He sat there for a second before laughing at himself for trying. Laughing at how stupid this prank was. Laughing at how much he had wanted for it to be real. Laughing to try to minimize the pain. How stupid was he to believe that his father actually sent him something. Eight years of nothing, why did he think it would change?
His laughter, and thoughts only lasted for a moment. Immediately stopping as everything went black. The world was gone. Reappearing almost as fast as it had disappear Lucas felt himself fall as if his chair had been pulled out from under him. With the crunch of leaf litter he hit the ground, no longer sitting in the dining room.
He laid there for a moment his head throbbing from hitting the ground. When the pain eased he sat up. In front of him there was a field. A field with short grass that stretched far into the distance, making it hard to see what seemed to be buildings farther back just like the picture from the journal.
Seeing this he jumped to his feet the pain and shock of everything no longer clouding his thoughts. Next to him were the trees along the edge of the field. He was in Willow's Edge. The journal was real. His heart skipped a beat as he realized this. His father had really sent him this and wanted to see him.
As his new found excitement settled in he noticed the journal was sitting in the grass. He picked it up starting to wonder how he would get back. Flipping through the pages he found the page labeled Denver with the picture of his dining room table. With one last look around he put his hand on the page and said to himself, "Take me to Denver."
He waited for something to happen a of fear going through him. What if it doesn't work? he thought. His fears quickly faded as the world once again became blackness and his dining room appeared. Though rather than sitting in the chair he was in before he was now standing on it. And rather than getting down from the chair he stood there thinking about how crazy this was.
Lost in his thoughts he didn't notice Emily as she came down the stairs. She stopped at the halfway point were the staircase turned looking down at Lucas standing on the dining room chair looking through an old journal. What in the world is wrong with him? she thought waiting on the stairs for him to see her.
He looked at the wall behind him at the little wooden clock, 4:07. He turned back around about to get down, looking back at the stairs he had just looked past thinking he saw something. Falling off the chair, Lucas was on the ground, again.
He could hear Emily laughing as she hopped down the stairs. "What were you even doing standing on the chair in the first place?" she asked.
"How long were you standing there?" he asked glaring at her trying to act angry rather than started, and worried as he sat up. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the journal laying next to him. He quickly shifted his gaze away from Emily to the journal.
Emily who had been looking down in her brother now followed his gaze to the journal she had seen in his hands before. "Long enough to watch you standing on the chair. What's up with the book?" she asked curious to know what it was about.
Lucas reached for the journal unsure how to answer. "I uh... it was in the box." he stated slowly hoping she would leave him alone.
"Really? Who was it from anyways?" she asked her thoughts jumping from the book to the box.
"Grandma! It was from Grandma!" he exclaimed in a panic, Grandma being the first thing that came to mind.
Emily took a step back. "Sorry I asked." she mumbled before turning towards the kitchen.
As she rummaged through the pantry Lucas got up and placed the journal on the table. He sat down and took his phone out of his book bag. Unlocking it he looked for Jackson's name in his list of contacts. Hey are you busy? he asked.
He looked up at Emily as he waited for a reply. She was reaching up to grab the yellow box of chocolate chip cookies.
His phone gave a small ding. No, replied Jackson. A thought bubble popping up under it. Why? he asked making Lucas's phone ding again.
Can you see if you can come over? typed Lucas hoping Jackson would be able.
I'll be over in five minutes, answered Jackson a few minutes later.
"Hey Emily! Jackson's coming over soon and we're probably going to go to the park." Lucas shouted since Emily was upstairs, " Are you good here by yourself?"
"Yeah! I'm going to go watch TV, so be quiet. I'll call you if I need anything." shouted back Emily stopping herself from sounding to excited about him leaving.
While he waited for Jackson he sat back. Leaning the chair against the blinds of the window behind him, and he opened the journal, continuing to flip through the pages. The door of Emily's room opened, and closed gently. But Lucas didn't hear it or the sound of her TV, all of his thoughts on the journal.
YOU ARE READING
Overboard
RandomLucas Brooks a high schooler at East Lincoln High has an interesting family life. A father that left when he was seven, a sick mother whose in the hospital, and an aunt that lives down the road. He lives with his younger sister, their aunt checkin...
