Chapter One: The Calm Before the Storm

I set my suitcase, which was already stuffed to capacity by my door. This was the first family vacation we have taken in about seven years. When Beth was about two years old, my family and I went to Washington DC. Tommy wasn’t even born yet, so this would be his first. Grandma Marcy used to live in that city, and for a couple of short years of my life I lived right there with her…at least until I was taken back from my parents. It was nice. We would walk all over that beautiful metropolis. I loved walking everywhere with my grandma. Her apartment was just a little ways away from the White House. We would walk past it all the time. There were many times where we would go out one day, walk all around the city, and then eat at some sort of outdoor restaurant, and then walk back to her apartment later. Those were the days…anyway! When we went on our first family vacation, there was one night out of the week where my mom and dad went out to dinner at one of the many restaurants. My grandma was left to look after Beth and I. She just made something simple for us. She made grilled cheese for me and…I think…oh! She made a mustard sandwich for Beth! She liked those at that age. I always thought that was weird. She did grow out of that a few years later. Grandma also put out a bowl of grapes, for the other part of our meal.

I grabbed a little stem of grapes and pulled it off the whole bunch. I ate them one by one, slowly, and somewhat carefully. I took a quick break from the grapes, and took a few bites of my sandwich. I swallowed and then washed it down with a few swigs of milk. I picked up a few more grapes and popped them into my pie hole, one at a time as usual. Beth kept going on about the funny thing that she had been talking about since we got to the table. I had one more grape in my seven-year-old hand. I popped it in and as I did so, Beth had gotten to the funniest part of the joke. I laughed so hard for a few seconds. The grape jumped down my throat…too fast to control! It was about halfway down my windpipe in no more than a second. I couldn’t breathe, at all! I couldn’t talk, cry, or scream. I couldn’t even exhale! My little sister was crying really loud. Huge teardrops rolled down her little red cheeks. She was crying so much; it was starting to make Niagara Falls jealous! As soon as my grandma saw what was happening, she rushed to the phone. She grabbed it, and then dropped it! That is not a good thing when you’ve got a choking, dying kid! She picked it up. She dialed 911, frantically. It rang and rang and rang! They were taking too long to answer.

You know, it’s ironic. In times of danger, things always seem to go a billion times slower than you need them to go. After she saw me turning blue in the face, she instantly knew that I was going to die in no more than thirty seconds. So, she dropped the phone, and rushed over to me. She turned me around real quick, and then wrapped her arms around the lower part of my chest. She then cupped her hands together and heaved upward forcing a large amount of air to be pushed up my windpipe. The first time was an utter failure. She tried it again, unsuccessful. On the third try, she was starting to give up hope. She gave it one more shot, and on the brink of death, the grape was sent flying out of my windpipe! It was a straight shot right smack-dab into the refrigerator door. It bounced off and landed on the floor. It left a shiny wet trail of saliva on the ground, until it stopped rolling altogether. I was breathing as if I had just been born; taking my first big gulps of that precious air that all living creatures on this Earth so desperately need. In and out. In and out.

I was so lucky that night. So many other people in that situation would have died. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones that survived.

“Shaun!” Mom called from downstairs.

“What?” I called back.

“Come here!”

I opened the door and jogged down the steps. The living room was coming into view. Grandma Martha entered the living room from the basement with a large suitcase and a small suitcase. Mom and Dad were in the kitchen packing things to use for lunches in Colorado. Mom grabbed a loaf or two and put them in a bag with an unopened bottle of mustard.

“What?” I asked again.

Mom turned to look at me. “Are you all packed? Do you have everything you need?”

“Yes.”

“Everything? We are leaving at about 10:00. You’re not going to have much time to pack any forgottens.”

“Yes; I know. I‘ve got everything. My Ps2, a week’s worth of clothing, books, pencils, and paper. I’ve got everything; don’t worry.” I assured her.

“Alright. I was just making sure. You should be getting to bed soon though. You need your rest.”

I nodded and went back up to my room. I flipped on the TV and watched a bit and got tired after a short while. At 10:00, I went to bed. I lied awake for at least 45 minutes. It wasn’t until at least 11:00 that I fell asleep. When I did get to sleep, I slept like a rock all night.

Author's Note:I hope that you enjoyed this little sneak peek for Colorado. I am hoping that the finished product will work out. If anybody has any suggestions for the story,then please submit a review. I will try to work consistently on this and update the same. Thanks.

-ST