A Kraken for Christmas! by J.B. Emerson

Author:J.B. Emerson [J.B. Emerson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JB Emerson
Published: 2021-12-31T00:00:00+00:00

Lydia: R U Alive???

I debated answering her—not really in the mood to relive everything that happened after she ran away with Nathan.

I was about to put the phone away when another message arrived.

Lydia: Srsly r u ok?

Zeke?

I’m really scared. What happened?

Hello?

??????

Not wanting to deal with this the rest of the night, I opened the messaging app and typed a simple reply.

Zeke: I’m fine

Then I blocked her number, tossed the phone onto the coffee table, and buried my head in the couch.

“I’m guessing the day didn’t go quite as planned,” Grandma said as she sat down in her recliner. “Want to talk about it?”

What could I possibly say that would make sense here?

“Not really,” I said.

“Can I take a guess?”

I didn’t answer. I just kept my face pressed into the cushion as far as I could make it go.

“You met some new kids, like that Shep, who seemed cool. And they showed interest in you. You didn’t really know why, but it didn’t matter because you had their attention. So you skipped school to hang out with them in the hopes your day would be full of adventure. But more than that, you thought that maybe you had found your people. Am I getting close?”

She took my silence as a yes.

“I understand, Zeke,” she said. “You’ve been through so much these last few years. I don’t know what you did today but I know that if I was in your position, I’d have done the same thing.”

I turned my head so my face was out of the pillow. I still stared blankly at the wall, but something about what she said made me feel just safe enough to show my face.

“I’m sorry it was disappointing,” she said. “Just so you know, those friends I snuck across the country with? Within a year I wasn’t speaking to any of them. Turns out disobeying your parents and hitchhiking across the country isn’t the best basis for a friendship.”

“They wanted me to do something I didn’t want to do,” I said. “But I still felt like I needed to do it.” That was vague enough, right?

“Been there,” she replied. “Want to say more?”

“The thing is, I kind of agree with them. It is something I need to do. I just feel terrible about doing it. And it’s making my life really complicated.”

Grandma let out a long, slow breath. “The fact that you’re thinking about it like that tells me everything I need to know about you, Zeke. You’re a good kid, just like your dad. I wish I had answers for you, but this is something you’ll need to figure out on your own. Still, I’m always happy to lend an ear.”

“Why is doing the right thing so hard?” I asked, looking up from my pillow at her.

“I don’t know. But I do know that there’s still a ton of food ready and I’m going to need help eating it.”

My appetite returned with force, and my mouth watered at the thought of all that food.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.