h Chapter Six g
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“Up and Adam!” grandfather bellowed loudly as he opened the doors to each of the children’s rooms. “Time to rise and shine all you sleepy heads!” he yelled, urging the children to arise from their beds and get ready for the day.
“What time is it?” asked Izayah, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he sat up.
“It’s time to wash your face, brush your teeth, and to come into the kitchen and have some of grandpops good ole biscuits & gravy!” his grandfather answered back from the hallway.
Alaysia was the first to come into the kitchen.
“Good morning grandpops.” Alaysia said as she came around the table and stood beside her grandfather.
“Well- Good morning there, bright eyes!” he answered, while he was pulling a pan of hot biscuits from the oven and setting them up on the counter to cool.
Without being asked, Alaysia began helping her grandfather by setting the plates, silverware and glasses out on the table for all of them.
It wasn’t long before all five of them were sitting together at the table, scarfing down the great tasting food that their grandfather had made for them. Looking around at them while they were eating, their grandfather could see the excitement in each of their faces. All of them, including himself, were definitely looking forward to the day ahead.
As they all shoveled food into faces, the kids and their grandfather talked about what he had planned for all of them to do. Originally, their grandfather had planned for them to go fishing together- but those plans, he had informed them, had to wait because the man who used to own the house before their grandfather would be coming over sometime today.
“What about the Oogie man down in the cellar?” Shaylah asked her grandfather.
Right when Shaylah asked that question of her grandfather- suddenly all of the children remembered the Oogie. The entire room went silent as they all waited to hear what their grandfather would answer because all of them were worried and felt sorry for the hairy thing all chained up down in the cellar.
“Shaylah- sweetheart, he answered her; There’s no such thing as an Oogie man.” “That’s just your imagination running away with you,” he said.
“It’s not our imagination Grandpops.” Alaysia said. “We all saw the Oogie down there in the cellar.”
“Yeah, piped in Izayah- We all saw it. ”It has lights in its hair that glows different colors, and it’s chained up and has been down there for hundred of years.”
“How could it live down there for hundreds of years?” their grandfather said as he got up from the table- mentally chuckling to himself at the thought of children coming up with such an outrageous story.
“Because he’s magic!” said Micaiah, her eyes all big as her grandfather looked at her.
“Yeah, he’s magic!” said Shaylah. “He doesn’t need food or water, or anything because it lives off of magic!” she explained to him.
Alaysia could tell that her grandfather wasn’t believing any part of it. She remembered that the Oogie had told them that grown ups couldn’t see magic, and therefore their grandfather hadn’t been able to actually see the hairy creature that was chained to the wall when her grandfather was down in the cellar the day before. She now knew that there was no possible way that she, or any of the other kids, were going to b able to make their grandfather believe what they were telling him.
While her grandfather had his back to them, and was scraping leftover food from the plates into the garbage disposal- Alaysia faced her brother and sisters and put her finger to her lips, looking directly to each one of them, silently motioning for them to stop talking about the Oogie. They all looked at Alaysia, obviously confused that she would be asking them to hush on the subject- yet still obeying because they knew that she would explain it to them later.
“Grandpops- When is the man who used to own your house coming?” asked Alaysia, quickly changing the subject as she handed her grandfather more dishes to be cleaned.
“I’m not sure.” He answered her. “He really seemed anxious to come see that root cellar- so hopefully he’ll be here sometime this morning so we don’t have waste the whole day around here waiting for him to show up.
As if on cue- their conversation was interrupted by a horn honking outside.
Izayah and Shaylah jumped up from the kitchen table, nearly knocking glasses over, and raced off to the living room to look out the window.
“It’s a really big, black car!” said Izayah, his face mashed against the window glass as he stared at the car in their grandfather’s driveway.
Wiping his hands with a dish towel, their grandfather came into the living room and took a spot beside the kids to look out the window at the black car that was in his drive.
“That’s what you call a Limousine.” He said to Izayah and Shaylah as they kept staring out the window together.
“It’s the biggest car I ever saw.” said Shaylah.
“Me too!” exclaimed Izayah, making lip prints onto the glass.
“Hey!,” said his grandfather. “Stop doing that- and go get some paper towel and wipe that window clean.” he said to Izayah as he watched a chauffer, dressed totally in black from head to toe, get out of the car and open the rear door for the passenger.
Alaysia and Micaiah came sauntering into the living room. They both squeezed into the spot just vacated by Izayah, trying to get a look at the car.
A man got out of the car, said something to the chauffer as he was straightening his suit jacket, and turned towards the walk, leaving the chauffer to close the car door and wait by the car.
“Here he comes! Here he comes grandpops!” Micaiah squealed excitedly.
“Yes, I see him,” replied her grandfather. “That’s him- the man I bought this house from. Now I want all of you to be on your best behavior while he’s here, understand?” he asked of them.
“We will grandpops.” said Alaysia.
“Izayah- get that window cleaned off!” his grandfather said over his shoulder as he made his way to the front door.
As their grandfather opened the door, the man was just coming up the porch steps. Standing on the porch, both men shook hands as they greeted each other and were talking to each other- but from where they were the children couldn’t hear what they were saying. Their grandfather turned and closed the door and both men went down the steps and around the corner of the house.
“Grandpops is taking him to see the cellar!” said Alaysia excitedly. “Come on- Let’s go see too.”
