Written In The Stars - First Draft (Published Under Immac PPH)

CHAPTER 05

Written In The Stars

tw: blood, gunshots and harm

Tyler's POV

"Please, leave the children out of this."

I was only 8 years old, I was young and I did not know any better. Like every other Sunday, my family and I would stay at home together. It made me love the thought of welcoming every Sunday there is to come because it was the only day where my brother and I could bond with our parents. It was the only day where we could spend time with them, without needing to worry about the minutes that are flying by so fast. No matter how fast it does travel, Sunday made me feel secured that we'll have all the time we need and want with them.

Both my Mom and Dad are always so busy handling the family business, I didn't understand them before because I was only a kid. Before, I thought it was a foolish excuse to prioritize the business and sacrificing their time with me and Kairus. I was lonely. If it wasn't for my brother, I would have felt much more alone and forgotten. If I had the power to choose, I would choose to go back and to tell the younger me that every sacrifice has its reason. That one day, I'll understand why they had to be away all the time.

Valdez Farming Enterprise has been around for years, it was owned by my grandfather and when he passed away, he handed it down to my Dad, who is his only son. My parents worked day and night, blood and flesh, efforts exerting other efforts just to keep the flow going. Just to keep the company alive and productive. It was somehow effective, the company became more and more popular as the years started to add up too. We were at the top, we had a good life, and it was because of our parents who worked tirelessly.

But despite all of the success and fortune, a part of me wished to have more time with my Dad and my Mom. There were those days where they'd come home to see me and Kairus sleeping on the sofa of the living room after we both fell asleep while waiting for them, and we would wake up just to find out that they already left for work. Those days, where we wouldn't get to see them for hours up to a day where we could have had the chance to tell them how much they mattered. How much my Mom mattered to me.

With what happened, our family was never the same. For every changing season, was another fear that developed in me. But being strong was the only choice I had, I wasn't given any other option but to simply choose what is best. I knew the world won't stop its time to mourn with me, I had to pick myself up to toughen it, to be there for Kairus and Dad. They needed me too. They needed someone to rely on and if they could not find anyone who's a strong foundation, I had to give myself to them because it was love. I loved my family too much to grow afraid of losing them.

I could not remember the man's face, I could not even see it clearly. The only image that I can make up was that he's wearing black, it was a black sweater with a hoodie and he had it worn on his head, which made his face more hard to see. He had a gun on his right hand, he was walking everywhere, starting to make a huge mess around the house. I could see his actions throughout peeking at the small crack the opening of the cabinet made. Kairus and I were hiding inside it, trying our best to tone down our cries.

We were both young. Me being 8 and Kairus was only 10 at that time. I can hear the man mutter our curses along with the voice of my mother desperately trying to stop him. The man's words were all muffled in the commotion. I can hear my Dad threaten the man, saying that if he wouldn't stop, my Dad would shoot him. Kairus covered my mouth with his hand to stop me from crying. My Mom placed us here so the man wouldn't see us. Everything felt so confusing, the only thing I knew was that we were all in trouble.