We Stand Together

1

Isaac Vacker

Twelve Years Ago... From Isaac's Memory
Screams of delight fill the house as I chase Theo and Iris down the hall, Claire and Violetta behind us. I don't like them following me as I chase my friends around, but mom says we have to be nice to them because they're only four and don't know any better. It's not that I don't like them, I just don't want to be held back when playing! Watching out for them is hard! They like to get into trouble if I don't always keep one eye on them, pulling at table cloths and knocking stuff over. I always have to make sure I fix the mess or keep them from getting hurt because mom says that's what big kids do, and I don't want them to get punished for being bad or getting hurt either. Though, sometimes, I sneakily find a way to pass off Claire and Violetta to Rosemary, who's always willing to watch over the little kids.

She and the other even bigger kids like to play with us sometimes, but not always since, after all, they are even bigger kids. Rosemary and her twin, Celeste, are both eleven and starting their first year of Foxfire this year, but Alex is twelve, so he's already a level two! I've heard all about Foxfire from all three of them, the trio which the adults like to call The First Waves since they are all about the same age. I can't wait to go to school, even though I'm still six years away. IT FEELS LIKE FOREVER! Dad promises I'll get there soon enough, but I can't wait that long! I just want to manifest and train my cool power alongside my friends! It'll be so awesome!

Anyways, sometimes I manage to give Rosemary the little girls and she takes them to her friends, which, apparently, Celeste doesn't like because she "doesn't like to hang out with babies". Auntie Bee often scolds her for that, saying that Celeste was once a little kid like that too, but Celeste never seems to listen. Mom says it's because she's stubborn like Auntie Bee herself!

Even though Celeste doesn't like it, Rosemary brings them anyways and Alexander joins in playing with them while Celeste pouts until she joins in later on, but she says they're "too simple" and "not mentally challenging enough." Whatever that means. Dad says that Celeste is in for a nasty surprise because both Mom and Auntie Bee are pregnant again! Soon enough, he says, the whole place will be crawling with little babies! Aunt Marilynn already has a baby boy named Henry, and Dad says that the new babies will complete the Fourth Waves. See, it goes First Waves (Alexander, Celeste, and Rosemary), Second Waves (Me, Theo, and Iris), the Third Waves (Claire and Violetta) and then Fourth Waves (Henry, My New Little Sister, My New Little Cousin). Man, will things be crazy! Theo, Iris and I will have to step up and help Rosemary and Alex.

Alex is the COOLEST! He's a geokinetic and can move rocks and stuff! Plus, he's twelve! He's the biggest of the even bigger kids and sort of the leader of the kids, just like Mom is kinda the leader of the adults, so all the younger kids listen to him - Even Celeste! He always knows what to do and he's always prepared. He's my hero! One time, we were playing outside and Claire scraped her knees on the patio. She was crying and crying and crying and there were no adults outside, just us kids, and the other Second Waves and I were scared because we didn't know what to do, but then the First Waves came over to see what was wrong. Alex picked Claire up, telling us that it would be okay and that he and Rosemary would go patch her up while Celeste played a game with us. So cool! He, Rosemary, and Claire were back to play with us in no time, and we were all outside until dinner, where the adults praised him all through dinner about how he took charge. I want to be like that too one day. Mom says I'll get there one day, and to just have fun for now, because even Alex spent all day playing when he was my age. So that's what I'm doing, even right now!

I'm inches away from Theo now if I reach out my hand. We're playing tag, and when he's not "it", he's always the first one to be caught. Iris, however, is super fast! It's always really hard to get her, and it usually takes Theo and I teaming up to corner her somehow to be able to get her. It's kind of more fun that way, because it's really fun to team up with one of my best friends.