Wait, What?

• Elina Banerji, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2019

My grandmother loved to explore. She loved to adventure and especially, she loved to discover. It was like as soon as she heard of a new opportunity she would jump to the occasion. The 80-year-old zoologist eyes would sparkle and dance. She would run to the computer and book the earliest flight available. She interested me, she inspired me and mostly she let her sense of adventure creep through my DNA. So, when the parcel arrived, wrapped not in brown paper but fluorescent yellow and tied not with a silk ribbon but a strip of leathery snake skin, I knew it must be from her and I knew that I must open it just then.

Wait, What??

Just a letter? I was expecting a flock of birds, pod of whales or an Egyptian cobra! This was definitely not what I was used to. Cautiously I opened the seal and all that the letter said in her old fashioned, sprawl writing was “I need you”. I knew where she was.

My flight was long. There wasn’t a moment when I was tossing and turning, trying to get some sleep but worrying too much. As soon as I had cleared security and immigration, I made my way quickly to the nearby Amazon. The canopies of lime green and dark green foliage made me feel like I had stepped into a whole new world. The colorful, vivid flowers reflected in the river and as the sun shone strongly and vibrantly onto the river, rainbow ripples formed. It was the most beautiful sight to behold.

What was I thinking? Even though I was captivated by its beauty, my grandmother meant more than anything to me and she was in deep, deep, deep TROUBLE. I journeyed through shrubbery, trees and much, much more until finally, at last I found her. She coughed and spat out blood. Tuberculosis, Oh no! “Jim, my grandson, the best doctor”, she gasped and wheezed. I gave her some medicine and water, her eyes opened, and she smiled weakly. Then her eyes fluttered shut and she rested un my arms in the sanguinity of the Amazon. She was fine, atleast for now.