If there was one thing Elli Althos always hated in all the world, other than bugs and creepy crawlies, it was being helpless.
To be more specific, she always hated not being able to help someone in their time of need. On one blistery winter day, when she was seven years old, the snow came down in sheets, with harsh winds roaring as Mineral Town was assailed by blizzards. On such a terrible day, she found a tiny ball of fur covered with thick snow. To her surprise, the ball of fur had wiggled some. It was a kitten, with sunny orange fur and chocolate brown stripes. Just like the tigers she read about in her books. When she scooped the kitten into her arms, the frigid cold stung her tiny palms, and the feline mewled helplessly. The sad squeaks wounded the girl's heart unlike any other.
She did know one thing for sure: a kitten out in the snow only spelled danger.
Elli had run into the house, begging, pleading for her parents to help the poor creature. To her disappointment, all they did was shake their heads and scratch their hair. There was nothing they could do, and neither of them knew anything about caring for an animal in such a state. Little Elli merely huffed and took the kitten to her room. No matter! She would take care of it herself. After all, she wanted to be a doctor. Maybe now was a good chance to see if she could try and help the kitten.
The child didn't know it, but the kitten was beyond help. Of course she wouldn't know. She was a child then. Elli did everything she could for the kitten. Wrapping it in nice, warm blankets, small enough so they wouldn't completely wrap around it, blowing on its fur, placing it next to the fireplace, with its crackling flames and warm, comforting heat. She even gave it some warm water to drink. Surely, that would help! During the night, she watched the kitten with childlike curiosity, laying on the floor on her stomach, with the kitten at eye level. Soon, her eyes grew heavy, unable to stay open. That night, she fell asleep.
Morning came, and there was no mewing. The kitten was completely dormant. It had come so unexpectedly, like thunder striking amidst a blue, blue sky. Elli's first reaction was to touch the kitten's fur. It was still cold. But the frigid decrease in temperature was different from when it was covered in the snow. Then she hurriedly turned the kitten over, removing the blankets hurriedly, checking for a pulse. If any creature had a pulse, there was life. Pulses were good.
There was none.
She couldn't believe it. She tried everything...but she couldn't save the kitten. No matter how much she squinted or how tightly she shut her eyes, burning tears still permeated her eyelids. Her fists banged on the floor several times, making contact with wood, leaving splinters. All she could do was wail and cry, lamenting the loss of the life she had tried so hard to save.
This was Elli's first experience with death. It wouldn't be her last.
Death can sometimes make people do things they usually don't do. Sometimes even spur them into action. For Elli, that incident only solidified what she wanted to become: a nurse, or a doctor if she wanted.
Even with that dream, however, her family still came first. Her mother, father, grandmother, and little brother Stu, were the center of her world.
When she was fifteen, tiny Mineral Town had been graced with a lovely autumn. An ocean of vermillion red and golden yellow trees seemed to cover the entire town, turning it into a patchwork quilt of vibrant colors that were bursting with life and cheer. Down from the trees came piles of orange, red, yellow, and brown leaves that covered the streets, crinkling and crunching underneath many shoes and boots that walked on top of them. It was a pleasant day all around, and the entire Althos family had gathered at Ellen's house for a day of fun.
"Stu!" Elli exclaimed, watching the young boy run around the house like a speeding race car. "Goodness! I said no running in the house! You'll wake up Grandma!"
"Come on, Elli!" Stu stopped running, but he let out a nasally whine to convey his disappointment. "Grandma said she doesn't mind when I run, so don't be so mad!"
Elli crossed her arms and huffed. She never did like it when Stu ran in the house. If he was outside, that would have been different, and she would have let him run as he pleased. But he was inside, and their grandmother was sleeping. As far as Elli was concerned, her grandmother needed sleep, and she was sure she'd be cranky if Stu woke her up with his rough housing. Her parents were the same way. Currently, her mother was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, and her father was in the kitchen talking on the phone.
Seeing that they were busy, Elli took it upon herself to scold the boy for his rough housing. "Stuart Jacob Althos, if you don't calm down and keep quiet, you won't receive any candy for the next two weeks!" Elli scolded, wagging her finger at the petulant boy like she was his mother rather than his sister. "Understand? Do you want Grandma to wake up cranky and mean?"
Thankfully, to Elli's relief, Stu didn't say another word. He simply shook his head, muttered an apology, and went to join his mother. Elli could only smile. Good, now her grandmother could rest easy.
"Elli, dear," Her father came into the dining room after having hung up the phone. Elli looked up at him, wondering if his beard had grown any longer. She always liked his beard and how soft and scratchy it was in her fingers. But she kept her hands to herself. This wasn't the time to be messing with her father's face. "Your mother and I are going to the movies tonight."
