Home Alone (2 page)

"Where?" she asked, a little distressed by the fact she couldn't see what was making her brother so unnerved.

"Right down there!" he snapped, frustrated with his sister's failure to see what he did. "See it? It's moving. It keeps going up and down along the water."

Winnie did her best to see what was catching her brother's eye. The rain was blinding, the sheets of water made it impossible for her to see anything clearly. Once she thought she may have seen a figure or object down by the water, but then she dismissed the shadow as a gnarly, old tree. Perhaps that was what Alec was seeing as well.

"I'm not crazy," he said. "I know what a tree looks like. Just forget it." Alec was now angry and slightly embarrassed. He moved away from the window, bumping into his sister on the way. Ordinarily she would have shoved him back or at least yelled at him. But today, something prevented her from bothering. Was it the fear she was feeling or perhaps sympathy toward her brother? She wasn't sure. She just wished this uneasiness, and the storm, would stop.

She gave one last glance out the kitchen door before following her brother into the living room. His loud groan upon entering the room was enough to startle her.

"Oh, this is just great. Not only is there nothing to eat, now the cable is out. We can't get anything on this TV without the cable!"

Winnie felt his disappointment. She had hoped an hour of sitting in front of the television, mindlessly tuned into whatever, would help them get through this early evening. Now what would they do?

"Want to play a game?" she asked, trying to sound cheerful.

Alec looked at her then turned away, not even answering his sister.

"Listen," Winnie responded, raising her voice. "I know you are ticked off about the cable and no food and the rain, but none of those are my fault. I would appreciate it if you would keep your anger to yourself."

"Oh yeah," Alec said, raising his voice as well. "Well, let me tell you something. This wasn't my idea to be stuck here alone in this storm! If it weren't for you, we would be out with Mom and Dad right now. In fact, we'd probably be in a restaurant right now, waiting out this storm, having a hamburger and fries. Instead, I'm sitting here starving with nothing to do. It's all your fault! And then…"

The ringing of the phone brought the conversation to an abrupt end. The children both looked at one another, a little unsure of what to do.

"Should we answer it?" Alec asked, not remembering what his parents had told him about phone calls.

Winnie stared at the ringing phone. Ordinarily she ran to it when it sang out — hoping it was a friend checking in from Pennsylvania. But today, it startled her. She swallowed hard, trying to find the nerve to pick up the receiver.

"Are you going to answer it or what?" Alec said, more out of curiosity than anything else. "They're going to hang up if you don't get it soon."

Winnie looked at her brother, hoping to make herself realize how ridiculous she was being. It was just the phone. The nervous girl needed to get over this spooked feeling. She ran her fingers through her hair, cracked the knuckles on her left hand, and gingerly picked up the receiver.

"H-h-hello?" she said, mustering all her courage.

There was silence at the other end. Soft static came through, but mostly there was just silence.

"Hello?" Winnie repeated the greeting. She waited but got no response.

"No one's there," she said to her brother as she cradled the receiver back on the counter.

"That's weird," he said, staring at the phone. "Wonder who it was?"

Winnie tried not to let her fear shine through. It was just a phone call, a hang-up. Everybody got them now and again. Right?

"I don't know," she said, trying not to let her brother see how much the call bothered her. "Probably just some salesperson trying to get Mom and Dad to buy something."

Alec smirked at his sister. "Maybe something like umbrellas?" he said.

Winnie appreciated his attempt at humor. "Or raincoats?" she giggled back.

"Or maybe even buckets of fishing worms!" Alec said, using his fingers to pretend-crawl on his sister.

Winnie squealed with delight, glad to have the diversion. She tickled her brother back, knowing by heart the places that made him laugh. For the next couple minutes, their fear was forgotten, replaced with giggles and silliness. It wasn't until a few minutes later, when they heard the phone ringing again, that they allowed their fears to return.

"Hello?" Winnie's voice wasn't as nervous as before, but she still had trouble spitting out the word.

"Winnie? Is that you? I can hardly hear you dear."

