#15

#4

My Happy Balloon

Throughout my childhood, I always held my Happy Balloon. Sometimes it deflated just a bit, but it always expanded after a day or so. It floated with me the whole way.

When I was a teenager, things got a little bit rough with my Happy Balloon. They were people who would try to pop it by stepping on it. It was a bit dirty, and sometimes it would deflate for a long, long time due to some holes in it. But Cassie would come. She would pick up my Happy Balloon, and put plasters on the holes, my Happy Balloon would then return to normal again, smiling. It was all thanks to my dear friend Cassie.

Then I went to college. Cassie and I went to the same school. One day we saw some people messing up someone else’s Happy Balloon. Cassie and I quickly ran to get help. When the people went away, Cassie and I went and fixed up the person’s Happy Balloon. It was as good as new. The person thanked us and introduced herself as “Lessie”. Lessie, Cassie and I became very good friends! Or so I thought.

Cassie, Lessie and I helped each other, we were best of friends, ready to protect one another. But soon, I noticed Cassie and Lessie started to drift away from me. I felt my Happy Balloon start to deflate little by little, day by day. Then finally, they popped it. Without my Happy Balloon by my side, I felt sad. I had no more friends, and no Happy Balloon.

I was now working at a convenience store as a job. One day, the new guy came up to me. He had a Happy Balloon by his side, it reminded me of when I had my own Happy Balloon. He came up to me and told me his name: Jonathan. Jonathan asked if we could be friends. I was skeptical about it, but I accepted it.

I expected Jonathan to be like Cassie and Lessie. Drift away from me after a while. It’s been 3 months. He hadn’t drift off yet. He had been so kind to me, he had protected me. He even gave me a Happy Balloon. It’s been forever since I had my Happy Balloon! We were best of friends.

It’s been 2 years. Jonathan still hadn’t drift off yet. Neither did I. We had ups and downs, but nothing deflated our Happy Balloons. Nothing at all. Not even when Jonathan finally told me about his medical condition.

He had cancer. Something that cannot be cured. He had this for 3 years. He didn’t want to tell me as he thought it would deflate my Happy Balloon. I cried of course, I was a little bit mad at him for not telling me about it, but not for very long. It didn’t deflate my Happy Balloon one bit. I wanted to make his last few months with me the best months in in entire life. We went everywhere, to the places we always wanted to go, took pictures, memories.

Before he died, we went to our hangout. The swing under the apple tree on Silent hill. We looked at the beautiful scenery. It was so peaceful. Then Jonathan told me, “Promise me, that even if I am gone, you would hold on to your Happy Balloon. Remember that I’ll be up there, looking after you.” I cried and hugged him for a very long time.

I kept my promise. I visited his grave, holding onto my Happy Balloon that Jonathan gave me. When I saw Jonathan’s Happy Balloon floating next to his headstone, I cried, I knew he was at peace now. His death didn’t pop my Happy Balloon. And it will float by my side even after death.

End~

#7

Without Him

I hope you are okay.

I didn’t even notice I had paced from the front door to the couch for the umpteenth time. I took a deep breath and told myself to just sit down and relax. I walked over to the couch and plonked myself on the soft cushions. I closed my eyes.

But the next thing I knew I was biting on the pillow I squeezed like a teddy bear. I couldn’t help it. Sammy had been gone for a week, some may consider it short, but I really miss him. He always bring me such comfort and closure, love. He made all my fears go away. Without him even for a day, I feel like non-existent eyes were watching me through the few cracks in the walls. At night, when it’s dark I always had that irrational fear something would jump out from the dark and whisk me to somewhere horrifying.

I could barely eat and sleep without Sammy. I constantly texted and called him to check on him, it’s not like he can’t take care of himself, I’m just...a little paranoid. I can’t help thinking that something bad was going to happen to him anytime soon. The times when he didn’t respond to the texts I sent for 5 minutes already made me super worried. Everyday my mind just tortured me, hindering me of doing anything.

