Miserable

1

"Rose!" I look up from my book to see my mom standing a few feet away from me.

"Can't you hear me?" She asks while tapping her foot impatiently.

"When I'm so engrossed in a book? No." I reply.

She sighs and combs her hair back with her hand.

"Rose Joy. I need you to watch your younger brother. I'll be gone for the rest of the afternoon for work and your dad is busy too, okay?" She asks.

I sigh. Now I have to babysit.

"Fine." I mumble.

She gives me a quick hug before hurrying downstairs to leave for work.

I put my thrilling book down and walk downstairs to see my ten year old brother watching tv.

I head to the kitchen to get food, then I sit beside him. Phineas and Ferb is one of the shows I like so I eat and watch with him. At least I'm "watching" him right?

I feel someone's hand reach into my bag of chips and I slap it away.

"Ow." He says.

I smirk.

"It's my food. Get your own."

He sighs and rolls his eyes.

"You're so selfish. And childish. It's just food." He mumbles.

I stare at him and pretend to be shocked.

"Just food? This, my dear, is a bag of hot Cheetos which happens to be my favorite kind of chips in the whole wide world. This is not 'just food'." I say dramatically.

He chuckles. "Whatever."

He stands and gets his favorite chips. Doritos.

We watch Phineas and Ferb then the Wizards of Waverly Place movie. It's nice to watch old disney movies and shows.

Once the movie's done, we stand up and race to the game room. The bedrooms and the game room are on the second floor while the study, guest rooms, kitchen, living room and dining room are on the first floor.

"I was here first." I declare putting my hands on my hips and standing triumphantly.

"No. I was. It's pretty clear that a ten year old boy can beat a sixteen year old girl." He says smiling.

I shake my head and move my finger in an oh-no-you-didn't zigzag.

"I am older, so I won."

"Just because you're older doesn't mean you won. Besides, don't the younger ones usually beat the older ones?"

"In case you didn't notice, you said 'usually' meaning now could be one of those times where the older one beats the younger one." I say raising an eyebrow daring him to question that.

"Stop debating on who got there first and play already." My dad says looking up at us from downstairs. He has an amused smile on his face probably since we playfully argue like this a lot and it's fun to watch.

We smile sheepishly and head inside the room.

"I sure hope dad didn't have a client. That would've been embarrassing." Richard says to me.

I agree as we get ready for Xbox sports.

"Now, I am so going to beat you. And this will prove it." I say motioning to the screen.

"See? You're clearly a child. Believing in things that don't exist or won't possibly come true." He retaliates giving me one of his smirks.

We quiet down as the first game starts. Sprint. Psh, piece of cake.

"Go!" We start running as fast as we can and I cross the finish line first.

I look over at him with a proud smile on my face.

He shakes his head. "That's not the only event."

I take a deep breath.

Next is javelin throw. He throws first and hits a 75. Uh oh. I stand and grab the javelin from the right. I take a deep breath, jog, then throw. 70. Not bad.

After the three throws, he catches up. Two points and he'll be ahead. But I will not let that happen.

After long jump, discus, and hurdles, the scores are tabulated and- guess who wins? Me!

I do my "winner's dance" and he laughs at my moves.

"Hey. I'm a good dancer." I say punching him lightly.

"I know. But you're moves right now aren't exactly the best." He says trying to hold back another fit of laughter.

I laugh along with him knowing it was true.

The front door opens and slams shut. We stop laughing. A shout can be heard from outside.

I look at my brother and see him- praying?

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"Praying." He replies simply going back to whatever he was praying about.

When he was done, I looked at him.

"Why did you pray?" I ask him.

"My friend told me about Jesus. He said that we can pray to ask Him anything or just talk to Him. And I have a bad feeling right now so I'm asking Him for protection."

"How do you know He's listening?"

"I just know He is. Faith. He won't always answer yes. Sometimes it's a 'no' or a 'wait'."

I study my brother. No wonder he's changed.

"Get out!" I hear my dad yell.

We tiptoe and crouch to look down on the living room from the balcony.

Our dad is telling some guy to get out. The other guy is bigger than dad and looks much like a fighter while dad is a businessman.

"What do you want?" Dad asks raising his voice.

Mom. Some guy's here. And dad's all mad. What's going on? I text my mom.

My brother and I share a worried look.

My cellphone rings and I answer it hoping the guy didn't hear it.

"Mom?" I whisper.

"What's going on?" She asks me.

"Some guy's here and dad's ordering him to get out and now they're talking about something." I say.

She stays quiet for a while.

"What does he look like?" She asks.

"Um, big. Muscular. Black hair. Blue eyes." I report.

My mom gasps.

"What is it?"

"He was just here minutes ago asking for you."

"Me?" I ask surprised.

"Yes. I don't know what he wants but he wants you. I ordered him out and- I'm coming home." My mom says hurriedly.

My brother gasps. I look at him. He points to something and I follow his gaze.

The man has a gun pointed at my dad's temple. He looks up at us hearing Richard's gasp and smiles evilly.

A shot rings through the air and my brother screams.