CHAPTER 3
That night, Daniel had to babysit his neighbor, Brian. He headed to Brian’s house right after dinner.
Brian was only six years old. He really liked it when Daniel came to babysit.
They usually spent most of the night playing video games, wrestling, or watching sports on TV. Sometimes, Daniel would tell Brian about his fishing trips with Grandpa Carl.
Brian had never gone fishing in his life. He wasn’t quite sure what he thought of stories about Big Larry and the fishing tournament.
The stories didn’t mean much to Brian, but he thought they were interesting and exciting. He told Daniel that he wanted to go fishing too.
“One day, when you get older, maybe your parents will let me take you fishing,” Daniel told Brian. “Now that would really be something.”
“That would be awesome,” Brian said.
Later that night, Daniel put Brian to bed by reading him one of his favorite books. It was after 11 o’clock when Brian finally fell asleep. Then Daniel headed back downstairs.
Daniel took a peek out of the window in Brian’s living room. He looked through the trees at his own house, which was right next door.
Usually, his parents turned off their bedroom light at 10. But tonight, he noticed right away, his parents were both awake.
The lights were still on in the house. Daniel could see his dad walking around. It looked like he was talking on the phone.
Who could he be talking to at this time of night? Daniel thought.
Daniel brushed away his worry. It was probably no big deal.
He settled down in front of the TV to play some video games. He knew that would help him stay awake.
Finally, just after midnight, Brian’s parents returned home. They paid Daniel and thanked him. Then he left.
When Daniel walked in the front door of his house, he started to worry again.
His parents were still awake. They were sitting in the living room, waiting for him to come home.
The fact that they were even awake was weird. The fact that they were sitting there, waiting for him, was really weird.
Then Daniel noticed that his parents’ eyes were red and puffy.
“What’s going on?” he asked, frowning.
“Daniel, we have to talk about your grandpa,” said Daniel’s dad. It seemed like he was fighting back tears.
“He was out for dinner with Grandma tonight, and he had a heart attack,” Daniel’s dad continued.
“Is he all right? Can we go see him?” Daniel asked quickly.
His dad lowered his head. He didn’t say anything.
“Honey, no,” Daniel’s mom said. “Grandpa Carl died tonight. I’m so sorry.”
Daniel didn’t know what to say or do. He just stood there.
He felt sadness growing inside of him, but no tears came.
“But I was just fishing with him this morning,” Daniel said. “And he was fine. He was telling stories, and talking about the next fishing tournament, and Big Larry, and—”
Then the reality hit Daniel hard. His body began to shake. He suddenly felt really cold.
His mom got up and hugged him. That’s when Daniel started crying.
He couldn’t believe what was happening. His grandpa was dead. Daniel felt like his own life was over, too.