The Thing About Summer

Janice was so excited about the thought of summer. It was the time where her family gathered at the lake house eating watermelon by the dock, chasing down a rainbow trout, diving off the sun-heated cliffs into the cold water, freckles appearing on her nose as she sun tanned, her older cousins buying beer and drinking- not to get drunk, but just to enjoy a citrusy light beer, until late in the night by a deck of cards, taking out the canoe on an evening and just enjoying peace. She couldn’t wait. It would be perfect. Plus her cousins would be there and now that they were old enough her parents decided to go do their own vacation on a cruise for the first time. Her last exam finished and she started packing; taking out her pink tote bag she could already taste summer, but it might’ve been the watermelon lip gloss. A knock came on the bedroom door.

“Come in,” she said excitedly as she threw her bathing suit in her bag.

Her parents entered her room, their faces were solemn and her mom looked like she had been crying. Her dads face was pale and serious.

“You should sit down Janice,” said her mom as she sat down on Janice’s bed. She joined hands.

“There’s been a change of plans…” her dad began saying as he heaved in a breath.

“What’s going on?” Asked Janice.

“You know how your cousin Laura and Samantha always come early to the cabin?”

“Yes?”

“Well, they took the canoe out before a storm and-

“We did that plenty of times,” said Janice.

“Janice, they drowned,” said her mom welling up with tears.

“No, they’re both on the swim team, they wouldn’t. They know how to swim. We did it so many times.”

Suddenly the watermelon lip gloss made her feel nauseous, Janice started to well up with tears. She ran into her bathroom and threw up. Her twin cousins died? They were dead. Both of them. Why didn’t they save each other? They probably tried. Why didn’t they live? Why them?

Her whole body felt numb. She stepped out of the bathroom and her parents were both crying they pulled her in and stayed there for a while.

“What about the funeral?” Janice asked.

“They decided to have it at the lake house, everyone will be there and then no one has to change their flights and the girls would’ve wanted it there,” said her dad.

“Oh. I see.”

The drive to the lake house was quiet. Janice sat at the back of car remembering her twin cousins and how they once tricked the next door neighbour boy that they were the same person, or how they played truth or dare until 2 a.m.

Everyone was dressed in black suits and dresses. Her older cousins looked older now that they weren’t smiling. They got into the house and their coffins were side by side lined up in the living room. There were untouched appetizers in the dining room. She saw her aunt and uncle standing over their coffins crying their older brother was trying to comfort them. Janice felt like she was hit in the stomach with a metal ball. She sat down and looked around her, everything had changed now. The pictures on the walls were the same but they seemed empty.

The funeral was long, even though she was with her cousins and almost everyone she loved; there were no laughs or smiles.

The next day Janice got up early and went to see the sunrise on the cliffs that they used to jump off of. She sat down and dangled her legs on the edge of the cliff. Janice watched as the waves crashed against the rocks and it dawned on her, the canoe had a habit of pulling towards the rocks. In the storm the twins must’ve been against the rocks, they must’ve fallen in and got hit in the head and drowned. It could’ve been anyone. No one would stand a chance against the rocks.

Janice heard footsteps behind her. It was the twins older brother Jeremy.

“How are you holding up?” She asked him and he shrugged and sat down next to her.

“I hate this,” he said.

“I know. I miss them, I can’t wrap my head around it.” Janice looked at him he seemed horrible, his hair was a mess, he hadn’t shaved in a while and had dark circles under his eyes.

“I didn’t until recently. My head hurts from crying at night,” he explained as he picked up a pebble and threw it into the water.

“This place won’t be the same,” she said as she bit her lip not sure what to say. Her cousins were gone. They taught her how to do her make-up, she still remembered their infectious giggle. Laura and Samantha were both so happy and filled with life and laughter. They knew how to make things better, they would’ve made this funeral better by maybe stealing some liquor, sneaking to the back porch and they’d take turns. Jeremy pulled out his flask and took a swig, he passed to Janice almost reading her mind. She did the same and passed it back to him. She grimaced and Jeremy snickered a little bit, but his eyes still seemed dead and not filled with light like they used to. Everything would be different now. The other cousins found them and sat down next to them. They passed around the flask until it was empty and the sun was completely out.

This was a different summer.