Wooden Box

3) Announcement

"Susan, Olivia and I are going to a wedding. Will be back on Tuesday morning." Her voice reverberated through the house before the front main door was slammed shut.
Silence followed her announcement.
I plopped down on my bed which creaked under my weight.

A wedding, huh? The foul taste of the 'wedding' lingered. A word I despised, despite it being one of the words loved by many.

Why?

Because I had to attend the wedding of my own mother. How pretty and ecstatic did she look in that white gown.

Covering my eyes with my eyelids, I groaned. This is no time for reminiscing. I need to get down to get done with the long list of work Aunt Allie had gathered for me to be done over this two day time period.

"I need to be done with it by today as tomorrow is school," I thought.

I permitted myself to indulge in the warm sun rays that penetrated in my room through the window for a split second.

Tick Tock tick tock, the alarm clock reminded me.

Time is running out.

Sighing, I stood on my two feet and made my way down the stairs into the kitchen. I huffed when I saw the To Do List pasted on the fridge. Whilst, I plodded towards the fridge, I was counting the number of folds that paper had. I came on a halt near the fridge and pulled out the paper, and embraced myself for it to unfold to the floor; it did not. Surprised, I joggled the paper to and fro. It was just one piece of paper with no folds. On it was written in a scrawly handwriting:

To Do
1) Clean Olivia's room
2) Olivia's Algebra homework that is due Wednesday
3) Clean the attic
P.S. Less work for you 'cause today's your birthday.

My eyes widened as I was startled because I forgot it was my birthday today.
The thing I adored the most was my birthday being the next day to my mother's.

My head whipped to see the clock hung in the kitchen. It struck nine o clock. The pendulum moving to and fro started to hypnotize me. The ticking on the second hand started to fill my ears. I wanted to avert my gaze; I wanted to block my ears from the sound, I wanted to shut my eyes tight because I did not want to remember what happened at this exact moment, previous year.
No matter how much I yearned to move from my glued spot I could not. The memory began to rewind.

My fork clunk against the plate. I hollered,"Mom I am done with breakfast." It's time for my present, I thought while rubbing my hands in anticipation. It was nine o clock.

What sort of gift will I get? I thought to myself.
Maybe a laptop or any other electronic gadget. I nodded to myself as a wide grin broke across my face when she was about to open her mouth.

The words that came out of her mouth contradicted my thought and wiped off the spreading grin on my face.

"I have an announcement to make."

A frown creased my forehead. An announcement? Maybe she wants to announce us going to a trip abroad. Switzerland, Australia, or maybe...
I could not complete my thought when her voice filled the room.

"I actually want you to meet someone."

The frown deepened. That someone maybe a celebrity or a band. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I felt giddy inside by the thought of meeting a superstar-the one I've only watched on television screen. I nodded frantically in order for her to continue.

"Okay, you can come in the open now, Carter."

'Carter?' I rummaged through my brain in order to put my finger on any celebrity named Carter, but I could not. Maybe he used to be one in the older days, I kind of reassured myself. My mother would always give me the best presents.