Memories and a bird

It's been a day since my wonderful summer has started and I already feel like it's been ages since I had contact with civilization. I miss my internet friends, my daily dose of memes and my games. "Hey Phoebe since it's summer and all, care to go to the park for some ice cream? I'll treat you, so stop being so down 'kay?" Lara says as she tries to push me off the bed. *Thud* Before I could say anything to protest I fall on the floor. "Oww… Jeez you didn't have to push me off you know. I'm coming with you, it's not like I have a choice, right?" "Nope" she answered back with a huge grin on her face. "Dad! We're going out for a while 'kay?" she shouts while dragging me downstairs. It was a cloudy and pleasantly warm day today at around 28° Celsius, the street was filled with children playing with water balloons running around without a care in the world. Now that I think of it, the last time I enjoyed playing outside was a few summers back when I was in 3rd grade. Lara was my favorite playmate back then, she was also my closest cousin. We used to enjoy playing tag, hide and seek and treasure hunt together. The thought of it makes me want to do it all over again. "Hey Phoebe, Is there something on your mind? You've been staring at those children for a while now don't tell me… Y-you are into children!?" She says jokingly while pretending to be disgusted. "Not really… I was just reminiscing the good old days when we were always spending time together playing games outside." I answered. "Ah yeah… Those were the days, By the way how many summers has it been?" On the way to the park we passed by the old abandoned house where we used to play hide and seek. "Hey they still haven't gotten this demolished?" "Yeah I'm not sure why they still haven't taken it down but if you ask me I'd rather have it stay there, So I can always remember our childhood every time I pass through this area" she smiles. "Anyway… Last one to the park will clean the attic!" After saying this she runs off faster than I could even process her sentence. Lara has always been the more athletic girl, she is also more energetic and boyish. I decide to ignore what she said and calmly walked to the park. This was the 3rd biggest mistake I've made that summer, as I arrived on the park she was waiting for me on a bench under a tree holding Ice cream for the both of us, As I approached her the cheeky grin on her face becomes more obvious to me. "Took you long enough slowpoke! Here, take your ice-cream it's the least I can do, I mean you're going to be cleaning out the attic" She winks at me and playfully hits my shoulder. I guess I should take what she says more seriously. "By the way how long has it been?" She suddenly asks with a serious tone. "I'm not sure to be honest my memories are a bit clouded, but If I was to guess I would say about 9 years have passed" I answer her with a lighter tone. "You know Phoebe, I really miss those carefree days we had back then, I wish we did more but there's no use crying over it now. We have a whole summer to spend so we should make the most out of it." She says as she returns to her cheerful self. Time flies by and before we knew it the freezing cold night wind the sound of singing crickets and crying cicadas filled the air. "Well, guess we should head back now or we'll be late for dinner. Promise me something Phoebe" "Yes?" I answer with a confused look on my face. "Promise me we'll make this summer count, something to top our childhood memories okay?" "Well… I'll try my best, we still have 3 more months to reach that goal so good luck to us" I answered while giving her a reassuring smile. We slowly walked back home talking about random things.

"Hey we're home!" Lara shouted as we opened the gate. "Welcome back, did you girls have fun today?" Auntie asked as she opened up the screen door. "We had a great time today Ma, we went to the park and… well that's pretty much it, time just flew so fast I did not notice it was already this late" She said half-jokingly and half serious. "Well glad you had fun, would you like me to heat up the food for you two sweethearts?" "Yes please! I'm famished" "Sure thing Dearie, just wait a few moments while I set up the table" While Aunt Mary was setting up Lara dragged me up the stairs and towards the attic. *creek* As the door opened dust and cobwebs fell on our faces. "This is what you'll be cleaning tomorrow" She said while brushing the dust and grime off her clothes. "Don't worry Phoebe since I'm a great cousin I promise I'll help you. It'll be a great chance for us to bond so it's a win-win." She follows up "You know that's not really reassuring but thanks Lara" She has a point It'll be a great chance for bonding and it'll keep us from getting bored. "Food's ready girls" "Well… We better go down now, don't want the food to go cold now do we? Race yah there" Lara sprints downstairs and helps serve the food. "Where does she get all this energy of hers? That, I'll never know" I make my way downstairs and have dinner. After dinner I headed for the shower to relax and have some alone time to think about how I plan to survive this summer. After a rejuvenating shower, I got dressed and readied myself for a well-deserved rest.

*Crash* *Thud* "Hey... Wake up" A voice called out to me. "Hey, Phoebe!" At this point I just opened my eyes. "I think there's someone in the house." I immediately wake up. "Shh… Quiet!" I scold her quietly. "Do you have a torch here?" I asked her while grabbing a bat. "Here I just got this a few months back, it should still have some juice." She passes me the torch "Are you sure it's safe to go down there?" Lara asked, holding me close to her as if telling me not to go. "Well, it's better than sitting around here waiting to find out what is actually down there." I answer her while trying to find my glasses. *Creak* "Sounds like someone opened a door downstairs." Lara still clinging on me commented. It's hard to imagine she would be this clingy of a person. Then a voice called down from downstairs "So what is it John?" Auntie's voice echoed from downstairs. "Just a crow!" Hearing this me and Lara went down to have a look. "Oh, hey girls this poor fella managed to somehow lose consciousness and crash on our window." As we looked closer the bird seems to still be alive, barely. "Hey Phoebe do you think you can fix him? He looks so helpless" Well this is an unexpected turn of events. "Sure, I'll try but no promises." I have always wanted to be a doctor ever since I was a kid so I usually spent my free time reading books about medicine and basic first aid on online tutorials. "Uncle could you please heat some water, oh and some honey would help" I assemble a makeshift bed for the bird and place it to lay there while the water boils. A few moments later uncle brings warm water with him along with some honey. I then place the bird's legs on the warm water to help heat its body and I gave it warm honey-water to drink to also help warm it up." Upon closer inspection the crow seems to have a broken left wing. "I'm sorry little fella, there's nothing else I can do we'll just have to hope it heals over time" I secure the birds wings with cloth and a pin to limit movement and allow the bones time to heal. "Well, we did our part let's just leave the rest to time." Lara then places the bird on the couch and surrounds it with blankets. "Thanks for trying Phoebe" "No need to thank me, I would have done it either way" After leaving food and water for the bird we proceeded to go back up to our rooms and hit the sack for the night. "Goodnight Phoebe! I'm glad you're here" "Goodnight Lara" I guess it's not all that bad that I stayed here, this will surely be the most memorable summer I'll have.