THE EXPERIMENT OF A SCIENTIST [FRERARD]

CHAPTER ONE: Sunlight

Brightness woke me up and made me come to my senses. The sunlight that passed through the window of my room was too bright. Normally, sunlight is perceived, well, poetically speaking, as a sign of hope and fresh start. Don't tell that to me, oh! I beg to differ – it just reminds me that I survived yesterday. Oh well, not actually, I guess. Well, because if I do, I shall not be looking back at the past. Unfortunately, though, not looking back is just not me, apparently.

"Sweetie, wake up! You're going to be late! Have you forgotten that today is the first day of your journey as a ninth grader?" Mom called out from downstairs.

Unlike every dramatic teen cliché, I am blessed with a loving mother. Anyway, I didn't forget about, well, what this day was all about. It's just that, I am not too fascinated with school. What? You think it's me being stereotypical? Oh, come on. Am I not the only one? I mean, school is great, yes. Before you start to rub in my face that it isn't, let me tell you this thing: stress is really a part of school, since it is meant to be the good kind, the kind that will move your adrenaline to move forward in life, but then, what I am experiencing throughout the years is the kind of stress that kicks my masculinity and makes me just cry in angst and frustration.

After I got done fixing myself – well, you know, dressing up and all that, I went downstairs. If you were expecting for a college-worthy essay about my usual routines in the morning, sorry, that's not the main plot of the story for me to be elaborate about such things. You bet I wake up, take a bath and get dressed. Do those things really need to be so detailed? Not unless you're just a newbie in this wild world (a.k.a Earth) then I really think you must have a tutorial about these things.

I sat down on the wooden chair as the smell of fresh pancakes greeted me. My younger sibling, my little sister, Eileen, sat beside me. I was in ninth grade while she was in fourth grade. There's just the two of us. Plus, our father and mother.

"Good morning, Frank. How are you doing?" Asked Dad, while his eyes were still fixed on the newspaper he was reading.

I snapped back to the reality. That's the deal with me – I overthink. If I had a dollar for each thought that crosses my mind, I tell you, I'm going to be the richest person, in the whole wide world, ever.

"Good morning, Dad. I'm feeling alright, how about you?"

"Oh, come on. Elaborate, Son. I'm a businessman but that doesn't mean our relationship must be formal and business-like."

"It's just that I'm not a morning person, so, if I come off as insensitive or something, probably along the lines of that, please excuse me."

"Well, Son, just remember that your family will always be here, for you. Now how about you grab a pancake and tell us how delicious your mother's cooking is?"

I smiled at Dad as I grabbed a piece. Sure enough, it tasted delicious. The four of us, including Mom, had a nice start to our day.

Dad went to his office. Mom had work, too, so, she went out with Dad. Meanwhile, Eileen and I walked our way towards our school.

As I stepped out of our door, this poetic sunlight kissed my fringe. I find this sunlight so fascinating. Science has explanation for it but I enjoy finding it so poetic, though I am not the type of person to write poems, but the one that creates objects that influence that poetic point of view.

If sunlight, poetically speaking, means hope, well, what if, just, what if, there's a hope for me? Maybe then something would happen that would change my whole life. I'm lost not because I don't have a map, I'm lost because I don't have a destination. What if, there would be something for me? Don't ruin this vibe, thank you.