The Aunt

This is a very personal story to me and is a true one. I wrote this story for my writing class and it has been published in Brick and Brook.

                                                                                                                                                                              

            Happy Birthday! My aunt had handed me a medium sized box wrapped in purple paper. Wow, Aunt Tiny, thank you! I set down my sippy cup and eagerly unwrapped the box. I removed the lid and looked inside. Wow, Auntie thank you! I pulled out a blue care bear with a sleeping moon on its stomach. “It glows in the dark too,” my aunt said. “

“Wow, it’s great. Thank you!”

            That was 2002. I was turning five. I didn’t much care for the bear. I liked it but I didn’t respect it. I should have. Little had I known that three years later my aunt would be diagnosed with cervical cancer, and she passed away 2 months after the diagnosis...

 

            “Come here, Anna.” The sickly looking woman’s eyes opened slightly. “Anna, NOW!” her mother said sternly.

“No I don’t want to see her like that”

Anna had said choking on her own words. The sick woman shut her eyes.

“Anna, I am not going to ask you again.” Her mother grabbed Anna's arm and pulled her towards the bed. Anna pulled back and tried to fall flat.

“I don’t want my last memory of my aunt to be her laying in a hospital bed, in this house.” Tears poured out of Anna's eyes. Her mother didn’t listen and dragged Anna into the room, and what Anna saw made her turn pale and sent shivers up her spine.

            What was once her aunt had become a face so unrecognizable Anna had to step back. What was once beautiful glowing skin was now stricken with jaundice. Her hair, once so long, thick, and luscious, was now worn so thin that even just touching it would make clumps of it fall out. Anna began to cry again. “I cant see her like this.”

Her mom was by her aunt’s side, holding her sickly looking hand. “Her eyes are open. She’s trying to talk.”

Anna didn’t move but looked at her aunt. “P...Pre...Pretty” Her aunt tried to speak but was too weak. She was strong, though, and kept trying. “Pretty...girl... you're my... pretty girl.” Anna knew that was meant for her. All the summers she spent with her aunt, her aunt always called her that. Anna fell to the floor and cried, in long painful sobs. Her mom picked her up and carried her out of the room.

            “Mom I told you I didn’t want to see her like that!”

Anna could hear the heart monitor in her head, the constant beeping letting Anna know she was still suffering. They pumped her full of morphine, but that didn’t help the pain. Pain all over.

“She must think she’s a monster because of me.” Anna grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes.

“No, Honey, your aunt knew you loved her very much.”

“No mom I can’t imagine her wanting to see me and me refusing, because I can’t stand to see the pain in her eyes. I can’t handle hearing what she must be thinking...” Anna choked up. “I can’t imagine her wishing she'd die just to rid the pain.” A moment of silence filled the room. Her mother, who was now in tears, stood up and walked out of the room. Anna lay down on the couch and shut her eyes.

            She woke up. It was 10:35 p.m., and everyone was gathered either around her aunt’s bedside or outside having a smoke. Anna went outside to get some fresh air.

“Harvest moon,” her uncle said, and pointed to the sky. Anna was fascinated by it. The orange moon, all the beautiful stars, briefly took her away from reality. Another one of Anna's aunts came outside “It's time.”

Anna knew, and she didn’t dare go in. She refused to watch paramedics remove her aunt’s body, but Anna did smile with tears in her eyes. She cried because she didn’t just lose her aunt, she lost her best friend. She was happy, though�"happy she wasn’t suffering anymore, happy that she was finally rid of all the horrid pain.

                                   ***

She looked at all the photographs and memories. Tears rolled down her rosy cheeks, and hit the floor. She was silent. She ran her hands down the black dress and took a deep breath. She started towards the box covered in roses, the photographs, and letters. Her cousin, who was also in tears, walked over to Anna and gripped her hand. “It'll be all right, it's just her ashes.” He tried so hard to be positive, but he had been choking back tears. Anna swallowed hard. She gripped her cousin’s hand tighter and picked up a rose to bring over. They both walked over and stared at all the flowers that lay askew over the box. The box was beautiful�"wooden�"and had the name “Marjorie Ann” carved on the side, with her birthday and death dates underneath the name.

Mark, her cousin, lost it at that point. He fell to his knees and sobbed. “Why'd they take you away from me? You were like a mother and they stole you away from me!” He spoke through his tears. “You were everything to me.” He placed his head on the box and cried. Anna stood there unsure of what she should say or do. She wrapped her arms around her cousin, a grown man she swore she’d never see cry, and hugged him. It’s all she could think of to do.

Anna placed her rose on the box and said, “Thank you for all you’ve shown me. I will never forget you or all the memories we have shared.” Tears ran down her face. “I love you.” She kissed the box and knelt back down by Mark. “Everything will be all right.” She spoke through tears.

