Cursed ✔️

5. Sometimes, There's No Next Time

"Let me check the fuse." Saying this, John was about to get up from his seat when the door of his room shut with a loud bang and then the lights came back on.

"That was weird." Commented Hannah, looking at the door.

"Maybe that was just wind?" Mrs. Jackson said to ease the tension.

"Anyways, let's finish our dinner. It's getting late. Plus, you don't want to get late for the surprise!" Mr. Jackson said to both the children.

"Surprise! What?" Hannah & John both looked at each other & then to their father with bright eyes.

"Oops! I said too much. Now finish your dinner fast and don't get up late tomorrow or you'll miss something you were wishing for so long."

After finishing their dinner, both of them went to their rooms. But they couldn't sleep as the excitement of the surprise was keeping them up.

"What do you think it could be?" John said. As he was not feeling asleep, he came into Hannah's room and sat on a bean bag next to the bed. This was kind of their brother-sister thing. Whenever one of them couldn't sleep for whatever reason, they would talk it through until they fall asleep & somehow Tom comes to know about this and can be found always with them during these moments. So it was more like a brother-sister-dog thing.

" Don't know. Dad said it was something we wanted for so long. What was it that we wanted?"

"A race car! Or maybe a pair of skates? Or maybe those shoes you had your eyes on?"

"But these are the things that we separately want, not toge-"

"Are you guys still awake? It's way past your bedtime." came the sound of Mrs. Jackson from downstairs.

Both of them looked at each other and then Hannah said to John, "We'll find out in the morning. For now, let's go to sleep. Goodnight John."

"Goodnight Hannah."

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"Are you ready?" Mr. Jackson said to the kids as the doorbell rang.

Both had their eyes glued to the door. They had no idea who it could be!

"Surprise!" Came the sound of someone who just opened the door and entered the house.

"Grandma Lily!" Both shouted with joy. They were waiting for this day for so long, to finally meet her and have some fun just like good old days. It has been almost a year since she had visited the Jacksons. Mr. Jackson has a sister. So, grandma Lily spends half of her time with her daughter & half of her time with her son.

She was in her 80s but anyone could make a wrong guess if they were asked to guess her age as she looked so fit.

"How are you mom?" Mr. Jackson asked his mom and took her bags while Tom wiggled his tail.

"Great! So, where are my two grandchildren?" She said as she looked for them. Hannah & John came running and gave her a big hug.

"We missed you, grandma!"

"Missed you too. So, what are you guys have been up to these days?"

"Oh! You have a lot to catch up on grandma." John said looking towards her grandmother and then towards Hannah.

It has been almost 3 hours since the three of them were inside Hannah's room. Sounds of laughter were coming from the room.

"They really had missed her so much." Mr. Jackson said while sipping his tea & turning a page of the newspaper after he heard their laughter.

Then, the door of Hannah's room opened. John said cheerfully, " Grandma's taking us to the amusement park!" as all three of them came downstairs.

"Have fun but don't get lost! Be careful." Mr. Jackson said after waving them goodbye.

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"So, how was it? Had fun?" Mrs. Jackson asked the kids while opening the door. It was almost night.

"Yup! It was!" Both replied.

"Where's grandma Lily?" Mr. Jackson asked them as he couldn't see his mother with the two.

"Oh! She got a call and said she had to go." Hannah informed her dad.

"And I thought this time we could spend more time with her," John said with a sad face.

"It's alright, John. We'll see her soon and then we'll spend more time with her than we did today. There's always next time." Hannah assured him while rubbing his back.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Mr. Jackson picked it up. After only a few seconds, his eyes grew wide out of disbelief, and seeing him like that, the rest of the family got worried.

"Everything's ok David? Who was it?"

"It-it was the police. Th-they said, Mo-mo-mom's dead." Mr. Jackson said while still trying to catch a breath and trying to get a grip on himself.

"What? How?" Mrs. Jackson said giving him a glass of water.

"They said that her throat was jabbed with a golf stick all the way down her esophagus."