Surprisingly, the normally long lunch seemed to go by as fast as the speed of light. And yet, the crammed car ride home was a different story. Everyone was complaining on the way about how cramped it was and how much better this would be if Jamie hadn’t gotten in a car accident. This made the ride home seem like at least an hour long, even though we were only a few blocks away.
Finally, we pulled into the driveway and everyone was still yelling at each other, when my father decided to join in, “Shut up! Yes, your brother is stupid but I am tired of all of your whining, you sacks of shit! Now, when you get out of this car, you better shut your traps so the neighbours don’t hear!” It seemed the neighbours’ opinions were more important than his kids’. We didn’t expect much more than that, since his “good” man act benefited him more than his “bad” man act - well, in public anyways.
I managed to sneak in the backyard and find my way to the forest. Usually, I would not do this, because Sunday is the only day that my dad stays with us from the morning to suppertime, so I knew he would notice I was gone. But I was sure after the car incident, that he would be happy to get rid of any of us. I felt a need to go to the forest today, despite the apparent consequences. Something was pushing inside of me to go.
As I stood at the edge of the forest, I could almost hear Oochoo’s voice saying something. I closed my eyes and tried to listen intently. Still, I could only hear a faint whisper. I started to walk into the forest, and the voice grew louder. I started to follow the voice, until it led me right to my tree. I could hear the voice clearly now and it was saying, “Come my friend. I need to show you something.” Just then, I saw a ghost-like image of Oochoo hovering in the air in front of me. “Can you see me, Elizabeth?”
“Yes! Yes I can! This is incredible, so I am not crazy after all?” I said while jumping up and down and clapping my hands.
His eye lit up, “Hehe. No, no. You are not crazy. If anything, you are enlightened. Here, I left you something that you can bring back to your house. It is for safety, because I have been watching over you for a while and I can see that you need protection.” His face was now solemn.
I nodded in agreement, “That is for sure. So what is it?”
“It will appear as soon as I go. Right now, I need to tell you something.” Oochoo said while gliding down closer to me.
“Yes?”
“Well, tonight you will again explore another dimension. But I need to warn you that it will not be pretty. It will be very chaotic but you will be safe, as long as you bring what I am about to leave you. This will give you safety in all dimensions.” His big one eye looked down at me like a parent does when warning you to look both ways when crossing the road.
“Well thank you for the protection. But I have to ask, do I have a choice in going?” I felt a big lump in my throat as I asked this. I knew what the answer was going to be, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. I really didn’t want to cross that road.
He paused for a moment, and put his paws together getting ready to hand me the news. “Unfortunately, no. There are lessons that you need to learn before you move on. But, I promise you, this is the only dimension that you will feel scared in, besides the one you are living in now on Earth. Do not try to avoid it by staying awake. Please embrace this experience. You will see the benefits of the lessons right away.” He then gave a node of certainty.
“Well thank you for the heads up. It is appreciated very much. And, I will do what I must.” I said with a lot less certainty.
He swirled around me with excitement, “I am very glad to hear that, and you are welcome. Now I must be going. It is time to eat! But, remember to look for my present. Bye for now.”
“BYE!” I called up as I saw his soft transparent figure spin upwards into the sky and evaporate.
I looked around and, at first glance, I saw nothing of his gift. I searched high in the tree, on the ground, around the tree, in any holes on the tree – still I found nothing. I sat down on the crevasses that I regularly sit on but something was different. It felt soft, fluffy and warm. It was one of the invisible chairs from Oochoo’s dimension! It turned visible as soon as I sat on it. It was round, sponge-like and, of course, bright purple.
I did not know how this could protect me, but I sat in it for awhile while watching the clouds glide over the mountains. I closed my eyes, listening to the sweet melody of the birds, and feeling the wind brush across my face. When I opened my eyes, the chair I had been sitting on became a bubble all around me. I started to breathe faster and my palms became sweaty because of my claustrophobia, but then I realized the powerful light that was radiating from the bubble and me.
I wondered if it could move. “Fly over to the ground,” I whispered. I had my eyes closed at this point, and didn’t feel it move at all, but when I opened them, there I was still in the bubble floating slightly over the ground. I could not believe it! So I decided to try some other things out to see what it could do. I thought if it could change from a seat to a bubble, then maybe it can make other shapes. I shut my eyes again and said quietly to myself, “Keep me warm”. I then felt as if I had a great big squishy teddy bear hugging me. I opened up my eyes and the object had changed into just that! I felt not only warm but very safe.
On my way home I continued asking it to change into various objects. It had changed successfully into an umbrella, sword, coat, shield, and even night vision goggles! It was amazing how it could be turned into anything- well almost anything. I did try to change it into a person- my grandmother that had passed away a few years ago, but that didn’t turn out so well. It shone brightly, and then burst into sparkling fairy dust.
I was very disappointed by this because my grandmother was really the only one I could talk to seriously about my problems and my crazy ideas about religion and life. She had a great sense of humour, probably the only one in my family besides my brother Matt. He always found a way to make a joke out of everything. My grandmother, Sue-Ellen was known for her dark humour and making a scene at every family gathering.
I remember one time we were all sitting in the living room and out of nowhere she said really loudly, ``You know what I like best? I love to heeeaar people bicker! Cuz guess what!? No one eeeever wins! Hahaha!” She chuckled for a good 5 minutes after that. We all just looked at her curiously. We knew it was true, but we never wanted to admit it. Everyone was only silent for the seconds she was speaking, and then continued on in their ways.
I always knew what she meant, and I admired her for speaking out like that. That is why I miss her terribly. She was on my father’s side surprisingly. I could never figure out why he turned out so badly when he had such a cool mom. I never knew my grandfather and maybe that was the reason I never figured out that mystery.
As I approached the backyard I turned the present into a plain, discreet button. I put my hand into my pocket, still holding onto the button so that I would not lose it. I had to sneak into the back window, since it was almost dinnertime and, someone would catch me for sure, if I went through the front door.
I looked around carefully in all directions, placed the button on the ground, and then said quietly, “Be a ladder.” The button quickly formed into a ladder. I could climb up it easily. But now there was a problem. How was I going to turn it back into a button without it falling to the ground? So I said, “Be a button with wings.” Again, it did exactly as I asked and flew right into my hands. After telling it to get rid of the wings I tucked it safely back into my pocket.
When I got into my room, I kept searching for a safe place to put it. Then I realized it could be invisible. So I turned it into a necklace and placed it into my jewellery box with a lock on it. But, just to be sure, I decided to have it turn invisible as soon as the box was opened. That way none of my sisters could steal it. Often they would break into my stuff and take what they wanted, but now they wouldn’t be able to take the most special thing of all!
Having such power over just one object was overwhelming. I was afraid that it might be too much for me, because I do not have control over anything in my life, and now I had almost complete control over something. It made me realize that if it is this exciting to have control over one tiny thing, then it must feeling amazing to have control over one’s own life, although no one really does have full control over their own lives. This is because no one can win against death. Whether you are hit by a bus or die of old age, nobody can say that you made it happen. Except in the case of suicide, but even then, sometimes the methods someone uses don’t work, and many people survive through the most extreme measures they took to kill themselves.
Right now, however, I feel a little differently. I feel that anything is possible. Maybe, one day, I will have total control over my life, even over how long I live. Or, perhaps, I already made this decision? Either way, the thought made me feel like I could conquer anything and gave me the courage to do something very serious.