"The movies?" Elli asked. "That's new. You and Mother hardly ever go to the movies."
"Normally we don't," Her father clarified. "But your mother wants to see this new one that just came out, and we thought it'd be nice if we could spend part of the evening together. Is that alright?"
Elli beamed. "Sure. I don't mind. I'll keep an eye on Stu and Grandma while you're gone," She took on the responsibility without hesitation, and her parents hadn't left yet. "You two deserve to spend the day together by yourself."
Her father ran a hand through his daughter's hair. Elli basked into the touch. As usual, her father's hands were cracked and rugged, and his long fingers felt good on her scalp. "You're a good sport, Elli. Sorry we can't take you and Stu with us. We know you hate being cooped up in the house, and the movie we're seeing is for adults only."
"What?!" Suddenly, Stu shrieked so loud, both Elli and her father winced at how loud it was. There was no mistaking Stu's shrill voice. "You're going to the movies?! I wanna go too!" Stu stormed inside the kitchen, wrapping himself around his father's leg, pleading and begging. "Can I go to the movies with you?! Pleeeeease? I wanna see Neo Mechabot 2 The Movie!"
This wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence in the Althos family. Stu hearing that the family had plans and immediately wanting to be a part of them, whether he was wanted or not. Their father gently pried him off of his leg and kneeled down to his level. "Not this time, buddy. Sorry. Mom and I are seeing a movie that kids aren't allowed to watch. But how about next time. Okay?"
Unfortunately, this didn't alleviate Stu one bit. He shrieked even louder, "No! I wanna go to the movies now!"
"Keep your voice down!" Elli scolded, her voice firm and terse. "Don't wake Grandma up!"
Good thing that didn't last long. The minute Elli's mother heard the commotion, she immediately threw herself into it. "Hey, Stu. You said you had a huge collection of rocks. Can you show me, please? I'd love to see them."
Intrigued that his mother would want to see his rock collection, Stu took his mother into his room. A potential disaster had been averted. No tantrums, no screaming, no yelling, no cranky grandmother deprived of sleep. Elli exhaled a big sigh of relief.
Eventually, the time came for their parents to leave. "You sure you're going to be alright by yourselves?" Her mother asked.
"We'll be fine, Mother. I've done this before, so don't worry."
"Sorry, dear. It's our job as parents to worry," Her mother put a hand on Elli's cheek. It was cold from the autumn air, but it still felt nice. "We'll come running back as soon as the movie's over. Our phones will be on, so call us if there's an emergency. If you can't reach us, Officer Harris's number is on the table, along with your Aunt Giselle and Uncle Fred's numbers."
"Yes, Mother."
Being parents, they went over the usual rules with them. If someone knocks on the door, don't answer it. If someone keeps banging on the door, get a phone, hide somewhere safe, and call the police. Don't answer the phone unless the caller ID lists a name and number they recognize. Elli had these rules drilled into her since she was very young, and although she was slightly annoyed by them telling her all of this over and over again, she didn't complain. She knew they were only worried for their children's safety, and of their mother's safety. Elli couldn't find it in her to talk back to them. They loved her too much, and she didn't want to disrespect them or hurt their feelings.
"Anyway, we better go," Her father kissed Elli and Stu on their cheeks. Their mother did the same. "We'll be back at ten. Behave yourselves and take care! Bye!"
"Bye! We love you!" Elli and Stu watched as the car pulled away from their street, disappearing into the next corner.
There was nothing for Elli to worry about, she told herself. She would be fine. She, Stu, and their grandmother would be just fine. They'd watch their movie and come back in a few hours. She could make dinner for them, put Stu to bed, and talk with Grandma for a few hours if she woke up from her nap. Plus, Mineral Town was a safe place. Hardly anything bad happened here. Surely they'd be fine. But she did wish Stu would stop whining about not going to the movies.
"Waaaaahhhh! I wanna goooooo!" Stu cried loud enough for everyone to hear.
To Elli's relief, that didn't last too long either. She decided to make some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, along with some rice pilaf and corn. Her grandmother could still eat that stuff, and Stu wouldn't complain. As long as it wasn't chili, spinach, or anything else he didn't like and would very loudly complain about, Stu would eat anything. Dinner went by rather fast, and then Elli made Stu take his bath, blow dried his hair, and put him into bed by nine.
Once Stu was asleep, Elli went back to the living room. "Goodness. I don't know where he gets the energy to complain so much…" She mused to herself. She found her grandmother sitting on the couch, with a ball of yarn on her lap and knitting needles right at work.
