The Closet Downstairs

Why Me?

       I grumble as I climb into our old family junk car. The thing is probably 100 years old. The nasty colored green paint has mostly peeled from being out in the sun. It has been replaced with an ugly gray. I'm honestly surprised the piece of junk still runs. I hope it breaks down one of these days to save me the embarrassment.
       My parents (mostly my mother) are making me go to my Aunt Frieda's house for the weekend. My Aunt Frieda is the type of person who asks if you want a cookie, and if you refuse, will shove it into your mouth. Other opinions don't matter to her. You answer the way she wants you to or you'll be sorry.
       I slump into the back seat and lounge across the back bench. I stretch my arms back behind my head, and lay myself out as comfy as I can possibly get in a car. For four seconds, I think this car ride might not be as terrible as I had pictured. But then, my siblings fling open the car door.
        "Shotgun!" Robby yells at the top of his lungs.
        "Oh no you don't!" Tyler growls. "Not if I can help it!" Tyler  lunges at the front seat just in time to drag Robby out of the car. Robby giggles and screams as he is taken down to the grassy earth below him. They wrestle, looking like a mass of wild wolves fighting over a piece of meat.    
         I sigh and watch them in disgust. "Could you just get in the car and stop making fools out of yourselves?"
         Tyler looks up from Robby's defeated face. "I'm not sitting in the back of this furnace for three hours!" He looks back at Robby and grins. "And my little brother has a lesson to learn!" Robby screams again as Tyler pinches his rib cage. I sit up and fix my blonde hair, letting it fall over my shoulder. I quickly throw it up in a messy bun after admiring it's beauty and turn to my finger nails. The sparkly violet glitters in the sunlight and makes my once dull nails shine. I fold my hands into fists to get a better look at them, turning them this way and that to get the sun to reflect off of them.
         "Coming through!" Melissa shouts as she jumps over her brothers and into the car. Right on me.
         "Hey!" I yell, sticking my arms out to prevent her from falling on me. I find her left shoulder and grip it tight, holding her inches away from falling on me. Then, a strong force pushes Melissa on top of me, sandwiching me between her and the bench. I look over her shoulder to see it was our pug, Chewy.
         "Time to go!" Mom calls from the house. She locks the house up and throws her keys in one of the many purses slung over her shoulder. My mother is the busiest person I know. She seems to always be doing something different every time I see her, yet gets nothing done. How can someone be so busy but get nothing done? She clip-clops in her high heels down the front pavement, flinging a purse over her arm as she goes. The woman's once straight hair now flew straight out of her head, making her look like she was struck by lightning. Her eyes fly in all directions never resting on any one object. She clambers into the driver's seat, getting her neon yellow sweatshirt caught in the door as she slams it shut. "Robby and Ty! You can have these two wonderful available seats right here." She gestures to the two seats right behind her. Tyler grumbles, and Robby whines but no other argument was made. They climb into the seats. I am now squashed in between my little sister and the dog. Great.
          The drive is long and tiresome. Even though I sit in a car, I feel like I am in a boxing match. Melissa finds that singing Yankee Doodle over and over is entertaining. Chewy falls asleep in my lap, drooling all over one of my favorite skirts. Tyler and Robby argue away, and Mom calls an innumerable amount of people on her phone. She probably talked to a friend out in Egypt. The car finally screeches to a stop. Good thing the brakes still work. I push Melissa out and begin to climb out, myself. Melissa gasps in front of me as she looks at the house in front of her. I push my way through, ignoring Robby's complaints. I look up and blink my eyes rapidly, adapting to all the sudden light. Then I look up and see it too. I'm staring at a castle.