Family Reunion

• Ayesha Mahomedy, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2009

'Jan!' screamed her mum.'Hurry it up!'
'Huh.' said Jan.'Oh no!'

Today Jan, and her brother Andrew were supposed to clean the house, tidy everything and get the house into order.
They never usually did this every Saturday, but tomorrow was a special occasion for the family. It was the day when all the family got together on the particular day on a particular month every year. It was sort of like Easter or Christmas, except this day was for ALL the family.
It was also the day 13 year old Janice Manning hated!

She thought the day as torture being amongst lots and lots of relatives.She hated the extra work before, during and after the gathering, listening to boring old stories being told to her by her aunts, watching and dancing to classical music, and she hated watching olden days movies.
Janice had many cousins as well but most were too old or two young and they usually did their own thing.

'Janice, quickly now!' called her mother urgingly.
'Yes! I'm coming.' she replied.
As Janice walked through the living room, she saw her mum cleaning the furniture and dad wiping the T.V. screen. Everytime the Manning's offered to have it at their home they made sure everything was perfect. They often worried that some relatives like aunty Ethol and aunty Barbara would start saying horrible things about them and the way they lived.

'Here, you can help with the couches.' said Janice's mum.
'Aww no! I hate cleaning the couches!'
'Well I'm afraid you'll just have to do it dear.'
'How come Andrew isn't helping?!'
'Your brother's younger than you, and besides, he will be helping me later on.'
'Hmph.'Janice grunted.

The day was long and tiring for Janice and her parents. She had to help with the couches, cleaning the carpets, mopping up the tiles, vacuuming the stairs and she helped set everything up. Andrew did help with several things believe it or not. He helped with moving and placing some furniture, tidying up the living room and also cleaning his messy room.
After dinner both Janice and Andrew cleared up the table and then they had to help set the table again just before bed. They used their "good" or formal table cloth and their mother's best dishes until finally collapsing onto their beds.

Jan lay in bed thinking how boring the reunion would be without her best friend Becky Rodds. Jan and Beck always had the best of times together.
As Jan was falling asleep, wished and hoped hard that the next day would not come.

The next day did come, and too soon for Jan. She was woken up early to make sure everything was ready and to get dressed.

Jan and Andrew were lounging on the living room couch when the doorbell first rang.
Ding!Ding!
Jan heard her mother rush to the front door and answer it.
It was Gran who arrived first, and with her was a large plate full of cookies and biscuits.
'Gran!' both Jan and Andrew yelled.
'Hi kids!' said Gran. 'Oh why, you two are looking lovely. And I love your lovely brown hair and pretty green eyes Jan!'
'Thanks Gran!' said Jan.

Jan's parents then got talking with her Gran, but as soon as they did, the doorbell sounded again. This time it was uncle Henry and aunt Miranda.
'Hullo Andrew and Janice!' they said happily as they entered through the front door.

A few seconds later the bell went yet again, and after that again, and again and agian and again and.................

The house was already full and the adults were all getting along nicely. Andrew was entertained by a few of their cousins Agnus, Martin, Jenni and Milly who were all his age. All of Jan's older cousins Ashleigh, Michael, Amanda, Eddie, Hannah, Ben, Sasha, Chloe, Eve, Jeremy and Sebastian were scattered around the house, some helping, joining in with the adults or fooling around in Janice's room.

When at last aunty Barbara who was always late at Jan's mum's parties and who also hated her, had come. Janice closed the door and went back to where she was sitting in the lounge. Soon even the lounge would be full of men watching a boring cricket match and then ladies who would come when it ended and watch a classical movie. Jan sighed.

