to her husband's face. He responded by leaning down and kissing his wife, who kissed her back. As they were kissing with their eyes closed, a flash of white light suddenly went across the entire room.

Irene, who was listening to the whole conversation, turned to her right and saw where the source of the flash came from.

"Melissa! What are you doing??" Irene whispered to her sister who was smiling and holding her camera while taking another picture of her parents.

"What does it look like?" Melissa whispered back as she took a third picture without the flash.

"Why are you taking pictures of them kissing?!" Irene exclaimed, horrified.

"I think it's cute.  Don't you think so?"  That response made Irene disgusted and angry.

"Yuck!!  Give me that camera!"  Irene tried reaching for Melissa, but Melissa dodged her while holding onto her camera.  After a minute of the two girls fighting each other  and struggling for the camera, which surprisingly has no damage on it, a voice rang across the cabin.

"Girls!!  What are you doing?"  Mrs. Mumford called toward the loft.  Irene and Melissa stopped their fighting and remained in their position and they looked at each other anxiously.

"Just fooling around!" both girls replied at the same time.

"Well, quit fooling around and start unpacking!  We have a long day tomorrow, so make due with what you can today," Mrs. Mumford called back as she went with Cameron to unpack the van.

Irene moved off of Melissa and helped her to her feet.  Melissa tried to give Irene the camera, but Irene refused.  So, Melissa put away the camera in its own chest of drawers.  Then, the two girls went to help their parents unpack the car and all their belongings.

During the unpacking, Irene and Melissa helped their parents unload the groceries, suitcases were being emptied, Matthew plugged his PS3 into his bedroom monitor, and clothes were being hung up in the closet.  Everything was pretty normal and nothing could go wrong.  Right?

After the van was unpacked, Irene made one last trip to the car to make sure nothing was missed as she started packing up her loose books.  While doing so, she saw the book tucked behind the driver's seat.

Huh!  Mom and Dad forgot their special book.  You know what?  Since they forgot about it, why don't I take the book myself and read it?  I mean, they read it to me many times, so me reading it should be no different.  What kind of harm could this book cause, anyway?

Irene took the special book and hid it within her stack.  As she took the stack of books into the cabin, she tripped on her foot and her books fell everywhere on the floor.  Feeling annoyed, Irene locked the car before going back inside and locking the door.

"Melissa!  Could you give me a hand?"  Irene called toward the loft.  In a second, she heard clapping, which aggravated her.  "Not literally!  Get down here and help me pick up these books!!"

Melissa made it downstairs and began helping Irene pick up her scattered books.  After three rounds of moving all the books upstairs, Irene and Melissa flopped onto their separate beds and began to relax.

"Finally!  All the books are up here!" Irene sighed.

"Why do you need all these books?  Do you have to carry a library with you wherever you go?" Melissa said.

"No, I just love reading books and I am a fast reader," Irene replied.

"I'm surprised how after all this reading, your eyes don't tire enough for you to need glasses," Melissa muttered.

"Irene!  You forgot your book!" Matthew called from the kitchen.  Looking down from the loft, Irene noticed he was right.  Rushing downstairs, she saw the book was the special book on the Mumford customs and traditions.  Feeling a little panicked, she picked up the book in a hurry and the book accidentally slipped out of the book cover.

Oh, butterfingers... Irene thought as she reached down again to pick up the closed book facing her.  Before she picked it up, she looked at it and gasped.

The cover read, "Humic Customs and Traditions: 34th Edition."