"He's a little boy, Elli," Her grandmother told her. "Little boys always complain about being made to do things they don't like. Trust me. I've dealt with a few of them back in my day."
Elli sat down next to her grandmother. "I honestly don't know how you do it, Grandma."
Her grandmother let out a hoarse but hearty laugh. "They grow out of it. They usually do. I'm sure Stu will grow out of it sometime. Anyway, how is school going?"
Happy to have found some private time with her grandmother, Elli spent the whole hour just talking to her. Telling her about school, the friends she made, her favorite math teacher, etc. Grandma listened with a smile, never interrupting her granddaughter even once. Elli was trapped in a stream of words, swallowed up by the desire to tell her grandmother all that had happened. But she didn't mind. It was nice to talk to her grandmother. Time seemed to stop when the two of them talked amongst themselves, like they were friends at school rather than an elderly woman and her granddaughter.
It was when Elli looked at the clock that she stopped her palavering. It was 10:17 PM. Her parents should have been here by now. "I wonder if Mother and Father are stuck in traffic?" Elli wondered aloud. "They said they'd be home at ten."
"There usually aren't any traffic jams this time of night," Her grandmother told her.
A small pang of worry shot up in her heart. "I'll call Mother's phone," Elli scampered to the phone and dialed her mother's cell phone number. There was no ringing. None at all. The only message she got was something she hadn't heard before. "The number you are trying to reach is unavailable." A dull, robotic woman's voice replayed it's scripted message.
That couldn't be right. Elli dialed again.
"The number you are trying to reach is unavailable."
Her heart began to pound. The sprout of worry began growing.
A third time. "The number you are trying to reach is unavailable."
Four. Five. Six. No answer. No human voices came from the other end. Why weren't her parents answering? A strange, unfamiliar sense of abject dread suddenly took hold of her. What was happening? Did something bad happen?
"What's wrong, Elli?"
"Mother's not answering. It keeps telling me the number's unavailable," Elli's voice began to tremble. It even surprised Elli herself. She wasn't used to feeling like this. But the more important thing was...what happened to her parents?
Surely they were okay. They had to be. They just had to be...right?
Knock knock knock! Audible raps could be heard at the door. The sound came out of nowhere, and Elli let out a harsh gasp, dropping the phone. Said phone clattered to the floor at her feet. Good thing her skirt was so long that it covered her feet, so they were spared the pain of getting hurt.
"I'll go get it. Stay here," Grandma stood up from the couch, putting her knitting down to answer the door.
Elli didn't move from her spot. Something inside her paralyzed her from head to toe. All she could hear were her grandmother's footsteps. The door creaking as she opened it. The deafening thundering of her heartbeat. Pound pound pound. It was like explosions and alarm bells were all around her, telling her that something terrible happened. But what?
"Excuse me. Are you Ellen Althos?"
"Yes, I am. How can I help you?"
"Are you related to Michelle and Russell Althos?"
"Yes! They're my daughter and son-in-law! What's going on? Did something happen?"
Her arm began to tremble. Her legs turned limp. Elli's vision was blurring.
"I'm sorry. There was a car accident near the movie theater. They tried to evade a deer but lost control of their car. They ran into another building and died on impact."
Car accident? Deer? Lost control? Another building? Died? It was as though Elli had been dropped off a cliff into the unknown. Her parents were gone? Her parents? Gone? Nothing made sense. Nothing seemed real. All of a sudden, everything was spinning. Blurry, spinning, loud...she fell to her knees. She heard and saw nothing. Not even Ellen breaking into loud, guttural sobs could pull Elli out of her mind. The realization hit Elli like a speeding freight train.
Her parents were dead, never to come back. She, Stu, and Ellen were all alone.
She would never see them again. Or hug them. Or kiss them. Or celebrate their birthdays. They wouldn't be able to watch her graduate from high school, go to college, and receive a degree in nursing. They wouldn't watch their daughter and son grow up. They wouldn't smile and pat her head when she did something nice for them and Stu. Her father had planned to take Stu to the movies to see Neo Mechabot 2. They promised. It was as though a devilish demon had come into her life, ripped a huge part of her heart out, and left her to bleed in the road, laughing at its cruel deed.
The whole world was spinning, and Elli could feel tears sting her eyes. Then they suddenly came out in full force, and a hoarse, pathetic sob-a sound she wasn't sure she was even making-escaped her being. More came out. Soon, the entire house was full of Ellen's cries and Elli's pained screams.
