Day 17: Write a scene where a character finds something they'd always thought they lost.

"Mia!" my mom called, the sound of her distinct footsteps being paired with her sharp voice.

"What?" I groaned, just as the door swung open to a frantic-looking woman who appeared to be my mother, though possessed.

"You grandmother is coming over in twenty minutes," she announced, her eyes spastically searching my room for something.

"Since when?" I snorted, just turning to the next page of my fashion magazine.

"Since about two minutes ago when she called and told me," Mom huffed, flying over to the closet to search for something.

"But Dad's not here," I pointed out, glancing back and forth from summer's newest trends to my mother, "and she doesn't like you."

"That hasn't stopped her before from coming, now has it?" she mumbled, creating a mini tropical storm as she managed to dissect my closet in a single sweep. It appeared as though she was on a hunt for something in particular, and when she found whatever it was, I feared for that item's life.

"Uh, Mom, what are you looking for?" I asked hesitantly, folding now the tip of my page, and closing my magazine.

"The shirt," she responded.

"I have a lot of shirts. Which one?"

"The one that Grandma gave you last year for your birthday," she sighed, her rampant search becoming increasingly more fanatical by the second.

"The one with the rainbow ruffles?" I cringed at even the memory of the article. Last year for my birthday, I had gotten this nicely sized box in pink wrapping paper with a card on top, saying it was from my grandma. I assumed that it was something cool like...just, well, something cool. When I opened the present, however, I quickly learned that it was anything but cool. I wasn't being ungrateful in the slightest (okay, so maybe I was--like, a little), but when I saw that shirt, I just knew that I would have nightmares about it.

In that box lay by far the ugliest shirt I had ever seen. It was long-sleeved and had ruffles going down the front, back, and sleeves. The material was one of those itchy woolen knits, and the entire color palate was what really made it so incredibly atrocious. Each ruffle was a different color, and it cascaded down in the same order as the rainbow. The colors, though, were muted in such a way that made them appear grosser than any single collection of colors ever should. The red was this murky shade that almost looked like the blood, the orange wasn't as vibrant as it should've been, and was actually pretty depressing. Yellow was more cream and looked dirty, and green was more like puke than anything else. Then there was blue, which happened to be the drabbest indigo I had ever seen, and the purple, which was just sad. All in all, it was a nasty shirt...which was why I had conveniently "lost" it long ago.

About two days after receiving the shirt, I had been unable to sleep, fearing that the shirt would magically spring to life and attack me. So, at about midnight one night, I just casually may have misplaced it in the, uh, trash. It was lost for good, and I hadn't dreamt or thought about it since. I felt bad for my mom, though. She wasn't going to find that shirt.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Mom, but you're not going to find it. I, uh, lost it," I told her, trying to keep my voice even.

She mumbled something, and then popped up from the floor of my closet with something in her hands and a grin on her face. "What are you talking about, sweetie? It's right here!" And there, in her grasp was the shirt. It was still there in all of its wool and vomit rainbow glory. As I stared at the shirt that had to be vexed or something, I was just wondering how the finding of it had occurred. I was more than positive that I had thrown it away, so how the hell had my mom managed to find it? 

"Mom, how'd you find that?" I gaped.

"It was at the very back of your closet, Mia. Now here, put it on so that it gives us extra points for dealing with Grandma. Dad's not here, so that's already starting us off in the negatives, but if you put this on, we can probably gain a few," she mused aloud, tossing the hideous thing over to me. I held it at arms length, not wanting to be contaminated by its presence. Seriously? I was pretty sure that I had "lost" it. What the hell was it doing in my room? This, like, wasn't okay.

"I'm not wearing that," I told her firmly.

"Yes, you are."

"No, Mom, I'm not."

"Mia."

"Mom."

"If you wear it then the second she leaves we can burn it in the fireplace and never have to see it again."

She drove a hard bargain, but if it was going to prevent my nightmares from reappearing, then I could probably take one for the team. Besides, it was just a cursed shirt, right? "Fine," I finally grumbled. "I'll be down in a few." She nodded, walking over to the entrance of my room and exiting, shutting the door behind her.

I stared at the top for a few seconds, contemplating my best tactic to handling it. With a sigh, I slid my T-shirt off, exposing a cami, and then just slipped the ugly shirt on, surprised at how tight and abnormally itchy it was. Like, this thing was probably the most uncomfortable thing I had ever worn. It was so gross. I glanced in my mirror quickly, and cringed at the horrendous sight, not wanting to know what had possessed that woman to buy such a thing for her granddaughter. 

With heavy feet, I padded my way over to my door, just as I heard a shuddering, "Mia, Grandma's here! Come down, please!" from my mother. Breaking into a slow jog, I left my room, ran down the stairs, and made a beeline straight into Grandma's awaiting arms.

She wasn't the most fragile old person in the world, and happened to have an opinion on everything. It was awful even to think, but the only thing she was really good for was taking me to the mall and utilizing her credit card. She wasn't the most hip grandma out there, and had short white hair, a chubby face, and an average body. The woman was really aggressive and scary, and not the exemplary image of a cute little old lady that everyone yearned for as a grandma. 

"Mia!" the lady cried, choking me half to death. There was no way that I was dying in this atrocious thing, so I quickly pulled back, briefly kissing her on the cheek.

"Grandma!" I returned with a sickly-sweet edge to my voice.

"You look wonderful, darling! Is that the shirt I got you?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes as she reviewed my attire.

"Yes, Mia just loves it!" my mom answered for me, sending me a look to back up her false claim.

"Uh, yeah, Grandma!" I said half-heartedly. "It's my favorite shirt!"

"I'm so glad!" cooed the old person. "You look stunning in it!"

"Thank you," I said with a tight smile.

"You're father's not here?" she questioned. I shook my head. "Such a shame. Well, I was just in the area. I have bingo in a few, and decided to pop over here first! I'd love to stay, but I really must go!"

"Oh, so soon?" My mom put her hand over her heart, faking disappointment like a pro.

"Sad, I know," Grandma frowned. "Well, Mia, continue to wear that gorgeous shirt of yours in good health!"

"I will," I promised her, crossing my fingers behind my back.

"Lovely, uh, seeing you," she told Mom.

"And you," my mom returned.

"I'll see you two later!" she bid. And with that, she was gone. It had probably been the shortest Grandma visit I had ever experienced, and if all of her visits were like that, then I would probably be able to actually stand the woman. Our front door was closed, and she was gone.

"Mia," my mom said with a sigh of relief, "get that hideous thing off so that we can burn it."

"I already thought I lost it once, Mom, so this time better be for good."