The Key to the Warriors (completed)

Chapter 4

4

Charlie

It took us the rest of the day to get the house put together. In the end, it finally looked like a home, except for the too-many boxes that littered every room, mine included. Mom had unloaded exactly enough materials to have cookware and utensils to make a shepherd's pie for dinner, but I had no appetite to eat it. I sat across the table from my brother as he and Mom ate slowly, my fingers toying with the glasses in my pocket.

It'd been a full day since I found them, and I still hadn't had a chance to take them outside and see if I was crazy or not. Despite the exhausting activity of the day, I needed to go out tonight and see for myself. It was all I could think about, and it must have shown on my face that I was distracted because Zak was suddenly waving his hand and snapping in my face.

"Yo, Earth to Charlie."

Blinking out of my thoughts, I looked between him and Mom. "What?"

"If your eyes had been any farther away, they'd have rolled right out of your skull. Woulda been funny." Zak commented, and Mom frowned at him.

"Zak, honestly. Charlie, you feeling okay, honey?" She directed the question at me, and I shrugged, nodded.

"I'm fine."

"You haven't eaten anything all day."

I shrugged again. "It's been a long day. I'm tired."

"Are you feeling okay after last night? We never got to talk about it."

I groaned and rolled my eyes, flopping my head over the back of my chair. "Are we really gonna bring that up again?"

"I'm worried, Charlie."

"You're always worried about something." I grumbled and flinched when Zak kicked my shin under the table. Though I glared at him, I let out a breath and looked at Mom. "I'm really okay. A hundred percent not sick, not pill-popping, not anything-else-you-might-be-thinking. I'm fine. Okay?"

She looked at me for a long moment, then sighed. "Okay. But, you know you can talk to me if you need to."

I nodded, though if I considered, I couldn't recall ever having gone to her with a problem. Or to Zak, for that matter. I was more likely to swallow my troubles than to leak them onto someone else. Despite what Zak thought of me, I did know how to put others before myself. I did it every time I was hurting, every time the depression got the best of me, every time I thought the lives of my family would be better off without me... I always put others first. At least I tried to. Because if I didn't, all my problems would become theirs, and my burdens were mine alone to bear.

"Anyway," Zak spoke up suddenly, drawing me out of my thoughts. "What time is your interview for your job transfer tomorrow?" He asked Mom. "I'll ride with you and fill out a few job applications in town. Charlie? You want to come and do the same?"

Honestly, no, but I shrugged, not offering a definitive answer, and tuned out the rest of their conversation. I interrupted Zak to excuse myself and felt their eyes on me as I retreated slowly to my room.

I laid awake for hours, and it was after midnight when I crept down the stairs and slid out the front door. The night was silent. No bullfrogs in the pond, no crickets, no chirping of cicadas... it was as though the Earth was sleeping. Lifting the glasses from my pocket, I fisted them, then broke into a jog as I started across the yard toward the trees. My heart started pounding again in a way that had nothing to do with the physical exertion, and I breathed deeply as I unfolded the glasses, and let them dangle from my fingers.