The alarm clock blared, so I sat up, turned it off, and sighed. The school year starts tomorrow, and I am nowhere near ready. Sluggishly, I get up, and drag myself to the bathroom.
I live with my mom, Emily, and sister, Rose. My dad left us when my sister and I were little, or that’s what my mom says. I don't remember him, but we do have a picture of him in my mom’s bedroom on her dresser. I've asked my mom why she doesn't hang it up in our hallway or put it up where everyone can see it, but I've always gotten the same thing from her: a sad look on her face, then her saying, “Sentimental reasons honey." She would then give me a smile, and gently kiss me on the forehead. "Why don't you go in the living room and find something to watch on TV?" She'd always say. I was eight or nine then, so I always got excited and said "Okay!" and would run into the living room, putting it on something for her, Rose and I to watch. Rose would hear it, and come running in screaming, “Mommy! Mommy! Come here!" Then Mom would walk in, smile, and sit down on the couch. “Come here, Rosy." She'd say, smiling, and patting her leg. Rose would then jump up in her lap, and I'd sit next to them, flipping through the channels until Mom would say, “Ooh, that looks like it would be fun to watch." I'd put the remote down then, and we'd watch it. Even though they got into the show, I'd always start thinking about Dad. I've always wondered why he never came home.
I slipped off all of my clothes, and stepped into the steaming hot shower, letting the hot water run over me.
Rose and I would ask on occasion, "Mom, why doesn't Dad come to visit us?"
She would get this blank expression on her face, then after a moment of hesitation, look to us smiling small. "Daddy's busy, he'll come home whenever he's finished."
After a couple of years of me and Rose asking, we stopped, getting tired of the same answer over and over.
Every time we asked about our father, our mom would look sad the rest of the day. There was one day in which we had bugged her to death with questions about him. I was about ten then, Rose had just had her seventh birthday party last week. What had happened was that Mom had told Rose to clean out the closet.
“Rosy, dear, clean out the closet for me, would you?"
Mom was busy cleaning the living room. Rose had been sitting in the floor, playing with the stuffed wolf Mom had gotten her. Rose had wanted it so bad for so long, and cried over it so much. Mom had come home with it one day after work, the day before her birthday, and gave it to her. Rose was filled with joy that day, and never let that wolf out of her sight.
"Aw, but mom, can't I do it later?"
Mom gave Rose a stern stare “Rose, right now, please."
Rose had fussed over it, but got up anyways and started cleaning it. As soon as she was about to finish, she saw a book with all of us on it. There was someone else with us too.
"Mom, who is this?"
Rose was pointing to the figure beside us in the picture. Mom looked up at Rose, and then to the book she was holding. She slightly gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. “Oh, honey... you found my picture book...” She smiled widely, hugging Rose. I remember walking in, and getting jealous of Rose.
"Hey, I wanna hug!"
I had said, pouting. Mom had laughed softly, then walked over to me and gave me a hug.
"Come here, you guys, I want to show you this."
She smiled, and walked over to the couch, and sat down. Rose and I had followed her, Rose sitting in her lap and me sitting beside them. Mom then pointed to the man on the cover with us.
"This here is your all's dad" she said, smiling.
I washed myself up, and dried off, walking back to my room and throwing clothes on. I then walked back to the bathroom, and started brushing my teeth.
"Our dad?" Rose asked.
Mom smiled, and nodded. "Yes. He loved you all so very much." Her eyes started filling up with tears.
We went through the book, Mom showing us all of her pictures. The only one with Dad in it was on the cover. Later, she had taken it out and put it in the picture frame in the bedroom.
That was the first time we had asked about Dad.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
I walked downstairs, smelling bacon and pancakes. Sighing, I walked into the kitchen, seeing Rose sitting at the kitchen table, Mom cooking breakfast. She smiled as I walked in.
"Good morning, Alek. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah," I say, sitting down across from Rose.
Rose looked up from her book, and frowned at me.
"You know, you could be nice some of the time." She said, then going back to her book.
I let out a sigh, and lowered my head, closing my eyes. Mom smirked a bit, not turning her head from the food but looking back to me.
"She's right, you know."
"I guess." I say, lifting my head and laying it back, putting my hands behind it.
I turn my head and look out the window, at the woods across from the house. I've always loved those woods, ever since the first time I had wandered into it. I smiled small, and looked over it. My eyes caught sight of another pair of eyes, gleaming out of the woods. They were an almost golden color, like amber. I widened my eyes a bit in surprise, and blinked. When I looked back, they were gone. I shrugged it off, and turn to see Rose looking at me confused. She then laughed under her breath.
"You're so weird," she said to me, smirking.
"Whatever." I said back.
I stood up, and started walking to the back door, connected to the back of the kitchen.
"And where do you think you’re going?" My mom asked, holding her spatula over her shoulder, looking at me.
I didn't look at her. “I’m gonna go for a walk."
"But you haven’t had breakfast yet."
"Speaking of which, it smells like your starting to burn it."
She stopped, than quickly turned around, hastily flipping the pancakes and getting the bacon out. When she was done, she sighed, not taking her eyes off of the food.
“Just be back home soon."
"Alright." I said, and walked out the door.
I heard Rose from inside.
"Scratch that. You both are weird."
I sighed, and started walking to the forest.
~Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I will be trying to edit this story every day for spelling errors, additions, etc. I will do my best to post a new part each week, and edit it to the best of my abilities. Thank you for reading, see you soon! Bye!
- Hacobe
