Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [32]
They watched some men near them dig a deep hole. “I bet someone’s going to be buried there!” said Lisbeth.
“That’s unusual,” said John. “Dad said most of the spaces in this cemetery are taken up.”
“Imagine being put under the ground and staying there forever and forever,” shuddered Anna.
“You wouldn’t know,” said John. “You’d be dead.”
“Well, imagine being dead. Not being able to see or hear or breathe.” Anna turned her back on the hole.
“Being dead is just like having a long sleep,” said Lisbeth. “That’s what Mummy said when Grandpa died.”
“No it isn’t—you turn into an angel, like that one,” said Ben, pointing up to the statue. “Peter’s grandma is an angel.” Peter was his best friend.
“But what if you weren’t ready to die?” said Anna. “What if you weren’t old like Grandpa was? And you had to go into the cold ground and stay there!”
“If I wasn’t ready to die, I wouldn’t stay there,” said John. “I’d come back.”
“You mean you’d be a ghost?” said Lisbeth. She moved closer to Anna. “You shouldn’t talk that way, John. You’re scaring Ben.”
Theo felt scared too. She looked at the gaping hole and the gravestones surrounding them. She was glad when they talked about this weekend instead.
THAT EVENING they piled into the van and drove to Chinatown for dinner. Theo ate sweet-and-sour spareribs and almond chicken for the first time. John and Anna and Mum and Dad were the only ones who could manage chopsticks. Then they went to a video store and after a long argument decided on one video for the children and one for the adults.
Theo curled up between Anna and Mum on the couch in the den, weeping with them over the ending of Old Yeller. Even Dad was sniffing.
“What babies!” said John.
“You cried, too,” said Anna. “I saw you wipe your eyes on the cushion.”
“Why did that doggie have to die, Mummy?” asked Ben tearfully.
“It’s only a story, Benny,” said Mum, pulling him onto her lap. She blew her nose. “Oh, dear, it was even worse than I remembered.”
“Sometimes it’s nice to cry, isn’t it?” said Lisbeth after they were in bed.
Not usually, thought Theo, remembering the evening before she and Rae had left Vancouver. But tonight she had indulged in a sadness that wasn’t real—that was just a story.
ON SATURDAY John had a karate class, Lisbeth and Ben had swimming lessons, and Theo went to watch Anna’s soccer game. Anna was a good player—she ran fast and scored several goals. It looked like fun.
After the game Anna introduced Theo to her best friend. “This is Grace Leung. Grace, this is my new sister, Theo.”
Her new sister! Theo felt herself melt again. “Hi,” she whispered.
“It’s good to meet you, Theo,” said Grace. She had a friendly smile.
The three of them walked home together. On the way they stopped at a store to spend their allowance. Dad had given Theo a two-dollar coin that morning.
Two whole dollars! Theo picked out candy like the others. She thought of how shocked Anna and Grace would be if they knew she used to steal it. But today she handed her money proudly to the clerk.
After lunch the whole family went to Thetis Lake for a hike. Bingo went berserk, rushing down to the water and coming back soaked. The dark green lake was fringed by firs and rocks. They climbed a high path and looked over all of it.
That evening Mum and Dad visited some friends, Anna went to Grace’s for a sleepover and John babysat.
“Go to bed!” he ordered Lisbeth and Ben and Theo, long after nine o’clock. They were huddled in the den, wolfing down popcorn and watching a scary movie called The Birds.
“No,” said Lisbeth.
“We don’t want to,” said Ben. He was straddling the arm of the couch, pretending it was a horse.
“You’re supposed to do as I say,” grumbled John. “All the other kids I babysit do.”
“They don’t know what you’re really like,” said Lisbeth. “They don’t know