Visions (Forest Secrets Book 1)

Chapter 7

The horribly loud, obnoxious BEEEP BEEEP of my alarm clock could have woken the Kraken, but it only gave me a minor heart attack.

            I could hear my pulse beating like a hummingbird’s wings, could feel the adrenalin rushing. I growled and flopped onto my stomach, burrowing my face into my softest pillow, pushing the ends to my ears. The BEEPs, though, continued, getting louder and louder!

            I got off my bed and reached for the frickin alarm, yanking it violently from its socket, and in the process, tumbling the bedside stand that it previously lived on. But not anymore!

            I threw it on the ground and took a deep breath. A sudden, familiar laugh made me jump, and I turned sharply to my bedroom doorway.

Standing there was my Aunt Deb, Dad’s sister. Our eyes locked and she flashed her signature smile: bright, warm, and quick to crowd her face. It was a smile that made people want to be her friend on site, and for good reason, too. My aunt was awesome!

            She walked toward me. She’d cut her hair shorter since I’d last seen her. It ended at her chin, and her bangs were cut evenly across her forehead. That hair and her stylish glasses made her look like about my age, if it wasn’t for the fact that she was so tall. I only reached to a little above her shoulder.

            She pulled me in for a hug. “Just wanted to say hello before I set up everything in the guest room. Deb time has officially started!” Then she walked out, wiggling her fingers behind her in goodbye.

            The phone rang, and with it, some puzzle pieces put worked themselves together in my head. No wonder my alarm went off so loud and early. Someone must have wanted me awake to hear and answer a certain phone call.

            I stood there for a moment, listening to the ringing before I lied, saying, “Must be a politician.” I shook the hair out of my face and walked out, leaving the phone to ring…

“Yatsee! I win again.” Aunt Deb reached for the dice, nodding her head to the music. We’d been at games like these for hours. I wasn’t really sure about why my aunt loved playing the games so much. She was just that person. Everyone knew them. They had to always be occupied, one way or another. Board games, it seemed, were her favorite.

Camping was second on her list. I’d learned a lot of things camping with her, mostly because she thought it was more fun if you were to not bring something that was needed in order to add just a bit more “pizzazz”. One time she forgot to bring a fishing pole and of course we’d planned on eating fish every night for dinner. Another time she didn’t bring a lamp, so we had to get everything done before dark. Also, to make sure we didn’t get board, it was always a different object every time.

I still loved her, despite these things. And so I played the games she’d brought along, way passed when my Grandmother went to sleep, muttering about this week going too slow. “Only a few more days…”

Aunt Deb blew out a breath and smiled. “You’d think you guys would be grateful! Here I am, taxing my energy to haul all theses fun games up here because you two don’t have any, and you won’t even stay past four games. Tsk tsk.”

“That’s the point dumbass. We don’t want you to bring them,” my sweet old Grandma yelled from upstairs. I think she was joking. My aunt, though, had no doubt about it being true, so she burst out laughing. Even though in truth I knew Grandma hated board games, I don’t think so much that she hated playing them with my aunt. Maybe.

Laughing along, I went into the kitchen to make some chocolate milk. As the metal spoon was clinking against the glass, the telephone rang again. I stopped stirring and stared at it. It rang once, twice, and as I was thinking about answering, it stopped.