The kids followed Alaysia out of the living room, through the hall, and back through the kitchen to the back door.
As she placed her hand on the knob to open the door, Alaysia turned to her brothers and sisters and said: “Hey you guys- don’t say anything about the Oogie in front of this man because
we don’t know him.”
“Yeah, said Izayah, and he wouldn’t believe us anyway.
“So everyone agrees?” asked Alaysia, looking especially at Micaiah- who, as always- promptly stuck her tongue out at her sister. Alaysia sticking her tongue out in retaliation.
“We won’t tell that man anything- right Micaiah?” asked Shaylah.
“Right!” answered Micaiah to her sister.
“Let’s goooooo!” Izayah said.
Alaysia opened the door and her brother and sisters all followed right behind her like a row of ducks as they walked through the yard.
“What have we got coming here?” asked the man as he spotted the group of children coming towards them.
Turning to see what the man was looking at, and seeing the row of kids- he answered: “That would be my grandchildren. They’re spending the weekend.” he said proudly as he watched them marching nearer.
“Very handsome bunch they are!” said the man, the children’s grandfather not noticing the ever so slight menace in the mans voice.
“Yes they are, Thank you.” their grandfather replied just as the children arrived where the two men were standing together.
“Kids, their grandfather said to them- This is Mr. Ergo.”
“Hello!” all of the children said in unison.
“The tallest little lady here is Alaysia.” he said, pointing to his granddaughter.
“Hello there!” Mr. Ergo said as he bent down and shook Alaysia’s hand.
“And- her grandfather said as he introduced the rest of his grandchildren: This little lady here is Shaylah; and this is my grandson, Izayah; and the shy one hiding behind her brothers leg is Micaiah.”
Mr. Ergo reached out and shook each and every child’s hand as they were introduced- with one exception: Micaiah. She wouldn’t shake his hand, but rather she kept herself separated from him by moving behind her brother.
Ho-Ho, Mr. Ergo laughed at Micaiah. “What’s the matter little cutie? he asked, Don’t you want to shake Ogre’s- Umm, I mean- Mr. Ergo’s hand?”
“Just a bit shy!” explained Micaiah’s grandfather.
When he had first went to shake her hand, Micaiah had looked up at Mr. Ergos face- and for just a quick instant she saw that his eyes were a sparkling, dark green. Micaiah had never seen anyone with eyes like that before. It scared her some, so she decided right then and there that she wasn’t letting him touch her, so she quickly moved behind her brother.
“You got green eyes!” Micaiah blurted out, pointing her finger up at Mr. Ergo.
“I sure do- Green as Goblins!” he replied, making a joke of it as he winked at her.
“It was the kids who found the door leading to the root cellar.” Their grandfather said to Mr. Ergo, not noticing what was really behind the exchange between her and Mr. Ergo. “When Shaylah came and got me and showed me what they’d found- needless to say I was surprised to find the other children down in the root cellar.”
“I would imagine that you would be surprised.” said Mr. Ergo. “I have to say that I was very surprised myself when you called and told me about it.” “What say we open it up and have a look?” he asked, staring intently at the door leading to the cellar.
“Sure- Sure!” grandfather answered. “Izayah- would you go and get your grandpops his flashlight, please?”
Izayah pulled his sisters fingers loose from his pants leg and sprinted off to get the flashlight for his grandfather. Micaiah quickly moving over so that she was now hidden behind Alaysia.
“Kids- said their grandfather, turning to face them- I want you to stay away from here while Mr. Ergo and I go down and have a look.” “You guys can all play I the yard, but keep away from this area, understand- all of you?” he said as he looked at each of them.
He didn’t have to ask Micaiah twice- she was out of there like a shot. She was just happy to get away from Mr. Ergo and his creepy green eyes.
“Okay grandpops!” said Alaysia, backing away, taking Shaylahs hand and leading her away from the cellar.
“Did you see his eyes?” Alaysia asked once her and her sisters were out of earshot of her grandfather and Mr. Ergo.
“I did! I did!” squealed Micaiah. She was very glad to know that she wasn’t the only one who had seen Mr. Ergo’s weird, creepy green eyes when he had tried to shake her hand.
“They looked kind of like a Lizards eyes.” said Shaylah. “They were twinkling, like a glittery green- but they were mean looking.” she said.
“I wonder if Izayah noticed them too? Alaysia said to her sisters.
“If we all saw them, how come grandpops couldn’t see them?” asked Shaylah.
Alaysia thought for a minute, then- as the answer to Shaylahs question dawned on her, she instantly replied: “Cause their magic. Mr. Ergo is magic- Just like the Oogie.” she said.
“Yeah- Magic! But the Oogie’s eyes didn’t look mean like that to me.!” said Shaylah nervously as she was thinking about Mr. Ergo’s eyes.
“Here comes Izayah- Let’s ask him if he saw Mr. Ergo’s eyes like we did.” said Alaysia.
Izayah came across the yard, carrying his grandfather’s flash light. The girls all ran up to him to stop him before he took the flashlight to their grandfather.
“Izayah, Izayah!” Micaiah as she ran to her brother. “Did you see that mans mean green eyes too?” she asked him as him, wrapping both her arms around his leg, causing him to half walk, half drag Micaiah along as he walked.
“I guess we all saw his eyes, huh?” asked Izayah when the others surrounded him.
“All except for grandpops- He couldn’t see them because their magic.” said Alaysia.