The Summer He Returned (Hiatus)

Chapter 1: Trouble

Cassidy P.O.V
December

I had a dream about him again.

   This time he was closer to me, only an arms length away and all I had to do was reach. But I couldn't. He was never this close, always moving onto the next. All I had to do was reach and he'd be here.

    I remembered the day he left. Shouting. Doors slamming. Mama running around like a mad woman and him just being...silent.

    He was always running with us. Always playing with us. Always loving us. Not that day.

    I opened my eyes slowly looking out my window. The sky is painted pink and purple.

    I look across the street at Bryson's house and my heart tugs a bit. It been 5 years and I still missed him more than anything in this world.

    I have a few minutes to myself until I'm forced to get up. She'd probably be calling up to me in a few seconds.

"Cassidy!! If you don't get up mama's gonna be so mad!", my little sister Rina's voice echoed through the house. Right on time.

   I groaned and rolled over in my bed. Today was Sunday and Sunday meant a morning full of fighting over who's getting in the shower first, who's making breakfast, and who's gonna get mama's clothes ready. My mother had been quadriplegic for 2 years now and we had been trying to help out as best we could. There was only so much I could do now that I took care of two disabled people.

   My sister Yasmine hadn't been born blind and she could take care of herself better than I, but I stilled worried.

"Alright alright!", I groaned getting up. I go to my bathroom and turn the water on. I stare into the mirror at my reflection, I always see him in me.

   My eyes the same emerald green as his. The freckles scattered against my smooth dark chocolate skin a constant reminder of who I was to him. Daddy's little girl, they said. I wanted to throw up.

   I sigh and put on my slippers making my way out to the living room. My sister's Rina and Yasmine and my brother David sat on the couch dressed and ready.

"You have to get mama ready", Rina said. I looked at her and stuck my tongue out. She smiled, satisfied with my reaction, picked up David and went in the kitchen. Yasmine held onto the hem of her dress and followed her to the kitchen.

    She never walked around the house with her cane. Rina and Yasmine were my carbon copies, as if my mother was trying to make another me over and over. But my dad had had enough and she found another. The circle of life I guess.

   I went into mama's room and got her cloth and towel. I turned to her bed and saw her eyes were wide opened and stained with tears.

"Mama?", I said. She blinked a few times and then looked over at me. I went to her side and wiped her tears away."Mama what's wrong?"

"Nothing", she said, her voice raspy and low. I feel my own eyes start to sting. Don't cry, be strong for her.

"It's gonna be okay", I said. I held her and kissed her forehead. We stayed like this for a long moment, then I got her bathed and dressed.

"I'm gonna make you look beautiful mama", I said. She smiled and I kissed her forehead again. I pulled her covers back and started to undress her. When I finished I go to the bathroom and get a bucket of warm water. I bring it back and set it on the table side.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked lathering soap onto her cloth.

"Yeah," she answered closing her eyes as the cloth touches her skin. I try to be as gentle as possible with her. She sustained ninety degree burns on her arms and legs from the crash and her skin was still a bit sensitive. Even though she was paralyzed, she could feel from the waste up but she couldn't move her arms. It's funny how it all worked. "I just keep having the same dream. It won't go away. I can't stop thinking about that day."