♰ᕈᒪᗩﬡTᓰﬡᘐ ᔕᙓᙓᖙᔕ

1

     I looked over exhaustedly at the clock set on the coffee table next to my bed. It was exactly 4:00 in the morning. For 30 minutes I've been lying here, eyes open, blankly staring at the nightlight. Watching it change color to color; green...to blue...to purple...to red...and back to green. I mediated with it...breathed in at green and breathed out at red. I thought it would help focus my mind on something else other than the sounds.
     I was woken up by the sounds of my mother and father arguing in their own room across from mine. I heard every word. Every grumble and scoff. Every threat. Therefore, I haven't been able to sleep in sweet silence since I woke. I sighed and sat straight up in my bed, rubbing my tired eyes; listening to the repeated sound of yelling and banging. I'd rather listen to a rooster crow than this. Good morning to me.
     Then there was another pound...a soft one. Just a single heart beat. Next, hushed rat-tat-tat was heard thumping outside my door. Through the crack, I stretched out my neck and peeked. I saw a tiny shadow standing there. It was my quiet-as-a-mouse younger brother, Hayes.
     "Adrian...they're fighting real bad tonight. I almost thought about grabbing my light saber and jumping in there to break it up," he said with a determined yet trembly voice. "You there?" he asked with a little more force.
     He is one brave lad to ever think about entering such a ferocious place. "I'm always here...you want to come in here and talk or maybe try to conjure up sleep?"
     He shuffled over and pounced onto the fluffy mattress. I watched him in amusement as he made himself comfortable under the sheets. Hayes is seven years old and also my only sibling. He has tan, olive skin with a wild looking birthmark stained by the corner of his eye. He is a scrawny thing, smallest kid in his class. His light grey eyes are like silver dimes.
     I pulled the covers close to our chests and he cuddled with me, his right cheek touching my left cheek. It felt wet. I slowly looked over to see hot tears spilling from his tight squeezed eyes. He couldn't do anything to stop it, the racket. I could feel his heart starting to beat faster as the yelling got louder. All we could do was wait until it's over. I have to be the one to make him feel safe.
     "It will end Hayes. This isn't how it's going to be forever. Sometimes bad things lead to good things." I took my sleeve and wiped at the tears. Smiling, I stroked his gorgeous, thick, dark hair. I decided to sing him a lullaby to help calm his body and mind. It was a Christian song that I've always remembered when we used to go to church years ago.

"We are the light of the world,
May our light shine before all,
That they may see the good that we do,
And give glory to God."

     After I finished my song, he was awing up at me. "I don't understand that song...but it was very pretty sounding." He's always telling me I have the voice of an angel. He's never really known that much about angels, church, or even God. Some of my own memory about it has gone away too. I laid back down and faced him.
     "I think the song is about being a very loving and happy person and showing others the great things that can happen through love. We can be like that too Hayes. We are not like our parents. We face this hatred all the time. There is not enough room for anymore hatred in us."
     There was a pause as he was converting what I told him. He nodded his head and whispered, "It is so hard to love people who aren't loving to you at all though." I nodded at his response also, "This is true. I want you to remember that those people you speak of, they need the most love."
     "Why?"
     "Because even though they need it the most, they most likely don't receive it so much. The more love they will receive, they'll eventually learn that love is the way."
     "Wait. The way to what exactly?"
     "It's just the way." I gazed at him and he did the same to me.
     It is my job to teach Hayes in this house. Tell him things to remember by. To help him grow to become a helpful and courageous gentleman. To not follow our parents footsteps.
     He goes through so much at such a young age. He's only a little boy. Who needs to create little boy memories like playing with friends, running outside catching bugs, playing pretend detectives, and just enjoying life. He shouldn't be crying every night worrying about mother and father. He shouldn't be coming to my bedroom every night with tears in his eyes. He needs the most love. My parents do too. I try my very best to take good care of him when no one else does. Even his own parents. This is not a family.
     Hayes. He's like my special little guardian angel. And I'm his. Forever.