Firestorm

FIRESTORM

"The Misadventures of
Sarah Davies"

by Ronnie Dauber

Copyright 2011 Ronnie
Dauber

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Hot tears
slowly trickled down my face as I tried to hide from an unknown
predator that had me trapped in a panic of fear. I punched at the
blanket of heaviness that hovered over me and kicked at the hidden
substance that threatened to paralyse my legs. I heard Meagan call
my name and then suddenly something grabbed my arm and shook me
forcefully. I screamed and jerked forward as her voice penetrated
my ears.

“Sarah? Sarah,
wake up. You’re dreaming.”

I opened my eyes and
stared into the worried face of my cousin as she continued to ask
me if I was all right. The room was darkened by heavy pink drapes
that covered the large bedroom window and allowed only select waves
of morning air to filter through it. Meagan rubbed my arm gently
and pulled away the long brown strands of hair that were wrapped
around my face.

“Yeah, I was
dreaming that something was chasing me and it was smothering me.
There was a voice telling me how to escape but I couldn’t
understand it. Really scary.”

“Well, what was
chasing you?”

“I don’t know
and now I can’t remember much except that it was smothering me.
Thanks for waking me up and getting me away from it.”

Meagan leaned
back on the single bed that was right beside mine and grabbed her
big green hairbrush from the adjoining night table. She listened to
me as she pinned her long, curly auburn hair up on top of head and
then smirked as she stood up and stretched.

“Well, I’m glad
you’re awake and not screaming any more. You were scaring
me,
too.”

“Sorry. This
was one of those dreams that seemed really real, you know? Anyway,
the details are fading away fast and I’m glad I didn’t get Nana and
Grandpa up here.”

“I don’t think
they heard you, Sarah. I mean, who can hear anything through that
horrible country whining they’re listening to downstairs. We really
have to work on getting them some better music when they move back
home with us.”

Meagan laughed
as she opened the drapes and leaned against the windowsill.

“It’s so
beautiful here, Sarah, so peaceful and serene. I’m going to miss
coming here for our summer holidays, but on the other hand, it’s
going to be great having them live so close to us again.”

I massaged my
face slowly and wiped the sleep from my eyes as I sauntered over to
the window.

“I know. Their
yard is so beautiful, so many colors and kinds of flowers and weird
shaped bushes. This has been Nana’s pride and joy for years and
their new yard is so small compared to this. But I’m sure it won’t
be long until they’ve turned it into a little paradise, as
well.”

Meagan sighed
heavily as she watched several bright red cardinals feeding on the
large tiffany bird feeder below.

“Yeah, well I
just hope they don’t try to change our yards. They’re going to be
living right across from both of us and my mom’s really happy, but
she was telling my dad that they better not try to change her front
garden. You know how stubborn Nana is and how her way is always the
only way.”

We laughed and
got dressed as we reminisced about our visits here over the years.
It had always been the highlight of our summers to come to British
Columbia and visit our grandparents, but this would be the last
visit here. They were moving back home to Bearsfield, Idaho with us
in a few weeks and we were heading into the next phase of our own
lives.

“Meg, I can
hardly believe that we’re starting college next month and that this
will be our last holiday here, not that this has really been a
holiday so far. All we’ve done is pack and clean. But then there is
tonight and that will change everything.”

Meagan
stretched out her left arm and a wiggled her fingers to show off
her small, purple amethyst ring.

“I know. The
guys will be here tonight and it’s going to be great. Gees, a whole
week without seeing or hearing from Ali and I miss him so much. You
know, I really wish Nana and Grandpa had some form of communication
here besides a phone that’s out of order because the little town
transmitter is being repaired. How do they live like this?”

“They have each
other, Meg, and they like the solitude – well, Grandpa does,
anyway. Besides, they have friends from the church in town that
they visit on Sundays and that’s all the company they really want.
I know my dad is glad they’re moving back.”

Meagan picked
up a brochure and giggled.

“Yeah, mine,
too. Meanwhile, I can’t wait to get to Prembroke to go mountain
gliding tomorrow. It’s going to be great.”

My insides
tingled as she talked, not only because I loved mountain gliding,
but because Brad was going to come and join us.

“Who’d have
guessed that Brad and I would ever be together? Well, okay, he
liked me all last year but it took me so long to realize that he
was such a great guy. I really like him, you know, and I really
like being with him.”

Meagan smiled
as she threw the heavy pink comforter over her bed.

“I know. And
you have no idea how glad I am that you finally stopped chasing
football heroes and saw this guy who’s been madly in love with you
all through high school. Okay, bed is done and I’m ready to have
another fattening country breakfast and then get those boxes packed
today. Can’t wait until we’re done.”

When I opened
the bedroom door, we were greeted by the smell of fried bacon that
filtered through the room and almost overpowered us as we stepped
carefully down the narrow stairwell that led to the kitchen. We
ambled passed the wooden door just as Nana was pouring Grandpa a
cup of coffee and his face burst into a wide grin through his heavy
grey beard.

“There’s my
girls. Nana has our breakfast all ready for us and my friend, Don,
will be here any second to join us.”

Meagan and I
looked at each other inquisitively as we pulled out the heavy
colonial chairs and sat at the round oak table. She smiled at
Grandpa as she filled her glass with orange juice.

