Candles Can Cure Curses (Complete)

Who Are You?

Hello! Before anything, you ought to know I wrote this when I was 15. Yeah.
Enjoy!

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I woke up and the first thing I saw was the glorious sun shining through my bedroom window. I smiled as I rose up from my bed and stretched. Today is a beautiful day.

After showering and wearing a specific, plain red shirt, I went downstairs and in an instant, the delicious smell of bacon and eggs made its way into my nose. I closed my eyes and followed the scent, knowing full well it would lead me to the best place in our house, the kitchen.

It's the best place in our house for three reasons. Number one, there's food, number two, there's food, and number three, there's food. So as you can see, these three reasons are enough to prove the validity of my statement that the kitchen is, in fact, the best place in our house. Whoever says otherwise is an idiot.

Upon entering the kitchen, I caught sight of my mom transferring freshly cooked eggs from the pan to an empty plate. I plopped down on one of the stools and drummed my fingers on the table.

"Morning, Mom," I greeted.

"Good morning," she replied and hummed to herself as she cracked open another egg and then dropped said egg onto the pan.

Mom turned around and was about to say something when she caught sight of me and froze.

"What?" I asked. She gave no reply.

"Why? Is there something on my face?" I checked my pockets in search for a mirror. Unfortunately, I didn't have a mirror, nor did my shorts have any pockets.

But it wasn't the only problem I'm dealing with right now. Because right now, mom is acting weird.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in my house?" Mom's demeanor changed from relaxed to defensive.

My eyebrows furrowed as I stared at my mom with a weary look . What's up with her? Is she pranking me?

At that moment, my younger brother, Charles, barged into the kitchen, and it gave me nothing but relief. Since mom is getting weird and all, I'm glad he came in to lessen the tension.

"Good morning," he greeted, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Oh, hey Charles!" I don't usually smile at my brother whenever I see him, but I guess there's a first time for everything. "You won't believe what mom's saying right now, it's like she doesn't remember me."

"What?"

"I know right?" I agreed with him. "Mom's acting super weird right now."

Charles ignored my words and hurriedly went to mom's side. "Who is she, mom? What is she doing here?"

My face fell, his words sent a weird feeling to my chest.

I stood up and slammed my hands on the table, making them flinch. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"Hey, what's going on here?" My dad came in, a cautious look on his face.

We all stared at him, and he stared back. I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Let me guess, you don't remember me either?" I scoffed.

Dad scratched his head in confusion before turning to mom. "We have a surprise guest today?"

After explaining to dad that I was, in fact, not a surprise guest but a "random stranger" that came out of nowhere, the three of them agreed that the solution to this whole stranger in the house fiasco is to kick me out.

And they did. Although it was quite the struggle for them, seeing as I was thrashing and squirming around the whole time. But they did eventually manage to chuck me out and slam the door on me.

That didn't stop me, though. I slapped, and punched, and kicked the door with all my might. I also tried this technique where you use your vocal cords to produce ear-piercing sounds that call the attention of, well, whoever you're trying to call attention to.

It wasn't very effective.

And so, here I am, sitting on the curb near our house, with my head hung low and my spirits lower. I tried making sense of this situation. They're just pranking me, right? I'm sure of it. In ten minutes they'll jump out of the house with the words "You just got pranked!" in bold, capital letters on a huge banner and we'll laugh it off and eat some delicious pancakes for breakfast.

Except that didn't happen. An hour has already passed and nothing happened.

Nothing.

And so, for the second time, I sat there for who knows how long, and not once did I even see anyone come out of the house. It's as though they're not really pranking me, and that they really thought I was just someone who broke in to their home.

But now all this thinking is making me so hungry.

They could've at least let me eat some breakfast, I thought to myself. But then again, why would they? After all, I am just some random confused stranger.

I shook my head. Just saying that in my head sounds so ridiculous, and this situation is unbelievably unbelievable.

I didn't even get the chance to explain myself. I could've at least told them hey, remember me? Mirabelle? Your freaking daughter slash big sister? Are you right in the head right now?

"No point thinking about it anymore," I whispered to myself. Right now my biggest problem is finding a place to stay. Sitting on the side of the street does not exactly sound ideal. I also need to get some cash for food myself since asking mom and dad for it is out of the option.

The constant rumbling of my stomach just made the situation worse. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I pondered over what I should do now. What should I do? What can I do? I honestly don't know. I'm not exactly prepared for situations like this. In fact, who would've thought that their whole family would suddenly just forget about their existence and their relationship to them? Certainly not me.

And so, with no concrete plan in mind, and in the very middle of a breakdown, I resorted to utilizing a world wide known technique that won't exactly solve the problem but would at least help me forget about the problem even just for a little while.

I zoned out.

It was great. Who knew studying and analyzing the road for no reason would be a more enjoyable experience than facing my real problems and actually coming up with solid solutions for them?

"That's some intense staring contest with the ground."

The voice made me jump. And as I slowly returned to my senses, only then did I notice that a shadow was already looming over me.