Afton Family Skits [OLD]

Stormy Nights {Past}

Author's Note~

Warnings:
• Astraphobia (Fear of thunder & lightning)

Terrance--remember, he's William's godson--always had a fear of thunderstorms, mostly the thunder. He's never had a problem with loud noises, but if there was a thunderstorm coming, he would spiral into an extreme panic. So, working together, Michael and William found a way to keep Terrance distracted so he wouldn't have any breakdowns.

Michael is seven, Evan is one. And Terrance, of course, is sixteen. (I mean, he died at sixteen, when Mike was seven, so-.)  :/

Also, thank you so much for 600+ views!  ^^
It truly means a lot. As of the moment, my WattPad account is faring much better than my YouTube channel. But it doesn't matter because they're both things I love to do--make videos and write books/stories/skits. So whatever! *insert me laughing*

The beginning might seem a little dramatic, but I promise that it descends into something cute. I've been working on this part for almost a month now, I've been at a writer's block with it. So, yeah.

I think that's it! Enjoy the skit.  :)

~ ~ ~

P.O.V: Terrance

I stare out the window. Darkness consumes the air, the last wisps of daylight giving way to the eerie black of nighttime. Normally, I'd look forward to the night. I love watching Mike in his room, standing on the balcony jutting out from the outside wall, as he searched the sky for constellations. He'd told me once that his birth father had often looked in the sky with him whenever his big brother was out on a nightshift. Nowadays, it's only ever Mike out on the patio, but every once in a while, he'll invite Evan to look at one, despite the fact that the tiny one doesn't understand what he's looking at. But tonight, the deep ocean blue skies are blanketed with thick, gray clouds that suffocate any light from stars or the moon.

"Michael! Terrance! Come downstairs, it's time for dinner!" Uncle William shouts from the kitchen.

I whip my curtains closed and go downstairs. But when I arrive at the dinner table, only William and Evan await with food. Mike isn't even down here.

"Where's Michael?" I ask curiously. Mike is never late for dinner. And I mean never.

"I-I don't know," my uncle stammers, his voice hushed. "I called him down, but he never came. Only you did."

"I'll go check on him." I turn to Evan, who is looking at me expectantly. "Wanna come, tiny kid?"

Evan giggles and nods his head. I pick him up from his chair and place him on my shoulders. He clings onto clumps of my hair and babbles to himself as he walks.

When I find Michael, he's in his room, working on something. By looks of it, it's just homework. But then I look closer. He's working on something, but I can't tell exaxtly what it is. Just something mechanical.

"Michael." I rest my hand on his shoulder, trying to get his attention when he doesn't seem to hear me. He jumps and falls out of his chair, screaming. He hits his head on the ground hard. He doesn't move for a few minutes, making me nervous. He just lays there. His legs are still dangling in his chair, he's holding his head in his hands, breathing abnormally fast. His eyes are shut tight, and when he opens them the first time, he whimpers and slams them shut again.

"Are you all right?" I ask him when his eyes open--and stay open this time. I reach out a hand and he takes it, and I help bring him to his feet.

"I'm fine." He puts away whatever he was working on into the top drawer in his desk. "I assume it's time for supper?"

I nod my head. "Yeah."

He nods his head in response and goes to his door. But he stops and stares at me when he notices I'm not following. "Are you going to come, Terrance?"

I shake my head swiftly, shaking me out of my thoughts, and give him a smile. I go over to him and he gives me a slight chuckle before he goes down the hallway and down the stairs.

P.O.V: Michael

A crack of thunder shakes the house and Terrance screams behind me. Evan squeals, scared by Terrance. Terrance cowers, still on the stairs, his hands on his head in a protective manner. He starts to tremble, and I lift Evan off of his shoulders.

William comes bounding up the stairs and gets Terrance onto his feet. "It's okay, Terr," he assures him. Terrance hesitantly follows him, shrieking every time another crack of thunder sounds.

Once we get into the kitchen, William leaves Terry, Evan, and me by ourselves. Evan climbs onto my lap, and he holds my arm in his hands as he watches Terrance meticulously. Terrance just sits in his chair, his hands folded on his lap. If there's a flash of lightning or a loud bang from thunder, tears well in his eyes and he squeals.

William returns ten minutes later with the record player. He puts on Terrance's favorite record, "Tattoo You" from The Rolling Stones. Terry's attention to the storm outside fades as it shifts over to the music. But he still whines and whimpers when he hears thunder or sees lightning.

It's been like this since I was adopted. Every time there was a thunderstorm, Terrance would have panic attacks. He had told William and me once that is was mostly the sound of the thunder that he was afraid of, rather than the lightning. It took some time, but William and I had come up with a plan that keeps Terrance distracted from the storm outside so he wouldn't have any panic attacks. Mostly it's just William who does everything while I keep track of Evan--opposite of Terrance, Evan is utterly fascinated with thunder and lightning. He always tries to sneak outside to watch it, so as William works on distracting Terrance, I make sure that Evan stays in sight. But if William needs help with something, I just carry Evan around as I do what he needs.

I stand up, Evan on my hip, and tell William that I'm bringing him upstairs. Once he acknowledges me, I bring him up to my room. I set Evan down on my bed and told him to stay there, then go to my closet and pull out a folded tarp. I open the door to my balcony and throw the tarp on top of posts I put up a couple months ago. I tie the tarp tightly to the posts, then go back to my closet and pull out two folding chairs. I set them up on the balcony, then pick up Evan and bring him underneath the tarp. I set him down into one of the chairs before I sit in the other one.

Evan giggles, amazed, when a streak of lightning strikes a tree a few miles away. And he does every time more lightning bolts flash across the dark, cloudy sky. It's fascinating to watch. And it's fascinating to watch Evan and his reactions to the lightning bolts. He's so bewildered, it's honestly kind of adorable. His eyes seem to sparkle, and he's got this innocent smile that slowly grows and grows on his face.

I've brought him outside underneath this tarp to watch the thunder since about two weeks ago. There was this huge thunderstorm, and he had managed to sneak away into the rain when William and I weren't watching. William had completely freaked out when he couldn't find my little brother, and once we found him, William put me in charge of keeping an eye on him. I don't mind, though. It keeps Evan safe as he does what he wants. That's all that matters to me. Keeping my baby brother happy.

♤ ♤ ♤

The End

See? Something cute! At least I think it's cute. If you don't agree, oh well. My skit collection, my opinions. If you want to state yours in the comments, go ahead!  :D

Constructive criticism only. No hatred or insulting.  :P

Have a great rest of your day/night!