Moon & Star Vol. 1

Chapter 12: Garret

When Grace entered the house, she was greeted by Moonstone, who jumped in her arms, excited to have her home. Grace giggled. "Hi, Moonstone!" She said. "It's great to see you too!" Grace carried her dragon into the living area where her Uncle Tom sat reading the daily newspapers. "Afternoon, Tom." Grace said and sat down on the opposite couch.

"Hello, Gracie." Tom said. "How was school?" He bent the top of the newspaper down so that he could get a glimpse at his niece.

"Eh, fine, like always." Grace said and Tom nodded going back to his reading.

"You seem down." Tom observed. "Now why would that be? Mason didn't say anything mean to you, did he?" Grace smiled and shook her head.

"No, uncle. It was just I've been thinking about my brother Garret. You remember him, don't you?" Uncle Tom nodded. He put down his paper and looked at his niece in the eyes.

"I do. Your brother went to live your grandparents, did he not?" Grace nodded this time.

"Yeah, he did." Grace said with a sad look on her face.

"You miss him." It wasn't a question. Grace, again, nodded.

"I do. I haven't seen him since our grandparents came by the children's home and picked him up. I haven't even made any attempt to contact him since then!" Firestone jumped on the spot next to Grace and began to purr.

"All will be alright, child," she said. "Your brother misses you as much as you miss him. I remember when I did move out of Simmer with your mother and father, your mother missed her brother so much. It hurt me very much to see her in such pain. And it hurts me to see you in the same fate." Grace smiled and petted Firestone between her spikes.

"Thanks, Firestone, but you don't have to worry for me. I'm sure I'll see him again... I do hope so." Uncle Tom smiled sadly at Grace.

"As do I, Grace." He said. "As do I."

~~~~

"Watch it, punk!" Said a big boy about thirteen as he pushed Garret Michael into the mud. Garret landed with an "oof," and mud sprayed everywhere. Garret stood up and did his best to wipe off the mud. Man, he thought. They're going to kill me. With a huff, Garret made his way home. For the past year, Garret has been living with his grandparents. And he hated living with them. They were all about being proper and rules, grades, and everything that makes up your typical prep kid. That's the reason he was pushed into the mud, ruining his nice striped button shirt and dress pants.

The walk was short, for his grandparents lived fairly close to the junior high school, and all other schools to be exact. Living with his grandparents wasn't the most fun thing in the world, especially being separated from his older sister, Grace, who was living with their uncle at the time. Garret has never actually met this Uncle Tom, only the pictures his mother has showed him. And there was also the occasional Christmas cards he always sent them every year. Garret sighed as he took out his house key from his pant pocket and unlocked the front door. The door creaked opened as Garret poked his head in. Looking left, then right, he made a mad dash up the stairs. Running up the wooden stairs and down the hall.

But all wasn't clear when Garret ran into his grandmother who was just coming out of the bathroom. Garret bumped against her lean frame and tumbled backwards. "Garret!" His grandmother said. "What have I told you about running in the house— and what on earth is on your clothes?!"

"Sorry, Grandma." Garret said, but his grandmother put up her hand.

"Not another word, young man. Just change and throw those into the washer." She said taking in a deep breath.

"Yes, Grandma." Garret says as he passed his grandmother and ducked into his room. Garret pulled off his dirty outfit and tossed them into a pile near his door. He opened his closest door, picked out a less dressy shirt and a pair of Nike shorts (they were they only pair of shorts his grandparents allowed him to wear), and slipped them over his head and up his legs. When he was done, he walked across his room and sat down on his four-poster bed. Bending down, Garret reached down and grabbed a familiar fabric. Pulling it out, Garret stared at the black button eyes of his stuffed dragon. It was red with black horns, spikes, claws, and wing membrane, with a black tongue sticking out. His mother had made it for him years ago when he was only three years old. His sister had a similar one.

A year ago when his grandparents separated him from his sister from the foster home, they tossed away every action figure, every Pokémon card, and every fun thing Garret had with him. The only thing he was able to convince them to keep was this dragon. Setting the stuff animal aside, he opened his nightstand drawer and pulled out his copy of The Bible. His grandparents gave it to him the very next day he arrived here and told him he had to read it every night. Opening the book to where he left off. In the page was a picture bookmark. Garret took out the picture and looked at it. The picture was of his family. His father, mother, his older sister, Grace, him, and their dog, Dip. They called him Dip because he was a full white mutt with floppy ears. At the tips of both floppy ears was the color brown mixed with black and it looked like his ears were dipped in paint. They joked about it and that's what came about the name Dip.

When his parents passed, they gave Dip to their sixty-year-old neighbor who promised to take good care of him. She had said to visit them both at any time. Garret sighed at the memory. "GARRET!!!" His grandmother called up. "Get down here and prepare yourself for dinner!" Sighing once more, Garret slid the picture back in its spot, put the book back in its drawer, and put his dragon back in his spot. With that all done, Garret went down for dinner, but not before putting his clothes in the washer.