A Series Of Shorts

Amongst her mother's possessions, she found...

It didn't take long for the curiosity that lurked beneath Tabi's skin to emerge once she had wriggled her way into the attic. It was dusty and stuffy, the tiny particles invaded her lungs, causing her to cough violently for a few seconds. She scrambled around in her pockets for her inhaler, and when she found it, she raised the blue apparatus to her lips and took a deep puff. Now that she could breathe, it was time to root around.

She shoved her inhaler back in her pocked and clicked her flashlight on and shone it around the cramped room. There were boxes everywhere, some with scrawled sharpie labels, others left blank, begging to be opened by the curious teen. She struggled to pick a box to start with, but the first one that she laid eyes on that really intrigued her was one labeled, "Toys."

Tabi gingerly removed the cardboard box from the top of the stack and set it on the floor, eager to reveal the memories that lay beneath the lid. Lifting the top of carefully as to not disturb the large quantity of dust from the top of it, Tabi peered into the darkness, trying to identify the so called toys without light, but she soon gave up,  the anticipation getting the better of her.

As the light shone into the box, it reflected off of the transparent coating covering the plastics of many baby toys that had been placed into the attic over a decade ago. She didn't bother touching them, as they were most definitely covered in ancient baby spit. She moved her flashlight around the box, trying to see what was underneath the rainbow plastic rings, but it just seemed to be more baby toys.

How underwhelming. She wanted an adventure, but so far, the memories she had uncovered couldn't even be remembered by anyone but her parents. As she sat back on the attic floor, her flashlight beam swung around haphazardly, and flashed back in her eye off of something in a box on the bottom of a stack. Tabi crawled closer to investigate, and shone her light on the box. It was labeled, "Lou's Things." 

It was a box of her mother's, so called, things. Tabi's stomach churned with excitement as she began lifting the boxes off of the top of her target, heaving them to the tops of smaller, nearby piles. It only took a few minutes to move the other boxes, but by the end of it, Tabi was sweaty and tired. Really, what did her dad store in those boxes, bricks!?

While she caught her breath, Tabi relished in the sense of accomplishment she received when she reached her prize. Tossing the lid away from the box and shining her light into the darkness, Tabi nearly squealed in excitement. The sparkly thing inside the box was her's to find, and was within arm's reach. She began to move small jars made of what seemed to be brass out of the way, placing them down gently and out of the way. 

Laying in the center of the box was a fleece, seemingly made of a thick wool, that was folded around something. Tabi shoved her flashlight into her mouth and gently lifted the mysterious concealed object out of the box. Placing it on her lap, Tabi began to unwrap it slowly, one sleeve, then the other. What lay beneath the fabric shocked her. Amongst her mother's possessions, she found a small urn. It was a royal purple, with a golden lace design wrapping around the circumference. It had no signs of rust or decay, so it wasn't a relative of her Mom's. It was within the past quarter century.

Tabi inhaled a shaky breath as she rotated the small container, hearing the sediment inside move around as she tried to find a name. Her eyes began to water up as her fingers brushed over a name engraved on a plate in the gold lace. 'Skylar,' it read. Tabi took a few more shaky breaths as she re-wrapped Skylar's urn in the blue woolen fleece before removing the flashlight from her mouth.

Taking the time to open her closed throat, Tabi composed herself enough to cradle the small bundle to her chest and make her way out of the attic. The ladder creaked loudly as she made her descent. 

"Tabi, what were you doing in the attic?" her mother called from the other room, causing another bought of tears to momentarily to her eyes, but she wiped them away quickly with her spare hand. She didn't answer immediately, but she moved closer to the living room where her mother was crocheting something. 

She entered the room with the blue bundle clutched to her chest and is a small voice, she asked, "Mom, who is Skylar?" Her mother's head snapped up and her gaze flicked from Tabi's to the blue bundle she held in her arms. Tears sprang to her eyes as she put down her yarn and beckoned Tabi to come closer. She didn't speak for a long while, she only wrapped her arms around Tabi and Skylar's small urn. The story would have to wait until after the tears were gone and the whole family was home.