My Life After the Disaster

Chapter One

I get off the plane, feeling sad and nervous all at the same time. I miss my friend. I can’t believe what I went through and that I lost my parents. Now I’m moving in with my aunt, Guinevere. I feel like a completely different person, like this isn’t even my life anymore. Who am I now? I look over at where she is, waving frantically and smiling at me.

“Rose! My goodness. I’m so glad you’re alright,” Guinevere says to me, wrapping her arms around me. “I’ve been here waiting for you since your flight took off. I didn’t want to risk missing you. I know you lost your phone so I thought I would take you to get a new one.”

I look at her, feeling squashed between her and my bag which I had been holding in my arms. “That sounds great Guinevere. I want to call Annabelle and let her know I got home safely,” I tell her, trying to get out of her hug.

Guinevere pulls away from the hug and just looks at me, then she takes my hand and pulls me out of there.

We head out to her car which was parked in the parking lot for people picking up. Her car was fancy looking and purple, like an unusual colour for a car, a light lilac kind of purple. But I love it because purple is my favourite colour.

Guinevere opens the door for me and I get into the car. She closes the door and hurries to get in on the driver’s side. “Do you want to tell me about your new friend?” she asks me as she starts up the car.

I smile, thinking about Annabelle. I wonder what she’s doing now, probably getting her brother and sister back. I knew she was doing that today. “Well she’s a very beautiful girl. Probably the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. She has long loosely curly blonde hair that goes down to the middle of her back, she has rounded deep blue eyes like the ocean at night with the moon shinning over it, she has a doll-like face and long eye lashes, she’s petite with fair skin and she’s an inch taller than me.” I tell her, smiling as I do so.

“She does sound beautiful, but I meant what' she like, as a person, more so than how she looks,” Guinevere says, laughing lightly as she pulls out of the parking lot.

“Well, she’s the kindest person I’ve ever met. She’s very caring about others. It’s because of her that I’m still alive. She protected me and convinced her boyfriend to take me with them when he saved her. She’s a special person. I thought we were the same age but she’s turning 18 next month. In less than a month,” I tell my aunt as I look out the window at all the familiar buildings as we pass them by.

Guinevere pulls into the parking lot of a mobile shop and parks the car “She definitely sounds like a blessed person. I’m thankful that you met her. Otherwise I would’ve lost all my family. With my mother and your father gone. You’re all I have left now,” she tells me, undoing her seatbelt.

I sigh, looking over at her and say, “I know. You’re the only family I have too. Do you think we could go back to my parents place so I can get some stuff?”

“Of course we can, after we get your new phone and have it all set up. I’ve already made up a room for you in my place. It’s all ready for you,” she tells me, opening the car door.

I get out of the car and follow her into the store. As soon as we walk into the shop I see the phone I want and walk straight for it. “I want this one,” I tell my aunt, pointing at it.

She walks over to me and looks at the phone, smiling, she says, “That’s a great choice, purple, that’s my favourite colour.”

“Mine too. I love all shades of purple,” I tell her excitedly.

“I know. It’s one of the things that we have in common. Just wait till you see your new room,” she tells me, taking the phone up into her hand.

We walk over to the counter and get the phone set up and paid for, after about an hour of going through everything we finally walk out of there, with my new phone in my hand. I even got a purple case to go with it.

We get back into the car and Guinevere heads towards my parent’s place, not stopping anywhere else.

She pulls into the driveway of my parent’s house and I get out of the car, leaving my phone on the seat of the car.

I walk up to the door of the house which still had yellow crime scene tape going across it. I rip it down and open the door to see the place in complete and utter destruction. The bookshelf along the wall was knock over and all the book that were on it are scattered along the floor, some torn, others ripped. I walk further into the house and step around the glass from the living room table, there was blood soaked into the carpet where my parents bodies fell.

“Are you doing okay there Rose?” my aunt asks me, looking around in horror.

