The Whisperers

Madison Kohnert

“I don’t want to go!” my little sister Anna wailed. “You can’t make me!”
My mom sighed. “Anna, calm down. I'm going with you. And anyways-we have to go.” She made a face like she didn’t like the idea of going with Anna.
Anna started to cry. “But I don’t want to go!”
My mom gave her a look that made her shut up, and then walked out of the room.
Anna came to sit next to me. We sat listening for a while, waiting to see if she would walk back in and go BOO!
“How come you don’t have to go? That’s not fair.” she asked quietly. She started to cry silently again.
I wiped her tear off her cheek, and said “I don’t know. Maybe because I’m not cool enough…” I smiled.
She smiled too, and got up. She started taking the clothes off her bed, folding them, and placing them in her suitcase. She was so careful, and she did it very slowly.
I stood up too, and gave her a quick hug. I grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards me. “Anna, you be brave.” I told her. “You take that ‘Kingdom’ and give it everything you got. You be brave, OK?”
She nodded and hugged me again. “And you be brave, Ms. Emily Navik. I believe in you too. Even though I won’t be home-” she sniffed. “-That doesn’t mean you won’t be brave, right?”
I laughed. “I’ll be brave. Promise.” I zipped her suitcase, and stood up. “Goodbye, Anna. I love you. Have fun.”
She nodded, and walked out. I looked up to see my mom standing at the doorway.
“You okay?” she asked.I nodded.
“Yeah. You leaving?”
“Yup. Have fun with your grandparents. Love you.” she walked in and gave me a quick hug.
She waved once and walked out of the room. I stood there. She started the car. I stood there. She drove off. I stood there. I must have stood there for about an hour, and then I broke down. I fell on the floor and wept. I wept until my grandparents came. And then, I put on my best fake smile and walked downstairs to let my grandparents in.
*********************************************
“Hello.” I greeted them. “How are you?”
My grandma smiled, and went in for the hug. “Oh my ba-a-by! Look how tall you have gotten!” she cried. “Harold, look how big she got!”
My grandpa grunted, and snuck past us. “Nice place you got here. Very… homey.” he snorted. “Your mom made you a hell of a life.”
My grandma stopped hugging me abruptly, and went over to the kitchen. “Oh… yes.” she agreed. “It is quite… kitcheney. And Harold,”
“Yes, my dear?”
“Please don’t swear.”
I stared at them for a minute. I stood there and stared.
<i>Jeez. I sure am standing and staring a lot tonight.</i> I thought. <i>Which means-move! Say something!</i>
I made my legs move forward, and my mouth speak. “Well, I’m going to go up to my room, and you two can go to the living room.”
As I walked away, I heard my grandma mutter something about “my mom teaching me well.”
I shook my head. I hated it when people made cracks about my mother. They were always putting her down, just because she got a divorce with my dad! And she wasn’t even the one that decided to do it!        
I sighed and walked into my room. I already knew it was going to be boring here. These were the grandparents that didn’t ever let me do anything. Nothing!        
I flopped on my bed and picked up my phone.  
TO: GABEY!!! FROM: Emmy:)                 Heyo, how’s it going?                             I’m good. How ‘bout you?                                 I’m fine. Guess what though!!!                What?                                 My mom and Anna left TODAY!!! I’m with my gramma and granpa now. It’s pretty boring. That’s too bad. You want me to come over? Sure… if you really want to… and can. That would be great!                                 OK. Hold on…Yes, I can. She wants to know if I can stay the night.                                 Ummmmm… sure??? If you want to… that would be great, actually.                                 OK. Hold on… Yes. I can go. So I’m going to go pack. See you in ten. Otay! Bye! Oh this is so exciting! It’s like we are six all over again!
I set my phone down, and jumped off my bed. I had to clean my room! I mean, my best friend was coming over to spend the night!
I ran around, picking up this and that, trying to make it look like I was a normal clean human being. I didn't make it perfect in the amount of time that I had, but I did make it look decent. And anyways, I learned in a book that if someone really cleans there room for a guy, the guy would get the wrong picture. So I didn't clean too much.
When Gabe arrived, my grandpa made a big scene about being my grandpa. To the point that my grandma had to shut him up.
“I’m so sorry about that… Gabe?” she apologized. “That is just his personality. And… Gabe… is your name? Right?”
“Yes, it is. Thank you.” Gabe said politely.
“Yup… now may we please go hang out?That's kind of what he came over for.”
“Oh… yes. I’m so sorry. Go head…” she said, smiling. “And by the way… I’m her grandma.
*********************************************
“Ha ha. Very funny.”
He laughed. “It kind of is. If you think about it.”