I felt so vulnerable alone. Every half and hour I would go around the house to check if the locks are still intact. I kept thinking I see something in the the corner of my eye and it really freaked me out. There was one day where I sat in bed for 2 hours straight, dazed, unable to move. Every day waking up without Sammy felt like hell.

That night I lay in bed, waiting in anticipation for tomorrow. The empty space beside me felt... well... empty. But Sammy will come back, tomorrow. I tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable sleeping position to drift off.

Sammy is going to be okay. I reassured myself over and over again.

Ding! My phone received a message. “I’m on the plane! Don’t worry! I’m fine!” I smiled. The empty space beside space didn’t feel so empty anymore.

photo courtesy of New York Times

The Painful Truth                                                                   

“BANG!”    “BANG!”    “BANG!”

Three swift kicks was all it took for the rusty hinges to break and the cobwebbed door gave in. As it crashed onto the ground, breaking the eerie silence, dust particles danced in the air as Lucas shone his only source of light- his phone- in all directions. A three-legged chair appeared in the powerful beam along with a silhouette of a piano in a distance. Lucas took one step in, and a plume of dust danced up at where he stepped. The tall, lanky boy coughed, and slowly walked in. His footstep inaudible, due to the many layers of dust in the abandoned house. A drip of sweat rolled down from his forehead.

A shimmer of light caught Lucas’ eye. He whipped around and saw......

Another Lucas staring at him, the light illuminating the impostor. Or so he thought. Lucas approached the impostor and saw brass. It was a large mirror. Lucas was looking at his own reflection. He groaned in annoyance. He stared at his reflection for a while.

His reflection smiled. Lucas’ eyes widened.

A bloody hand immediately shot out of below the mirror and gripped Lucas’ ankle tightly. Lucas’ shrieked and fell back. His phone clattered onto the floor, his shadow dancing on the walls of the house. He frantically shook his leg, trying desperately to free it. But the bloody and bruised hand had an iron grip on his ankle, like a chain connected to a metal ball. Slowly, another as bloody and bruised hand appeared out of the mirror. A leg, the other leg. Then, the whole body appeared, towering over Lucas’ immobilized figure on the floor. 

It was a boy that looked exactly like Lucas. Except that this boy was bloody, and his clothes were stained with dried blood. A large bloody stain stained the middle of the boy’s chest. A wide ‘Cheshire-cat’ grin was plastered on his face. He stared hard at Lucas, and said in a deep voice that filled the room, “Hi, my brother.”

Leo!? Lucas was dumbfounded. “W-what! Leo! What happened to you? Where have you been?” Leo’s smile vanished immediately. He laughed a humorless laugh and said, “Oh. Mother murdered me. Just because I found out her littllleeee secret.” Lucas shook his head in disbelief. “NO. This is a hallucination. You’re not real!” Leo sighed, shaking her head. he knelt down in front of him. “Tell me Lucas, my brother. Why do you think Mother comes home late? Huh? Don’t you see a drop of blood anywhere on her? She’s an assassin Lucas. An assassin.” He emphasized those two words,and smiled. Lucas couldn’t move. He remembered the other day when he saw a red stain on her blouse. He widened his eyes. Leo never lie. 

Leo got up and held out a hand. Lucas shakily held out a hand and placed on Leo’s icy hand that send cold shivers down his spine. Lucas got up and followed Leo uncertainly. Leo opened a door Lucas had never seen before. A rotting, putrid smell immediately wafted out that small room. What Lucas saw made him run. Out of the door of his abandoned house. With rage fueling him.  

Lucas burst through the front door, and ran to the kitchen. He held something that brandished in the moonlight. Once he held that cold brass handle, insanity possessed him. This is your punishment Mother. You Killed Leo! KILL. KILL. Those words repeated in his head as he stealthily approached a wasted woman on the couch, surrounding it were alcohol bottles. 

“Bye Mother.” Lucas lifted the knife.