I nod my head and say, “I’m alright. I just wasn’t expecting to see the place in such a state.” I walk pass the mess that was the living room and head for my room around the corner. My blankets were all tossed onto the floor of my room and my tv was smashed on the floor. “I had been in here when they came. They yanked me out of my bed, smashing the tv as I struggled to get free from them, they dragged me out of my room just in time to witness another man shooting my parents in the head. They fell down, breaking the coffee table and went lifeless on the living room floor, staring in my direction. Before my mother died I saw her lips say I love you.” A tear trickles down my cheek as I remember that horrible day. I could picture it clearly in my mind as if it was yesterday.

Guinevere comes over to me and wraps her arms around me, hugging me tightly. “I’m so sorry you had to see that darling. No one should ever have to witness their mother and father being killed. Not ever,” she tells me, letting her own eyes fill up with tears.

I gently push her off of me and say, “It’s okay auntie. I’m okay. Let’s just get my stuff and go to your place. I want to see my new room.” I grab a bag from my closet and start taking clothes from my dresser to stick in the bag. I grab a couple of stuffed toys from my bed that my parents had given me and I grab my locket off the top of my dresses that held both their pictures on each side of it. I unfasten the chain and put it on myself.

“Is that everything that you wanted to take with you?” Guinevere asks me, looking over my room.

“Just about. There’s one more thing I wanted to get,” I tell her, leaving my room to head to my parent’s bedroom. I walk inside and head for my parent’s closet, pulling out a beautiful red dress that I always loved. I hold it to myself and close my eyes, remembering her in it.

“Your mother always loved that dress. Did you know your father actually gifted that dress to her on their first anniversary?” Guinevere asks me, looking at the dress.

I look over at my aunt then down at the dress in my hands and say, “Really? I never knew that. But it was my favourite dress of all the dresses she owned. I wanted to keep it for myself as a reminder of her.”

“All you have to do is look into the mirror Rose. You look almost identical to your beloved mother. Sometimes when I look at you it’s like I’m looking at a ghost,” Guinevere tells me, with a smile.

I carefully put the dress into my bag and walk over to their dresser, picking up a family photo of the three of us together that they kept in their bedroom. “I never really though I looked like mom. I always thought I looked like my dad,” I tell her, looking at the photo in my hands.

She laughs and says, “I don’t know where you got that idea from sweetie, you don’t look anything like your dad. He doesn’t even have red hair. You got all your looks from your mother.”

“I guess you’re right. I just couldn’t see it before. I got everything I wanted. Let’s go to your place now,” I tell her, putting the photo into my bag and closing it up.

Guinevere puts her arm around my shoulders and says, “Alright sweetie, we can go to my place now. You don’t need to see anymore of this nightmare. And I’m really looking forward to showing you your new room.”

We head out to the car and go straight to Guinevere’s place which wasn’t far from my parents place. She pulls into the parking garage and turns off the car.

I get out of the car and follow her into the house. It had been awhile since I was at my aunt’s place but it was still just as nice as I remembered it.

She walks me to the end of the hallway and stops right in front of a bedroom door. “This here will be your room from now on,” she told me, pointing into the room.

I walk passed her and go into the room. There was a mesh hammock in the corner of the room and a bed on the side. There’s furry purple pillows and everything in the room is purple, even the wall is a light shade of purple. I sit down on the hammock which had fluffy purple pillows on it and a blanket draping down to the floor. I smile over at my aunt and say, “Thanks a lot. I really love it. Do you think you could give me some time to myself? I wanted to give Annabelle a call to let her know I made it home safely.”

She nods her head, smiling over at me and says, “Yes, I can do that. I’m glad you love it. I put a lot of thought into it. I’ll go make something for us to eat. You take your time.” She then turns around and walks away, likely heading to the kitchen.

I put my bag on the floor by my bed and pick up my phone, dialing Annabelle’s number, I memorized it so I wouldn’t have to get it from my aunt.

