Suddenly

By Amanda Holmes

Rrriinngg....rrriinngg...The phone rang, but I just sat there. I knew that my mom would get it. We had a long day, but she kept busy. I, however, just sat there holding a boring book, that I thought I could read.

My family drove down to Zebulon that day or evening, whatever, we went unexpectedly. Actually we drove my dad to Thomaston, and then, my mom, my sister, and I drove back to Zebulon. My dad stayed at the hospital with my grandfather.

See, sometime this afternoon my great-uncle called my dad. My grandfather got sick this morning and called the hospital to come get him. My Great-Uncle Shi hadn't gotten a call about Grandaddy's condition. He wanted to know if we knew anything. My family didn't have a clue, we didn't know he got sick in the first place.

When my dad found out he got worried and upset. " Why haven't they called?", he mumbled to himself," Why haven't they called Uncle Shi back either?" My mom finally got him calmed down, so that "the kids" wouldn't hear. My mom decided she would call the hospital, but as soon as she started to, my dad changed his mind and wanted to call. He got through to Grandaddy's room, but the phone wouldn't reach the bed. Grandaddy yelled across the room to "talk" to Daddy. So my grandfather had improved, at least for the time.

The day went from worry and confusion back to a normal Sunday for my parents. Lillian and I never had the idea that something had happened to Grandaddy. My parents' day didn't go back to normal completely; they debated whether or not to go to Zebulon, even though things turned out fine. We stayed home for a main part of the day.

Around five o'clock, the phone rang and I figured I had a friend calling me. I let my parents get it anyway and went back to watching T.V. "Get ready to go to Zebulon. We're leaving in about thirty minutes.", my dad bellowed after he got off the phone. He had that tone of voice that I didn't like and I didn't know why. "Why are we going to Zebulon, I mean, we have school tomorrow?" Lillian bombarded me with questions, while they flew through my head at the same time. We still didn't have a clue.

The ride to Zebulon became very quiet as soon as my parents got a chance to explain the reason to go to Zebulon so suddenly.

See, I never imagined my grandfather sick. As I grew up, he would drive up to Athens once a month. He had just come over about two weeks ago. He would get so excited when it became warm enough for him to go swimming. He recently enrolled at an indoor swimming place, so he could go swimming whenever he wanted. He had his first and only child, my dad, at the age of forty. He, obviously, reached the age to start slowing down, but he just didn't want to slow down. As a child, I would go on walks with him, now he walks with my sister. Whenever Lillian or I got sick, he might drive up to take care of his sick grand-daughter. He, however, never got sick.

My mom hangs up the phone now. I can tell that it's bad. She has this look, and not for anger, or sad, or happy, instead a shock look and a hide-true-feelings look. She walks over to me. You know, at times like this that time seems to stop. I guess because you know what will happen and it takes to long to go ahead and get over with it.

"Amanda, are you listening? Amanda, that was Daddy, Grandaddy died a few minutes ago. I'm going to go tell Lillian. Okay?" The news slaps me. I want to sit down, but I've forgotten how. I don't remember when I stood up, everything has disappeared. It seems as though I have to relearn everything.

He left, just like that someone can go away and leave you, not a word. It hurts, but it doesn't go away, like a scratch or a bruise. I can hear Lillian start crying. She falls apart at the news, meanwhile I can't move, cry, or anything, like a rock. I've frozen in place, except I won't thaw.

My mom guides Lillian into the room. Lillian can't see for all the tears in her eyes. My mom sits me down. She sits down in a rocking chair, and Lillian sits on her lap. They rock together. Lillian cries herself to sleep after a while, so Mama takes her to the bedroom. I admit that I wasn't too close to him, but I knew he loved me. Whenever we went to Zebulon we would go somewhere with him and before he could introduce us to a person they would know who Lillian and I were. See, we became the joy of his life, and he had a million pictures that he would show to everyone he knew. He would tell stories about his most recent trip to see us, to these people. He always had a way of describing things that made you listen. He would tell us about experiences he had in the military or whatever else he did. Whenever he started to tell a story I'd try to leave because I thought it would bore me, but my parents made me stay. I learned a lot from those stories, about him and life. Now she's guiding me to the bedroom to put me to bed. I'll probably just lie there, because I've forgotten what sleep means. I just keep thinking one thing over and over, "He didn't say bye."