Second Star

Chapter 2- The Park

That evening Jennifer was having dinner with her family. Her dad sat on one end of the table with a pamphlet in his hand. He had nicely combed tan hair that matched his small mustache, and a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose. To his right sat a younger version of him, minus the facial hair and glasses. Jarom was Jennifer's oldest sibling. He was grown up and married with a family of his own. They consisted of Ann, his dark haired wife, and Harper, his one year old daughter. Ann was sitting next to Jerom with Harper fussing on her lap. Jennifer, who was sitting across from them, smiled to try and cheer Harper up. But it only upset her more.

For a moment the silence was filled only by Harper's sniffles, but soon Jennifer's mother came marching into the kitchen, carrying one more hot casserole. She gently placed the food on its proper place and then took her seat at the head of the table, across from her husband.

The family could hear the front door open and then shut hurriedly. In rushed Emily, the middle sibling in the Parkins' family. She sat down with a small fuss. Her family watched her expectantly.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, brushing her blond hair behind her. "My class went overtime."

"That's all right, dear," Mrs. Parkins said, pushing back her equally blond hair. "That's what college is all about."

Mr. Parkins looked up from his pamphlet. "Are we all ready?

"I think so," Mrs. Parkins said.

"Alright then, let's eat!" Mr. Parkins placed his pamphlet on his lap, and the meal began.

"How was school, Emily?" Jarom asked. Ann picked up a small carrot and helped Harper gnaw on it.

"Good for the most part," Emily said with mild interest. Emily was attempting to stack her peas into a pyramid but was failing miserably. It was so entertaining that Jennifer was tempted to try it herself, but she faltered when she caught her father's disapproving glare.

"What are you majoring in again?" asked Ann.

"Well, I'm hoping to get my degree in art and design by the end of this semester," Emily said with a mouthful of casserole.

Ann merely nodded. She preferred the logical things, not folly things like art.

"How about you, Jennifer?" Mrs. Parkins asked.

"We had a grammar test in English," Jennifer started.

"How did you do?" Jarom queried.

"I'm assuming that I did okay."

"Hmm," Mr. Parkins said.

The family continued their meal with the general small talk. More questions were asked with mild answers given. Mr. Parkins explained his day at work and Jarom shared his day at the office as well. Ann and Mrs. Parkins exchanged motherhood stories and light humor was passed around. Jennifer interjected with a comment of her own once in awhile.

"I need some air," Emily said. It was the first thing she had said for a long while. She placed her empty dish in the sink and then went back to the table. All her family had their eyes on her. Emily didn't notice. She took Jennifer's hand. "Come with me, Jennifer. I feel like you could use the company."

Jennifer looked around at her family. They were all quiet with questioning stares. Harper dropped her carrot and began to cry again. In the moment of noise the two sisters stole from the kitchen and out of the house.

"Where are we going?" Jennifer asked.

"I don't know yet," Emily said. They walked down the sidewalk in silence. Jennifer tried to guess what Emily's intention was by looking at her eyes; no one ever did things just for fun in the Parkins family- not even Emily. But Emily was disclosing no hints. Her eyes were watching the taillights of every car the passed them, as if their beams locked her in a hypnotic state.

After turning a few more corners in the cool, dark night, Jennifer could see their destination.

"The park?" she asked.

"Why not?" Emily said. Jennifer shrugged.

Jennifer followed her sister quickly across the street and into the playground. Without any hesitation Emily sat on one of the swings and began pumping her legs. Jennifer stood by and watched.

"Won't you join me?" Emily called.

"I'm too old for swings," she said.

"And I'm not? Come on. No one's going to see you!"

Jennifer looked longingly at the swing beside her sister. It had been a while since she had been in a playground, let alone a swing. But deep down, she knew she wanted to do it. She could still remember the rushing feeling of swinging back and forth like a pendulum. She always would close her eyes when she was younger, pretending to fly and avoiding the vertigo that came from looking down.

"Promise not to tell mom and dad?" she pleaded.

"Of course," Emily smiled.

So Jennifer went. She began to sway back and forth, imagining that she was a rocket just about ready to take off and soon she was as high as her sister was. She squealed a happy squeal. Emily laughed. Jennifer swung to the front again and her stomach tightened. It was a sensation that Jennifer missed.

Emily dragged her feet in the wood chips. "We should probably get back. Mom and dad are probably worried."

Jennifer stopped reluctantly. She slid off the swing and let her older sister lead her back towards home. On the way, Jennifer's thoughts changed moods.

"I shouldn't have done that," she spoke into the silence.

Emily turned to her sharply, her yellow hair spinning. "Why not?"

"Because," Jennifer tried. "Because I shouldn't have."

"What's wrong with swinging?" Emily questioned. "Give me a good reason."

Jennifer searched her mind for something relevant. But all that she could come up with was 'because'. She pursed her lips and stared at the sidewalk passing below her.

"Because you're grown up?" Emily suggested.

Jennifer nodded. "Mom and dad say that I am grown up and should act like so."

"Ah," Emily looked away, troubled. Silence pursued them for a while before Emily pushed through it again. "You know you don't have to be," she said.

"What?" Jennifer looked at her.

"There's a difference between growing old and growing up you know. And you can find an even balance of both. Look at me. I'm happy. I'm silly. I've grown older but I still do childish things. Mom and dad worry about me but, I can make a mature analysis for a mature problem. Grown ups worry too much. Mom and dad seem happy but if you look deeper they aren't. I discovered that a long time ago and when I did, I simply decided to never grow up."

Jennifer gave her sister a long scrutinizing stare. "Where did that come from?" she asked.

"Oh, I've been saving it up for a while. I knew that you would need to hear it someday."

"Okay," Jennifer said, still a bit dazed.

"I think you should take it to heart," Emily said. "Really think about it."

"Sure, whatever."

Jennifer looked up and realized that they were standing in front of their house. "Guess we'd better go in," she said.

"Yeah," Emily said.

As they turned to open the door, Emily stopped and gazed up at the cloudy night sky. Suddenly her eyes brightened. She smiled like she was seeing a long lost friend.

"What is it?" Jennifer looked up as well. All she saw were clouds covering up stars and the moon.

"Oh, nothing," Emily looked down again. She put her hand on the doorknob. "I'll tell you later."