Still Here

Chapter Two

I wake up with a cry, sweat making my blonde curly hair stick to my face. What just happened? I asked myself, pulling out from under the sheets and walking to my door. I check the clock hanging on my wall. 5:30 am. I slowly tip toe to my younger brother Ethan's room. I shake his arm to wake him.

"Ethan," I whisper. "Ethan." He finally wakes up, and when he sees me, he screams. Before he wakes our parents up, I clasp my hand over his mouth. "Shh! You'll wake Mom and Dad!"

"S-Sorry... But Dani..." he stutters. "That's the first thing you've said in three months."

~

After I talk to Ethan for a bit, I go back to sleep. It wasn't Ethan that spoke the words, and my parents wouldn't do something like that to me. Maybe I was just loosing my mind. Instead of falling back into another sleepless slumber, I get up and pull on my boots.

My boots. I haven't touched them for at least two months, but they still fit. I go outside, avoiding the barn that holds Ethan's gelding Buster and my father's mare Ms. Margret. Instead, I take a walk. I walk to the top of a hill that over looks the mountain range. I can see the outlines of deer, turkey, and other birds, but to my disappointment, no wild horses. I take a seat and sit silently, watching the sun's slow ascent. After a while, I curl up and take a short, dreamless nap.

I sleep for a few hours, judging my the time on my phone. 8:07. Father has probably been up for two hours with Ethan, working on the barn. Mother is probably in the kitchen cooking a late breakfast for Ethan and I. They probably assume I am in bed, crying. Like any other normal day. Except, Ethan probably told Father I spoke to him early this morning. So maybe he went to check on me. Or maybe he wanted to leave me be. Or maybe Ethan and father were out on horseback looking for me.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear the approach of an intruder behind me. I turn around to yell at the intruder, but instead, my jaw drops.

Sorry for the short chapter, I wanted to end it on a cliffhanger. Are you guys enjoying it so far? It will get better, I promise. Right now, I'm just getting used to the characters and the theme of things. I wrote up to Chapter Five, so I have no lack of content :)