Home Alone

For Alexander, who is afraid of nothing.

"Aw, Mom, come on! I can't believe you won't let Alec and me stay by ourselves for an hour!" Winnie Frazier slumped down onto the couch, making her disappointment easy for her mother to see. She was eleven and a half now. Alec was eight. When was her mother ever going to trust them to stay alone for a while? When was she finally going to see they were beyond needing a babysitter?

"Honey, I know you're responsible. It's just that… what if something happened?" Mrs. Frazier stopped her ironing and looked at her daughter, her eyes full of concern.

"You mean, something like a fire… or someone getting hurt?" Winnie asked, but didn't wait for a response. "Mom, I know all the emergency numbers. I know Grandma's number. I'll even memorize the grocery store's number if it means you'll give us a chance! I'm old enough to handle anything!"

Winnie could see her mother reflecting on her words. The young girl thought she saw a frown, or maybe it was a smile. She continued her pleading with a glimmer of hope.

"Alec will listen to me, Mom, I know he will. And we won't use the stove or answer the door or phone… Mom, we won't even flush the toilet! Just please say you'll give us a chance and let us show you we can be without you and Dad for an hour!"

If Winnie's last plea didn't convince her mom, she didn't know what would. She was done. She had given it all she had. The only thing left to do was sink further back into the couch cushions and wait for her mom's reply.

Mrs. Frazier smiled at her daughter. She was rather impressed by the girl's spirit to win this battle.

"They're calling for rain showers. You'll have to take the wash off the line if it begins to sprinkle," she said quite matter-of-factly.

"No problem," Winnie said, a smile spreading across her face.

"And I'll expect to see the table set for supper by the time we get home," Mrs. Frazier added with a wink as she continued her ironing.

Winnie thought of balking at the last request but pulled herself out of the sofa cushions and ran to give her mother a hug instead. Taking down laundry, setting the table — these chores would be a small price to pay for a chance to finally be treated like a young woman instead of a child.

"This is great!" she said, running for the door. "I'm going to tell Alec." She left her mother alone, hoping the woman wouldn't change her mind while she was gone.

It was early yet. Her parents wouldn't be leaving for a few hours. But that gave Winnie something to look forward to on this dark, dreary Saturday.

Ever since they had moved to Florida, she found the days long and uneventful. Winnie missed everything about Pennsylvania — the cooler weather, her friends, even her school. She knew that her family had no choice but to move. Her father had been transferred at work. It was either move to Florida or give up his work at the company. Even with tears from the children, Winnie's parents had decided to make the move. The young girl didn't really blame them. Jobs like his were hard to find. She just wished her old friends weren't so far away. Winnie knew she would make some new ones in time. But school was out for the summer, and their home was in an area with few other houses. They had a big back yard with lots of room to run and play, but no one close by to share it with.

Winnie tried to shift these somewhat sad thoughts to the back of her mind while she searched for her brother. She looked on the back porch first then headed for the small stream at the end of their property.

"Hey," she yelled, waving her arms when she caught sight of him. Alec gave her a quick look then went back to the sand he was digging. Obviously, whatever he was doing was much preferred to talking with his sister.

"What's up?" Winnie asked when she got close enough. It was clear he was searching for something in the soft ground, but she wasn't sure what or why.

"I'm looking for these little lizards," he said, holding a speckled, squirming body up near his sister's nose.

Winnie let out a scream and would have knocked the lizard out of his hand had her swipe at him been better aimed. But he had expected her reaction and had the little reptile safely back on a rock before she could do it any harm. Alec was the kind of kid that loved teasing people, especially his sister. Sometimes even Winnie had to admit his pranks were funny. But more often than not, she thought he was immature and anything but funny. Today was one of those days.

"You ever do that again and I'll…"

"You'll what?" Alec said, grabbing for the lizard. "Tell Mom?"

Winnie looked at the boy in disgust. That would be the last thing she would do. If her mother discovered they couldn't get along now, she surely wouldn't trust them to stay alone later. She needed to set her brother straight fast. Nothing was going to ruin her afternoon of being treated like the new grown-up she was.

"Listen, little brother, when are you going to stop playing tricks on me? You're getting too old for that. When you were a little kid, you were funny. Even I laughed. But now, you should be growing out of that stage. You should be trying to show people how you've changed."

Winnie almost laughed at the stunned look on her brother's face. He probably thought she was crazy talking to him like this. Usually she got mad, said a few mean words, and walked away. But today, well, today was different. She had to let him know their afternoon of freedom depended on his behavior. One fight, no matter how small, would immediately change her mom's mind about leaving them alone.

"You know, Mom was just saying how grown up you've been acting lately." Winnie's words took her brother totally by surprise. She hoped he wouldn't guess this tale was as long as the lizard's tail he was holding.

"She did?" Alec asked, dropping the lizard to hear more.

"Yes, she said you've been acting quite mature lately, and she thinks it's about time she gave you more responsibility around here." Winnie could see her brother mentally patting himself on the back. He was hanging on her every word.

