Angus took a deep breath and reoriented himself. The sun was high in the sky. It was around noon, Labor Day Monday. He looked down to see his initials still there in fresh chalk, then hefted his bags and walked down the dock to see the motorhome approach in a cloud of dust and crunching gravel.
"Angus!" called his uncle, waving from the window. "How’s it going, buddy? Get in, get in!"
On the ride home, Uncle Benjamin seemed exceedingly excited.
"There's a huge surprise for you at home, buddy," said his uncle.
"Did you find something interesting on Oak Island?" asked Angus.
"Oh, that," replied his uncle, "was a dead end. We kept digging but found nothing but a little chest full of vials of colored sand. That's OK, though. It has nothing to do with the surprise."
His uncle squirmed in his seat, speeding a little to get home faster, even though it was just a 20-minute drive.
Uncle Benjamin knocked on the front door thrice and entered the house. Angus followed, and his grandparents greeted him excitedly.
"Angus! We have some amazing news! Your mother, she, she's alive!" cried Gramma.
Angus stared at her for a moment, then began to sob. He understood that he couldn't tell them he already knew about his mother, but at the same time, the tears were real. Gramma pulled him close and let him cry it out.
When he had regained some composure, they entered his mother's room, where she lay in bed.
"Angus," said his grandfather, "there's something you must know. Your mother is having trouble remembering things. She knows who we are but seems confused otherwise."
Angus approached, and his mother’s eyes lit with love and joy.
"You must be Angus!" his mother reached out. "I had the strangest dream. I was a rock star, and you were in trouble. How odd is that?"
"That is very odd indeed," he replied.
Angus held his mother’s hand as she dozed. Tianna smiled sleepily and began to hum.
The End