My Original Works

Laundry

"Can you do the laundry?"

The voice rang out through the halls, echoing down the dark abyss in hopes of reaching a certain pair of ears. The longer the time passed the more she was filled with worry; he never took this long to respond to her request, always finding the time to accept and move on with the task. He was usually found sitting at his desk at this time, book propped open as he studied in hopes of a better education. He had things he wished to do with his future and he would stop at nothing to achieve them.

"Okay, no response; can you tell your brother to come and take out the trash?"

The question seemed to float about, buzzing around the small home as it looked for its path to follow. Would it get to where it needed to be? Perhaps. What she needed right now was for some form of response. A grunt, a chirp, even a small screech to let her know that her words weren't being ignored.

She's being ignored.

She huffed, hands finding their way to her hips as her cheeks swelled to let out an exaggerated sigh. There was no way that neither of her sons had heard her! The house is only so big! Was this some kind of joke? Perhaps she should have expected it from the younger of the two, but the elder as well? This was ridiculous!

"I'm coming back there! If I find you two are doing this as a prank I'm going to hit you over the head with the broom!" Staying true to her word she grabbed the broom from the closet nearest her, yanking the handle with enough force to knock everything else inside over. With quick footsteps, she stormed down the hall, bristles scratching against the carpet as she made her way to the bedroom the brothers shared. Her pale, dainty hand reached out and grabbed the cold door handle, twisting it just enough for the door to give way, opening to reveal the room before her.

It was empty.

The lights that usually brightened the room weren't on, leaving the shadows on the wall to appear large and unforgiving. The desk that was typically occupied was empty, the stacks of books discarded and seemingly boxed up and kept away. The beds were neat and tidy. Nothing was messed with.

They were gone for good.

She missed them.