He stood over her body. Her eyes were shut, almost as if she was she was sleeping......peaceful. 

He smiled and aimed the knife at the center of his chest. 

______________________________________________________________

One sentence summary: Lucas stumbles upon his very old house and finds out the truth behind his brother’s death.

One paragraph summary: The twin’s mother is an assassin who killed Leo without Lucas knowing as Leo found out his mother’s dark secret. Lucas and his mother moved into a new house and Lucas soon forgot about Leo and runs away in tears when he got into a fight with his mother. He stumbles across his previous house and meets the spirit of his brother who told him everything. Lucas returns home, filled with rage and had no self-control, killed his mother and then himself.    

#9

Water

The wind howled.

It was a cold night, but I continued to walk in the water.

No one was in sight.

I could hear the pool water sloshing against the pool walls.

Everyone was asleep. I wasn’t.

I stopped walking in the pool and let my hand float on the surface. I closed my eyes, and listened to the sounds that we often don’t hear. That we often ignore.

Something about the night always seemed peaceful.

Something about the water always seemed peaceful.

And when you put them together, it’s like heaven. It’s like lying on a soft comfy bed and never wanting to get up. I didn’t want to leave the pool.

I have always loved the water. I didn’t know how to swim, I just liked wading in it. But nowadays, it’s rare that I get to go outside and into the pool. For medical reasons.

See, I have epilepsy. Epilepsy can’t be cured, the seizures can, but medicine is expensive. Ever since my parents’ business went bankrupt, we weren’t too financially stable. So medicine was very expensive. There were times I had near-death experiences.

But then, you ask, why am I in the pool?

I slowly spun around in the pool, my arms out, relishing the icy cold water around me.

In the corner of my eye, I saw a dark figure walking towards me.

See, my parents have worked so hard to pay for my medicine, hospital bills and others. Maybe now they don’t have to work as hard.

I hopped to the wall to meet the dark figure I saw earlier on. He wore a black robe.

“Are you ready to go?”

I smile, “Yes.”

He helped me out of the pool, and we started walking. On the wall in front of us was a bright light.

“Why did you do it? You do know that seizures in water is fatal.”

I didn’t answer the question. “I know.”

He didn’t ask.

“I have a small request, can I come back here every night?”

He paused.

Then said, “Your request shall be granted.”

We stepped into the light.

End~

#6

My Imaginary Friend

I always had a wild imagination. And it was no surprise that I had a imaginary friend. Her name is Natalie. She’s great. My father left and my mother didn’t care too much bout’ me, and she worked lots of shifts, so Natalie kept me company. She was cold to me at first, but after talking to her, playing with her, and entertaining her, she warmed up to me. She. Was. Great.

Let me describe Natalie. She had long, and messy (the cute kind of messy) black hair. Dark-skinned. Cute blue eyes. (Like me!) The outfit she always wore was black and white striped t-shirt, blue pleated skirt with black leggings, red sandals. Lovely outfit.

She was always with me for 8 years, since I was six years old. I forgot about her after that since, well you know, school. It was very lonely after that, I had no friends at school. But I occupied myself with homework and music. I liked my school. However, two years later when I was 15, my mother decided to move houses, moving houses means moving to another school. Ugh. What’s wrong with our own house.

My new school was much, much worse. People were constantly picking on me. I try to ignore them.(Easier said than done) But I have other stuff to think about than my haters, so whatever. (Again, easier said than done.) My mother is still working a lot, thus not paying much attention to me. Thus I’m lonely again. But, at least I have food to eat and a house to live in, so hey, ain’t that bad.

I’ve been having the same weird dream every time I go to sleep, eversince I moved. I just see this silhouette of a person in front of me, as I stand in water, unable to move. And that’s practically it, I would wake up again, calm but confused.

Pretty weird if you ask me. (Even if you don’t.)

