Grandma and the Hoard

Grandma always had to do things the hard way.

When the world went sideways, our family had this little grocery store, and we thought we’d be set. We could hunker down and wait it out. But Grandma, she was a whole other story. She made us starve, basically, saying we needed to ration everything because the rescue folks might take forever. One cracker a day was our lot, she said. So we all just wasted away while sitting on a pile of food. Grandma? She was fine, chomping away on her private stash. Then, right when the cavalry showed up to rescue everyone, who do you think came knocking? That's right, my Uncle's family. They used our stuff, our hard-earned food, until the National Guard rolled in and everyone else was saved.

Then, bam, just like that, I woke up. Me and my folks, we were back at the beginning, the first day the sky opened up.

My dad, he wiped the rain off his face and says, “Mom, you’re so worried about little bro. Why don’t I just take you over there for a couple of days?”

1

“Hey, sleepyhead! You gonna sleep through a thunder storm?”

My ear got yanked hard, and I shot awake with a jolt. Grandma’s eyes, all narrowed and mean, scared the crap out of me.

“Stop staring! Your dad will be back any minute. Get up and help me haul things around, lazybones! You're just like your mother, expecting this old lady to do all the work.”

I blinked, trying to figure out if this was for real. I glanced around. Was I actually…back?

Grandma saw I was moving and gave a loud “Humph! A girl’s never any good,” before shuffling towards the door.

The next second, someone barreled through it, knocking her aside. It was my mom. She hugged me tight, looking me up and down like I was a ghost.

My own eyes got all blurry, the tears started flowing. “Mom!”

“Honey, sweetie, you’re okay! Oh, thank God, you're okay!”

I squeezed Mom’s hand, calming her down. I peeked behind her to see Grandma clutching her hip, groaning and carrying on.

“You trying to kill me? You crazy woman! You got no heart!”

I gave Mom a look. She got the message. She just shrugged, saying real casual, “Oh, hey, Mom. Didn’t see you there.”

Grandma about burst a vein, her finger shaking like crazy. “Just wait till Tom gets home, you're gonna pay for this!”

Me and Mom just exchanged a look. Dad, he always listened to her, that's how we got into this mess the last time.

After Grandma stomped off, Mom squeezed my hands, her voice shaky, "Honey, don't worry. This time, I swear, I will get rid of that old lady. And your dad better fall in line.”

Mom hugged me close, crying. “My sweetie, you will not starve to death. Not again.”

2

Last time, the downpour started just like this. Everyone thought it was a normal storm at first, no big deal. But then it just kept going. The rain got worse day after day. Soon, there were floods all over the place. You couldn't buy anything. People were dying of hunger and thirst every single day.

Luckily, we had that little grocery store, right on the cor...