Curly and Me ✣Narry✣ *COMPLETED*

Chapter 16

There are different kinds of people in this world. Some live unassuming, mediocre, mildly interesting lives often involving rigid nine to five hours, the occasional splurging for lunch, and the typical bowl of popcorn in front of the TV at home. These people are often solitary, living their lives alone most of the time, their days punctured by the occasional digital message sent over some social networking program or perhaps through their phones. They measure the success of the day based on the number of times they managed to not be given some responsibility. In other words, they lived their lives day after day after day after day…

On the other hand, there are people who crave interaction with others. Their day to day activities revolved around meeting a friend, or having a cup of coffee with an officemate, or even the occasional trysts in the supermarket, aisle twenty-three, right behind the large sacks of dog food. These people often find the simple joys of life in communicating with others, measuring success against their peers (and occasionally, foes), and ensuring that there were as many possible blotches on their calendars as the number of people they meet in a day. These are the kinds of people often heralded as success stories in magazine or promising role models for the next generation.

And then, there were people like me. Every few centuries or so, the world is blessed by the presence of some divine being that sheds light on the life of others – an artist, a genius, a hero. Their very existence naturally resulted in the uplifting of the quality of life for others. Their lives are documented to provide inspiration not only for the next generation but centuries’ worth of descendants, from different races, across different worlds.

Yep, that’s me. If I lived during the time of Michelangelo, he would have named his statue Niall. If I had lived during the time of Troy, Helen would never have bothered running off with Paris (and Menelaus would have gladly allowed me to boink his wife many times over, perhaps two or three times a night even). But as I exist in the modern days, it was only a matter of time before the world came to me and people started sculpting statues of Niall or building (or razing) entire cities in my name. It was the inevitable outcome of my existence in the world.

The only problem was I was grounded.

I had never, ever, ever in my life been grounded. Whenever, I got into trouble with Harry, the punishment involved was generally doing some kind of work. We’d either clean the garage, or mow the lawn, or further make a mess of the attic. Mrs. S always said there was no sense in giving us a vacation by grounding us.

And yet, there I was. Eighteen years old, an adult by all standards, and yet confined within the walls of our home like some common nobody. It was infuriating. I had every right to leave. I would have if it wasn’t for how heartrending my mom looked.

It was rare to see her unhappy. Sure there were times when I would catch her staring into nothing or over the different shelves in our kitchen as though she was contemplating what she should cook. I knew that wasn’t the case though. If you managed to catch her eyes, you’d see they were glazed over, as though in deep thought. I could tell you know. I wasn’t completely blind to what happened around me (well, except perhaps regarding Harry). I knew my mom wasn’t exactly happy with my dad. They had many ups and downs in their relationships. My mom said my dad was different before he became immersed in his work. He was around a lot more. He was thoughtful, kind, and funny. He loved us more.

Sometimes, I’d catch her sitting in the kitchen just looking out the window as though the whole world was fading into the background. I was smaller then and the prospect of sneaking a snack in the middle of the night with Harry was often enticing. One time, we’d caught her there sitting in the moonlight just watching. Just waiting. At first, I thought she sat there wondering when my dad would next be home because she missed him.