[FREE] Grandma's Pink Pearls

   My hands shook as I I laid my hands on the wooden chest. I wasn’t suppose to be in my grandpa’s room but he was busy mowing the front lawn. Hopefully I would be out by the time he finished. My arms pushed open the chest’s lid as hard as they could and let it lean against the faded wallpaper. The inside was filled to the top with old items. To most people it would look like a pile of junk, but not for me.
   It was my grandma’s stuff that my grandpa must have put it in here after she had died. Well, that’s what we thought had happened. She disappeared two years ago and we just assumed the worst. I reached in and pulled out the necklace of pink pearls she always wore around her neck. They always looked so beautiful on her, maybe they would on me too. My hands then greedily hooked them around my neck as my eyes searched the chest for more treasures.
   I pulled out a stack of old photos and began to search through them. They were from my grandparents’ wedding. My grandma stood young and proud in her long-sleeved gown and my grandpa in his black tux. I moved the picture to the back when the next picture suddenly fell to the ground. It was another photo of my grandparents on my wedding day but it was ripped in half. In the next one my grandma’s head was cut out. And in the next she was burned out of the picture. I was more confused than worried about why someone would do this. My grandma was the sweetest person I knew and these altered pictures showed hate.
   Then it hit me. This was my grandpa’s chest and it was in his room, where no one was allowed. Could he have done this? No, of course not. He loved my grandma. Didn’t he?
   My grandpa then emerged from the doorway, his face filled with anger I had never seen before, “What did I tell you about going in my room?!”
   “I’m sorry grandpa! I was just looking.”
   “No get out! Get out!” He screamed.
   I would have liked nothing more than to leave but I felt as if I was glued to the floor. My body trembled in fear as I began to cry, this wasn’t the same grandpa I knew.
   “Can’t you hear child?! Leave!”
  In the moment of anger and frustration he grabbed one of his many beer bottles on his desk and slammed it against my skull.
  I woke up in my own bed screaming at the top of my lungs. I stopped when I realized I was safe, it was only a dream. My shirt was damp with sweat and I felt slightly dizzy. I didn’t remember coming home but I pushed that out of my mind as I stumbled to the bathroom. Water filled my cupped hands and I splashed it on my face. The water felt amazing against my burning skin, and for some reason my head was throbbing. I looked up into the mirror and met the gaze of my own tired eyes. And when my eyes reached the pink pearls around my neck I suddenly didn’t feel tired anymore.