Ostinato

Chapter 2

Sunday June 8th: 8:00

The sound of a wailing guitar riff playing from the surround sound speakers in the room roused Theodore from his sleep. He moved his hand from under the cover, groping around to find the control panel on the bedside table. He stabbed his finger on the spot of the touchpad, relieved to find that it silenced the alarm. Theodore sat up,still groggy, as he looked at the control panel displaying '0800'. He let out a deep groan

Smart home my ass Theodore thought. He knew full well he certainly hadn't set the alarm to go off, and his suspicions were now resting on his Uncle Rob - who delighted in every opportunity to show off some aspect of his tech innovations. Still, the smart home technologies produced by his Uncle's company had been how the man had accrued his impressive wealth. The house was a veritable fun house of high tech convenience.

Theodore furrowed his brow in thought. He had recognized the song from some lame emo band he had listened to a lot in middle school, and he did have some memory of having chosen that song as his personalized wake up tone, but that had been years ago. Then again, it's not like Theodore had been around much after middle school. Not after what his Mom had done.

He willed himself up out of the bed, still half asleep, picking up a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie from his suitcase as he pulled them on - barely opening his still heavy eyelids. He trudged his way towards the door, tripping a little as he did. Theodore opened his eyes about halfway to see that he had tripped over a stuffed fox on the ground. He recognized it as something that once belonged to him - that was until it had been handed down to Charlie. Theodore let out a grunt as he kicked it to the side, remembering their conversation from last night. Just who did Charlie think he was going around telling people to act their age when he still slept with stuffed animals?

Walking into the kitchen and taking a seat at the kitchen table across from his mother, Theodore could hear the chattering of his cousins and little brother in the other room. He groaned, his head pounding.

"Good morning sunshine," mom said in an overly cheery voice, smirking at his still half asleep demeanor. Theodore let out another grunt, still not having opened his eyes fully as he sat with his face in his hands.

"What can I get ya, slugger? Uncle Rob asked, coming up behind Theodore and giving a rather rough slap on the back. Theodore rolled his shoulders a little, none too pleased with his Uncle's jovial nature - especially this early in the morning.

"Coffee," Theodore croaked, chalking the headache up to his well established caffeine addiction.

"Oh, big man on campus wants some coffee now does he?" Uncle Rob said. Theodore looked up at his Uncle with some annoyance. "What do you think Mom? Is that okay?"

"He can try it if he wants to." Mom said with a shrug of her shoulders. Theodore looked over to his Mom with a confused look. Why in the world were they talking like he didn't regularly drink coffee? What's more, why were they acting as if he needed permission to do so?

"I drink coffee every day," Theodore said

"There is no reason to lie Theo, I already said you could try it," Mom said, shooting a serious look at her son that almost seemed to suggest she was considering withdrawing her permission.

"Hey!" Theo shouted, offended at the insinuation that he needed her permission for anything - but interrupted as he heard his voice crack up an entire octave. He cringed in embarrassment, yet his Mother and Uncle seemingly gave no notice. Theodore brought his hands up to his throat. He then looked at his hands. They didn't look all that much different, but something did seem subtly off about them - almost as if they were suddenly smaller.