The funeral was short, which was fine with Elli. She didn't want to spend a minute longer in that church. She didn't want to see her parents lying in fancy mahogany caskets being buried in the ground. All seeing it did was reinforce the fact that they were undeniably, irreversibly, completely gone from this world. People from all over Mineral Town gave Elli and her family their prayers, condolences, well wishes, even offering some gifts. But what did any of that do? Prayers, condolences, well wishes, and gifts wouldn't bring her parents back. Nothing they did could bring them back. She couldn't put a lid on the irrationally bitter feelings rising up from inside her. They blended with her sorrow.
All she could think was one thing: Why? Why did her parents have to die?
As far as Elli was concerned, they hadn't done anything to deserve having their lives cut short. But a wave of guilt suddenly overwhelmed her. The kitten incident from eight years ago flashed through her mind. Was it...her fault that her parents died? She didn't ask them to stay home. She didn't beg them to not go to the movies. Could she have prevented this, had she fought hard enough? Had she acted in time? Elli tried to convince herself that what happened wasn't her fault. It was just an unfortunate accident. Nobody could have known or prevented it. But the guilt still creeped in anyway.
A world without her parents...this wasn't the world Elli wanted to wake up to.
Things didn't help when she learned that her aunt and uncle would be unable to take her in. Although they were well off, they knew nothing about raising children, and had too much on their plate to care for Elli and Stu. They were left in Ellen's custody, made to stay in her house forever, rather than for a couple weeks like her family had planned. Elli and Stu would never be able to go back home. Ever.
When Elli got home from the funeral, she buried her face into her pillows and cried. Howling, screaming, bawling into her pillows, tears staining the fabric. Everything she knew and loved was being taken away from her. Just like with the kitten, she was helpless to do anything about it.
God, did she hate being helpless. What could she possibly do?
Actually, there was a lot to do. Stu still needed to be taken care of. Her grandmother's health was declining. Once Elli finished letting her sadness out, she wiped her tears.
"You can get through this, Elli," She told herself. "Mother and Father are gone, but you still have Grandma and Stu. They're all you have left, and they need you. It's not the end of the world."
As much as Elli wanted to grieve, she knew she couldn't just sit around and cry. Her family-what was left of it-needed her. There was still something she could do for them. Meals needed to be prepared. Laundry needed to be done. Arrangements needed to be made. Stu needed his big sister, and Ellen needed her granddaughter.
Rubbing her sleeve against her puffy red eyes, Elli stood up from her bed and made her way to the kitchen. "I better make something for Grandma and Stu. They're going to need their strength in the days to come."
The months after her parents' untimely deaths were a blur in Elli's mind. So much happened all at once, but time seemed to go at a snail's pace. Although Elli's aunt and uncle wouldn't be able to take her or Stu in, they did arrange for Ellen's medical bills to be paid so Elli wouldn't need to worry about making money. As much as Elli appreciated their generosity, she still wanted to do something for her family. She managed to get a job in the Mineral Town clinic as a trainee nurse working under Doctor Trent Shada. It helped that he offered to help Ellen however he could, and he was a nice fellow, so Elli found the new position to be a blessing.
Not only that, she could help people. She wouldn't just sit around and do nothing. She needed something to take her mind off of the gaping hole in her heart. But something else came right along with said hole. Although Elli was young-fifteen, going on sixteen-not even she was so naive as to think her grandmother would be around for long. After two months, her grandmother lost feeling in her legs, and was now unable to walk. She had to use a wheelchair from then on, though she was barely mobile due to her old age and still ailing health. Just thinking about it brought that abject feeling of dread back into her system.
Ellen could die at any moment. She wasn't young or immortal. What would happen to Elli if Ellen were to die suddenly? Would anyone take care of her or Stu? Or would they be separated? Something bad could happen, even worse than everything else before this, and she would be helpless.
No. She couldn't be helpless. Not now.
"I shouldn't be thinking about this right now," Elli placed a clipboard down on the desk as she took her seat. Business was slow at the clinic, so she had a lot of time to think. "Grandma still has time left," She told herself. "She's not going to die tomorrow morning."
She certainly hoped not. She didn't know what she'd do if Ellen were to leave her. Where could she go? What would happen to her and Stu? What could she do?
"Elli!" Doctor Trent called from the back of the clinic. "Have you seen my stash of bluegrass? I can't seem to find it anywhere!"
Elli looked underneath the desk. A small cardboard box labeled bluegrass greeted her in silence. Smiling to herself, Elli took the box into her hands. No, she couldn't let her mind be plagued with worry. This wasn't the time to be assuming the worst. It was time to focus on what she could do now. What she could do to help others, including herself.
"I found it, Doctor!" With the box in her hands, Elli trotted into the back room.
The future was uncertain, and held many possible outcomes. Elli could only hope that should uncertain times come, she wouldn't be rendered helpless this time.