Astrid Amara by Holiday Outing

Author:Holiday Outing [Outing, Holiday]
Language: nld
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

A bloodcurdling scream startled me awake the next morning. As I jerked upright, I

dislodged the heavy weight of Ethan’s thigh, draped across my hips, and he sat up as well.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, rubbing my face into wakefulness.

Ethan blinked sleepily, dazed.

Someone screamed again. Ethan and I looked at each other, and then simultaneously

bolted out of the bed.

We both fumbled into our clothes and ran down the hall. The scream came from the

guest room, Aunt Goldie’s room.

We burst through the door just as my parents rounded the corner. Goldie sat up in the

bed, pointing and screaming at the closet.

“Burglar! A burglar!” she cried.

Uncle Al appeared on the scene, a broom grasped in his hand. “What happened? What

happened?”

Goldie’s finger shook as she pointed to the closet. “There’s a man in my room! A thief!”

We all stared at the closet. Uncle Al raised the broom like a sword.

66

Astrid Amara

And out came Matthew.

“I just wanted some wrapping paper.” He held aloft a roll of blue-and-white paper.

I laughed, but my mother threw a pillow at her sister.

“For this you wake up the entire household? Your son?”

“I didn’t know who he was!” Goldie cried. “I wasn’t wearing my glasses!”

Matthew looked annoyed. “I didn’t want to wake you. I accidentally ripped the

wrapping on your present.”

My mother looked beside herself. “As if there isn’t enough calamity in this household!”

Uncle Al appeared disappointed, and still held his broom ready to strike.

“You should announce yourself in your mother’s room,” Goldie told Matthew. “Don’t

be such a sneak.”

“So much for me trying to be nice,” Matthew mumbled. He reached back into the

closet and pulled out a box. “Do you want to explain to everyone what this is doing here,

then?”

I didn’t recognize it at first -- it hadn’t been mine for very long, and it was far from

being a treasured possession -- but my mother recognized it instantly.

“That’s Jonah’s fondue set!” she gasped.

“I found it in Mother’s bag,” Matthew admitted. He shook his head. “Honestly, Mom,

you really need to stop hiding things.”

“I thought it was mine,” Aunt Goldie said.

“It says ‘To Jonah’ on it!” my mother cried.

We stood around awkwardly until Uncle Al threw down the broom and lunged into

the closet to search the rest of Goldie’s belongings.

Holiday Outing

67

We did indeed discover that my aunt was something of a klepto. Along with my new

fondue set, she had also acquired Rachel’s lip balm, one my mother’s knitting needles, a

cheese grater from the kitchen, and Ethan’s stethoscope.

But a thorough search revealed no pushke. At this point, my poor aunt was crying,

shaking her head. “I don’t know how these things get into my bag, honestly! I just looked at

them. The grater is such a pleasing shape!”

I felt bad for her. We all acknowledged that Goldie was senile, but the others seemed

reluctant to respect the less than amusing sides of her disability. When Uncle Al finished

searching every square inch of the room, he left, as did the rest of the crowd, to find

breakfast or light new candles, because the power was still out.

I stayed behind, sitting on the edge of my aunt’s bed, and tried to cheer her up.

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