My mother had been distant lately. I mean, she was always distant, but she has this look in her eye that I can’t decipher. But who am I to care! (Just kidding I did care. I just didn’t wanna she her.)

Even the kids at school had been shooting me weird looks lately! Everytime I passed by, they would always shift further away from me, as if I had some sort of deadly virus. Ridiculous. I ignored it. (Okay, I lied again.)

My mother hadn’t returned from work. I don’t care. I fell asleep eventually.

I woke up...not in my bedroom. Instead I was strapped to a table in the basement. Huh, this was a different dream. This time though, I was able to move. Good sign. This dream though, felt uncomfortably real. I looked around and realised that the shelves were cleared, replaced by lit candles. Their glow was too real. Suddenly I heard someone coming. It was my mother. I giggled, (I don’t understand how I could be so calm) and said, “Hi mom. Quite a weird dream eh?” She looked at me and said, “This is no dream Elisa. Nor is this a nightmare. I’m killing you tonight.”

I froze. No way. My fear turned into anger. I shook violently, trying to free myself! My mother just looked on, with no emotion in her eyes. “LET ME GO TRAITOR. WHATEVER DID I DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS!?” My mother smiled, (She had the gall to smile) and explained calmly, “Oh dear Elisa, though you’re gonna die, I’ll tell you anyway. You had a sister, Natalie.”

Natalie. That name sounded familiar. But I had a sister? “Where is she then?” My mother, no I can’t even call her mother anymore, the traitor’s mouth contorted into a frown.

“She’s dead Elisa. I killed her. If she wasn’t disgustingly black, maybe I would change my mind.”

What the hell! “What kind of woman are you!? Killing her just because of her skin colour. What does this all have to do with me anyway!?” The traitor’s from deepened. “You...remind me too damn much about her. I can’t afford to have a guilty conscience. You have to go.”

My anger turned into panic. “NO NO. Why can’t you just take me to an orphanage?! You won’t have to see my anymore!!!” She just silently narrowed her eyes. I tried all I could to free myself, yet all my efforts were in vain. Then, she revealed the knife that had been behind her back the whole time, and slowly advanced up to me.

My panic meter broke.

She lifted the knife above my heart.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

And I heard the knife clatter on the floor.

My eyes flew open. And there standing in place of the traitor, was a messy haired girl, dark skinned, wearing black and white striped shirt with blue pleated skirt and black leggings. Natalie, my imaginary friend, my dead sister.

“N-Natalie! Please untie me!” She looked at me sadly. “I’m sorry Elisa. No one would find you here. Even if they eventually do, you would be dead by then. I can’t untie you, but we will play together again, soon!” Tears rolled down my cheeks. Natalie stares down at me sadly. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. She took my hand, and my vision went black.

End~

#1

Family of four

“Ugh, your taste in hotels is garbage.” Ugh, this woman. “ DADDY, I’M HUNGRY!” “MOMMY WHERE ARE WE!?”

You could just feel the love radiating out of Edward’s family. Edward’s family consisted of Edward, his wife Peppy, 8 year old Peter and 6 year old Cassandra. Peppy had the idea of going on a family overseas trip. Harmless, right?

The family was chaos. Peter and Cassandra were restless throughout the plane ride and the journey to the hotel. It wasn’t a good time for the family. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Peppy complained about the design of the hotel, criticising Edward’s taste in hotels, even though it was Peppy who chose the hotel. While Edward was trying his best not to loose his patience, the family of four went up to the front desk.

“Edward Orsion and Peppy Orsion?” The tired-looking front desk person, whose name tag said Bob, asked in the most mundane voice. Edward nodded. Bob searched around in his desk drawer, and froze suddenly. Peppy tapped her foot impatiently. Knowing Edward will never hear the end of Peppy’s complaining, he leaned forward and politely questioned, “Sir? Is there something wrong?” At the sound of his voice, Bob snapped back from his stupor. He sheepishly grinned and said, with finally some emotion in his voice, “Sorry sir, my mind just drifted off a little.” Peppy scoffed. Bob handed Edward the keys and said, “Room 4, on the second floor.” Edward grabbed his suitcases and dragged his kids and wife towards the old lift.