When Andrew came to the lounge and took over with all his friends, Jan felt angry and very bored. All of a sudden the doorbell rang.
'Huh?' said Jan sounding surprised. 'Who could possibly be here?' She thought. Jan hoped it was Beck who decided to come after all.
'Jan dear,' called her mother. 'Could you please get that!'
Janice made her way to open the front door. Infront of her wasn't Beck, or any of her relatives she knew. It was what looked like a family of three. A father, mother and a young daughter with wavy blonde hair, greyish eyes and tanned skin. What were they doing here? Jan wandered.
A minute later Jan's mother came to invite the guests in.
'Hi Denise.' said Jan's mum. 'It's nice you and your family could make it.'
'Oh Thank You Emily.' Denise answered.
'Jan,' started her mother.
'This is your distant cousin Melanie.' she said looking at the young girl, who Jan thought looked like a goodie two shoes. 'She's also 13 so why don't you two girls be friends and go do something together.
'Umm...Ok.'
The pair of them walked of and found a slightly quiet spot near Andrew's bedroom.
'Hi.' said Melanie shyly.
'Hi.' Janice said back.
'So umm... what do you wanna do?' Jan shrugged.
'Anything. It's up to you.'
'O.K. Well there's not much to do seeing as all the adults are occupying everything, but I'm sure we'll find something.' said Jan usshering Mel to follow her.
The girls passed Jan's room only to see it was full, the lounge which was also taken and the dining room, so they evntually went outside. It was none the better. Jan's dad was sizzling up some barbequed meat and the open garage was crowded with men.
'So where exactly are you from?' asked Jan deciding taht looking for something to do was useless.
'Well we've just moved here from Tasmania.'
'Oh. I've always wanted to go there. So why'd you leave?'
'Because my dad got a better job offer here.'
'Oh.'
'Janice!! Honey!.' Jan heard her mum yell from inside.
'Coming!' Janice yelled back.
When the girls got there, Jan's mum was making her way towards the living room. She had with her, in her arms, baby cousin Neddie.
'Here Jan.' said Jan's mum. 'Please look after him for a while.'
'Yeah O.K. aunt Emily.' beamed Melanie. Jan turned at her and gave her a look of remoursefulness.
'What?' said Mel looking at her.
'Becareful then, he has a knack for exploring.'
'Fine mum.' sighed Jan.
'Yes aunty Emily, he'll be fine.'said Mel sounding very confident.
The two of them turned away and walked back to where they were, with Neddie placed firmly in Jan's arms.
'Isn't he just the cutest?' said Mel tickling Neddie under the chin. 'Look at that cute little baby face and rosy, chubby cheeks of your's!' continued Mel, communicating more with Neddie then Jan.
'Here you can take him then.' said Jan treating him like a bad smell.

The girls moved to a deserted spot behind the shed, and put Neddie down. He immediately crawled towards the door and tried to open it. The door wasn't locked, it was just closed and Neddie found it difficult to open. Just then, Jan heard another yell from inside.
'Jan! Come to eat won't you!" Her mother said.
Jan nudged Mel who was watching and laughing at cousin Neddie, slightly in her ribs to signal her to come. They both carelessly walked away, leaving Neddie alone.
'Come on girls." said Mel's mother Denise.
"Grab something and go eat."
'Yes mum. ' answered Mel.
Both girls got their food and sat amongst their cousins on the outdoor table.
'Girls, is Neddie with you?' asked Jan's mum.
'Neddie?' said both girls vagued.
'Yes!, Where is he?' said Emily.
'Ummm...' said Jan.
'Don't tell me you've lost him!'
'Well the thing is..' stumbled Jan.
'We were with him before and...' Mel finished.
'Don't just stand their! Go and find him!' shouted Emily.
With that, the girls wasted no time in rushing back to the shed to look for him. Where was he? thought Jan. After several minutes of searching, they couldn't seem to find Neddie anywhere! They gave up searching, but were immediately sent back by their mothers.
"What would Aunt Sadie(Neddie's mum) say!?" They had said.
The two girls checked everywhere, and still could not find him. They ended up going back to the shed to sit down.
No sooner that they did, the shed door creeked open slightly, and in the gap, lying sprawled on his tummy on the floor, was Neddie.
'NEDDIEE!!' screamed Jan and Mel thankfully.
Jan quickly picked him up and took him up.
'I cannot believe he was in there the whole time!' cried Mel.
'Yeh I know. I'm just relieved.' sighed Jan.
'Same here.' said Mel.

The girl's mothers were also extremely relieved when Jan and Mel brought him in. They also asked the girls if they'd learnt their lesson and told them to return him to his mother.

Melany and Janice spent the rest of the day dancing and singing to their own choice of music, watching exciting movies, chatting and relaxing. They realised they had a lot in common and became extremely close friends,
that Jan actually looked forward to the next reunion.