Never Bend

Chapter 1: Life, eternal flow

time,

we can't hold it in place,

we can't rewind it.

Every second is precious.

MJ1

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¸.•✿Annie✿✿•.¸¸
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Summer vacation is over, life is back to its usual pace, but this time is different from previous years. I am not going to school while my friends are.

I help my sister with her homework and worry about dinner. It has yet to be made, and Mom hasn't shown up, she might even not come at all once more.. All summer we hoped to see her and spend time like we used to, alas it never happened.

Feeling lost, I move a few feet away to wash the few dishes in the sink evading my thoughts and the loneliness deepening in my heart. One thing is for sure. Mom doesn't want us anymore. Whenever she is here, she yells and orders us around as if we were her employees instead of her children. The list of my chores and obligations grows with each passing week. Now our stomachs are paying the price. She forgets to buy food or give me money to buy food. Are we such a burden that she wants to get rid of us?

Our father had when I was eleven, and now, six years later, my mother is readying herself to do the same. We are living parallel lives in the same house and barely interact.

The strangest thing is happening to my memories. Objects disappear but I  am the only one to notice.I  also remember things that others don't seem to remember. I  am not crazy though! It's all real. It's written black and white through many pages in my journal. I also have proof. I have an unregistered butterfly hidden in one of my mother's books. One thing is certain. It didn't come from Earth. Somehow my dreams seem to hold the key. They sometimes fill the gaps between reality. What am I ? Am I human?

As I dry my hands, I notice that Julie is chewing on the tip of her pencil. The corners of my lips turn up. Whatever I am, I am not ready to find out. I walk back to her and run my fingers through her hair, making her stop. I love been an older sister.

Julie is starting her third year, and it's proving to be an ordeal with so many classes, especially when this little one keeps distracting her from the task at hand.

"Annie, why can't Mommy help me with my homework?" She looks me in the eye and lifts her chin. She has so many questions about the inconsiderable amount of answers I can provide.

"You know she's working, come on, let's get this done and warm up the bed so Mom can sleep in it with you," I ride a piece of my nail away. I hope to make her forget the subject.

She looks at me for a split second, then grabs her pen and starts writing the answers in her book. The sound of a zip makes me look up. Luc has finished his homework. The mischievous little brat has grown up nicely. His black raven hair contrasts with everyone else in the family, but his eyes and his mother's eyes are the same. It is such an inheritance. A child inheriting the eyes of its parents.

"I agree with Julie. Mom is overworked. We hardly see her these days. What are we going to do? Annie, I have papers to sign. At this rate, they'll end up sending Child Protective Services our way." The deep voice reminds me that he is slowly becoming a man. It is hard to decipher from his voice how he really feels about all of this.

Actually, that thought had crossed my mind as well, but I pushed it away, too afraid of it. My hands waved in the air, searching for a strand of hair. "Leave the form on the table. I will wait for mom. I'll have it signed by tomorrow, I promise," I say, knowing I might not get a look at her.