“Who’s Don,
Grandpa?”

“He’s my friend
who lives about a mile up the way. We go fishing together every
Saturday morning in the summer and today’s no different. We bring
our catch home and clean them, and then I cook them on the barbeque
outside. All these years and Nana has never come with us so it’s
just always been a guy’s day out.”

Nana slapped
the bacon onto Grandpa’s plate and growled at him under her
breath.

“He’s a grumpy
old man and he doesn’t like anyone. What do you see in that old
geezer anyway?”

Grandpa smiled
at us as he looked up at Nana.

“Now Martha,
you know you like Don. Tell the girls the truth, it’s the boat you
really don’t like.”

Nana glared at
Grandpa and raised her voice, almost as if she was angry with
him.

“I’m not going
to miss that people hater when we move, not one bit. And you
shouldn’t be listening to him and using that boat, either. It’s not
safe and you know it. I don’t know why you’d rather listen to him
than to me.”

Grandpa poured
ketchup onto his plate as he winked at us.

“Boat’s fine,
Martha. It has a little hole and we plugged it. Works fine. Heck,
we’re leaving here in a couple of weeks and fixing it now would
just be a waste of good money. Besides, I told Don he could have it
so let him fix it.”

“Just like the
old truck that sits rotting outside, Lucas. You said all it needs
is a new battery and you’re too lazy and too cheap to put in a new
one, so now we don’t even have a vehicle to get around in.”

“We’re moving,
Martha, and I’m giving that to Don too, so he can fix the truck
when he fixes the boat. Anyway, you don’t even know how to drive so
what do you care?”

Nana huffed at
Grandpa as she brought the frying pan over to Meagan’s plate.

“I’ve never had
an interest in driving and I’m too old to learn now. Anyway, when
we’re back in the city I’ll get a taxi when I want to go out.”

Grandpa looked
over his shoulder to the kitchen window and waved his hand.

“I never liked
that truck anyway, but my boat, well that’s a different thing.”

“That boat is
going to be the death of you yet, Lucas Davies. It’s not safe and
it makes me nervous when you go out in it.”

Grandpa shook
his head as he bit into his fresh toast. I guess the worry on my
face must have shown more than I realized and he stopped eating and
leaned forward.

“It’s safe,
girls. It’s got a tiny hole, nothing to worry about. I misjudged
the rocks and one of them punctured it a bit, and I’ve used it a
dozen times since then and it floats just the same as always.”

Meagan licked
the bacon grease from her fingers and looked up at Grandpa.

“Why do you
need a boat when the lake is right at the back of your property and
you’ve got a dock? Can’t you just fish there? We used to when we
were kids.”

“Nah, there
aren’t any real fish this close. You have to go down stream a
couple of miles to where they are. We don’t have a motor on our
boat, so it’s a nice quiet trip, and me and Don have this really
great spot set in a ways where we do well. It’s kind of out of the
way and hidden so some of the other fishing neighbors don’t bother
us there.”

While we were
still talking, a thin, elderly gentleman tapped on the back door
and peeked his head through as he greeted us with a big smile.

“Morning Davies
family!”

“Hey, Don. Come
on in and meet my girls from the big city.”

Don seemed like
a friendly gentleman at first, but after a few minutes I could see
how Nana thought he was not nice, just from his gestures and
remarks.

“Well, I hope
you girls aren’t like those other unmannered know-it-all young
people that have an answer for everything. But then you’re from the
city so I suspect you do things the same as everyone else
there.”

Meagan and I
smiled at each other and for Nana’s sake, neither of us responded
to his remarks. We weren’t planning on spending any time with this
man so it wasn’t worth the effort of starting an argument with
him.

We continued
eating our breakfast and listening to Grandpa and Don talk about
their big catches from other Saturday expeditions. We could see the
excitement in Grandpa’s face and we knew he was enjoying his time
fishing with Don. When breakfast was over, Meagan and I helped Nana
clean up the kitchen, and then we brought in a pile of folded boxes
from the back porch so we could get them ready to pack.

Don looked at
us as he stuffed some of Nana’s sandwiches in Grandpa’s duffle
bag.

“I’m taking
these ‘cause your grandma makes the best tuna sandwiches in the
world. Besides, I live alone and I don’t make food as good as I get
here.”

Nana forced a
smile at Don and then gave Grandpa a long hug.

“When will you
be home today?”

“I don’t know,
Martha, same as usual, around four. You’re not going to miss me
with all the help you have here so there’s no point in me cutting
my fishing time short.”

“But Lucas,
it’s so hot and dry out there. Maybe you should come back
early.”

Grandpa growled
as he pulled on his boots.

“Gees Martha,
you worry too much. We’re in a drought on land here but it’s not
that dry where we’re going. Last time I looked, the river was still
wet. I wouldn’t recommend anyone hiking in this weather, but
fishing is no problem. The dry heat doesn’t bother us at all.”

Meagan and I
took turns giving Grandpa a hug, but the second he touched me icy
chills shot up my back and curled the hairs on the nape of my neck.
For a split second I felt as if this was our final goodbye, but I
shook it off as me just reacting like Nana and worrying about the
hole in the boat. She tapped his shoulder and the feeling left
me.