Tired Eyes

Chapter 1: Four Leaves

"Once, there was a young boy who lived in a small town," I read aloud. "this boy had been waiting for St. Patrick's Day since the previous year, and was excited when the day had finally come."

My little sister sat with her legs crossed on the bed next to me, smiling as she looked at the pictures in the storybook.

"Later that day, the boy saw a rainbow that spread across the sky. He followed it and soon reached the end. Waiting for him was a pot of gold surrounded by four-leafed clovers that was left by a tiny little leprechaun. After a bit of looking around, he found the one who placed it there. 'How do ya do?' The small man said. 'Doing great! Say, could I please have some of that there gold?' 'But of course! Just let me get something behind the pot real quick.' The leprechaun went behind the pot... but he never came back! When the boy went to take a look behind it, the tiny man was gone! Not only that, but he had taken all his gold with him. 'That sneaky elf!' the boy exclaimed in anger. He then sadly went home empty-handed. So the next time you're out there hunting for a pot of gold, remember these two things: One, never let a leprechaun out of your sight, they can disappear in an instant! And two, they can be very tricky, so be ready for anything!"

I closed the children's book and put it on my lap. My younger sister Yessie had an optimistic smile on her face that can only be found in blissfully ignorant children like her. She looked at the book's colorful cover and gave out a short giggle. "That was a really good book! Hey Noah, can we go look for a pot of gold just like the boy in the story?"
I forced a smile. "Uh, yeah, sure. But we should probably wait for the sun to come up... I wouldn't want you to end up tripping and getting hurt."
"Aww, but I wanna do it now!"
"Well, we don't always get what we want, you little sh--"

I cut myself off there. I'm not above cursing around children, but I know that if she told our mom about it, I'd never hear the end of it. "Little... uhhh... sh-shorty."
Yessie had a pouty look on her face. "I am not short!"

I laughed a bit and got up. I placed the book back on my shelf where it came from. Right as I was about to turn around and sit back down, I felt a sudden pain in my arm. "Ow! Hey, what was that?!"
Yessie mischeviously looked at me. "Ha! You're not wearing green!"

It was only then that I noticed it. She was right. I must've forgotten to put on something green when I woke up this morning. "Oh, but I am," I said, creeping my hand on the shelf behind my back. I slid a green, rubber bracelet on my wrist and whipped my hand in front of me, showing it to Yessie. "See? A green bracelet!"
"Hey, you weren't wearing that before!"
"Well, you know the rules. If you pinch someone who is wearing green, they're allowed to punch you,"
Yessie quickly stepped back and put her arms up in defense. "That was never a rule!"
"Heh, I know. I'm just screwin' around."

I headed over to my closet and pulled out a light green, short-sleeved hoodie. I slid it on and zipped it up to my chest. I glanced over at the clock by my lamp to see that it was still only 5 AM. I didn't even have to look out my window to tell that it was too dark out. There was a light drizzle audible from the roof, an indication that the clouds would only prolong the night.

"Hm, so what should we do in the meantime? Got any homework that needs to be done?"
Yessie rolled her eyes. "Come on, I don't wanna do homework on a Saturday, that's no fun!"
"You need to do your homework, Yess. Just because your grades are good now doesn't mean they'll stay that way. Come on, I'll even help you if you want,"
She hesitated. "Fine..."

Yessie briefly left the room and returned with a red folder and notebook. She sat down at the desk on the other side of my room and took out a pen. "Wouldn't you rather use a pencil? You might need to erase something,"
"Nah, I'm okay. I like how pens feel better."