Rune Guardians

Chapter 1: Last Day of School

Summer had arrived in the quiet little town of San Carlos, Mexico. Not much was going on other than the people going about their day. The local church was doing cleanup before their next sermon, the market was selling its produce as usual, and of course the kids were playing in the streets. Sometimes even the parents get worried about their little ones. It seemed like a normal day. But as for me, today was gonna be kinda different.

"Mijo! Breakfast is ready!" My mom called out as she finished serving eggs with pancakes on the table, my dad reading the local newspaper with his sunglasses.

As I grabbed my blue denim jacket, I tied my green tennis shoes and ran downstairs. Seeing my mom smile always made my day as I kissed her cheek. She then kissed my cheek back. My dad, being a grump for some reason, grunted and kept reading the newspaper.

"Ay, mi amór. Show a little compassion," my mom said to my dad as she gently rubbed his shoulders.

"I know, cielo. I'm sorry. It's just that I was still caught up with the delinquents next door spray painting our house walls," my dad replied whilst still reading the papers.

While they were having their little conversation, I ate my breakfast in a jiffy. Eggs on pancakes was honestly the best thing my mom has ever cooked. On this special day, I was wondering what was going to happen. We're we going to church? Maybe head to the park, or see a movie? The possibilities seemed endless. That was until the school bus arrived. I looked out the window to see the bus stopping by, close to our house.

"Mamá. The bus is here," I told my mom as I cleaned myself up and fixed my hair with my fingers.

She groaned a little and fixed it herself. I was being a bit annoyed since she still fixes me up ever since I was 7 years old. With a smile on her face and another kiss on my cheek, my mom gave me her blessing before opening the front door as I grabbed my backpack that I took from my room earlier.

"Have a great last day at school, mijo," my mom said as I got up on the bus, looking at her smile and eventually seeing dad smile back.

As I smiled back at my parents, the school bus doors closed and the driver began being on its way. My parents simply watched the bus drive off, but the moment it left, things were getting ugly between them.

"Why, out of all people in the nation, are YOU the softest?!"

"If I remember correctly Ernesto, we agreed to sign the adoption papers when we found Samson! You know how his actual parents died! Don't you?"

"Oh, come on! That again?! He was only a baby when it happened!"

"You don't know that because you haven't met him yet back then."

My parents' relationship was pretty complicated throughout all the years of my life. The first time I knew about this was when I was 12. My life wasn't been the same ever since. Sometimes, I just wished they'd shut up and keep loving me unconditionally like they actually do. My life with my parents, mainly with my dad, was like living in Hades sometimes.

But that's the difference with when I'm with my friends.

As the bus kept driving through the streets of town, I looked out a window to see most people happy with each other. It didn't matter what they looked like or where they came from. Life looked pretty simple, and the friends I made over the years helped me realize that. Well... almost all my friends.

"Hi, Sam! Whatcha doin'?," said a red haired nerd as he sat next to me.

"Hey Steve. Just looking out the window. What do you want?" I asked him.

"Boy do I have news for you. Since it's the last day of school before summer vacation comes around, our literature teacher is gonna put on a movie for us to watch just for fun."