The Other World

Chapter 4

"Who is it now?" Claire trudged towards the living room, to find Emma's eyes glued to the tv screen.

"It's not that interesting," Claire muttered. Emma didn't seem to hear her. Claire swung the door open to find Wyatt staring a her, eager to start talking.

"Guess what! Our power is back on! My mom sent me over here to see if your power went back on too!" Wyatt exclaimed.

     "Yea, Wyatt, our power is back on," Claire rubbed her eyes and yawned, "you can go now."

     "Okay! Good night!" Wyatt winked at Claire and trotted back to his house.

     "What a weird kid," Claire rolled her eyes and started to walk back to her room.

     "He's so cute! And his parents are really kind," Jill stated, looking up from a word search she begun to work on.

"Whatever I'm going to bed," Claire angrily pulled her long hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a hair tie. Claire wasn't really going to bed-she was just going to her room-but she didn't want anyone interrupting her with some type of food or trying to comfort her.

     Claire proceeded to catch up with her favorite television show, All The Things, which was one of a few shows that were not produced by the government.

     After her show, Claire began to drift off. That night, she dreamt of breaking into the capitol building accompanied by unknown figures, and their purpose unclear. Before she knew it, Claire was being chased by guards and soldiers down what seemed like endless hallways. Claire turned around to see who was chasing her, and the last thing she heard was a loud bang.

     Claire shot up from her bed, sweat dripping down her forehead and chills running down her spine.

Claire turned over and looked at her clock. It read 1:37 A.M. Claire swiped the cup of water sitting on her nightstand next to her clock, chugged it, and placed the cup back on the table.

     It was just a dream Claire, chill out. Claire kept reassuring herself it was going to be alright, but she couldn't seem to fall back to sleep.

A couple of minutes later, Claire finally fell asleep. She wished to have no dreams, and that wish came true.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-" Claire slammed down on her alarm clock to make the deafening noice stop. She rubs her eyes and glances over at time-7:00 a.m.

"Why me?" Claire asks, looking up to the ceiling. She knows she has to get up, so Claire trudges out of her bed, slipping on her slippers in the process. Claire liked her slippers; they were a simple pair of white closed-toe slippers, but now have a permanent brown stain and multiple holes in the fuzzy fabric from many years of wear and tear.

     Claire stomped into the kitchen, prepared for breakfast. She was the first one up, and this meant she was the one to prepare the first meal of the day. The pantry held quick oatmeal, cereal, and a pint of milk. Claire heaved these low quality foods back to the table, where she proceeded to tear open the box that held the cereal and poured it into four separate bowls.

The milk was next, and Claire spilled some onto the surface of the table.

"Dang," Claire hissed, and went to retrieve a rag from the counter. She soaked up the mess then threw the rag back on counter, but the sun reflected right into Claire's eyes as she whipped her head back around to face the table, temporarily blinding her. She lost her balance and stumbled back towards the stainless steel sink. She grabbed onto the edge to steady herself.

     "Are you okay?" A groggy Emma walked into the kitchen dragging along her blanket across the wooden floor with her. Emma was usually early to rise, but despised making breakfast so she usually pretended to be asleep until she heard someone else.

     "Yea I just tripped," Claire brushed off her pajamas and fixed her already messy hair, and continued making breakfast. Emma had already taken a bowl of cereal and proceeded to sit back and prop her feet up on the table's surface. Claire huffed in frustration at her little sister. A bowl of cereal seemed to call out to her hollow stomach, so Claire scooped it up and began to devour the meal.

     A few moments later, Claire was wiping off her mouth with the back of her shirt sleeve and placing the now empty bowl into the sink, careful not to trip this time. Emma was almost finished-she was eating exceptionally slow. Jack and Jill had came into the kitchen by this point and were enjoying their cereal on the living room couch while watching the morning news.

The family had decided to not eat the oatmeal and save it for emergencies. Emma finally finished her cereal, also placing the bowl in the sink by Claire's. The girls journeyed into the living room to join their parents.

The news was quite boring, and this caused Claire to zone out. Just stories about the newfound relationship between the countries, things Claire did not care for anymore. The music that signaled for the end of the show cued, causing Claire's ears to perk up. This sound meant that a new show was coming on, usually the government talk show. Claire was mildly interested in this, as she had nothing to do during this hour. She had begun watching the host give a summary of the day's show, when she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Guys don't forget to start packing, we're moving in two days," Jill's voice echoed through the house. Various replies of agreement called back. Claire decided that she needed to pack instead of watching, and proceeded to walk to her room. She found five medium sized cardboard boxes resting on her bed, along with a roll of packing tape. Claire flopped on her comfortable bed, overwhelmed by all the packing she has to do in a short amount of time.