|
|
"Oh great," I thought, another summer where I must spend my time with my Aunt Claire, Uncle Jim, and my oh-so-ignorant cousin James. Every summer, my mom drives me to their house in New Terras and I have to spend the summer swimming, hiking, biking, exploring, and camping. Sounds to good to be true, right?
Well the downside to all this wonderfulness, is that my cousin James is doing all that with me. James is the kind of person who you want to slap silly after being with for about five minutes; he thinks the world revolves around him and he is always right. Not to mention that he is a know-it-all. My Aunt Claire is basically like a grandma; she's kind, caring, and loves to fatten you up with baked goodies. Uncle Jim is . . . well . . . let's just say that he loves to joke around with you. Trust me though, it gets a little to crazy.
Our call pulled into the driveway. "Ah, finally! Six hours of driving can actually drive you crazy!" chirped my mom. I got out of the car and started walking up the steps. Aunt Claire came out of the door to greet us. "Oh, Mary! So glad you could make it! You and Alexa come inside, I have a zucchini loaf that I have to take out of the oven!" We hurried inside only to come face to face with James. "I see you took longer than usual to get here Alexa, what happened? Did you get car sick again?" sniped James. "Great to see you too." I said bluntly. We heard Aunt Claire calling us into the dining room. When we came in my mom told us she was in a hurry to leave because she had to get to the airport in Lentburg about four hours away. Aunt Claire and Uncle Jim where taking her there, so I had to be alone with James. "Lovely, just lovely," I thought to myself.
As soon as the car pulled away, and we waved our goodbyes, James instantly went and gathered all the junk food he could find and plopped himself in front of the television. I told him that I was going to go outside for a walk; I was thinking to myself that it would be the perfect time to escape him for some moments of peace. I threw on my bathing suit just in case I felt like going into the water.
I started along the path that went from the house to the lake. The path goes all the way around the lake, and it is usually quiet and peaceful seeing as there aren't very many other people that live there. As I was about halfway down the path, I noticed Mr. Craw. Most people call him crazy because he was in a car accident and disabled. He always mumbles about hearing voices in his head, so most people don't think he is sane. I didn't want to meet up with him so I went around through the water; it was a good thing I slipped on my bathing suit.
The water was only knee deep, and it was so clear that you could see every single rock, pebble and stone. Suddenly, I caught a shimmer out of the corner of my eye. Possibly it was the light hitting the water, but I still turned to look. I saw nothing. Then, there it was again, the light, it was a blueish glow, and it was coming from under the sand! I bent down and started digging and digging. Suddenly, my hand hit something small, and odd shaped. I grabbed hold of it and pulled it out of the sand. In my hand I held an old fashioned key. It was rusted, yet shiny as if it was new, but how could it be? It was most likely in the lake for at least twenty years!
Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulder from behind! I jumped back and gave a little yelp. Standing behind me, was Mr. Craw, well at least I think it was. His eyes were glazed over and his voice sounded really different as he said, "I see you have found the key Alexa. With it, you can unlock many secrets, but you must be careful of whom you trust. Someone you shall meet is not what they appear to be." Normally, if someone came up to you and said that, your first instinct would be to run away and call the police, but something kept me there. It was almost like I knew what he was talking about. I nodded my head and he disappeared into the bush.
As I walked back up the path, those words kept repeating in my mind. Be careful of whom you trust. Someone you shall meet is not what they appear to be. I shuddered at the thought.
|