“So now I don’t think? Because to me-its not funny!”
He was laughing so hard, he almost fell off the bed.
"Stop!" he gasped. "I'm going to fall off!"
“Here… let me help you with that.” I pushed him off the bed and started laughing myself.
“Now… that’s...funny! Ha-ha!”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me down too. We were both laughing on the floor now.
My phone beeped, and I jumped up to retrieve it. It was my other best friend, Alexis.
To: Emily:) From: smexy_lexi hello. how r u? i’m good. gabe is over. ooooooh. a boy is over. is he in ur room? we r just friends. u r the only one of us that likes him. if u ever tell any1 that… i will kill u! DX ok. i got to go now. bye! :)
I sighed and put my phone down. I looked up to see Gabe staring at me.
He smiled. “So… how is Alexis?” he asked.
<i>Crap.</i> He saw our texts. “She’s… good.”
He smiled even bigger. “Who does she like? What?! I was just wondering!”
I smiled. “Take a wild guess.”
He made a big show of making it look like he was thinking. “Hmmmmm. Let’s see. How ‘bout-me?”
“BINGO!!! And win a brand-new carrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!” I shouted. “But don’t get too excited about it. The car is barbie size.”
He smiled. “And who do you like?”
“I don’t like anyone. Really.”
“Come on. Who.” he pressed. “You have to like someone. Maybe-hmmmmmm. Me?”
I pushed him off the bed, and he made no move to get up. “Nope. Not even close.”
I had a hard time falling asleep. And when I finally did, I was in a dream. Not a dream. A nightmare.
*********************************************
I’m running through the woods. Something is chasing me. Something big. I can’t get away. They’re too fast. They’re gaining. I can’t run fast enough. But I know that I can be faster than them. Somehow. So I open my wings-and fly.
*********************************************
I wake up with a jolt. What was that about? Wings? Being chased through the woods?
I sit up, and look for Gabe. I find him on the floor. I had to shove my fist in my mouth to keep from laughing. Why would he be on the floor? Did he not like me?
I sigh, and lay back down. I had a lot to think about, and barely anytime to think it! What if Gabe woke up, and asks about my dream? Would he think I’m crazy?
My phone beeps, and I grab it. To: Emily:) From: smexy_lexi get up. i had a dream. about you. and wings. and woods. ;( i’m asleep. go away. zzzzz. whatev. goodbye.
I turned my phone off, and laid back down. I turned towards Gabe, and saw him staring at me!
“Oh my god!" I jumped. "Gabe, what the heck?"
He laughed. "Sorry. Your phone woke me up. It's not my fault."
“But you didn't have to stare at me! Jeez. My heart is still pounding."
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to. But who were you talking to?”
I shook my head. “Just Alexis. She had a weird dream.”
He smiled. “Cool. Did you have any dreams?”
I thought for a moment, and jumped up. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.”
He jumps up too. “Em? What’s wrong?”
I tried to look at our texts, but Gabe grabbed my phone out of my hand. He through it across the room.
“Hey! Gabe! What the heck?” I tried to turn and retrieve my phone, but he locked his arms around me.
“Stop.” he growled. “Don’t try anything.”
I kept wiggling, trying to break free. His grip was rock hard, and I couldn’t get through.
“Gabe, come on. Let me go.”
He hardened his grip. “No. You can’t ever read those texts again. You can’t tell her about your dream. And you can’t let her tell you either. Ok?”
I stared at him. “What? How-”
“Just say yes or no.” he growled again.
“Yes.” I whimpered.
"Good. Thank you." he let me go. "Now you can go get your phone and delete those texts. Kapeesh?"
I nodded, unable to speak.
"Then go. Or do I have to do it for you?"
I nodded again, and walked slowly over to where we threw my phone. I turned it on, and went into mine and Alexis's texts. I deleted <i>every</i> one of them.
"Thank you. Very good. Now call her."
"What? You want me to call her? Why?" I managed to croak out.
He made a duh face. "To make her believe it was just a stupid dream. <i>DUH!"</i>
I nodded and dialed her number.
"Hello?" she answered right away.
I cleared my throat. "Hey. Just wanted to talk to you about your 'dream.' Um, well I think it sounds pretty weird."
"Emily? Wait, what? You don't believe that I had a dream like that? Thanks a lot. I'm glad we have a friendship that we believe each other. <i>Thank you!"</i>
"Lexi! I didn't say that! I just said that--"
"No." she interrupted me. "I don't care. Have a great day, <i>Emily</i>. Goodbye."
*********************************************
"No! She just sort of stopped taking to me! I mean, seriously! What is her problem?"