Existence

Chapter 1

Ten years had passed since the good old bedtime story days and now, sixteen-year-old Sarah sat at the breakfast table in a pink blouse and jeans. It was a bright Thursday morning, the sun shining through the kitchen window and onto her messy golden hair as she finished her homework.

"Morning!" Jared yelled, tromping down the steps. He was halfway through buttoning up his blue polo shirt as he entered the kitchen, hair sticking up at odd angles. "What's for breakfast?"

"Toast, eggs, porridge if you've got the patience," Sarah replied without looking up from her paper, pointing her pencil at the respective dishes. The porridge was still heating over the stove and Jared took off the lid to take a look, steam hitting his face in the process. "When did you get here?"

Jared had been out of town for the past month on business. He was a psychologist, a quite popular one at that and often went out of town on invitation to certain programs.

Despite being twenty-four, Jared still chose to live in his old room in the Walkman residence. His reason being that his apartment would be rarely used, what with him often staying overnight in his clinic and going off frequently on excursions out of town.

"Rather late last night, didn't check. Hmm," Jared glanced at his watch before grabbing a piece of toast from Sarah's plate and holding it in his mouth. He then proceeded to get a glass of orange juice from the fridge.

"Hey, that's mine!" Sarah protested, finally diverting her attention from her English homework.

Jared set his glass on the table and held up the bread, a big bite already taken out of it. He waved it in the direction of the table. "There's still plenty left. Just get a new one."

Sarah huffed and went back to writing, or rather back to staring at a certain question, muttering about stupid boys and their food. She fell into a short silence as her brother finished eating the stolen toast and when she couldn't take it anymore, she turned to him.

"Jed, you've read Peter Pan, right?" When he nodded, she continued, "What's the lesson of the story?"

"Lesson?" Jared blinked before snatching up her paper, reading the questions quietly. He drank his juice in one gulp, eyes never leaving the paper.

Sarah rolled her eyes, holding her hand out. Was Jed playing dumb or something? She had to get this done now or else she was going to be late. "Give it here," She said impatiently.

          "It looks like you're doing just fine on your own. What's the lesson in Romeo and Juliet?" he asked, keeping the paper out of her reach.

"Get married young and you end up dead."

Jared snorted, eyes still on her paper. "Fair enough. Sleeping Beauty?"

"Make sure you don't leave anyone out of a party?"

"Aladdin?"

"You're only in trouble if you get caught," She said, not bothering to think about the right answer. He was making up questions now. The only mention of Aladdin was in her answer to one of the given questions.

"The Fall of the False King?"

Sarah furrowed her brows, unfamiliar with the title. That story wasn't mentioned in her paper. "What now?"

The amused smile faded from Jared's lips. He studied her face skeptically for a few seconds before finally realizing that she was serious. "Huh... You don't remember? You don't remember..." Jared stared at the kitchen table for a moment before looking up with a tight smile. He handed her back her homework, an unreadable expression on his face. "No matter. That story's not important."