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Christine twiddled with the little key around her neck as she sat in the car, nervous about meeting her grandparents for the first time. Mother had just told her the news last night and she was a nervous wreck. It wasn’t easy meeting your grandparents for the first time. Especially ones that haven’t made contact with you at all for the whole 16 years of your life; deciding to meet your only granddaughter after 16 years is a big blow and Christine was a bit curious as to why her parents had chosen to visit them now. She turned her attention from her key to her parents.
Mother was looking out the window, shaking her leg and muttering to herself. While Christine’s father, was the driver and was wringing the steering-wheel with sweaty-looking palms. Why? Why was everyone so nervous? Christine herself was nervous but she couldn’t explain to anyone, even to herself, why she was nervous.
She was snapped out of her reverie when her mother said in a raspy voice, “We’re here”.
They all bent their heads to see the big house that was right in front of them. It had a big garden in the front, where a driveway was carved with asphalt along the sides, letting a magnificent garden grow with colourful flowers in the middle.
Christine gasped as she saw the tall, majestic-looking trees that lined her grand-parents estate. Surely, this isn’t her grandparent’s house? The parents of her always-on-a-budget mother. Christine shook her head and tried to deny it, but she couldn’t, her grandparents looked filthy rich.
Her father parked next to a Rolls Royce Phantom and Christine could just imagine a person going, “Oh, that car does not belong here”. They stepped out of the car and looked around, their mouths open in awe. Christine looked at her mother; Mother was simply taking out the overnight bags from the back of their dinky car, completely not in awe of the whole scene. Her mother rang the bell and she dropped the overnight bags with a thud, a sign that Christine and her father better hurry up and stand next to her. She put on a plastic-looking smile on her face when her grandmother answered the door,
“Rosie! Oh!” her grandmother kissed her mother’s cheek and pulled her into an embrace, “It’s been a long time since you’ve been here, I dare say. Do you remember Roger?”
For the first time in the whole trip to her grandparent’s house, Christine saw her mother’s face light-up with joy as a black and white Border collie bounded up on her.
Her mother laughed as Roger licked her face several times until her grandmother grabbed him by his collar and told him to stay still; he obeyed but was still panting with his tongue lolling out.
Her grandmother laid her eye on Christine, “And you must be Christine. Christine Basquelle. Oh! You’re all grown up!” Another embrace, “YOU can call me Gran” she smiled, “Well talk! You can talk, can you? She can talk, right?” Gran looked to her parents.
Christine was surprised at how raspy her voice came out, “Yes”
She coughed, deciding that her raspy voice was due to the awkward silence that she had experience in the car on the way to Gran’s house. Her father gave her a drink bottle and she chugged half the bottle down her throat. She wiped her mouth and smiled at Roger the Border collie.
“Come on Christine, let’s pick up our bags and Roger will show us to our rooms” Mother smiled at the dog. As if on cue, Roger tugged on Christine’s duffel-bag with his teeth and led them up the stairs to another floor, where there were several doors and a fork in the corridor. Roger led them to the right fork and scratched at one door, looking at Mother. Christine’s parents entered the room while Roger scratched on the door next to it, which was to be Christine’s room. She thanked Roger and entered her room, gasping and giggling. Her room here was way bigger than her room at home and she practically bounced around her room as she took in the sight. It was a rather plain room with yellow walls and a big window that covered half of one wall. The wall opposite to the window was fully covered with bookshelves that reached high up into the ceiling. The other walls had her Queen-sized bed and wardrobe on one wall, while the other wall had a desk and some comfy-chairs.
“It’s like living in a castle…” murmured Christine, opening the windows with a sweep of her arms and blinking her eyes when the afternoon sun poured down on her.
She smiled and ran out of her room, almost tripping on Roger. She patted him then kept on running through the corridors then down the down the stairs, sliding on the railing and laughing when she reached the bottom. She ran through the kitchen, the lounge, the games room and the dining room; finally reaching the door into the backyard. She burst outside and ran around the garden/field, after a few minutes she laid down in the middle of the field and stroked Roger’s fur who was panting next to her. She closed and opened her eyes, taking in the blue sky and almost forgetting that she was a bit confused and nervous only 15 minutes ago. She closed her eyes and breathed in the open air; she felt the cool metal of the key around her neck and relaxed.
*
Christine opened her eyes abruptly; she was on full alert when she heard Roger yelping and didn’t feel him next to her. She jumped up and looked around, “Roger! Roger!” she yelled, calling the dog. She ran around and kept on calling his name, but stopped, when she heard a loud gun-shot...