"Mom!" she exclaimed. "Yes, it's me! I'm here! Where are you?" Winnie was practically shouting, trying to make sure her mother heard her over the static.

"We're in town, honey. I'm calling to see how you two are in this storm. Had I known it was coming, Dad and I never would have left you and Alec alone. I'm so sorry, Winnie."

The trembling girl interrupted her mother's apologies. She knew if she didn't, her mom might go on and on. It was a part of her mother's personality that usually didn't bother Winnie. But today, well, she just wanted to get a little talking in herself.

"We're okay, Mom, but…" Winnie stopped mid-sentence. She would have to choose her words carefully. As unsettled as things were here with the storm, she had to be careful not to let on how scared they actually were. If her parents knew a rainstorm made them scared, well, there was a pretty good chance they wouldn't be allowed to stay by themselves again for quite a while.

"…But we were just wondering what you were bringing home for supper," she continued, trying to sound very matter-of-fact with her comment. Alec tried to grab the phone out of her hand to talk, but Winnie somehow managed to wrench it back from him.

"Wait!" she mouthed angrily to him, keeping the phone at a distance. She hoped she could get through to her brother before he actually got on the line and told his mom about seeing things down by the water.

"Honey, are you still there?"

Winnie could barely hear her mother over the pelting rain, the hissing static, and her brother's whining. She clutched the receiver in her other hand and headed for the kitchen.

"I'm still here, Mom. What do you need?" Winnie tried to keep her voice calm, pretending she hadn't a care in the world.

"Winnie, it
is
raining there, isn't it?"

She had done it! Winnie had her mother fooled with her casual attitude. Her next words could decide her future days of freedom and responsibility.

"Oh, raining… yeah, sure Mom, it
is
raining here now that you mention it. Is it raining where you are?" Winnie was almost smiling, her performance worthy of an award.

"Dear, we are having the worst storm I've ever seen. I know we haven't been in Florida long, but I don't think this is what storms here are usually like. People are acting pretty frantic. In fact, everyone seems to be running for cover and getting back to their houses. Are you sure everything is okay there?"

Winnie recognized the hint of fear in her mother's voice. Now she was more frightened than before. But still, she didn't want to let her mom know. It wouldn't do any good. Her mom was still in town. If she acted scared, it would just make her mother worry and feel worse about leaving them alone.

"Everything is okay here, Mom," Winnie said, trying to convince her mother. "But… when are you coming home?" She hoped her question wouldn't cause her mother any alarm.

"We're finishing up our shopping now. This store is a mad house. People are running in and grabbing bread and milk like they used to do in Pennsylvania before a big snowstorm. Remember, honey? So, we'll get out of here as soon as we can, and we'll come straight home. I'd say forty-five minutes… an hour at the latest. It just depends on these long lines and the roads. Do you think you two will be okay?" The mildly concerned mother had taken to her rambling again, but Winnie was just enjoying the sound of her voice. There was still something soothing about hearing her mother talk whenever Winnie got a little scared.

"We'll be fine, Mom," Winnie answered, saying a silent little prayer.

"Great. Now I want to tell you one more thing. If it would start to rain really hard, and the winds would get very strong, remember, whatever you do…"

The phone went dead.

"Mom? Mom? Are you there?" Winnie was yelling into the phone. Everything was silent. Even the static was gone.

"Hey, you said you would let me talk!" Alec moaned, obviously disappointed his mother was off the line.

"We got cut off," Winnie said, just as unhappy as her brother. She continued clicking on the receiver, hoping that the sweet sound of her mother's voice would return. But the wishful thinking and urgent attempts to bring it back were worthless.

"What are we supposed to do?" Alec asked, now very concerned about their situation. "When are Mom and Dad coming home?"

Winnie felt the tears welling in her eyes. Up until now she had been nervous, but not really scared. Now, it seemed all she could remember was her mother's descriptive words of how panicky everyone seemed to be acting. What if this was more than a rainstorm? What if this was… a hurricane?

