Chapter 5

If she was in the right mood, you could guarantee that we’d all be rolling around on the floor with laughter by the end of the afternoon. As I said, Auntie Sue was a big kid too on occasions and we loved it! Games with her were always fun, even if sometimes they were rather�?Unusual.

For example, how many cream crackers can you eat in one minute?�?Ok, so maybe unusual isn’t the word to describe our means of fun, but we enjoyed it! However, the hardest part were the rules you had to follow; you weren’t allowed butter on the crackers, neither were you allowed a drink until you’d finished!

We’d sit on the back garden at the patio table, one plate each, a stop watch and a packet of crackers. That was it. As soon as anyone said “Go!�?the timer began and we munched like we’d never munched before! Everyone had always said I had the biggest mouth in Britain due to the fact that it didn’t matter where I was, you’d always hear me, but when it came to this game it just didn’t do me justice and I always lost! I didn’t know whether it was just because I couldn’t chew quick enough or because Laura and Carla had their own secret tactics. Carla would always take smallish bites and swallow, Laura would take slightly bigger bites and before swallowing one mouthful, take another, and me; well, I just rammed as much in as I could and chomped frantically sending crumbs flying everywhere in the process.

Usually a whole cracker would fit in my mouth all in one go - which I thought was amazing because it meant I was winning, but my God, chewing it and then swallowing it was a nightmare - as though someone had lathered the inside of your mouth with glue. To make matters even worse, by this point Auntie Sue would be in stitches, making all of us laugh too and laughing with a mouthful of cream cracker that’s stuck to your teeth and gums really isn’t easy! For once, even talking seemed impossible!

By the time that minute was up Laura and Carla would have polished off two or three crackers whilst I was still sucking the remains of the first one from around my mouth. As a child I was such a poor loser; I hated losing or being last but with this game it was different because, loser or not, I was dying for a drink so I didn’t really care! I think that’s why everyone liked it as much as they did because it was one of the few occasions where I had nothing to moan about!

Fruit Salad squash always went down a treat - I loved the sweet fruity flavour with a twang that hit your taste buds. Not only was it refreshing but it unblocked my throat from when I’d tried to swallow too much at once!

A crazy game I know - but even the normal games had a twist to them sometimes�?And at other times, “normal�?just didn’t come into it anywhere!

Another one we played which, I for one, wasn’t too keen on was hide and seek�?In the dark! I hated the dark from a young age; being able to see nothing terrified me due to the fact that my imagination would take hold which was often even more frightening than the blackness itself.

I remember the first time we played it my parents had gone out and in stead of going to Auntie Susan’s she stayed at our house for the night. Once again, having one of her “being a kid again�?moods promised that a fun filled night was on the menu but hide and seek happened to be one of the first games on the agenda�?Without us even knowing!

Gradually - and might I add, I have no idea how she did it, all the lights in the house were turned off as Laura, Carla and I were engrossed in a Disney film and last but not least, the television. I saw the red light flicker and the screen go black. We were all left in complete darkness.

My eyes took a moment to adjust; I wouldn’t have been able to see my hand if it had slapped me on the arse! The pounding of my heart thudded in my ears as I began to panic and reach out in front of me for whoever was there. “Phew!�?I thought when I felt what seemed like a human form in front of me.

“Lauraaaa?�?I whined, “Carlaaaaa?�?/P>

“Yeah?�?they answered simultaneously. It was almost like having an echo or a parrot when Laura and Carla were together, dependeding on the question you asked!

“Auntie Sue?!�?�?“Mum?�?/P>

No reply.

We all tried again.

“Auntie Suuuuuue?!�?�?“Muuuuuum!�?/P>

By this point I was panicking like one-o! I mean�?What if Aliens had come from the attic and taken her away? Why wasn’t she answering? What if there was a ghost and it was coming to get me in the dark and that’s why the TV had turned itself off?!

“Laura�?I’m scared�?I whispered. I didn’t want to say anything too loud in case the alien-ghost people heard me!

“It’s ok,�?she said, “she’s probably just hiding.�?/P>

“Muuuu-uuuum?�?Carla giggled�?“Where areeee yooooooou?�?/P>

We all broke out into muffled fits of laughter - I put my hand over my mouth to stop the volume control going overboard like it usually did.

