Key to the Past

Chapter 23

My mom quietly unlocked the door, as if she thought that I was still sleeping.

"Oh, Bridget. I didn't think you would be up."

"It's 10 am."

"You were sound asleep a few hours ago."

"You said you wanted to talk," I said, getting to the point.

I still was a little bit mad at me mom.

"Oh, yes. That," she stammered nervously. "Let's sit down first."

We sat down next to each other on the couch.

"Go ahead," I prodded. "And start from the beginning."

She took a shaky breath.

"Okay. 22 years ago, your father and I gave birth to a brown-haired, blue-eyed, small baby girl. As you know, we named her Juliette. She was a very sweet girl. She was extremely bright for her six-year old age, had lots of Kindergarten friends, and she was gifted at the piano. She was one of the best things I could've ever asked for."

"I was the best thing that ever happened to you, right mom?" I teasingly asked, poking her with my elbow.

"Yeah, sure," she answered.

My face fell.

"I'm just kidding!" she exclaimed. "Anyway, then your father and I gave birth to you. We started to pay more attention to you than to Juliette, just because you were younger. I could tell that Juliette was jealous. From that point on, she was always going off on her own to do her own thing. We kept an eye on her, but we were more focused on you since you were just a little baby. Well, one day we went to the community pool. Your father and I sat on one of the pool chairs and were playing with you. Then..."

My mother paused. She was starting to get choked up.

"Juliette came over to us and said, 'I know you don't care, since you're more focused on that dumb baby than me, but I'm going in the deep end.' Your father and I waved her off and told her to have fun. Then we heard one of the lifeguard's loudly blow their whistle. 'Somebody call 911!' she shouted. 'Someone has drowned in the pool!' She dove into the water, trying to save the innocent victim. Your father and I flew into a panic. We had forgotten that Juliette didn't know how to swim very well. We bolted over to the edge of the pool where the person had drowned. We prayed and prayed to a god that we didn't even believe existed. We were desperate. We secretly hoped that Juliette had snuck off somewhere and hadn't ended up going in the pool, but when they managed to pull the body up, all our hopes vanished. Juliette was lying on the pool deck, unconscious. The ambulance came and they put her onto a gurney. But when they checked her pulse, they realized that she was dead. There was nothing they could do for her. I mourned for days on end. Then, a month or so later, your father committed suicide. I..."

"What!?!" I yelled, shocked. "You told me that he died of old age!"

"Yes, because I didn't want you to know. I think that he committed suicide because he couldn't handle the world anymore. After all, he had just lost a daughter and I don't think that he wanted to risk messing up with you too. A month after his death, I had the pool in our backyard taken out and..."

"Wait. We had a pool?" I disbelievingly asked.

"A very large and nice one. Anyway, I then put anything that reminded me of Juliette in her old baby bedroom and locked the door. I lied to you and said that it was an attic and that it was locked before we got here, but it wasn't. I locked it and then I dug a hole in our bare-at-that-time garden, placed the key in the hole, and grew roses, for Juliette Rose, on top of it. This is why I don't let you swim. I don't want you to die too! I'm so sorry, Bridget!"

My mom started to weep. I snuggled up next to her.

"It's okay, mom. At least you told me. And I won't ever swim again," I promised.

"No. I see the error of my ways. It was wrong of me to not allow you to swim. From now on, I'm abolishing my rule. I want you to swim whenever you want to."

Her face brightened.

"After all, the weather is nice today. You and Em should go swimming."

Em! I needed to catch her up on what had happened.

"Maybe later, mom. But first, I need to go talk to her."

I kissed my mom on the cheek and then bolted out the door.