A/N: This is dedicated to my grandma. Since you never really see a lot of Andy's family in the movie I decided to do my own. The story is based off of some of the things us grandkids would do while at grandma's house.
Summer stays at grandma Claire Samson's house were always fun to the Davis kids when they were little. The days were usually spent with some new art project, trips to a large mall or park, and even the occasional trip to the beach at times. Those visits ended however, just a few years back and another wasn't going to happen any time soon with the oldest of the siblings heading to collage that year. One trip in particular stuck out oddly in Andy's mind even as he left for collage that year. He began to think back on it as he packed away the rest of his toys into the black trash bag. With a heavy sigh, he slowly let his mind slip back to that day about 8 years ago.
It was about five in the evening when the blue car belonging to Claire arrived at the dunes. With her were her three grandchildren, siblings Andy and Molly, and their middle cousin, Colleen. This was the first trip that had all three of them with her, and while three children could be a bit of a hand full, she wasn't complaining. Unlocking the safety lock on the car doors, the kids piled out like a swarm of angry bees and ran off to find a good spot, leaving their grandmother in the parking lot.
"You only have two hours to swim!" Claire called after them as she locked the car again and followed after them, not really sure if they had heard her or not.
It didn't really matter though, they usually knew it was time to get out when the lifeguards began coming around. Molly, who was only a little toddler of five at the time, came trotting back over to her grandmother and tugged at the floral printed skirt she wore. In her arms, she clutched the hand of a little Barbie doll that she always seemed to carry with her.
"Barbie is afraid of the water, Granum." The little girl said in her tiny voice, raising a hand up to wipe her eye. "But Andy wants me to go swimming too."
Trying not to giggle at the childish predicament, Claire calmly patted her granddaughter's head and tried to think of a solution.
"You can still dip your feet in the water." Claire suggested to her calmly, watching the girl as her eyes widened in sudden realization. "And then Barbie won't have to even touch the water."
"Great idea!" She cheered loudly and then toddled off to go play with the bigger kids.
Andy, who had overheard the conversation, rolled his eyes and looked over at his estranged cousin, who was now playfully splashing Molly. Her ruby hair and emerald eyes were traits that even as an adult now he could never seem to trace back to anywhere near his family tree, though he knew that they were in fact related by his mother's oldest brother, who had the same hair color as his daughter. As a joke though, he always said that his cousin was just a life sized doll name Jessie, just like the one his mother owned as a child.
He snickered quickly to himself and didn't notice the two girls of the group sneaking up on him and tackle him into the sand. Well, he did kind of deserve it for thinking such things. Claire laughed softly when the boy jumped back up, coated in sand, and then proceeded to run after the two girls, following them into the water, and then tripping again. They kept this up for a long while before finally dispatching to different parts of the beach and began to either swim, build a sandcastle, or search for beach glass. It was around the time they returned to the blanket that Claire decided now would be as good a time as ever for dinner.
"Time for dinner." Claire said as the group go within earing range and frowned when she saw Andy still covered in sand. "Go wash Andy, we'll be leaving soon."
The boy groaned and was quick to run back to the water and washed off the sand. Molly and Colleen ran back to the car (or at least Molly tried to) and grab towels and put their spare T-shirts on over their swimsuits and their hair up in the towels. Andy returned to claim his own towel and by the time they got everything packed away and back into the car, the sun began to set, casting eerie shadows through the cars windows. This reminded the young boy of a story he heard once, and what better time to tell it then with a captive audience?
"You know, I heard a story called 'Dianna of the Dunes' once." Andy said in a knowing voice, knowing that this would capture his sister's curiosity.
"Really? Whats it about?" Molly chirped, smiling up at him.
Colleen rolled her eyes and stared out her window, clearly not as interested and Claire kept staring straight ahead at the rode.
"Its about the ghost of a woman named Dianna. Whose house was built in a dune. Kinda like the one we just went to." Andy said in a spooky tone, "She died there and people say they still see her ghost roaming around there at night."
Molly's face paled and her eyes widened in fright as she let out a terrible yelp, not needing to hear the rest of the story to be frightened. Andy laughed at this reaction but soon stopped when he caught his grandmother's glare in the read view mirror.
"Andy, where do you hear this nonsense?" Claire asked in a stern tone.
"Weird Indiana." Andy said in a matter of fact way, patting his sister's knee. "Its just made up stuff though."
"It could happen grandma. I mean if angles and fairies are real, then why not ghosts?" Colleen asked, leaning forward in her seat and placing her hands on the back of the front seat headrest.
"Colleen, sit back!" Claire snapped, ignoring her earlier comment about Angels and Fairies.
Claire adjusted the mirror and noticed her frighten, young grandchild and frowned softly.
" Its only a story Molly." She reassured her, noticing how the child was now shivering in what seemed to be fear.
"I know, I'm just cold." Molly lied, pulling her 'Cape may' Shirt further over her legs.
Claire nodded her head knowingly and pulled into a Burger King and parked the car. She had hoped that letting the kids play the soft drink game would cheer Molly up and possibly get Andy interested in another topic. All three kids won the game and ordered their food and as they left the restaurant with their bags in hand, Colleen looked confused.
"How do you win that game again?" She asked suddenly, despite having just played it.
"You put a quarter in and if it reaches the bottom of the contraption, you win a soft drink." Claire explained simply, wondering why she would ask such a thing.
Colleen nodded and climbed back into the car. "Oh, so I guess my winning was beginners luck?"
"In a sense." Andy shrugged and the car took off again.
The sun was sinking even lower by the time the food had been eaten and the drinks were practically finished. Colleen took this chance to spring her own story on everyone.
"I've got a ghost story." Colleen said suddenly, turning on the visor light over her head.
"Really?" Claire asked, sounding a bit annoyed already.
"Yeah, some guy was once driving a car when he saw some girl at the side of the road. He stopped and gave her a ride in his car and even gave her his jacket. When he looked in his mirror he saw that she wasn't there! She had just disappeared completely! Then the next day while he was driving near a grave yard, he found his jacket on the grave of some girl with the same name as the girl he had picked up!" Colleen said in a less than spooky tone.
"That wasn't really scary." Molly piped up between sips of cherry coke, feeling a little braver with her favorite drink in hand. "Neither was Andy's."
"Whatever, you just don't know how to listen." The older two said in unison.
Claire rolled her eyes and pulled into her driveway not a second later. The kids got out of the car and scrambled to the front door-
Andy sighed as he had forgotten what had happened after that and began to realize how long ago that was. He sometimes wondered if Molly or Colleen remembered any of those trips and if they did if they would help him fill in anything that he had forgotten. With another sigh, he took out his cellphone and dialed in a familiar number.
"Hey, Colleen? Do you remember when we used to visit grandma's house?"