"She even mentioned something about letting us stay by ourselves this afternoon while she and Dad go into town for a while." Winnie was nearly bursting when she finally got to say the words out loud. Unfortunately, her brother didn't seem quite as excited as she was with the news.

"Big deal," he said, squatting back down to the sand. "So we're here alone instead of having Grandma in the other room. What's so 'grown up' about that?"

Winnie could have slugged him. He just didn't get it. He must be too young to understand what a gigantic thing this was. Why, staying alone ranked right up there with getting your first phone or being allowed to choose your own clothes for school. Maybe it was because he was a boy. Or maybe being eight was simply more stupid than she remembered. Either way, Winnie didn't really care. All she really needed was his cooperation for the next few hours so he wouldn't blow the deal she had made with her mother. She figured the best way to do this was to stay away from him until her parents were ready to leave. That way, there was no chance for little fights or dumb tricks to make her mad.

The time went by slowly. But 4:00 finally came, and so did the list of instructions on how to handle their next hour or two alone.

"We'll be fine, Mom, I promise," Winnie said, practically closing the car door on her mother. Her dad just winked at her and started the car engine.

"Call Grandma if anything goes wrong," Mrs. Frazier said as she opened her window.

"Mom, Grandma lives in Pennsylvania. What good is she going to do?" Alec asked.

The boy's whining voice was enough to make Winnie cringe. They were almost home free.
Don
'
t ruin it now, little brother!

"I know," she said. "Force of habit. I know you'll be fine. If only we had cell phone service in this area, I would feel a lot better." And with that, her dad backed out of the driveway, gave the horn a short toot, and handed Winnie the first breath of freedom she had always longed for. She closed her eyes, soaking in the moment.

The feel of something slimy crawling on her arm forced her to leave that wonderful place in her mind and focus on reality.

"Ah!" she screamed, knocking off the orange lizard with a quick swipe of her hand. She glared at her brother, wanting nothing more than to shout at him. But the big drops of rain that came pelting down the next moment saved him. Winnie and her little brother took off for the house, both giggling by the time they reached the back door. She had let him get away with one ridiculous prank. Perhaps he would be good for the rest of the afternoon. At least she hoped so. If not, she may be in for more trouble than this hour or so of freedom was worth.

Winnie didn't have time to worry about it. The rain began to beat down, and the wind was picking up quickly. The next several minutes were spent shutting windows in the house and rescuing the plants from atop the porch banister. Alec was no help. In fact, he had already planted himself in front of the TV. ‘At least that would keep him out of trouble,' Winnie thought to herself.

Trouble? The poor girl and her brother had no idea what lay ahead!

"Hey, turn that back up!" Alec barked angrily at Winnie, who was pushing the button on the television. He eyed the room for the remote, determined to undo what his sister had just done.

"Alec, it's too loud. Besides, with this storm, it's noisy enough around here."

Apparently the boy hadn't noticed. He forgot about the cartoon and rushed over to the window. The rain pinged against the panes loudly and he now seemed to understand what his sister had been talking about.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, his nose pressed to the glass. "I can't remember it raining like this back home." The boy, like his sister, still thought of Pennsylvania as home. The children knew with time that would change. But for now, everything they did in Florida was compared with their former life in the north.

"I know," Winnie said with a touch of worry in her voice. "We had some bad storms, but I don't remember them starting out like this." She edged in at the window, joining Alec in his watch.

"When are Mom and Dad supposed to get home?" the eight-year-old asked, worry entering his voice.

Winnie glanced at her watch. Her parents had only been gone forty minutes. It sounded logical, but it seemed like much longer.

"They'll be home soon," she said, trying to sound calm. "Anyway, we're going to be fine. We've been through lots of storms."

"Not like this one," Alec said, moving away from the window.

Her brother wasn't one to admit to being scared, but Winnie could see it in his eyes. She could feel her role changing from sister to babysitter. Before, she was just a kid watching the storm. Now, she felt the responsibility to keep her little brother calm. It wasn't going to be easy since she was somewhat frightened herself.

"Hey, want a snack?" she said, trying to change the subject and make the next half hour or so a little more bearable.

Alec always wanted a snack. He gave her a nervous nod and followed his sister to the kitchen. They remembered their promise to stay away from the stove and scrounged through cupboards for something to satisfy their late-afternoon hunger.

"There's nothing to eat! We don't have any good snacks!" Alec grumbled, pushing the third cupboard door shut. He looked to his sister to solve the problem.

"Mom is at the store, you know," Winnie said, sympathizing with the boy. "She wouldn't be there unless we needed food. Anyway, she'll be home soon, and we'll be having supper."

Alec grumbled to himself, wandering slowly to the kitchen door to check on the rain. It didn't take the boy long to realize this was no ordinary summer rainstorm.

"Winnie! Come here!" he shouted, straining to see through the rain-spattered screen. He waited for his sister to get there before he continued.

"What is that?" he breathed, pointing toward the swampy bog at the end of the yard.

"What's what?" Winnie asked, moving back and forth, trying to find the spot where her brother was pointing.

"That big thing down by the water," he said anxiously.

Winnie slid in to where her brother was standing. Hard as she tried, she couldn't make out what he was seeing.