The Science Of Words

Part 1: Storm

I'm bored today, so I decided to start a story. This is my first ever Wattpad story, and it might be terrible. I don't own any of the characters or artwork. I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes, I hope there isn't any. Feel free to leave comments or whatever.

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I'm laying on my bed, trying to ignore the loud banging on my door. It's my three-year-old sister Evelyn who's doing the banging, and I've learned that the best thing to do is just ignore her. I would go outside, but it's storming violently, and my mom would never let me out during a storm.

I grab my notebook and pencil and begin a poem, but I've only got a line down when the lights suddenly go out. I grope around for my flashlight, but can't find it.

My sister starts crying in the hallway, so I go open the door, stumbling over a stack of papers in the dark, which scatters all over the floor. As soon as I open the door, she runs to me, holding up her arms for me to pick her up.

My sister's the only part of my life I kinda like. My mom's the worst, and my older brother keeps to himself so much that he isn't even really part of my life anymore. I remember that me and him used to play together, but all that changed when dad died.

"Evelyn, its okay. Its just a little dark, that's all." I say to my sister. She digs her little head into my neck, and I sigh. If my mom would be a little more caring, maybe I wouldn't have to always take care of my sister. 

I bring Evelyn to her room, get her into her pajamas, and put her in bed. Its an hour before her bedtime, but who cares.

"Story?" She asks me.

"Fine," I say. "Once upon a time there was a princess named Evelyn who lived in a castle. One day, all the lights in the castle went out. Princess Evelyn was scared because she didn't have her big sister, Princess Rian to protect her, so she went to look for her big sister. She looked everywhere, and finally she found her deep in the ocean, held captive by a wicked witch. Luckily, Princess Evelyn was able to save her sister by becoming friends with the witch, and Princess Evelyn and Princess Rian went back to the castle and lived happily ever after, the end."

It's a kinda stupid story, but Evelyn doesn't care. She's fast asleep, tangled in her little pink blanket.

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It's been five hours and the lights are still off. At least I found my flashlight. I know its a school day tomorrow, but I don't wanna go to bed. I feel cooped up. I've had to stay inside all weekend because of the storm, and usually I spend most of my day outside, wishing I had a better life.

I get out of my desk chair and go over to the window. Its still raining, though the clouds seem a little lighter then they have been for the last few days. I trace the outline of the rooftops against the horizon with my eyes, but suddenly the lights turn on and I can't see anything out the window.

I sigh, turn off the lights, and get in bed. I pull the covers up over my head and start thinking. What if my dad was still here? I wonder what we'd be doing? I sink into my world. The world where my mom died in that accident and my dad is still here. 

He walks me to school on the first day of high school, and hugs me before I go into the building. When I get home I tell him about my new friends, about the kid who won't stop talking. He sympathizes with me when I tell him about some boy who was mean to me, and he helps me choose what to wear to school tomorrow, telling me to display myself through my outfit, to be myself no matter what. My mom doesn't yell at me to wear something more appropriate, because she's not here. My brother tells me about his first day of high school and how terrible it was, and says he'll walk with me to school tomorrow. I go sit with Evelyn and watch TV, and mom isn't here to tell us to turn it off. I go up to my room and write a poem, then slip into some cozy pajamas and go to bed, getting just the right amount of sleep and waking up not tired at all for school the next day. And my dad wakes me up in the morning. Gently, just like he always used to, and mom's not here to yell at me to get ready.

I know all that isn't actually real, but in my mind, it almost is. I drift off to sleep, my thoughts getting weirder and weirder until they're just dreams.

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Evelyn wakes me up at three in the morning.

"Rian, I'm scared," She says, playing with my hair and looking not scared at all.

"Don't be," I mutter. 

"Can we play?" She asks.

"Its bedtime, Evelyn, go to bed."

"But I'm scared!"

"No you're not, its bedtime, I'm tired."

"But I wanna play!" She screams at me, and starts to cry. 

"Evelyn, go to bed!" I sit up, grab her, and bring her back to bed. "Its not play time, its bed time!"

I'm totally not being the nicest but its way too early, mom should be taking care of her. But of course mom isn't. Evelyn doesn't even wake up mom anymore, she just goes straight to me. If just mom was a better mom, maybe I would actually get enough sleep then.

After fifteen minutes of arguing, Evelyn finally goes to bed, and I go back to my room. I don't even try sleeping, I know I won't be able to. I turn my desk lamp on and start writing. I write until the sky starts getting light. I look outside. I'm dead tired, but at least its not raining anymore. The wet roads and buildings look beautiful in the slight morning light, and I scoot my chair over to the window and start a poem about it. I don't have much time until I need to get on the bus, but I don't care. My backpack is already ready to go, and, though I slept in the clothes I'm wearing right now, they are, at least, clothes, and I don't care enough to change them, so I'm about ready to go. 

I write on my way to the bus stop. Back when dad was alive we lived closer to school, and I always walked, which I liked, but now I have to take the bus. I don't know why we moved anyway, its not like my mom couldn't afford the house, she just decided we weren't living there anymore. I like to pretend its because she couldn't stand living in dad's house without dad, but I know that's not true, she never did care much about dad.

I don't know how I'm gonna get through another day of school, but I always do, in the end. I remember I used to like school, back when I actually had friends. But now I stay to myself. I don't even know if I could keep up a conversation with anyone other than Evelyn these days, but conversations with Evelyn don't require much effort. But I don't want friends, I'm fine alone.