Room 4 was beautiful. In Edward’s eyes anyway. The only thing that captured Peppy’s eyes was a painting of a beautiful family of four. A male and a female holding hands, with two beautiful children by their side, a boy and a girl. “That family is so perfect. Why can’t we be like them. Why can’t you be like the....” Edward tuned out of his wife’s rant. He walked around the room. A living room, a small kitchen and two small bedrooms, with even smaller toilets in each bedroom. It was pretty decent to Edward. Cassandra and Peter were on the tattered sofa switching between channels on the television to find something entertaining to watch. Edward sighed. He just hoped that the next day would be better.

Edward woke up, surprisingly later than the rest of the family. He washed up and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Peppy was drinking some coffee, while the kids drank milk with two packets of chocolate beans beside their mugs. Wait, I don’t remember bringing any chocolate beans. He questioned Peppy about it and she said, “That front desk guy gave us some chocolate beans, and I figured the kids would like it.” Edward thought nothing of it and continued the day.

The city tour later that day was a disaster. Cassandra and Peter were really nauseous and sick. They kept vomiting and complained about headaches. Eventually the disastrous day finally came to an end. Edward tucked the children in bed, but they took a very long time to fall asleep, causing Edward to stay up coaxing them to sleep. He was exhausted. On the way to his bedroom he passed by the living room. The picture of the family of four caught his eye, it looked different. Terrifyingly different. The four members began to show some signs of...decomposition. It was frighteningly real. Too real. Edward shook his head in disbelief and horror. Refusing to believe what he just saw and concluded that it’s the cause of his lack of sleep, he rushed to his bedroom to sleep.

“EDWARD!!! THE KIDS WON’T WAKE UP!” Edward snapped awake at Peppy’s cries. He jumped out of bed and stumbled towards the kids’ bedroom. Sure enough, the kids lay in bed, motionless. Peppy knelt beside the bed trying to shake them awake. Their eyes won’t budge. Edward stayed calm and walked towards Peppy. He shook the kids, coaxing them to wake up, like how he would have done if they try to feign sleep. They wouldn’t wake up. Edward was unsettled by this. Then suddenly, he was reminded of the picture he saw the night before. He gulped. No, it can’t be. He epresvhed out two fingers and placed them on both children’s necks.

No heartbeat.

Edward slumped onto the bed, silently crying.

“Their dead Peppy. Their dead...” “Now’s not the time to make jokes idiot!” All the same Edward could feel Peppy lean forward. Then he heard her wailing. Everything clicked though. It had to be that darn chocolate beans. It was the first thing Cassandra and Peter ate before they started showing symptoms.

And it was all caused by Bob.

Edward gritted his teeth. He stood up and grabbed blankets, laying them on the children. He then grabbed Peppy’s hand, helped her stand and both of them rushed to the front desk to confront Bob.

Down at the front desk, Bob stood there as he suddenly heard a woman’s wail. He smiled. That was fast. He smiled. He took out a photo from his desk drawer. It was a family of four. Bob, hand in hand with his wife, with his children by his side, a boy and a girl. He had a flashback to the dreadful car accident. His smile faded.

Suddenly he heard the lift coming. Bob smiled again. He gathered two knives and got ready.

End~

#2

My Friends

I have friends in my head. I’m sure everybody has them.

They can be good, they can be bad, or maybe even both. It also depends on how you handle them.

I have many friends in my head, but I can only introduce a few of them. I’ll be very glad to introduce them to whoever is reading this!

Joyce is one of my best friends. She was always there to make me smile, and remind me of the wonderful things that happened to me. She always tell me things like, “You can do it!” Or “Good job!”. She allows me to look at the positive side of things.

