Generation F

Chapter 1

Fear is used to manipulate us. How many times have our parents told us not to do something and we listen because they scare us into doing so. All the made up scary slumber party stories are all fun and games till the lights go out. The woods is just a large area of trees behind your house till a body is found in it. Fight or flight is our body's natural response to fear. The brain is put in a stressful stimulus and releases a chemical. This is what causes the racing heart, fast breathing, and adrenaline just in case its a fight situation. But what if none of this ever happened. What if fear was no longer a thing.

Everyone thought generation X would be the earth's downfall but they were mistaken. The next generation was known as generation F, as in generation fatal. Its a nice word for deadly but they aren't wrong. Any child born within the 2100's were born differently. The world was changing so humans mutated to survive in it. It wasn't some weird alien mutations but just enough to rise their survival rate yet the irony was that percentage dropped quickly. Generation F didn't feel fear, pain, or need as much oxygen as people in generation X. It sounds pretty cool; be able to live a life without fear or pain but it's a curse. The worst part is you're cast out when you don't get cursed.

I was part of the 1% in generation F to not be cursed. I can still feel fear and pain but I got all other mutation. There are times when I wished I was the same as everyone else but as I look down at my brother's casket, now is not one of those times. I still remember my step-mother's wailing as she was told by an officer that he was in a car accident and had passed. He was going 130 on an empty highway but didn't see the turn at the end of the road. The car went straight through the barricades and hit a tree. He died on impact was what the officer told us. His friend Henry was also in the car; his funeral is tomorrow. His parents came to see us and spent hours with mom and dad just crying but I couldn't blame them, they had lost their children.

" Brandon was a bright child who always thought life as an opportunity to take chances. He was always up to some kind of trouble when he was little, always knew how to keep us on our toes." My dad was talking about Brandon and I could see the physical pain on his face as he talks about his son. My mother was holding on to my hand tightly as she silently mourned. Anna wasn't Brandon and I's biological mother but she had been there most of our lives and raised us like we were. Our biological mother left when I was two after her sister died. I think there was another reason but dad hates talking about her.

I didn't notice my father had finished talking until he had sat down next to me. He pulled out a tissue from his pocket and quickly wiped his eyes before stuffing it back in. I had already spoken so it was now mom's turn. She took a deep breath and stood from her seat. She smoothed her dress out and slowly walked up to the front of the church. She glanced at the closed casket before staring forward, refusing to meet the pity in others eyes. I listened as broken phrases and inaudible words came out of her mouth. Dad looked ready to run up there and save her when he needed to. That moment might be soon. I could see her knees ready to buckle and the pain from her choked back sobs pushing their way up her throat. She was able to get a few more words out before a sob racked through her entire body and she began to heavily weep. Dad jumped from his seat and ran to her. He tightly wrapped his arms around her like he did when we first found out. He guided her back to where we were sitting and sat her down as she continued to finally lose control of everything she held back.

I could hear people behind me whispering about her. They probably felt sorry for her or were preparing their statements when they go home and call each other to say she was embarrassing herself. The ones that were too familiar with that heart wrenching feeling of losing a child sat in silence, remembering when they had the same feeling not too long ago. Many families were familiar with losing someone. That's what happens when you no longer fear anything, not even death.

They continued with the funeral and had other people speak. Most of them were old girlfriends, friends from school, a few family members that he actually talked to. After our cousin Amanda had finished talking, it was now time to say goodbye. Mom continued to weep as she stood in front of the casket and whispered a few words that only Brandon was meant to hear. My father did the same thing but only let a few tears run down his face as he did so. It was now my turn to say goodbye to Brandon and after this short time, I wasn't prepared to do so. I gently placed my hand on the perfectly polished wooden casket. My vision became to blur but I quickly blinked away my tears.

" The irony is you would always say I was the worst driver in the family, " I laughed dryly, " We're all gonna miss you but I know you'll be around a little while longer. I love you Brando, don't cause any trouble up there." I took a step back from the casket and walked away. I quickly took a seat next to my parents and let the tears finally fall down my face. Brandon had prepared me for everything in life. He taught me everything I know today but one thing he didn't prepare me for was losing him. Just like no one prepared my parents for losing their son.

I felt a tap on my shoulder that broke me away from my thoughts. I turned my head and saw Henry's little brother, Josh, looking at me with a sad smile. Josh was my age and we have known each other our whole lives. I stood and reached over the bench to pull him into a hug. He was out with friends when the police came to their home and had told his parents what had happened to Henry. Josh would always complain about Henry never letting him get involved in anything he did with Brandon. Right now, Josh was thankful to be left out of what they were doing that day.

" At least me and you are still here " Josh whispered before releasing me from the hug. I wish I wasn't. I never wanted to stand here and have to say goodbye to Brandon, knowing whatever I said would be how some of these people remembered him. Whatever I had said to that casket would be my final words to his physical form. He never prepared me for that either. Can you prepare yourself for that?

" If they were here, they would be telling us 'stop being soft, man up' and we would do exactly that. We listened to every word they said." My voice sounded hoarse due to my silent crying. Josh noticed this but chose to stay silent about it. He cracked a small smile and nodded in agreement. He was about to say something before his mom called his name and motioned for him to follow. He said goodbye before quickly walking to where his mother had waited for him.

I heavily sighed before going to stand next to my mother. She wrapped an arm around me and offered me a weak smile. I did the same before looking around the church for dad. I spotted him with my uncle Micheal having a heated conversation. Uncle Micheal is the drunk of the family and causes problems everywhere he goes. He was a kind man until his wife was hit by a drunk driver when she was driving home from work. This was three years ago and it's still hard on him. We all thought he would try to behave himself for his nephew's funeral but we were wrong. Dad said something to Uncle Micheal that made him grow angrier and storm out of the church. Dad straighten out his jacket before walking over to me and mom.

" You two can stand outside for a bit, we're about to carry him out" he said but his eyes were fixed on the casket behind us. Dad had chosen to be one of the men to carry Brandon's casket out to the car. He told mom it was one of the last two things he would be able to do for Brandon. The other thing was helping with putting his son to rest. The three of us would go to the cemetery after this to shovel dirt onto the casket after it is lowered into the ground. Another thing I was not prepared for.