Nightmares

Chapter 1

The golden rays of the sun licked my face harshly with their heat. I have no alarm in my room and because my life has been filled with only nightmares, I tend to sleep in most of the time and today was no exception.

I groaned and got up from my excuse of a bed which was just two thin blankets laid on a blue and yellow mat with a lot thinner blue and yellow pillow. I used to have one of those nice beds but I gave it to mom to use after dad broke it doing God-knows-what.

Mom was in her third trimester of her pregnancy and I'm also excited to finally get another sibling, a baby sister to be precise. I have an older brother who never stays near me or home. He lives more than a thousand light years from us and it's as if  he never existed. The last time I saw my brother Tye was when I was five and he was twelve. Now I'm almost twenty and I don't know whether he is still alive or he is just rotting away in a far away cemetery.

I pushed the door of the bathroom, its old and worn out hinges crying desperately for attention. The ear killing noise they always make to get any sort of attention or help, almost made me loose my sense of hearing when it started but now it's as if I was a superman to that noise. I entered lazily and went about my business preparing for my graduation and my last day of high school life.

After my bathroom business, I just made a few touches to my face and skin and just threw on an outfit I thought suited the occasion. I got out of my room and stood at the end of the stairs staring at the top with a heavy sullen look and looked around the house, a habit I have adopted over the last few years.

I remember when dad used to laugh with mom and share some crazy ass jokes. I also remember how I use to run from our room just behind the stairs to upstairs just to get attention from my now ghosted elder brother.
I scoffed and climbed up to check on my mom before leaving.

Arriving in the room, mom was fast asleep under the thick blankets and snoring. I walked closer and gave her a kiss on her forehead and smiled. She looked peaceful only when she sleeps as when she opens her eyes a wild cruel world would welcome her into its abyss.

I made my way out of the room, left a note for her in the kitchen and set out for school.

Many students and their parents had already arrived on the school grounds when I reached there. Some were congratulating each other as others were rambling about how they might never see each other again.

I wished I could be part of them but hey, my life always has this mountain that prevented me from being like the others. Not that I'm complaining but you know sometimes you just feel all those hard stones of life dragging along your skin like a thousand heated swords. I shrugged and went straight to the school's auditorium with my head down avoiding all eye contacts and conversations, I was too drained to do so.

I used to have a friend, the only friend I had and he also happen to change schools and moved far away from me and to top it all, I had nothing whatsoever to communicate with him. With a sad mind and face, I sat on the second row of seats waiting for everything to begin and end.

Eventually, the auditorium was filled to the brim as each student and those with their parents entered with proud smiles on their faces. I smiled a little and sunk deeper into my seat. The principal came in and gave one of those cliché long speeches and gave out certificates. I'd like to say I slept through it all till I heard my name and went onto the stage to grab whatever I had to be given. When all was said and done, I scurried out of the auditorium and went outside the school not bothering to say goodbye to my mates or whatever they expected me to do. I just couldn't stay any longer or I might just let the tears piling behind my eyes fall.

School was the only thing that kept me hanging on. It was my own little world, an escape from my harsh reality, an outward shield from the storms brewing and the only place where I got two people who genuinely care about me. And life decided all of a sudden to take that away from me. I turned and started walking towards home at a fast pace not glancing back at the place that held me well for when I was lost.