expecting me to change the color of my eyes on command. It simply wasn’t possible. I gave a grade A eye roll as I threw the bag into the garbage. That’s what I thought about patience—it was pure garbage.
“Talking about patience tries my patience, Shelly. Let’s talk about something less controversial—something more along the lines of time travel and newspapers from the future. If I could travel through time, patience would become an irrelevant concept.”
“Whoa, don’t go revving up that Delorean just yet, Marty McFly! While I admit that the newspaper thing is completely bizarre, I seriously don’t believe in time travel. Time is fluid—it ebbs and flows. It isn’t a concrete object that can be maneuvered around. Once a moment is gone, it’s gone and it can never be recaptured. But in the event that I’m completely wrong, travelling to the past is even more off limits than Costa Rica is!”
Well, obviously time travel was also a controversial subject. We made a few more attempts at conversation but those topics failed as well. No, I didn’t know that Rachel was in town but talking to her about Zach wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation. I didn’t have enough energy for that tonight. And yes, I was well aware of the fact that sooner or later I was going to have to tell Dad about tracking down Mom’s past. But again, not tonight.
Finally, I decided to give in to the jet lag. I was tired and cranky and overwhelmingly impatient. Sleep was the only remedy for that. At least for the tired and cranky parts. There was no magic cure for chronic impatience but maybe there needed to be. I was too exhausted to head to my old room in the attic so I camped out on the couch in Shelly’s study instead.
While punching the pillows to make them less stiff, I thought about the last time I slept in that very same spot. It was a little over a year ago but felt like a lifetime away. That night, I slept downstairs because of the ghost inside my room. Tonight, I was trying to escape the ghosts inside my head. Back then, I feared what would happen to Zach if I got to close to him. Now, I was dealing with the polar opposite of that. And it hurt. Bad. How was I going to save him if I couldn’t get close to him?
I fell asleep hoping for a dream that would lead me to my next move. Instead, all I got was that dream of us in the movie theater again. Everything leading up to the opening scene was clear and focused. But as soon as that movie started to play, everything went fuzzy. The screen was out of focus. The audio was garbled. I fidgeted in my seat unable to pay attention to the absolute mess that was playing out in front of me. Zach, on the other hand, appeared to be watching the best movie he’d ever seen.
One minute he would be laughing, the next in tears. He held my hand the entire time, squeezing it lightly at what must have been the most powerful moments of what he was viewing. It was the most frustrating thing imaginable. When I woke up the next morning, I already had a huge, impatient chip looming on my shoulder.
Unable to help Zach yet unable to sit still, I borrowed Shelly’s car and set out for Something Wick-ed without even waiting for breakfast to be ready. Rita said she didn’t think Zach was being haunted but I needed to find out what she knew along the lines of curses. It was a long shot but if Addie was right, Rita may still be able to help me out. I pulled up to the curb at the very moment that I expected her to be unlocking the front door and flipping the sign. But alas, the universe decided to flip me a different sign altogether.
“Something Wick-ed will be closed until Monday. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
Monday? Where could she possibly be that would require her to close the store for such an extended
“Talking about patience tries my patience, Shelly. Let’s talk about something less controversial—something more along the lines of time travel and newspapers from the future. If I could travel through time, patience would become an irrelevant concept.”
“Whoa, don’t go revving up that Delorean just yet, Marty McFly! While I admit that the newspaper thing is completely bizarre, I seriously don’t believe in time travel. Time is fluid—it ebbs and flows. It isn’t a concrete object that can be maneuvered around. Once a moment is gone, it’s gone and it can never be recaptured. But in the event that I’m completely wrong, travelling to the past is even more off limits than Costa Rica is!”
Well, obviously time travel was also a controversial subject. We made a few more attempts at conversation but those topics failed as well. No, I didn’t know that Rachel was in town but talking to her about Zach wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation. I didn’t have enough energy for that tonight. And yes, I was well aware of the fact that sooner or later I was going to have to tell Dad about tracking down Mom’s past. But again, not tonight.
Finally, I decided to give in to the jet lag. I was tired and cranky and overwhelmingly impatient. Sleep was the only remedy for that. At least for the tired and cranky parts. There was no magic cure for chronic impatience but maybe there needed to be. I was too exhausted to head to my old room in the attic so I camped out on the couch in Shelly’s study instead.
While punching the pillows to make them less stiff, I thought about the last time I slept in that very same spot. It was a little over a year ago but felt like a lifetime away. That night, I slept downstairs because of the ghost inside my room. Tonight, I was trying to escape the ghosts inside my head. Back then, I feared what would happen to Zach if I got to close to him. Now, I was dealing with the polar opposite of that. And it hurt. Bad. How was I going to save him if I couldn’t get close to him?
I fell asleep hoping for a dream that would lead me to my next move. Instead, all I got was that dream of us in the movie theater again. Everything leading up to the opening scene was clear and focused. But as soon as that movie started to play, everything went fuzzy. The screen was out of focus. The audio was garbled. I fidgeted in my seat unable to pay attention to the absolute mess that was playing out in front of me. Zach, on the other hand, appeared to be watching the best movie he’d ever seen.
One minute he would be laughing, the next in tears. He held my hand the entire time, squeezing it lightly at what must have been the most powerful moments of what he was viewing. It was the most frustrating thing imaginable. When I woke up the next morning, I already had a huge, impatient chip looming on my shoulder.
Unable to help Zach yet unable to sit still, I borrowed Shelly’s car and set out for Something Wick-ed without even waiting for breakfast to be ready. Rita said she didn’t think Zach was being haunted but I needed to find out what she knew along the lines of curses. It was a long shot but if Addie was right, Rita may still be able to help me out. I pulled up to the curb at the very moment that I expected her to be unlocking the front door and flipping the sign. But alas, the universe decided to flip me a different sign altogether.
“Something Wick-ed will be closed until Monday. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
Monday? Where could she possibly be that would require her to close the store for such an extended
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