“MOM!” Andrew yelled, “I don’t want to come downstairs!”
“But why?” His mom replied, “What’s stopping you from climbing down a few steps?”
The time was exactly 11:59 AM. Andrew’s grandparents had arived, and this detoured Andrew’s love for a nice, big Easter feast.
Its not that I hate, Easter… Its just that my grandparents can be a bit… awkward, Andrew thought.
“Andrew Jackson Smith, get down here this instance,” Andrew’s mother screamed.
Andrew knew that his mom would go full beast mode if she repeated a command more than once, so he got out of his bed, rushed to the hallway, and took the first step down.
The time was now 11:59, 7 seconds in. After the first step, Andrew contemplated his thoughts and his actions.
How must my grandparents be feeling? Am I disrespecting them? What do I do?
Andrew’s brain was filled with so many thoughts since his life was not the best. Andrew had been expelled from almost all the middle schools in his district, and he has had to move houses 5 different times, for 5 different schools. The school he is in now would be the last in the district, and if he got expelled, he would be sent to boarding school until the twelfth grade.
Andrew did not hate Easter, or the feast they have every year during Easter. It’s just that he hasn’t seen his grandparents since he was a toddler, and now he is almost 14 years old. Almost 12 years since he has last seen them, and he couldn’t even remember them. Andrew had no means to contact his grandparents. He never really cared about them. So the amount of times he thinks about his grandparents, that is how much he thinks his grandparents will hate him… ten fold. He took a step forward.
11:59, 11 seconds in..
Andrew was stuck in his own thoughts, pondering his surroundings, almost as if he was trying to find the meaning of life. Andrew looked to his left. He could see a tiny bit of the downstairs floor, and his grandparents with his parents. He thought that they seemed nice. They didn’t seem full of hatred and dishonesty. He climbed down another step.
11:59, 36 seconds in…
As Andrew was climbing down the stairs, he felt as if the stairs were his life. The higher he goes on the steps, the better his life becomes. Unfortunately for him, for most of his life he had been going down towards the first floor.
He almost forgot about his grandparents… almost. His past and present life had become the deciding factor for all of his decisions.
An average kid wouldn’t be this worried about lunch. Why can’t I be normal? Andrew thought. He decided to take two more steps down.
11:59, 40 seconds in…
Guilt was slowly taking Andrew over as he thought about his grandparents again. There was a moment as if time slowed to a halt. Andrew was left with himself and only himself. All this time Andrew thought about what would happen to the relationship with his grandparents because of his past, but now he thought of trying to fix it for the future. He couldn’t keep living in shame because of some bad actions from his life before.
12:00 exactly…
Andrew was finally downstairs, exactly at the right time for lunch to be served. He saw his grandparents, and he smiled. He was filled with joy to see his Grandparents smile back.
“Hello Andrew! Its been a while since we last saw you. How are you?” His grandmother asked.
“I-I’m good. Better than ever!” Andrew replied, hesitantly.
“Everyone come to the dinner table.” Andrew’s mom shouted, “Lunch is ready. The Easter special!”
That one minute for me to collect my thoughts and overcome them was the best minute of ym life, and it will remain that way forever. Andrew, his parents, and his grandparents had the feast of a lifetime, especially Andrew. His connection to his grandparents would never be forgotten, and so would this Easter where he started his life all over again.
Aarav's World 