Requiem For A Loud

Chapter 3: House of sadness

The neighbors usually looked with despise at 1216 Franklin Avenue, the Loud House. There wasn't a time on the day when they couldn't hear the turmoil gestated in that madhouse. The real-estates had been sued for not warning  the neighbors they were buying a house next to eleven hyperactive, noisy kids, with little to no respect for other family's privacy. Without no other option, the neighbors just learned to live with the noise. It was like walking under the rain without an umbrella. At first it's really annoying, but there comes a time when your brain decides it's not worth wasting energy to acknowledge every single rain drop's impact on your. Body, so it reaches a state where you know it's raining -and maybe a rain drop on your eye reminds you of it-, but you actually just don't care anymore. That's exactly how the neighbors were used to the Louds.

It was because they were so used to it that, on that Sunday night, they were able to notice that every other night's torrential storm was just a drizzle. Someone from another neighborhood would've been surprised about the electric guitars, television and what seemed to be karting cars. But the everyday neighbors noticed subtle differences. Obviously, no one put much thought on it. First, because it was none of their business. Second, because a little less noise  would always be welcomed. And finally, because they weren't so sure about their perception being right. After all, they could hear a quite a mess. Maybe their intuition was wrong.

Little they knew, their intuition couldn't be more right. The key, as always, was in the details.

For example, Luan was watching, as always, her favorite comedy channel, Fall Amanda. TV was at max volume, as it was always necessary to hear something above the noise. But that night her laugh was missing everytime someone did something stupid, or fell from somewhere. The neighbors didn't hear the sound of an American football bouncing on every wall, knocking down the furniture right and left. There was just the sound of a pounding on the door's lintel, caused by Lynn's baseball, which she was throwing as she was waiting sitting on the stairs. The lightshow and explosions from Lisa's room was also absent that night, for she didn't need her machines to read her medical books. Lola and Lana seemed to be doing the same as always, driving the karting inside the house and playing with lizards, respectively. However, both tried to be as close as the entry door as possible, waiting for it to open any second now. Luna seemed to be doing her routine, too, playing the guitar with the amps at full power. But she wasn't playing nothing froom Smooch, Wink-182, Bomb Yovi or Aeo is Myth, like she used to do to release her accumulated tension and energy. She was playing a song from We Totally Have a Name, the band the whole Loud family knew she only listened to or played when she was particularly vulnerable. The neighbors wouldn't find much difference, as they would hear the strong guitar riffs and they would think it was just another punk rock song as usual. They, of course, couldn't measure the amount of feeling she was putting into the lyrics of 'Dumb Reminders.'

"Honestly, I'd give anything, to be with you, right now..."

Lucy was the only one who seemed to be doing what she usually did. No one had seen her since they arrived to the house, so they all assumed she was hiding in the vents, writing a poem.

Meanwhile, Lori and Leni were in their room, playing with Lily. Leni was resting on her bed, lifting Lily up. The baby was really enjoying herself, laughing out loud and moving her little arms with excitement. Lori tried to smile seeing that. She really wanted to. Smile. Have fun and distract herself. But the only thing she could do was look at her phone. She had sent four messages to their parents, asking where they were, how was Lincoln and if they would be back home for dinner. The four messages had been sent, received and read, but she didn't have any sort of answer from them.

She wanted to keep calm. Really. She only wanted to convince herself that everything was okay. But being the oldest in a family as big as hers, she tended to worry an awful lot about every single one of her siblings. And, even though she wouldn't ever say it out loud, not even to Bobby, she may worry a little more about Lincoln. The fact that he was in the hospital was really unnerving. Not having any kind of news was just making it worse.