My Side

Chapter 1

My name is René West. I am fourteen years old. I am brunette and have bright, blue eyes. I have a little sister who is my pride and joy, who I would even die for. Her name is Winter West. She is seven years old.

I love reading. It is my favorite hobby, other than drawing. My favorite types of books are ghost stories. The book I am reading now, is called Ghostly Encounters, and it is really good! I love reading how the spirits haunt their birth homes and killers.

I have a King Snake named Ozurypho. He is three feet long with a split tail he could never shed. He is very sweet though. Winter and I play with him every day. Winter loves to be the one to give him dead, frozen mice for his every meal.

My parents are always in the office or out trying to sell a house. They are realtors.

My family and I live in a mansion on Grey Stone Place in Down Town Los Angeles, California. We are the only living family on the street. It often gets very lonely and I want a friend to hang out with other than my homeschooled sister.

Winter and I have our own rooms but Winter feels safest when she is in my room. It seems like she never uses her bed or is ever even in her room.

On my dresser, there is a small terrarium which belongs to Winter. If she's not in my room, Winter is in our front-yard or back-yard collecting crickets for Ozurypho's snacks. I think she loves my snake more than I do. Winter makes sure that the crickets stay alive, too. Winter is very mature for her age.

The reason my little sister seems so innocent, is because she was closer to her cousin, Alexis Farmonthious, than anyone I've ever met. Despite the age difference, they could not have had more in common. Alexis was 17. One day about three years ago, Alexis sadly got sick with pneumonia and died quietly.

Yes, we all cried and we all missed her dearly of course. Winter was so angry and devastated, that she was acting like it was her fault Alexis died.

A few months later, we finally got Winter to calm down, though she was never as lively or happy as she was. I have tried my hardest to be the type of person Alexis was for Winter, but there's only one of every person.