Rumored Nights

Cars passed by sporatically down the street in front of Alice's home.

Her week off from school had begun and it was a week Alice had so been looking forward to.

She bided her time until Caroline and Ryan arrived, the few days in between she waited patiently through.

Not that there was much other choice.

The time waiting was easy to fill though, running around town with her friends.

It was time she could use thinking about how everything had changed for the better, how she spent so much of her time with so many new friends.

Afternoons wasted at someones house, nights spent at shows screaming for friends, early hours of the morning laughing at diners half deaf.

Alice wanted to show Ryan how different things were, see him proud who she was now.

She got her chance just then as among the cars she watched drive by, the familiar white Jeep pulled into the driveway.

As the figures of her brother and sister came into view from out of the car Alice couldn't help but run out into the cold front yard and fling herself at Caroline.

Her hair had been cut short since she had last seen her, the bags under her eyes vanished with an easy smile.

"Alice!" Caroline exclaimed in surprise, almost blown over by her energetic embrace. "I've missed you."

She had missed her sister just as equally, missing that presence in the house, even if she'd fought that presence for the bathroom every morning.

Pulling away, Alice saw her brother behind her quite some feet away yet still towering over them.

It had been quite some time since he had lived there, and even still since Alice had actually seen him but he was still the big brother from her memories.

"Ryan!" She grinned, hugging Ryan with more enthusiasm than ever before, hoping he understood how much she had missed him.

He held her close, resting his chin on the top of her head.

Just as they had let go Alice was taken by surprise as Ryan threw her over his shoulder, carrying her inside like that.

When their mother finally came home from work an hour later she found her kids just like she would've four years before.

All three sitting on the couch, Caroline and Ryan fighting for the remote with Alice squashed in the middle.

"Look, it's Mom." She breathed, using the opportunity of distraction to kick Ryan off the couch and claim the remote.

Niether he nor Caroline seemed fazed by her maneuver as they were both running up to hug their mother, leaving Alice to grab the abandoned bags of food a few steps away from being Thanksgiving dinner or squashed squash.

The holiday was tomorrow, leaving plenty of time for the family to catch up as they prepared dinner.

Alice's phone went unanswered the whole time, listening with rapt attention to her brother.

"I have a girlfriend." Ryan announced happily as he mashed potatoes. "Her name's Erin, she's from Detroit... she's really... indescribable."

The dreamy look in her brother's eyes made all three of the women in his life (and in the kitchen) awe before immediately demanding to meet her.

Alice had never knew him to have a girlfriend the entire time she'd grown up with him.

Perhaps college opened up the opportunities he'd never had before when he was taking care of his family.

When she looked back he was smiling and nodding. "Yes of course you can meet her. She's been bugging me for months to meet my family. Something about how I never shut up about you..."

Growing up with mostly women had taught Ryan the right things to say to them, that last being just right.

As the pumpkin pie was baking conversation turned to Caroline.

"Maria and I are living in an apartment in the city next to some guys in a band. It's not so bad when they keep us up at night practicing because it's pretty good music, though the lead singer hits notes not even I could hit and the bassist never sleeps."

Ryan and Alice both stared at Caroline with identical singular eyebrows raised, the only two in the kitchen to hear her story as their mother had gone to the store on a mission for canned cranberries.

That all changed though as the door opening interrupted their conversation, all three of them looking up to see their mother's weary form entering the kitchen.

With a war worn expression she pulled out something from her bag, slamming it dramatically onto the counter.

"Last can of cranberries."

.<^>.<^>.<^>.<^>.

The next day they all gathered around the fully set table.

The rest of the day had been spent cooking and cleaning in preparations that left Alice still sneezing hours later.

Regardless she soaked in the atmosphere feeling like someone who knew the end was near.

Nostalgic.

The end was near, of this chapter of her life at least, and Alice knew this was her last Thanksgiving at home.

Like the ticking clock, everyday she had left there was numbered practically down to the second.

Ryan caught her looking around the room, eyes watering at the empty table she sat at.

"You okay Ally?"

Alice quickly nodded, wiping at her eyes.

"I'm fine, fine, those onions I chopped earlier are finally catching up with me." She muttered, sighing when she saw Ryan's face.

He wasn't buying it.

"Alright so I'm feeling sentimental, but don't worry about it. Let's go help Caroline with the turkey, apparently she had a dream last night that it came alive and ate her."

They came just in time to see Caroline clutching a butcher knife as she stared fearfully at the cooked bird.

She didn't ease up until the table had been set and the turkey was in pieces.

As she sat with her family around the meal Alice inwardly said what she was thankful for.

She was thankful for the family she had left sitting next to her.

She was thankful for the friend's she'd found this year, changing her life.

And she was thankful for the life she had, so without drama Alice felt she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The moment was beautiful with the bright cold light falling on it from outside as the family joined hands to say grace.

The same scene was taking place all over the city, her friends silently thankful for the same things life had bestowed on them.

Everything Alice had been thankful for was true, except for the last.

The drama was far from over, it was only just beginning.