Escaping Lights - A Greyson Chance Fan Fiction

Chapter 5: Extremely Absurd and Immature

I sat on my carpet in front of the TV in my bedroom. I had snuck in my parents' room and looked through the drawer where they kept our home videos.

I played one, and I stared at my own four-year-old self. My copper hair was in pigtails and I had chocolate all over my fingers and face. I was sitting on my spot at the dining table. Dad's voice was in the background, calling out my name.

"Phoebe, sweet Phoebe, what have you got stuck on your hands?"

"Chocolate," I answered with my small voice, then I dipped my fingers on a bowl of melted chocolate.

Suddenly, Mom came into the picture, and she wiped my face clean with a towel. I tried to reach out for her necklace which was dangling just a foot away from me.

"Tut, tut, don't touch that, sweetheart." She looked at the camera and smiled at Dad.

I popped in another tape on the player, and this time, eight-year-old Seth was pushing seven-year-old me on a swing.

"Hey, Mom! Look how high Phoebe can go!" He gave me one strong push and I swear I almost went around the pole that supported the swing. I shrieked in terror, "Seth!!!"

The camera shook because Mom was also startled and she half-ran towards our side. Apparently, she forgot to put the camera on pause, so Seth's lecture was caught on tape. Mom's hands were crossed so the camera focused entirely on Seth's sneakers.

"Seth, that was so reckless! Your sister could've fallen and it would've been a disaster! Push lightly, don't overdo it! Understand?" Mom cried.

"But I can't help it. I'm as strong as Superman," Seth reasoned out.

"Ah, ah, ah, what is this? How many times have I told you that it's not a good thing to talk back? Your dad has taught you this, remember?"

"Ooh, I remember!" I piped in. I had such a high-pitched voice. "Dad also said that we should say sorry when we make mistakes against others. But Seth didn't, Mom." I figured I just had my front teeth plucked out, so my S sounds came out as "th", like "thorry" and "Theth."

I fast forwarded the video and stopped at the part where Nana and Seth were with me in my very bedroom. It sent shivers down my spine.

"Phoebe got two dollars from the Tooth Fairy for her front teeth," Seth explained excitedly to Dad. Mom was holding the camera again.

"Really? That's generous of the Tooth Fairy," Dad responded.

I showed Mom the two $1 bills I got from under my pillow. "So can I buy ring pops using the money the Tooth Fairy gave me?" I asked mostly to myself. Nana chirped, "Of course, you can, honey pie. You deserve a treat for being so brave at the dentist's."

I popped in tape after tape. Soon, my parents have disappeared from the home videos because they prioritized their careers. Seth took charge of the camera, and sometimes it was me behind it.

There was a time when I was nine when we went to Poppy's grave and Seth didn't tell me he was recording. I looked like someone taken out of a soap opera. I practically bawled. It was embarrassing.

There was a time when we first brought home Mac and Cheese from the pet shop and we were so overjoyed, when Amy and I were sliding with our swimsuits on at the local water park, when I splattered pink icing on Seth's nose during my 12th birthday, when he chased me down around our backyard after I showed Mom a picture of our teacher whom he had a secret crush on, when we went to a photo studio to have our family picture taken. We had asked one of the crews to take a video of the whole shoot. It was a fun hour. It was one of those times when our parents went home for the holidays so we instantly took ahold of the opportunity for a family picture. Seth and I were arguing over what pose to do for our sibling photo, and in the end, it was him carrying me on his back. We had on big smiles for every shot. It was one of my favorite moments of my life.