Her family had talked a little bit about hurricanes before they moved to Florida. Of course, living in Pennsylvania, they had only heard about the violent weather makers. But Winnie never actually thought she would find herself in one, especially not alone with her brother.

"Turn that noise off!" She shouted to her brother as he scanned the channels of the TV.

"I'm just trying to find a weather report!" he answered, not bothered by his sister's abrupt comment.

Winnie tried to remember he was younger and perhaps a little more nervous than she was, if that were possible. She watched as he went from one snowy channel to the next.

"When the cable is out, nothing works," she reminded him gently. "Why don't you just shut it off and I'll try to find the weather on the radio."

Her words must have sounded reasonable to her brother for he immediately took her advice, pushing OFF on the remote while heading for the kitchen radio.

He turned it on before Winnie even had a chance to get there. As soon as Winnie heard the first few words of the broadcaster, she knew they were in for trouble.

"Gale force winds are upon us," the man said in a worried tone. "This storm has all the makings of a hurricane. If you can hear my voice, then you better get ready for a big one."

Winnie shut her eyes, hoping to block out the words. But the announcer continued, describing the harsh rain and strong winds headed their way. When she finally felt brave enough to face her brother, she saw he was simply staring out the window, watching firsthand what the man described.

"Are we going to be okay?" he asked, letting some of the fear punctuate his voice.

"Sure we are," Winnie said quickly, stepping toward him. "Mom and Dad are on their way. And look at us — we are safe inside. That rain can come down as hard as it wants. It can't get us! And that wind — why we've been in snowstorms where shingles blew off our house! We can manage being here alone a little bit longer."

Winnie sounded so convincing she almost had herself reassured. And if it hadn't been for that loud noise in the basement, she may very well have been calmed down.

"What was that?" Alec whispered, grabbing his sister's arm.

"I don't know," she said. They both listened in silence, waiting for the noise to return. Within a few seconds, it did.

"It sounds like someone is down in the basement," Alec whispered, too afraid to move.

Winnie shut her eyes again, trying to concentrate on what they had just heard. She knew that new houses had different sounds. If they were back home, she could recognize any sound in an instant. Here, however, she hadn't been around the normal sounds of the house long enough to tell them apart.

She heard it again. It wasn't the clicking of a water heater or the sound of the big chest freezer they had recently bought. The sound was more like something, or someone, bumping against something else.

Perhaps if she were a year or two older, she would consider going downstairs to see what it was. But at this point in her life, she had encountered very few real emergencies. She was totally clueless as to how to act.

"Aren't you going to go downstairs and see what it is?" Alec asked in a whisper.

"No, aren't you?" she snapped back, tired of being the one in charge.

Alec responded with a shrug. "I just thought since you were older and all…"

"Since I'm older? That never convinced you of anything before! Why start now?" Winnie could feel herself tensing up. Her head was beginning to throb, and her breathing hadn't been normal since those first pelts of rain hit against the sliding glass doors in the kitchen.

"Maybe we should go together?" Alec breathed, taking his sister's hand. Winnie looked in her brother's eyes. For the first time she saw trust and a pure willingness to get along. She might be crazy, but she decided to make the most of the opportunity.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Alec nodded his head and squeezed his sister's hand. They each took a deep breath and headed for the basement door.

"This wasn't such a good idea," Alec whispered as they tiptoed to the door that led to the lower floor. "Isn't this how the people on TV always end up getting into trouble, by going to check out noises? Usually that's where the monster is, and then they get chased and…"

"Alec!" Winnie shouted, unnerved by what her brother was saying. She stopped to look at him. He looked almost as scared as she did.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea." Winnie let go of her brother's hand and simply stared at the door.

"What if we just piled stuff in front of the door so the monster can't get up here?" Alec said excitedly.

Winnie didn't know how much sense that made, and she wished her brother would stop referring to the noise in the basement as 'the monster.' But she did like the idea of
not
going down into that dark cellar. She rarely went into their basement in Pennsylvania, and she had only been down in this one once or twice before. Cellars were for dads, she had always thought.