Mark wiped his eyes and looked at her. “You know, you’re the most supportive person here, and you’re only eight.” He tightly hugged Anna and stood up. He placed his flower on the box, along with a letter.

                                   ***

They listened to people tell stories about her, all funny ones because everyone was sad enough. She wouldn't have wanted crying. She’d always said, “When I die, make sure people laugh about who I was and what I did, and not cry over what happened to me. I will always be there.”

    ***

            A day after the wake, a funeral was held. Anna was wearing a button down long sleeved black shirt and black dress pants. Anna's hair rested gently on her shoulders as she looked at the hole into which her aunt’s ashes were being placed. A tear welled up in Anna's eye but she quickly wiped it away and grabbed a rose to drop down the hole. She watched her family drop theirs in one by one and mutter a prayer. Her heart was pounding so badly she couldn’t hear anything but the pounding. Anna squeezed her hands together with the rose between them and shut her eyes. When she pulled apart her hands they were covered in blood. She hadn't realized it but three thorns had not just pricked her hand but went into her hand. She could see inside the cut and quivered. It hadn't hurt, though. There was no feeling, no pain from what had just happened. She wiped her hands on her pants. Her heart was still pounding rapidly.

“Anna!” A voice broke her trance and calmed the noise of the pounding. “Go ahead, Anna,” her mom said, motioning with her eyes towards the hole. Anna took a few steps forward, let out a long sigh, and looked at the rose in her hand. “Rest in peace, ‘cause I don’t think I will ever rest again.” Anna crossed her heart and dropped the rose. She watched it fall onto the box, and she collapsed in strong painful sobs.

“Why'd you take her away from me?!” Anna shouted towards the sky. Her mother grabbed her arm and tugged her away

“Anna, you have embarrassed me enough! Go sit in the car!” Her mom quietly scolded her, but it didn’t matter how quiet she was, everyone was staring.

“Mom…I'm sorry I�"”

“No, no arguing, get in the car now!”

Anna pulled her arm away and headed towards the car. She noticed her hands were still bleeding. She slipped into the back seat of the car and cried silently to herself. She grabbed the first aid kit out of the glove compartment, and looked for something to bandage up her hands. She found some gauze and tape and gently placed the gauze over the three cuts.

“Going to need stitches anyway,” she muttered.

Both of Anna's hands were wrapped up in gauze. She placed the kit back into the glove compartment and sat back in the seat. After a few minutes, Anna began to doze off. She didn’t care; she wanted to escape from there. Not just from the funeral, or the death but from reality. It was all too much to take and she needed a break, so she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

 

            .           .           .                       Nine Years Later

            Anna grabbed the keys to the Honda parked outside. “Mom, I will be back in a couple of hours!”

“Okay, Anna, be safe. Call me if you need to.”

Anna got into the car and headed out towards Vermont. It was a two hour drive, for a ten minute visit.

            After two hours of driving, she finally arrived at the Cambridge cemetery. She swallowed hard and pulled in. She parked the car, got out, and walked to the grave, still covered in flowers and glass frogs from other family members. Anna sat down next to the grave and placed a bundle of flowers down.

“Hi, aunt Tiny, long time no see.” The wind whistled through the trees and the smell of pollen filled the air. “I came by to say I really miss you, and I am so sorry for what happened way back when. I'm happy to know you’re in a better place.” Anna swallowed hard and choked back tears. “I just really miss you and all the fun times we used to have, camping, fishing, swimming. I remember as much as my mind lets me, and I'm glad those memories have stuck.” Anna looked down and saw a little toad hopping towards her. “Frogs must love you, like you loved them.” Anna picked up the small toad and placed it near the grave. “I don't know when I will be able to come back and see you again.” Anna sighed. “Mom would kill me if she knew this is where I went…Anyway, I still send balloons up for you every Halloween and your birthday, I don’t think I will ever stop doing that.” Anna stood up and brushed off her knees. “Well, it was nice talking to you again. I hope you forgive me for everything all those years ago. I love you.”

Anna turned back towards her car. Something was caught on her mirror. Anna walked over and was aghast. It was a blue balloon that somehow, in a manner of ten minutes, had gotten caught on her mirror. Some would call this just a coincidence, but Anna called it a sign that her aunt was there, listening and looking over her always

Author's Note

My teacher told me to use ellipses(...) to switch to another scene, which is done many times throughout this story, like the scene from being a child at my birthday, to being at a wake, to being at a funeral. The dots are replaced with stars (***) cause he told me it would be easier for the reader to follow along. I hope you enjoy! Please rate/give me comments and/or suggestions.