3 Jewelry Box

We spent days upon days in the hospital. Many tests were ran on Granny to figure out what caused her sudden collapse but everything came back negative. What the doctors did find out is that Granny is in the beginning phase of Alzheimer's. Hearing that information shook me to my core. My Granny? The strong-willed, independent Granny? How could this even happen. It took me awhile to accept the fact that Granny is in fact getting sicker and sicker.

Doctor Shaw, Granny's doctor, a tall pale man with a scruffy beard comes into the room.

"So Kapri, as stated before, Ms. Ethel, your grandmother has Alzheimer's, I am assuming others told you the severity of her illness. I am asking you, is there any way for her to go back to live with your family? Or is it a way for you to live with her here?", the doctor asks me.

I have already thought about this the day before when I was first told the bad news. "Yes, I am moving in with Granny here. This is her home, this is all she's ever known. I don't want to take that all away from her knowing how uncomfortable she will be without her home and all her book collections. So, yes, I will be moving here to stay with her and look after her."

"That is great news, I am happy you decided to let her live in comfort. Your nurse will come in soon and will give you more information about the disease as well as her discharging papers. We will be sending her home either later in the night or in the morning.", the doctors says and then begins to walk out of the room.

...

It's been 1 week since granny was discharged from the hospital. Things have become very hectic trying to settle to get used to the new lifestyle of the county side. From breaking the news to my family and friends, letting my employer know that I will be moving so I can no longer work at the company, to rearranging granny's house to make it easier for her to do the same things she was doing before. Granny being strong willed argued and fought with me forever trying to convince her to move into her dining room so she no longer has to go up and down her stairs. After many fights, she finally gave in and now I am able to move her bedroom things into her dining room.

"Gran put that down and just relax please! You know Dr Shaw would have a fit if he seen you trying to lift that!", I say to her while taking the pile of heavy books from her.

"Oh hush girly, I can do this, it's only a few books", she says back in a tired voice.

"I promise Granny, I can do this. Why don't you start dinner? It is getting pretty late and I am starrrrrving", I reply knowing that granny cannot stand knowing that her grandchild is hungry.

"Okay, I'll start on it now. What are you in the mood for?"

"Gran anything you make, I love!", which is true, nothing beats granny's southern cooking.

Granny heads downstairs to start dinner. She really is something else. Even though she is in pain, she still refuses to relax for once in her life but honestly I truly admire her will to keep fighting. I could never be as strong as she is.

I start trying to break down granny's old brown handcrafted bedframe that she told me was made by her father for her mother. Unfortunately, because it's old, I have to be very careful with what I take apart. I am no handyman but with patience and precision, I take apart just enough for the bedframe to fit through the bedroom door and down the stairs.

I let out a deep sigh of relief and wipe the sweat from my forehead as I look around at what used to be the dining room but is now granny's bedroom. I look at the floor at the many pieces of bedframe that I now have to put back together.

"Okay Kapri, you got this", I say to myself to help me regain the motivation to put the bedframe back together.

Granny checks on me every so often and tries to help out but each time I refuse so she can sit down and relax.

"Look Gran, I'm all done setting up your bed!", I yell to her from her new bedroom. She peaks her head in and gives a nod of approval before telling me to hurry up and come into the kitchen to eat dinner.

"I'm coming I'm coming, I just want to get some of your things from your closet down here! I promise!", I yell to her while already running up the stairs. I knew she would scold me for not coming when she asked me many times already but I just want to get things done before I start getting tired.

The many times that I visited and stayed over granny's house, I don't think there was one time when I even saw the inside of her closet. I open up the old, white closet door that has paint chipping off of it from years of wear and tear. I look up and down at the vast closet and many clothes on hangers. Many of which I remember seeing granny wear from my childhood.

I guess I'll start at the top shelf and put everything in a box and then I'll go eat. I yank at a piece of cloth from the shelf and everything below it tumbles over me and create a loud bang.

"Ouch!", I yell from the cloths and other things falling on my head.

"Is everything okay Kapri?!", granny yells from the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes ma'am, I'm fine, just getting some things from your closet is all", I reply back to her.

I start to gather all the coats and clothes and random newspapers from the floor and put them inside of the box. As I pick up the clothes, the ground becoming more visible, something off to the side catches my eyes. A jewelry box.

I pick up the jewelry box, swipe off the dust with my sleeve to expose a flower delicately painted on the lid. I don't remember seeing anything of this sort and I don't remember granny ever saying anything about a jewelry box as she loves telling stories about her past.

Should I open it? I ask myself. I don't want to invade granny's belongings but my curiosity gets the better of me as I slowly but carefully open the creaking box. Inside of the box is a key with a blue flower on it.

"Kapri, your dinner's getting cold, come on and eat!", granny yells from the bottom of the stairs again.

"I'm coming!", I reply back. I stuff the key into my pocket without thinking as I try to hurry up and bring the box of clothes to the dining room.

After eating dinner, I can tell that granny overexerted herself. Her eyes are low, her breathes are shallow, and her movements are slower than usual.

"Come on Gran, I'll wash the dishes and put the food away. Don't worry about it! You cooked so I'll clean. Go ahead and lay down, I'll be right there when I'm done.", I say to her in a low tone.

For once , she listens and heads towards her bedroom. I can hear the mattress settle in as she's getting into bed.

"Sweetie, can you bring me that blue and yellow quilt from the basement please. I am a bit chilly."

"Yes ma'am", I say to her. Even in the middle of summer, the basement is cold and damp.

As I get to the last step, something stops me in my tracks. On the floor is the sunflower book that granny held onto with her last strength. I completely forgot about the book since it's been so busy around her lately. But, I don't remember ever coming down into the basement since gran came home so how did it end up here on the floor?

Never mind that, I pick up the book to put it on the bookshelf in the corner. When putting it on the shelf, I lose grip and it falls on the ground and the first page is exposed. Just as before, the pages are empty. Once I go to pick it up again, a bright light in the shape of a circle surrounds me and the book.

"What the hell?!", I stumble over onto my back. I must be very tired I think to myself. I close my eyes tight and slap my face twice to get my head on straight but when I open them back up, the light is still there but now is turning in circles.

"What is going on? Wake up Kapri, wake up Kapri", I keep saying to myself as I still slap my cheeks, making them sting from pain.

The pages in the book start flipping wildly, the circles are spinning faster, and the light from the ground is intensifying but then a sweet pleasant smell starts omitting. Where is this smell coming from? I look around and flower petals are whistling through the air.

Still confused but curious, I reach my hand out to catch a petal and as my finger touched a petal, everything turns bright white.

"Where am I?"