I Just Want To Live || #Wattys 2018

chapter 1

It's a lovely day at St.Newberg High School. The sky is clear, the weather is warm......
"William!!!....
William!!!..
WILLIAAM!!!"
The teacher did not seem very pleased with William taking a nap during his Biology class.The teacher, Mrs Miller chucked a duster at him. "Just 5 more minutes mom,"mumbled William. The  whole class burst out laughing. But Mrs Miller didn't laugh. She grabbed him by the ear and shouted,"When will you learn, boy??"
"I already know all this."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah."
"Let's see you say that to the principal ...shall we??"
She takes him to the Principal,who wasn't a big fan of William either.They had their issues in the past.

Well...turns out...he got suspended from school for a week..obviously unfair.

He goes home...

Knock knock.
The door was open. It was dark inside. Smelled of dust and bone soup.
He sat on the chair by the window ....waiting for his father to come from work. His mother was asleep in the other room. She was bedridden for the past 2 months.
William thought to himself, "Where did I go wrong?? Why is life so  unfair.... what wrong have we done??" He wasn't worried that he got suspended. He was thinking about his whole life...how his mother and father....both being brilliantly talented......couldn't make a secure future for him. Life was too unfair to them.
No no.....it was all about money. The world runs on money. Too bad they didn't have much. The world doesn't give a shit about talent. No one does. It's all about that cash.
Not that they were downtrodden poor....William was a normal 21st century teenager ....he would roam around with headphones around his neck, wear a tank top and black pants...the usual black and white combo. Because...those are the easiest colours to choose from.
William's father owned a hardware retailer store down the avenue. His mother was a teacher at a primary school. She was terribly sick and was on leave for 2 months.

Drowned in his thoughts,  William went to the  bedroom.......to talk to his mother.
His mother's body felt strangely cold...
she had stopped breathing.

"Mom...???Mom??Wake up mom..." William begged her to wake up....but he realized.....she was no more.

She had died of cystic fibrosis, a genetically inherited disease that ruined her lungs and kidneys.