Excerpt: Phoenix Rising

Chapter 1: In Which Bobbi and Danny Meet the Mountain at Night

Had they known how the trip to Grandpa David’s would change their lives, Bobbi and Danny might have paid more attention to the scenery flitting by the car windows. Danny might have looked up from his mythology book and Bobbi might have stopped trying in vain to text her friends while listening to her MP3 player. Not knowing, however, the twins preferred to ensconce themselves in their private worlds. Although their parents, Edward and Joan, dreamt the twins might bond on the drive, the reality of a quiet and peaceful car served as an acceptable alternative.

“Scenery’s starting to look familiar,” commented Edward to nobody in particular.

His wife, eyes still closed, absently reached for his hand and answered in a drowsy voice, “You OK?”

Bobbi tossed her cell phone on the seat next to her and tore her headphones from her ears in one swift movement. “What?” she asked with impatience particular to an eleven year old stuck in a car for over eight hours.

“We’re almost there,” Edward peered through the rear view mirror and offered Bobbi a wan smile. “You awake back there, too, Soldier?”

Danny shut his book, an encyclopedia of magical and mythical creatures, and responded in a measured tone, “Will we have to go visit Grandpa David in the hospital tonight?”

Edward tried to answer, but the words refused to form. “Tomorrow,” Joan took over for her husband, “Tonight we will just get settled in the house. Your Great Aunt Becky should be there, though. I think you’ll really like her.”

“Do they have DSL?” Bobbi piped up, grabbing her cell and waving it, “Because the reception out here sucks.”

“Probably not,” Danny replied, once again studying his book, “he was- is- an old man. Why would he need a computer even?”

Ignoring the hasty verb tense switch, Edward regained his power of speech, “That’s right, Danny. Your Grandpa David doesn’t even own a television. Never liked them. He preferred books. Said that his imagination always made better pictures in his head than Hollywood could ever make on a television screen. In fact, come to think of it, Danny, you’re going to love his book collection. He has lined every wall with shelves and shelves of books-“

“Wait, wait, wait,” Bobbi unsnapped her seatbelt so she could lean into the front seat, inserting herself between her parents. “Did you say the words ‘doesn’t even own a television’?” Her parents’ silent glances at each other told her what she needed to know. “What are we supposed to DO? This sucks.” She punched herself back in her seat, yanking the headphones over her ears, and poking the play button with a furious finger.

“A rhetorical question, I guess,” quipped Joan, rubbing Edward’s bicep as he continued to drive, staring through his eyebrows out the windshield.

“Tell her to take off her headphones.”

“But Edward, she’s just-“

“Danny. Tell your sister to take off her headphones.” Danny obeyed, tapping his volatile sister on the shoulder, motioning toward her ears and then toward their father. Eyes rolling, Bobbi did as her brother indicated. “You need to know that this is not a vacation. I’m sorry it coincides with your summer, Bobbi, but nobody can mandate a person’s health. Fact is, Grandpa David is in the hospital and is very sick. I expect you to conduct yourself like a young lady while we are here and not like a spoiled brat. So sit up straight, stop your complaining, and take what comes.”

Bobbi blinked rapidly. She met Danny’s wide eyes and knew he must be thinking thoughts similar to her own. Dad never talks like that. For the first time, she let herself realize that Grandpa David was indeed Dad’s Dad. Her mind meandered down the path of reasoning, upturning her own emotions. How would she feel if Dad had grown so ill that he might never return home? How would it feel to have to go pack up all of Dad’s belongings and sell them?

Putting away her headphones and cell, Bobbi sat up straight in her seat, secured her seatbelt, and resolved to stay quiet and demure. Danny, too, had closed his book and put it away in his backpack, also sitting up straight. He wondered the same question he had wondered since the day Dad had announced this trip. Why did it take Grandpa David’s sickness for us to go visit?

The car slowed as its tires rolled onto the gravel driveway. “We’re here,” stated Edward to his wife and children. “Dad’s place.” The sound of yawns and unbuckling seatbelts eventually ended with the punctuating sound off the car doors all opening together as everyone slipped out into the murky night.

“The air smells so good here,” Allison breathed.

“It’s the mountain,” shrugged Edward as he pointed upward behind the humble home, “Fresh air slides down its sides. I’d forgotten how clean it smells.”

Both children looked up into the darkness. Though they could not see the features of the mountain in the cloudy, starless night, they could both sense its massive form before them. Its mystery and blackness made Danny shiver inside, whereas its promise and potential made Bobbi’s heart lurch forward in a most delightful way. She breathed deep and looked upward toward where she imagined the peak to be. How long would it take to climb to the top, she started to wonder.

Just then, she thought she saw a flash of light- as if a piece of gold glinting- flicker twice then disappear. “What was-“ she began.

“N-nothing. I didn’t see anything,” Danny cut her off. But looking at his face and eyes, Bobbi suspected he had seen just what she had seen.

But, she wondered gleefully, what in the world was it?

*****