The Window Thing

Yes?

Hunter's POV

12:00. I'm drowning. Drowning in thoughts, doubt, love, hate. I'm being pushed under the waters constantly and I'm left hopeless. I think the one thing that I've learned from all this, from the yelling behind closed doors and having developed trust ripped out of my hands over and over again, is that, when you're under the salty, dark waters, it's best not to scream because that's when it consumes you mercilessly.

The front door clicking for the second time still startles me. I'm still never prepared for what comes after the small noise that sends an echo through the relatively empty house. This echo is soon followed by a chorus of disputes.

"Where the hell have you been?" My mother begins. It always starts soft.

"Work, you know because we need the money?" A retort finds its way out of my father's lips.

"Don't you dare lecture me about money, you're the one who lays down paper notes at the liquor store like they're nothing!"

I reach for my headphones. Music has been the one stable solution for a while.

I plug the cable into my phone's audio jack and quickly scroll through my playlists, attempting to find a song loud enough to build a wall around my ears, protect them from the war going on beneath me.

I settle on a heavy metal playlist and decide that if I'm actually going to function properly at school tomorrow, I'll need at least a few hours of sleep.

As my eyelids begin to grow heavy, I feel the slight pull of unconsciousness and I'm willing to give in. The peaceful lull is shattered within seconds, along with something that's been thrown in the kitchen. Fear strikes my heart but it's being contradicted with curiosity. My stomach knots as soon as I flip the covers off my shaking body.

"M-mum?" I stutter. The familiar sting of tears has made itself present and it sure as hell wasn't helping me at all. Then again, when does it ever?

"Oh. Hunter, what's wrong sweetie?" Maybe she was hoping the blanket of darkness covering the room would prevent me from seeing her rapid movements to wipe away her tears, but it didn't. I decided against mentioning anything though.

"Nothing, I just...heard a crash." It was more of a question, the way my tone flicked up towards the end of the sentence.

She laughed shakily and shook her head, "I'm so clumsy." Mum has made her way to her feet. Even though it was still dark, I could see she looked...deflated. Like an old, forgotten balloon.

"Mum, are you-" I began.

"You should go back to bed, Hunter. School tomorrow. I'll clean this up." She whispered as she glanced at the mess.

"Are you sure? I can handle it."

"No, no. It's fine. Head off to bed." With that, she went to find out broom and dustpan.

"Mum?" I stepped forward.

"Yes?" She turned on her heel.

"I love you." I smiled sadly.

Her face softened, "I love you too."

I made my way back upstairs to my bedroom. I didn't bother asking about Dad. He probably left the house but wouldn't I have heard the door slam? Probably in his room then.

My mind was running laps, trying to keep ahead of all the thoughts sprinting through my head at the moment. All I wanted was sleep but I guess you don't always get what you want.