Once Upon A Karma (Karmic Krystal Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

though I feel so bad right now. We almost never fight.
    By the time the television finally warms up, I am almost asleep on the couch.  I peek up at the screen when I hear noise coming from the set but the vertical hold on the picture seems to be broken.  The grey and white picture keeps rolling up and up and up.  After a while, I feel dizzy from the flickering picture.  Grandpa turns the V-Hold dial several times to try and steady the picture before the television displays perfect grey and white without any static or interference.  I continue to stare at the screen.  The movie being shown is called “My Friend Flicka.”  I don’t understand much of it, so I tell Grandpa that I am going to bed to “read” one of my books to Ralph.  This generally entails me looking at the pictures in a book, making up my own story for the picture and “reading” it to my stuffed toy bunny.  Ralph was given to me as a gift when I was born and he comes everywhere with me.  He always makes me feel happy and safe.
    “Since you girls keep fighting over what we had for dinner, I want you, Leena and Tania, to sleep in the spare room,” Grandpa says.  “Krystal, would you like to sleep in Grandpa’s bed tonight?”  With my eyes open wide, I stare at Leena and Tania, hoping that they do not get even angrier at me for what Grandpa just said.
    Noticing my look of horror, Leena yells out, “She can sleep with us, Grandpa!”  He immediately looks up and glares at Leena for daring to defy his orders.  Both of my sisters seem to be furious with me.  Remembering my mother’s warning to behave, I agree to sleep in Grandpa’s bed with him.  All I can do is hope that they are not so angry with me when they wake up tomorrow.  It is not my fault that Grandpa tells me I am his favourite.
    “Can Ralph sleep with us too?” I ask, pointing to my rabbit on the couch.
    “Of course he can,” my grandfather answers with a smile.
    I pick Ralph up and hold him tight under my right arm while holding my book in my left hand.  Grandpa follows me into his bedroom and lifts me onto the bed. With my bedtime routine down to an art, I gently place Ralph on the bed, pushing him into the middle, and tuck him in.  I put my book onto the pillow as I take off my bed socks.  Mum and Dad usually read to me each night so I am hoping that my grandfather will read to me also.  Cuddling tight with Ralph, I ask Grandpa to read me a story.  He smiles and tells me that first he has to tuck my sisters in, but ensures me that he will not be away long.
    When he returns, Grandpa starts reading my book to me and Ralph.  He doesn’t read for long before I am fast asleep and snoring.  A nightmare abruptly pulls me out of my slumber and I start crying for my dad.  It is then that I realise my grandfather has thrown Ralph onto the floor and that he has his hand inside my underpants.  This makes me feel scared and sick.  When I look at him, my grandfather’s eyes are closed and he is smiling. 
    With both hands, I push his hand away as hard as I can and shout “No, stop it!”  He looks horrified at what he has done.    Grandpa then tells me that he is sorry; that he was asleep and didn’t know that his hand was doing that.  Picking Ralph up from the floor, my grandfather rolls over to face the wall and goes back to sleep.  Why did you do that to me?  I climb out of Grandpa’s bed and take Ralph with me.  My stomach feels sick and I wish my parents were here to explain to me what just happened and why.  My face feels hot and I sit on the couch in the darkness with tears rolling down my cheeks.  I am angry and very afraid, but I am also too ashamed to tell my sisters what our grandfather had just done to me.  My thoughts tried hard to rationalise what he did.  He said it was an accident.  He didn’t know he did it.  He said he was sorry. Grandpa had never lied to me before, so I tell him when he wakes up that I forgive him because it was an