Android

8

I had always been one of those kids who couldn't eat breakfast early in the morning, but after trying to sleep through the rest of the unsettling night I found myself sitting at the table, seven o' clock in the morning, with a piece of toast my mom made for me while my dad stared me down from behind his untouched breakfast. I hadn't been planning on eating, but my mom anxiously insisted so I went along with it to comfort her. After the unnerving night we all had, it was the least I could do.

"I t-think you're right. It did s-sound like dad," Naomi said with a wavering voice.

"Jup go see what that is, I'll stay here with the girls. See what's going on." Pluto ordered as he pulled his wrist from my grip and walked over to grab a metal baseball bat from under his bed and tossed it to him. Nodding obediently, Jupiter left the room as he held the bat tightly in his fist. Initially, I had no plans to go downstairs but listening to Pluto bark out orders in my house, when something was wrong, made my arrogance go haywire and gave me a ballsy rush of adrenaline.

"I'm going downstairs to, Naomi stay here with Pluto," I said as I gently pushed her off of me. Before I made it out the door though, Pluto grabbed my arm and gave me a stern look.

"Gail, I said you're staying here. I think you should listen to me," He said harshly, making my blood curl.

"You aren't my boss, I don't have to listen to you. This is my house and that was my dad I heard. I want to see what's going on." I insisted but Pluto only tightened his grip.

"Abigail, I know you don't like me but he's right. It'd be safer for you and Naomi to stay up here with me. Please, I'd feel better if you stayed here." He begged, almost sounding sincere, but instead of falling for it I shoved his hand off me.

"Don't touch me, I may play nice, but Toby taught me how to break a nose," I said harshly and before he could grab me again, I left the room and ran downstairs to where everyone else was. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting but I wasn't expecting the scene I came upon. In the middle of the living room, my dad was standing in the middle of everyone with his entire front soaked in gasoline, and he kept moving away from my mom as she tried to talk to him.

"Charlie what happened? Was that you who screamed? Why are you covered in gasoline?" She asked over and over while Gemma, Toby and Jupiter watched, all of them clearly on edge. Jupiter especially, he gripped the baseball bat so tight I could see his knuckles going white.

"I'm fine...I'm fine..." He insisted breathlessly as he batted her hand away and avoided eye contact with everyone. That is, until he noticed me standing there. When his eyes met with mine, I felt my insides stir uncomfortably as Gemma and Toby threw a blanket over him. "Abigail," He said, the breathless voice leaving him, and I raised an eyebrow at him as Jupiter moved a step closer to me. Almost like he was trying to stand between my dad and me.

"Are you okay dad?" I asked, a genuine question of concern, and suddenly his posture changed. He went from acting like a skitterish dog, to an overconfident jungle cat.

"I'm perfectly fine. I just...I just had a mishap in the shed. A can of gasoline was left opened and at the edge of the shelf. I must've been sleep walking, I didn't mean to alarm you," He said, and I shared a look with Gemma. That was weird. We didn't keep cans of gasoline around, I wonder where it came from? And since when was my dad a sleep walker? I think my mom was thinking the same thing as well, because she looked equally as confused as the rest of us.

"If you were sleep walking how did you get into the shed? Isn't it locked?" She asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know. You probably forgot to lock it," He said, keeping his eyes on me. For whatever strange reason, they looked different. Something about their color was sharper, and the warm look they usually had was cold. They almost didn't look real.

"Okay honey...well...how about we get you in the shower then?" My mom suggested and quickly he went back to being the skitterish dog.

"No! No shower!" He barked, making everyone except Pluto jump a little.

"Why not? You have gasoline all over you! Did the can hit your head on the way down?" My mom exclaimed and he shushed her.

"I've got this. I've got this. Just got back to bed," He said as he gestured for us all to leave. Frowning deeply at his odd behavior, my mom turned to us.

"Go back to bed kids, I'll handle this situation," She said. Even though she was using her firm tone; we all couldn't help but hesitate.

"Listen to your mother children. Good night," My dad said. Finally, then, with one last look at his unsettling appearance, we all began to head back to our rooms.

As I walked past him on the stairs, Jupiter stopped me before I could pass him by and he pulled me aside. "Why didn't you stay upstairs with Pluto?" He asked.

"Because he's not the boss of me. This is my house," I said firmly. For a long moment then, Jupiter stared hard at me as he tapped the baseball bat against the side of his leg. Then he sighed. "I'm sorry you felt bossed around, we just didn't want anything bad to happen to you."

"And Naomi?" I asked, to which he nodded as he began to walk once again.

"Goodnight Abigail."

"Charlie, would you like me to reheat your coffee? You haven't touched it, or your breakfast. It's probably cold by now," My mom said as she rested a hand on his shoulder. Finally, after what seemed to be forever, he broke his deep gaze on me and looked up at her.

"Don't worry about that, I'm not very hungry this morning," He said. At first my mom opened her mouth to argue, but instead she smiled worriedly.

"Alright. I'm going to go get ready for the day then," She said and with that she left us alone in the kitchen. He then looked back at me.

"Are you going to school today?" He asked and I nodded slowly.

"Yeah...unless there's a reason for me not to," I said slowly. He just shrugged.

"Not a single one dearest." He then stood up to leave the kitchen but not before he stopped at my side.

"Soon Abigail," He said, more to himself then me and I found myself frowning deeply. Soon? What did he mean by soon? Maybe we should try to get him to a doctor, that can might've hit him harder then we thought.

"Okay dad," was all I said in response before he left the kitchen. A moment after he left Naomi appeared with a confused expression.

"Is dad in a bad mood or something? I said good morning and he walked past me like I wasn't there." She informed.

"I don't know. Maybe all that gasoline killed some brain cells or something." I muttered as I got up to throw away my half-eaten toast. "Are you ready to go to school?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was going to hang around until last minute today, but I rather not be around when dad is in a weird mood. It's kind of freaking me out." Nodding, I grabbed my backpack and my keys.

"Yeah me to." 

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Hey guys! I'm so pumped up because fall is here and I love fall! Especially Halloween, I loveeeee Halloween!

Before I get on a rampage though about fall though, I'd like to take a moment to mention to poor souls from 9/11. Thousands of people died that day thanks to terrorism; leave a deep scar on our country. May the ones who died that day always be remembered and hopefully be in a better place.

-Mari.