The final bell rang and off went Mark to his house. As all the other children were walking with their friends eager to play and have fun, Mark was left alone. He followed behind everyone with a slug like pace. With no one to talk to, he would listen to his mp3 player. He wasn’t looking forward to going home, because no fun was there for him. There were no video games, no toys, and no one to play with. All that was left for Mark was a note left by his parents. On this note were chores, dinner arrangements, and an “I love you” at the bottom. To Mark this was a typical day, until that night.


That night Mark was asleep in his cozy bed. There was a twin size bed, a dresser, and a small closet. It was a typical room, which Mark made his own with many things. He had clothes dropped on the floor, some baseball equipment, and an enormous model boat. He made this boat with his grandfather and put it on his shelf with pride. Then all of a sudden two orbs entered through an open window.
“Are we there yet?” asked Mary.
“Relax, we finally made it,” replied John.

“Oh thank god. I was getting really tired from walking all this way,” retorted Mary

Just as Mary spoke, Mark had awakened and examined the creatures. They were circular orbs with a mysterious yellow glow. One had the voice of a woman and the other a man. As he heard their commotion, half asleep and terrified he asked, “Who’s there? I got a baseball bat, and I’m not afraid to use it!”
“Oh really, come here and hit me with it,” answered John.

“John be nice he’s just a little boy,” said Mary.

The first floating orb started to approach Mark. With all the strength he could muster he took a huge swing at it, hitting nothing but air. As soon as Mark realized he had missed he took evasive action. He flipped off the bed and slid right underneath it, shaking and shivering as he spoke, he asked “Why a-a-rr-e you here?”
“Why are you here? This is our house!” answered John.

“What, this is my parents’ house. It’s been owned by the Bennett’s for over one hundred years,” protested Mark

Mark then crawled out from under the bed and took another look at the floating orbs in his room. Then an unusual feeling passed over him. Something inside of him recognized something. When Mark came face to face with John he pushed his chest forward and got on the tips of his toes. He became filled with courage and ready to state his argument. He began to yell and shout as loud as he could about who owned the house. It wasn’t until Mary couldn’t take the screaming, that she decided to intervene.
“Now wait a second you two. There is no need to argue,” interrupted Mary.

“Yes there is, he stole our house!” answered John.

“No, it’s my Mom and Dad’s and it was my Dad’s Dad’s and his Dad’s Dad’s Dad’s.” argued Mark.
“This can’t be true, we’ve lived in this house for over sixty years. How long have you
lived in it?” asked John.

Just as Mark thought a knock was made on his bedroom door. “Mark, what’s going on in there? Your father and I see some light and we heard voices. Are you having trouble sleeping?” asked Mark’s mother. Mark had a stunned look on his face. John and Mary both looked at Mark.
“Well Mark you going to say something?” asked John.

Mark yelled into his door, “No, no, it’s okay, I’m fine and very tired, so I’ll shut my light

off now, and go to bed,”

“Are you sure?” responded his mother.

“Yeah, yeah,” replied Mark.

“Okay. I love you. Goodnight.”

“G-goo-d-night,” stuttered Mark.

Mark waited till his mother’s footsteps faded away before starting to speak again. This time with a softer and calmer voice he said, “Okay, it seems there is a problem between whose house this is. We could continue to argue, or just try to sort this out.”
“I’m not talking to you; you’re a thief. Plus you stole my house, it was fine when I left it to pick up my grandson,” argued John. Mark saw there was no getting through to John, so when Mary started to speak with him, things became a little clearer. “Thanks by the way, for doing that. I’m Mary. This guy to my left is John. As you can see he doesn’t have a lot of manners. I’m his wife and as he said, we have lived in this house for over sixty years,” explained Mary. “Well, I’m sure that might be true, but…”, as Mark was speaking John had become increasingly interested in the boat displayed on Mark’s shelf. He started to pick it up, and play with it through the room. “Hey, put that down, me and my grandfather built that!” yelled Mark.

“Oh relax boy, I’m just admiring the craftsmanship. Did you know I used to make some of these when I was your age? Used to build them with my dad, and he built them with his dad. You see it was sort of a family tradition.” retorted John.
“Well my grandfather and I made that, and it’s special to me,” answered Mark.

“Why, your grandfather and you can make a better one, because this one’s garbage,”

mouthed John.

Then John was met by Mary’s glare. It wasn’t long before John came to the realization that this could not be possible. Mark’s grandfather was dead. Died a while back, and Mark was still feeling the pains from his death.
“Ohh, I’m sorry,” responded John, “I never should have said that. I mean I could give

you a pointer or two. As I said before I built them with my dad,” explained John.

Then as John flipped the boat on upside down he realized something. On the bottom of the boat were initials M.F.B. and J.L.B. This was strange to John, because these were his initials, and the initials of his grandson. Suddenly, John and Mary’s lights began to flicker on and off. They began to transform from flying orbs into ghostly humans. A light came shining in through Mark’s roof, and a tunnel welcoming the two into the afterlife. All these memories rushed through Mary and John’s head. They remembered their children, and their children’s children, and they remembered their grandson, Mark. They began to remember the accident, and how they were going to pick Mark up from school. Mark then inched closer realizing who the two were he stuttered, “Grandma, Grandpa is that you?”
“It sure is, kiddo. You have freed us from our hollow shells and have given us back our memories. With this we are able to travel to the afterlife,” answered his Grandfather.
When Mark realized it was them he became filled with guilt and cried, “Oh Grandma and Grandpa, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to get you guys killed. It was only a ride, and if I would have known I would have never asked you for one. Please don’t kill me!”
“Oh Mark, we are not hear to kill you. Besides it wasn’t your fault. It was just meant to be. We just came here to let you know that your Grandpa and I love you very much and are going to a better place,” assured his Grandma.
“But, but, you can’t leave me again. I miss you guys. Now that you’re here everything can go back to the way it was,” cried Mark.
“We can’t son. Now I know things are hard, but I want you to know that we will be watching everything you do. We’ll be there through the good times and the bad, watching and helping you get through life. And one day, we will all see each other again,” replied Grandpa, “Now good bye, we love you.”
As the tears rolled down Marks face he cried and muttered, “Good bye, I love you too.” Mark’s grandparents then traveled up through the shinning tunnel and into the afterlife. From that day on, Mark no longer felt like something was missing. He was able to forgive himself and cherish the memories he had of them in his heart.
The End