Over The Fence: Malum

F i v e

Michael tapped on his stomach as he stared at the ceiling. He had the strongest urge to do something, anything, but he controlled himself and sat mostly still. After another five minutes he sat up, his hair sticking out in every direction. He paced his room a bit and plopped into a beanbag chair. He looked through his pile of video games and contemplated. Halo or skyrim? He looked at both cases a few times before setting skyrim back on the pile and sliding Halo into his Xbox. He settled deeper into his bean bag, playing his game for a while. When he finally looked up from it he realized hed been playing for 4 hours. Michael shook his head and rubbed his eyes a bit. It was after five in the afternoon already. He stood from his spot and stretched his back a bit. After trudging down the stairs, Michael grabbed a bag of pretzles from the cupboard and began happily munching on them. His mother entered the kitchen and crossed her arms.

"It's alive" she said sarcastically. Michael smiled, exposing his mouth full of pretzles.

"Hey, mum" he mumbled, trying not to lose any of his food. She only shook her head and attempted not to laugh.

"Why don't you go outside or something?"

Calum closed his bad eye and read his book contently. He hadn't always loved reading g, but since he didn't leave the house anymore and couldn't very well play video games anymore, he found himself drawn to the world of books where he could escape away from the real world for a while. At the moment he read To Kill a Mockingbird for the third time. Normally he wasn't one for older literature, but the classic had him drawn in time and time again. As he read along, he heard his mother bustling around downstairs. She sang quietly and Calum found himself smiling at the sound of her. He pressed his ear against the door to better hear her and smiled wider, making his cheeks and eyes scrunch up. He opened the door and padded quietly down the stairs, peeking around the corner to see her dancing a bit while she swept the floor. Calum approached her and she jumped.

"Oh! Cal I didn't hear you coming" she said. Calum hugged her and spun her a bit.

"I love you, mum" he said, the smile he had before not leaving him.

"Oh Calum, I love seeing you happy this way" she said, touching his bad cheek gently. Calum kissed her forehead and took her hands, dancing goofily around the kitchen with her.

"And I love you!" He said with a laugh. His mother danced with him for a while longer before they stopped.

"I should really keep cleaning a bit. I think I heard the Clifford boy go outside. You should talk to him."