But sometimes, when I don’t handle Joyce well, sometimes people will call me selfish. When people play tricks on me that I don’t like, she will tell me to go along and smile, to not be mad at them. I don’t like that, so I will have to handle Joyce well.

Sam is another friend I have who lives in my head. I don’t quite like him, since he is quite the opposite of Joyce. He reminds me of the bad memories I had, like the time I was in a competition and lost, and I cry. He makes me cry. And I don’t like it. People will call me a ‘crybaby’.

But Sam can also be nice. Sometimes Sam will motivate me to do better, and because of that, I will be happy with the result.

Joyce and Sam work together from time to time. Sometimes they remind me of a memory which both sad and happy. Remember the memory I told you about that competition I lost? Well even though I was sad, Joyce told me that at least I had fun! Which looking back, I did have fun. Which makes me happy. Even though I was sad that I lost, I was happy that I had fun preparing for the competition.

I want to introduce one last friend: Fran

Fran is helpful sometimes. Sometimes my friends urge me to go on a scary roller coaster ride. But Fran tells me not to, as it is scary. I listen to her no matter what my friends say. In the end, my friends might come out crying or sick. Fran helps me avoid these situations from getting me into trouble.

Somethings though, when I listen to Fran, people will make fun of me, taunting me and calling me a ‘scaredy-cat’. I don’t like that. So I will tell Fran that I can do it. Though she might urge me to stop, I won’t listen to her and will face my fears. There may be good and bad outcomes, but at least I have the experience.

Well that’s all the friends I’m able to introduce you to. I would love to introduce the rest of my friends, but their not ready yet. For now, you will now know Sam, Joyce and Fran. Thanks for reading!

Photo courtesy from New York Times

My former owner

         I’d had lived in the Dog’s Rescue Center nearly all my life. I wasn’t properly taken care of by my former, blind owner, and I was kicked out of the house because my former owner said that I did not do my job well as I did not lead him to the supermarket and instead, the park as I thought he said he wanted to go to the latter. It wasn’t my fault though, he should had given me food for me to be alert. My neighbor found me lying at the doorstep, close to dying and when she found out that my former owner did not want me anymore, my neighbor brought me to the Dog’s Rescue Center.

         I was fed, bathed, given water and sympathy. For the first time, I felt warm, loved and welcomed. I immediately knew that I was going to enjoy my stay there. And I wasn’t wrong.

         I was greeted by many curious faces staring at me on my first day when I was brought into the playroom. A big dog that might be two times larger than me stepped up and sniffed me. Is this how you greet others? I wondered as he sniffed me. Then he raised his head and stared at me with his large black eyes. He held out a paw and I timidly placed mine. In an instant, all the other dogs in the room barked and cheered, and the edges of my mouth pulled up into a wide grin. I was definitely going to love this place.

         The rescue center was only ran by one person who went by the name, Vanessa, that was what I heard anyway. I knew this because I loved running around and I checked the whole place, every nook and cranny of that place, and I didn’t find anyone. A volunteer or two may come but it was always Vanessa.

         So why did I see him there after the second day?

         On the second day in the rescue center, while I was eating breakfast with my new friends, I saw a strange figure in the corner of my eye. But when I looked up, it had vanished. I got a clear image of it though, during lunch. It had a black hat on its head, its head was hung so low so I couldn’t see the features of its face. He was wearing a white shirt and black trousers. But the strangest thing was......

He looked awfully like a doppelganger of my former owner.

         He would appear and disappear at random points of time, and no one would notice. Even if he was in plain sight and I would signal to my friends to look, but they would look at me weird and say that they did not see anything. He had never tried to speak or touch me. He would just stand there, looking and smiling at me, his face still hidden. I was the only one who could see him. My friends would stare at me whenever I growled or threatened the strange figure.

         A week after staying in the rescue center, Vanessa entered the playroom and gently called out to me, “Robin. Someone wants to meet you. Come on!” I got up and looked back at my friends. They all had a smile on their faces, and I turned to follow Vanessa. Apparently, a nice couple wanted to adopt me! I was ecstatic! They were so nice, compared to my previous owner, they were always petting me and even complimented my shiny fur coat.

