My Cousin Mary

This story takes place on the 25th of November in 2001.

"I hate thanksgiving dinners, the table is full of people yet nobody has the energy to pass the gravy down."

"Don't be so cranky, Alan." Mother told me, "They're your family, you should be thankful you have one." She got off the phone an hour ago, after inviting her sister's side of the family over. Any minute now, they should be at our door.

As if on cue, it rang.

*Ding Dong*

The sound of the painful bell rang in my ears.

"Alan, wouldn't you be a gentleman and open the door please?", Mother asked in a calm yet harsh tone. I rolled my eyes, got up and cautiously opened the door. I was greeted with 3 of my cousins my Aunt, and her husband.

Mother's sister, or should I say Aunt Jasmine, walked inside and pinched my cheeks, as if she were a Grandmother. "Oh how you've grown! You're the man of this house now." She would always say even though I was the same edgy kid she always knew me as.

My cousin, Mary, was next to her. She was wearing the same outfit she wore when she visited, a pink fluffy cardigan with a white casual dress. She was the same age as me, 16, it's nice to have someone whose the same age to hang out with. "Happy Thanksgiving, Alan!" She gave a short wave and went into the living room.

My mother walked down stairs and greeted everyone (except for Mary who was wandering around), asking them how they're doing and if anything happened at school. And of course the little ones would start to tell her a whole fairytale instead of answering her questions truthfully.

The parents were in the kitchen while we were in the living room, one of them finding a movie while the other just played around with their jacket.

We decided to watch "Annie" , that orphan girl who sings about her parents and life. I didn't enjoy it since I have watched it more than once, yet I had nothing else to do.

“I'm a businessman. I love money, I love power, I love capitalism. I do not and never will love children.” The TV played, agreeing with the quote as I looked at my 2 young cousins.

My eyes wandered to Mary, who turned around and gave me a small smile, I smiled back.

"Alan, who are you smiling at?" One of my little cousins, Daniel (who is age 5), asked me in a  confused manner.

"Oh, your sister, is there something wrong with that?"

He looked at the direction Mary sat and looked back at me with a worried look, he then scooted away from me, next to his twin brother David.

Dinner was still not ready yet, so I decided to go to my room. Mary followed willingly. We sat down on the bed, and I took out my phone and started to play around.

The room was silent, well until Mary spoke, “I’m gonna get a snack from the kitchen.” She stood up and went downstairs.

Not paying attention I went back to my phone, playing games.

The room went quiet again.

All I could hear were knifes tapping and the sound of the TV playing.

Luckily, it wasn’t long until Mary came back, with her usual smile on her face.

“That didn’t take long.” I stated as I put my phone back in my pocket.

“Yeah, I flew upstairs haha!” She spread out her hands and started to run around the room as if she were flying, she soon stopped, “Hey, have you always wondered how it feels to fly?”

Before I could answer, Auntie Jasmine walked into the room. “Alan, dinner is ready!”

"Finally.", I sighed as I thought about Apple Pie and the Thanksgiving turkey.

As we went downstairs my Aunt turned to me, “Alan, who were you talking to?”, I smiled. “I was talking to Mary, you have a really kind daughter.”

Jasmine froze and looked at me dead in the eyes.

“Alan, Mary doesn’t exist.”