My phone rings a couple of times then she picks up and says, “Hello.”

“Hey Annabelle, it’s me, Rose. I’m calling from my new phone. My aunt got it for me soon after I got back. It’s purple and I love it. I wish I had a picture of the two of us together,” I tell her excitedly as I lay down on my hammock.

“Hey Rose! I just got back from the foster home that my brother and sister were in. I got them back with me. Daniel was just telling Julian about this morning. Not something they needed to know about,” she tells me, not sounding pleased.

I start laughing through the phone and say, “Daniel was just shocked by what you did. I was too. I really didn’t see that coming. But I don’t think either one of us will forget it. I’m glad you got your brother and sister back. How’s everything going with all of you? I’ve only been away for a few hours but I feel like it’s been an eternity.”

“It was a happy reunion and a bit sad. I gave them the letter from our mother. They both cried and I held them. Then they asked me what happened to me after I disappeared. So I told them. My brother than stood up and gave Daniel a talking to. I want to know what’s going on with you. How’s life back home with your aunt?” She asks me, sounding curious, likely to get off the topic of her life.

“Your brother sounds fun. I wish I could’ve met your siblings. As for me… My aunt was at the airport waiting for me when I landed. She hugged me so tightly that I thought my head was going to pop off. She brought me to my parents place to pick up anything I might want and she took me to the store to get a new phone. I settled into my new room. It’s very cozy. Everything is purple. And I have fluffy pillows on my bed. I also have a hammock in the corner of my room, which I’m currently sitting on. It’s great. But it’s missing something,” she tells me.

I hear Daniel talking in the background, saying, “What’s going on in here? Who are you talking with?”

“It’s Rose,” she tells him, then asks me, “What’s missing Rose? Is it your parents?” I then hear muffled sounds in the background, like someone moving.

My aunt starts calling me from the kitchen.

“No, Annabelle, it’s you. Of course I miss my parents but I feel like since I met you that you’re a permanent part of my life. Now that you’re not around anymore I feel like you’re missing. But it’s okay. We can still talk. And now you have my number. So we can keep in touch. I guess I’ll let you go be with your family. My aunt is calling me. I’m glad things are working out for you. Take care.” With that, I hangs up, not waiting for an answer. I placed my phone down on the hammock and ran out of the room to see what my aunt wanted, as she said I could ‘take all the time I wanted’.

“There you are,” she says spotting me entering the kitchen. “It’s been awhile since we had supper together so I wanted to see what you would like to eat.”

I lean up against the wall and say, “That’s all you wanted from me? You could make anything. I’m not picky. I’ll eat whatever you make.”

She nods her head and says, “Okay, I just wanted to be sure. I didn’t want to make something you wouldn’t eat. But now that I know I’ll make some chicken and veggies.” She pulls out some stuff from the fridge and the cupboard, putting it onto her counter and stove top.

“Alright then, if that’s all you wanted then I’ll go back to my room to put my stuff away,” I tell her, leaving her to do her own thing.

“Alright sweetie, sorry I bothered you,” she shouts after me from the kitchen.

I wave my hand back at her and say, “It’s okay, I understand.” I then rush to my room and pick up my bag off the floor, placing it onto the bed to open up and pull things out.

After a while I get everything put away and head to the kitchen to eat supper with my aunt, who was just taking the chicken out of the oven.

“Perfect timing,” she says with a smile while looking over at me. “You can have a seat at the table over there while I fill up a couple plates for us to eat our supper.

I sit down at the table and wait.

Guinevere places a plate in front of me with a delicious looking chicken and some potatoes, string beans and carrots on it. She places the salt and pepper in the center of the table and hands me a fork and knife.

She then sits down across from me with her plate of food.

“Thank you very much auntie, it all looks incredible,” I tell her, cutting into the chicken, which I could tell was juicy just by looking at it.

We sit around the table eating together while talking about our past together, about my parents and all the happy memories we had with them.