But what about my friends?

         I raced into the playroom and announced jubilantly, “Hey! Guess what? I’m getting adopted!” “So you’re leaving?” Jacky, a small Dalmatian, piped up sadly. Peter, the giant dog who greeted me on the first day gently patted Jacky’s head, “He has to go some day or another.” A smiled sadly at Jacky, and looked up at my other friends. “I’ll remember all of you.” “We’ll remember you too!” They all chorused. I wagged my tail good bye and headed out to my new owners. As we passed the front counter. I jumped up on my hind legs and to bark a good bye to Vanessa. That was when I saw him. He was standing behind Vanessa, leaning against the back wall, grinning the same old grin. I barked and barked ferociously at him. Vanessa thought I was saying good bye and she smiled sweetly and waved a good bye to me. Just as the man disappeared in thin air.

         We stopped at a cafe which allowed pets so I went in too. I was showered with attention for a while but eventually got bored. So my eyes wandered around the cafe till I saw a television playing the news. It was talking about a person falling into a ditch only to be found about a week later. I squinted at the television to get a good look at the victim’s face.

          It was my former owner.

#11

Thanks Inky

I can’t breathe.

My chest hurts so much, I can barely hear the pen I dropped on the ground. I could hear my heart thump so loud in my ears…

It hurts.

Someone help. Help help help help help someone help.

Hundreds and millions of thoughts are screaming at me I can’t hear any of them.

I’m sweating.

I’m trembling.

My hands are shaking.

All I see are flashing colours.

. . . . . . . .

“Miao”

I blinked. The flashing colours slowly faded away.

The thoughts are suddenly quiet.

Two pairs of confused black eyes look at me, my hands shakily reach out and I run a hand through her soft fur.

Shakily exhaling, I hugged Inky as she snuggled her face into my stomach.

Something about her always…relaxed me.

My heart calmed.

Thanks Inky.

The End~

#13

A Normal Family

“Wake up, honey! Or you will be late!”

Oscar’s sits up, and slides off his bed. Marching over to Oscar’s wardrobe, he opens the drawers and takes out a blue shirt, and dark blue jeans. Oscar puts the clothes on his bed and takes off his pyjamas. Then, Oscar looks at his clothes, takes them and puts them on his cold body.

After doing so, Oscar exits his bedroom and walks down the stairs. Oscar goes straight to the blue dining chair and sits down on it. His mother, Melissa, comes out of the kitchen as soon as Oscar sits on his chair, and places a bowl of cereal directly in front of Oscar. Oscar looks at the blue spoon and picks it up, scoops up some cereal and eats it.

After Oscar takes his first bite, his father, Nate, comes down the stairs and says, “Melissa, I am going to work!” When Nate reaches the end of the stairs, Nate suddenly stops walking and his head tilts downwards, the light in his eyes dims. Oscar keeps scooping cereal and eating it.

Melissa comes out of the kitchen exactly a minute later, and walks towards Nate. Melissa grabs Nate and turns Nate around. Melissa places a hand on Nate’s back, some lights flashes and the light in Nate’s eyes lights back up. Nate’s head tilts back up, Mellisa walks back to the kitchen, and Nate walks out the front door.

Oscar takes the last bite of his cereal, puts his spoon down in the bowl, pushes his bowl a centimetre away and stands up. Oscar walks towards his blue backpack and picks it up and puts on his shoulders.

When Oscar reaches the front door, Melissa appears at the entrance of the kitchen.

“Honey, when grandma asks how is your day, tell her everything, but do not tell her about Dad losing power.”

Oscar’s eyes turn red, then turns back to its usual black colour.

“Okay Mom. I will not tell grandma about Dad losing power.”

Oscar opens the front door, steps outside, and closes the front door.

End~