“COME ON!……LET’S GO FIND HER!!�?Carla sniggered, with a kind of whispered shout.

I grabbed the nearest hand; which I think was Laura’s although I’ve never been sure, and we felt our way around the living room, a place that looked so spooky without the lights on. I tried to remember not to walk into the arm of the settee like I usually did and the big oak cabinet on the back wall with all Mum’s ornaments on. Ha, Auntie Sue would have had some major explaining to do if we’d have all collided into that!

I used my head as a map�?/P>

“Right�?Rug in the middle of the carpet, watch the edges because they curl slightly.�?

It felt like I was walking in leaden boots because of how slow we had to go. The concept of not knowing anything that’s in front of you puts so many insecurities in your mind; even in a small room where you know the exact place where everything is kept and spend most of your time. Nothing seems familiar when you can’t actually see it.

I clung to whoever’s hand it was like it was my lifeline because my eye sight was bad enough with the lights on! The dark was another story! With my free hand I grasped thin air and felt for any “unknown�?objects.

“Ok�?Ah-Hah! Velvet�?Wood�?SETTEE. It’s the arm of the settee. Don’t walk into it!�?/P>

I dodged that arm like it was the plague! Tonight was one night where I didn’t want ANY accidents!

My hand reached out again�?Something was cold and smooth with rough bits�?I moved my hand from side to side, trying to figure out the size�?After a foot or so, it stopped. I replaced my hand again�?Something sharp now�?

“PHEW! You aren’t gonna get me this time, cabinet!�?/P>

I felt myself being pulled to the left. My arm was raised. We were going upstairs. “Aren’t we goin�?in the kitchen?�?I asked.

“Why?�?Carla replied, “where she’s gonna hide, in the oven?�?/P>

I chuckled, “No but she might get under the table or something!�?/P>

“With the dog?�?I don’t think so Emma!�?Laura laughed.

“One step, two step, three step…�?. Eight step, nine step�?�?…�?/P>

“OOOOOWW MI�?TOE!!�?I quietly yelled at the top of my whispering lungs�?/P>

“SSssshhhhhhhh!�?I heard in two tones - Laura AND Carla speaking at the same time again!

I thought I was doing so well until I did something else that I always managed to do - trip UP the stairs! Well�?What do you expect? It was dark!

We didn’t go into mine and my sister’s room, there was nowhere to hide in there, plus we had left our door closed and to open it would have given us too much of a clue. The bathroom next door was tiny - nowhere to hide in there because we didn’t have a shower and she wouldn’t have been able to fit in the airing cupboard like I could. The spare room was just about as small as the bathroom so no way would she be in there either, which left us with no other rooms but my parents�?bedroom - the one room which had various places to hide in!

“Oooh, creaky floor!�?/P>

I cringed as all three of us walked across the same spot and paused at the door way. The curtains were drawn to make it darker and I scared myself for a moment when I saw all our reflections in the mirrors of the big walk in wardrobe they had along the whole wall. Surely she wouldn’t have been reduced to going in there?! That was my second favourite hiding place!�?/P>

We all huddled in the room and tiptoed the length of the bottom of their double bed�?I saw something move�?

“BOOO!�?/P>

“Aaaaaaaggggggghhhhhh�?All three of us screamed at once as Auntie Sue popped up from the floor like a zombie. I ran and turned the light on!

Auntie Sue was in hysterics at the whole situation! Me? I wasn’t at all impressed - my four year old heart just couldn’t take anymore fright - first the dark, then the growing stairs that tripped me over, and now this!

That was the first and last time I played hide and seek in the dark! That was the first and last time I ever played hide and seek with Auntie Sue as well!

I think I feared darkness because, to me, it was a sign of being out of control. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t defend myself against the bad things and I was also afraid of what I might see because still, I would be defenceless. It was a no win situation in the dark and I had the same fear of darkness that I felt in situations with my Dad because I couldn’t control them, I couldn’t defend myself against them, I couldn’t understand them so I may as well have been unable to see and sometimes I wished I was.