1914

Chapter I: The Rising Sun

Chapter I: The Rising Sun [Wilbur's POV]

// TW: Mild coarse language //

Author's note: Okay I know it does drag on about Wil's morning for quite a bit, but it will get somewhere eventually :')

*** = Time skip

August 5th, 1914

I hadn't noticed how early it was until I sat up and opened my window and peeked outside. The sun hadn't even risen yet and the clouds were still dark silver. Although there was a little bit of light just peeking the horizon, I could still see the stars. What day was it? I could hardly ever remember during the school holidays, and it doesn't help that I don't have a calendar in my room. I rubbed my eyes clear and looked around the room as if something would change. Obviously, nothing changed. My pencil and book were still on my desk and my clothing was still hanging off the top of my wardrobe. I didn't know what I was expecting to be honest. 

That's when I realised - the house was deadly quiet. Usually you'd hear Ruby chasing after the sheep barking her head off, or Spark splashing through the small creek chasing whatever animals she could find. Spark is a four-year-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, or just a Duck Toller, and Ruby's a six-year-old Australian Shepherd. But no sound presented itself from inside the house.

I honestly found it a miracle that I didn't have to listen to Theodore (We just call him Teo), my twelve-year-old little brother, scream out my name in the early hours of the morning. Or screaming in general, really. He's a real handful, basically. But for a house that you think you know really well to be so bloody quiet is very unsettling. Each and every one of my family members must still be asleep. I didn't think I would be able to fall back asleep (since I'm not very good at falling asleep in the first place) so I didn't even try. Besides, I was pretty awake by this point. I then figured what I could do to pass the time while I waited for my parents to wake up to make breakfast (I don't know how to cook) - I could just watch the sun rise. 

I mean, this is the first time in a long time I've woken up before the sun rose. I practically jumped off my bed and fork-lifted my large brown leather jacket off of my wardrobe door, which was partially swung open. I had a look in the mirror which was attached to the inside of the right wardrobe door, which was the same door my leather jacket was hanging off of. I couldn't help but notice I looked strangely tired. My hair was very messy (Unsurprisingly though, my hair is dark, thick and wavy and I just got out of bed) and I had dark bangs under my almost completely pitch-black eyes (They're dark brown). It must've been really early in the morning then, which was unsurprising, because we're currently in the middle of winter. I didn't think much of it though, as I had a history of strange sleeping patterns. I remember all the times my mother would tell me I would randomly wake up in the middle of the night and just start screaming because I was scared of the dark. I would apparently do that almost every single night until I grew out of it when I was about six. My parents must've loved raising me. I'm still kind of scared of the dark.

I tip-toed down the stairs and slid along the hallway tiles whilst trying my best not to make any noise. I slipped on my leather jacket and ducked into the kitchen to my right. The clock hung just above the kitchen doorframe. It took me a second to read it because it was still quite dark.

"5:07 AM...huh."

I walked down the hallway out of the kitchen and headed for the front door. Opening the door felt almost like entering a new dimension. It was definitely cold, that's for sure. A strong cold breeze smacked me right in the face and my hair was sent flailing in all directions possible. But if I'm being honest, I didn't really care. True it was flying everywhere, I could very much feel it. But it would be kind of offensive in a way towards my other family members. My hair was thick, but I had the shortest hair length in the family. I had dark brown wavy hair like my mothers', only hers was obviously longer than mine, but she usually had it pinned up. Teo had hair similar to mine, but it was more curly than wavy and was a golden wheat colour. He got his hair colour from my father, who had straight hair that swung to the right at the front and cut off short below his ears. Daniel, however, didn't have hair like the rest of my family's - he has straight amber hair that reached shoulder length. He didn't have hair like the rest of the family, which is understandable for a specific reason he doesn't like talking about.