The that changes

Who knew that one little box could change an entire family, though we never found out what secrets the box held, we did discover other well hidden secrets within the family. Some secrets had been bottled up waiting to bubble to the surface. Some of the secrets were just waiting for the light of that package to shine on it. Other secrets had been dead and buried for years only to be re-animated by that little brown box.

It was a summer day, the sun was high in the sky and the kids were on summer break. Quaint and pleasant, not one of us were aware of the storm that was brewing on the front porch that afternoon. Someone climbed the steps with hestants, with good intention but they delivered it to the wrong home, on the wrong day. I was the first to happen upon it as I was headed out to clean the porch. It was cleaning day, most went to church on sunday but not this household. Some like me were what you would call a non believer, my wife on the other hand was what many people called a heathen. I called her my lovely witch, she was wiccan. Our twin girls also followed in her footsteps. My oldest son is just like me, an atheist. Our son was a god fearing boy along with his grandmother who also lived with us.

I have lost track of the story. Ah! Yes, there I was face to face with a package wrapped in brown paper. Taped to it was a spruce branch which would have been odd if I hadn't met so many wiccan in my life. Why my father was a wiccan and had hidden who he was for fifteen years before he confided in his wife. In response my mother threw him out leaving me and my siblings fatherless. Why had this package made me think of my father? I did not know why. I slowly picked it up as if I didn’t it would jump up off the porch and skirry away. I took it in and put it on the counter. “What is that my dear?” Lida asked, coming into the kitchen. “I don’t know, some unlabeled package.” I respond with some mystery. Lida took one look at the package and her eyes widened. She sneatched the package from the counter with lighting speed. “P-probably just aa p-package-ge from tt-the COVen!” she stuttered out as she did when she tried to lie and felt guilty about it. “Honey, are you okay?” I tried to reach for her but she retreated before I could even touch her. “It's nothing.”she cried, throwing the package across the room. Luckily Lucy, who had just come into the room to see about the commotion caught it.

Lucy took one look and she looked sad “Papa is this from Luke?” Lucy asked looking down at the package. “No we don’t know who it's from but I would guess it's from a lover.” I answered looking at my wife with distanian. Lida looked away with shame in her eyes. “Lover?” Lucy looked surprised and I just felt the anger and jealousy finally coming to the surface. “You think I didn't know about you and Gretta?” I asked the words spiteful as I stared down the wounded animal. “Mom what is Daddy talking about? and this must be a package from luke not gretta?!” Lucy defended, shaking her head. I yanked the package from Lucy's hands, my jealousy reached its boiling point “tell Lucy what you did with Gretta, what I saw you two do every night for the past two months!” I yelled, shoving the package in her face. “STOP IT! We don’t need to do this right now!” Lida screamed back, shoving the box out of the way. “I should have done this months ago!” I Snarled “I know you cheated on me and I know this was hers!” I shook the package in the air. Lucy jumped and snatched it out of my hand while my cheating wife sniveled in the corner.

“Daddy Stop it! It's from Luke” she affirmed but I shook my head sure of whom it was from. “Then why didn’t he just hand it to you?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Because we have been fighting,” Lucy cried. That took me out of angry husband mode and into caring father mode. “Fighting over what” I asked and Lucy made her way over to the table begging to cry. “Whether to keep the baby or not.” she sniveled “BABY!” Both my wife and I exclaimed looking at our daughter with a new perspective. We were on both sides of her in a moment's notice to comfort the girl who didn’t want to be a mother but everyone she had told thus far had been pressuring her to have the kid. The talk was long but in the end we drove her to get a safe and legal abortion. Lucy cried all the way home for the child that would never be but not once did she regret her decision. Many years down the road Lucy would make us grandparents four times with a man that truly cared instead of caring about his legacy like Luke did.

It would be weeks before my mother found the package. I came into the kitchen to find my son Colt comforting my mother who was crying over the package. “Mama? What's going on?” I asked and my mother looked up, she was in a disheveled state. “It's Hank!” My mother said pointing down at the package as though it explained it all. “What do you mean?” shaking my head at her lack of explaining. Hank was my fathers name but I hadn't seen him in twenty five years. “When your father and I first started dating he gave me little presents like this.” tears streaked her face as she explained. “Long ago I kicked him out for being a heathen but I regretted doing that and even tried to find him, But he has found me.” she cried and my son rubbed her back. “Mom, let's find him together, that package is nothing.” I explained. We left the package there. Within weeks we met my father who had accumulated a fantastic coven and was a famous speaker in the area. My mother was reunited with the love of her life.

Years have gone by and the package that changed so many lives still hasn’t been opened and part of me feels that would be for the better. My wife and I went to counseling, even let Gretta in the relationship for sometime, but it was not a peppermint thing. Gretta found love and forgot about us, which worked out in the end for us. Life was not alway perfect but we lived. Now let's see what is in this package. OH wow it's lovely.