The Long Thaw

Passing by the old garden I became nostalgic as I remembered summers long forgotten. My brother and I would spend hours in that garden.

Michael loved playing hide and seek in the bushes. He thought it was funny to hide from Aunt Kelly. She would get so angry when she called us for dinner and he wouldn't respond. She would always threaten to beat him for us but never meant it. After what we went through with our father, she couldn't stand the thought.

One summer we almost lost him. He was hiding from Aunt Kelly and hadn't realized he had upset a snake. We heard him screaming but it took us two hours to finally find him. He was in intensive care for weeks. The poison had started to shut down his heart when we found him. That was the last time we played in the garden. At least I thought.

One winter we almost lost him again. It brings back memories I wish I could forget. We had been sent to Aunt Kelly's that winter. I didn't know why then, but I found out later. That was the last time I saw my mom alive. Had I known I would have stayed. I was only a 10 year old girl. Even though very wise for my age I tended not to meddle in grown up affairs.

My dad had told us we were going to spend Christmas at Aunt Kelly's house because our mom was really sick. She was contagious and he didn't want us to see her like that. Also, he didn't want us running around so he could take better care of her. We didn't question anything. Like I mentioned, I was a kid and I didn't meddle. Now I wish I would have. Maybe she would still be around. But I can't change the past. I have to move on. Maybe one day.

Michael and I were playing in the snow. Snowball fights were the best. Michael said he was going to make a fort to hide behind and went to the back of the house. After several minutes I asked if he was ready and when he didn't respond after I went around to see why it was taking him so long.

I looked in all his favorite hiding places and started to panic when I couldn't find him. I looked for almost an hour checking and rechecking all of his favorite spots. Eventually I started thinking he had gone back inside and changed his mind about the fort.

As I turned to return to the house my intuition told me to check the pond. I hesitated because I didn't think he would really go out there. He was afraid of it but as I circled it I came across a hole in the ice and started screaming for Aunt Kelly.

Hysterical, she called for the ambulance and they barely got him out in time. He suffered from hypothermia so he was hospitalized for brain damage. We don't know how long he was actually under the ice before I found him.

He later told us he was trying to ice skate. Being a seven year boy he didn't think that the ice may be too thin.

After that incident we weren't allowed in the garden alone. My aunt took every precaution necessary, but my dad still hates her for allowing it to happen. She reminds him constantly that we shouldn't have been there at all.

Aunt Kelly fenced off the garden that summer with a lock. It could only be accessed through the house.