Short Stories

I'm Home

Ly walked into the apartment closing the door with a slam. They grimaced at the sight of their brother sitting on the couch watching T.V.

"I'm home," Ly groaned with a sigh loud enough for John, their brother, to hear. John looked at Ly with a stoic look and replied,

"Welcome home." Ly cringed on the emphasis John put on the word 'home.'

"This isn't my home," they replied bitterly without a second thought. Ly had repeated that phrase the day John had to start paying for the house bills. The vaccine that changed the world, the one that mutated half the world's population and killed the other half. Its the same vaccine Ly and John lost their parents to, and Ly hasn't let it go after seven years.

After John sighed he got up and walked into their small kitchen. Each day Ly walked into the house at sunset and John would start preparing for dinner. He refused to eat without his sibling. In reality he had to make sure Ly would come home to make sure they actually ate something. Ly stomped to their room, their only reason to come home was to make sure John had dinner. Despite their relationship not being the best, they still cared for their brother.

An hour passed and John called Ly down for dinner. They sat in silence, a solemn mood waving over the dinner table. Suddenly Ly could feel eyes glaring through them like daggers. They looked up, only to find Johns blue eyes staring at them. Ly flinched at his strong gaze.

"Why?" John asked.

"Why what?"

"Why can't you call this place your home? Lyle, I know you miss Mom and Dad, but you can't keep coming home so late. Mom and Dad wouldn't want you doing that, this is your home." Ly bristled with anger. They hated when John did this, when he would use Mom and Dad as a way to guilt trip them.

"John, first of all, I'm not, 'Lyle', anymore. My name is Ly, I tell you time and time again, I'm non binary, not male. Second of all, this isn't my home. A home is not complete without a mom and a dad, and you're neither of those things. I don't care if Mom and Dad would be mad, they aren't here anymore. And you will never replace them."

Ly shivered, they took a sharp breath in trying to calm the adrenaline flowing to their head. They stared at John, his face was sullen as he stared at Ly with repressed anger. He took a couple deeps breaths before calmly, picked up his fork, and started eating again. Ly shoved their plate away and walked out the front door.

About fifteen minutes away Ly texted to their friend Soren that they'd be there soon. Soren replied seconds later with an okay. This wasn't the first time Ly had snapped, they believed that John just couldn't understand what they were feeling.

Ly walked in, without knocking, and saw Sorens two sisters, Rachie and Kay, were having dinner themselves. Kay was older taking care of her siblings at 22 since their parents were the few scientists who created the vaccine, therefore they were taken away.

"Hi Ly!!" yelled Rachie, at seven years old, excitedly. Kay smiled, acknowledging Ly's presence,

"Soren went out to buy some desserts for us so he'll be back in about twenty-ish minutes." Ly nodded and sat quietly at the dinner table with them.

While Rachie was still chewing on her food, she turned to Kay and asked a question.

"Hey, how come this is our home even when Mommy and Daddy aren't here anymore?" Ly cringed at the question. Kay put on a thinking face before smiling and answering,

"Because little one, even if Mommy and Daddy aren't here anymore, it's our job to take care of our home. If we didn't have our home where would we stay? They might not be here, but before they left they made sure we had somewhere safe to stay first!"

Ly's eyes widened. A wave of shamed went over them. Kay was right, they shouldn't think their home isn't their home just because someone was missing. Their parent's worked hard to keep the place they were staying at, it was their and John's job to take care of what was left for them. Ly stood up and looked at the two sisters smiling,

"Thank you. Thank you so much. I know I haven't stayed long, but I need to go apologize to someone." Kay smiled knowingly and Rachie nodded happily,

"Bye-Bye!!" Ly ran out of their home and almost ran into Soren.

"Seeya, I hope we helped," Soren said, having known what the conversation was about since he was the one who planned it. Ly punched him playfully but smiled at him,

"Thanks, Bro." Ly ran all the way home, they felt ashamed that they didn't understand what John was trying to get at this whole time, but they understood now. Ly wasn't about to disappoint their brother also.

Ly got to front door, took a deep breath, and opened the door carefully. John was still sitting at the table head in his hands, he looked up at Ly. Ly smiled hesitantly.

"I-I'm home." they said sheepishly. Johns eyes widened and he smiled, tears brimming his eyes.

"Welcome home, Ly."