Entropy

LA| Chapter II: The Forthcoming

Seriously, why do they always converse at night while I'm trying to sleep? It'll always be revealed the next morning or a couple of days later. Can they chat privately in their room or something? At least, I don't have to hear about their so-called secret meetings.

"Have you ever gotten in contact with your family, Alicia? I mean, your extended family?" My father asks.

My head shoots up. Extended family? From my mom's side? No way! I never met my uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, and so forth from her side.

"No. No contact. They didn't know I existed. My mom never let anyone over at her house," she replies, "Unless it's for her." Hypocrisy.

Bummer! But still, I sneak out of my room and stop at the top of the stairwell to hear them closely. There's light downstairs, but everything appears to be foggy. My eyes aren't tempting me to close them yet. I'm tired from a long day of school. It's the first day back from December break and the workload is piling. It could be for that reason.

I only met dad's side of the family because they come over every Christmas for a feast. The only time that my dad takes his time off for family. They keep talking back and forth.

"Any grandparents?"

"Christmas has passed, Phil. It's January..."

"I just wanna know, Alicia. We should invite whatever family you are secured to talk with," my dad presses on.

"No grandparents, Phil. I don't even know my cousins, aunts, or uncles. The only grandpa that I've heard about was Terri from Markus. He lived in the basement. I sometimes hear him makin' ruckus until my mom tells him to shut up," she says, "I thought it's just me dozing off into sleep or a nightmare. I was a very imaginative child."

"What?" Dad says appalled. He heard about possible abuse, not literally. There are many things under the surface that she is not letting go of.

My mother curses beneath her breath. It's silent as if she's saying sti. She prefers to not swear.

"....Ever heard back from them?"

"Markus is gone... He ran away... I don't know where he went. I heard a loud pop from the basement one night. Mom forced us to stay in our rooms while she cleaned up the mess. My grandpa is dead, Phil."

"Are you okay, Alicia? You look very pale... I think it's time you see a psychologist. How come you barely say anything about this?"

Her breathing quickens. She sounds like she's about to go into tears.

"Blocked from memory. I don't want to talk about it ever again."

How much did mom bear?

It's a Friday night and I am spending the night at Blathnaid's house. It's been raining for a while and the fog is moving in. We are texting each other on our phones, despite being in Blath's room. Yeah, we're idiots. We send brain-hurting videos to each other and see how we would react to them. It's 2052 and people in the past expected us to be very technologically advanced. Well, we are more technologically advanced than them, but Earth is not a futuristic utopia. We have long ways to go. There is even a chance that we will not make it there at all.

I look at Blath's clock and it's past midnight. Her parents have already gone to sleep. They wouldn't fuss as long as we don't wake them up. The lights in her room start to flicker. We look up at the light and think nothing of it.

"The lights here haven't been replaced for several years," she explains, "I wouldn't be surprised if they went out."

As if on cue, the light goes out, leaving us in the dark. We stare at each other for a minute before chuckling. Blath goes onto her phone and gives me this weird look.