Cassiopeia

Time Stops- Aaron

My cat, Polaris, named after the star, greeted me at the door. He turned away from me as if to say, I only keep you around because I need to eat. I took off my shoes and placed them next to the door. The stairway was right in front of me, telling everyone who came in to go upstairs. There was nothing on the first floor except for the kitchen and living room. The bedrooms were upstairs as well as the bathroom. I ignored the stairs and walked over to the kitchen, there was a small door in the side of the wall. I crouched down and opened it and climbed down the ladder.

The room was made in case there was a hurricane or tornado. It was supposed to be for our safety, but instead it was a hang out. There was a TV against the wall and a ping pong table. There was a gumball machine that was broken so you didn't have to give up your quarters. A bookshelf full of my dad's old World War Two books, that no one read, even dad.

My sister, Naiomi, was lying on the couch, watching an old episode of Friends. She looked up at me and groaned.

"I thought you were going on a walk." She mumbled.

"I did." I replied and sat down on a chair.

"Why'd you come home so soon?" She asked.

"I was tired." I lied.

"Bull shit, you're never tired." She groaned. I leaned back in the chair and watched as the people danced around their humongous New York apartment.

I was too tired to complain about the problems in the show, so I kept quiet. Or maybe I wasn't tired, I was just annoyed at myself. I saw Benji for the first time in years and I acted like an idiot. I stopped looking at the stars a long time ago, but tonight I found myself wanting to climb up on my roof like when I was seven and stare at them.

Time seemed to stop when I was seven, there was always time to stare at the stars. But then I saw Benji and gave up on the stars, and everything started moving so much faster. I was seven, now I'm fifteen, and those eight years in the middle didn't even exist.

Mom died when I was eight, I remember that. Dad lost his job when I was ten, I remember that. I was diagnosed with adhd when I was eleven, I remember that. Naiomi started to work at the local coffee shop part time when I was twelve, I remember that. I broke my arm when I thirteen, I remember that. I got my first girlfriend when I was fourteen, we broke up after two months, I remember that.

One event every year, one thing I can remember from every year, and everything else is a blur. But tonight I saw Benji, and time was stopping again, everything was stopping again.