Forced Eternity (Jalex)

Strong Winds

Jack's POV

There's not a lot of inspiration in this dried up, and dead, town. My mother's birthday was coming up, and I've gotten her every cliche mother gift possible. Chocolate, flowers, coupons, gift cards, sewing supplies...you name it. Thing is, my mom doesn't do a lot of things. As far as I know, her hobbies include being a mom. I've known my mom my whole life, and I still manage to fuck things up when it comes time to give her something. My older sister, May, is getting our mother a gas card and a trip to a luxury spa. My older brother, Joe, is getting mom a new dishwasher. I'm broke as fuck, and that limits a lot of options.

I was sitting in our garage with my guitar in my lap. I wasn't allowed to practice inside, because it distracted May from her homework. The garage door was up, and the air was nice and warm. Just like normal early September weather. The sky looked like it wanted to rain, but no sound of thunder was heard.

"What're you doing, Jack?" Joe asked me as he came into the garage. I was biting the inside of my cheek and staring out at the sky. I shrugged.

"Thinking 'bout what to get mom." I admitted, still staring at the sky.

"Get her candy. Mom likes chocolate, right?" He suggested. I shook my head. I wanted to get my mom something that showed that I had put some sort of thought into it.

"No, I've done that before." I told him. He looked around the garage.

"You could make her a birdhouse, Mom likes to watch the birds in the backyard."

"I can't even put tape on something correctly."

"Well," He pointed to the guitar sitting in my lap. "Write her a song." I met his dark brown eyes, the color practically identical to my own.

"You think she'd like that?" I had always been a bit insecure about my guitar-playing abilities. Joe nodded. This was unlike him. Our conversations never lasted this long. Especially without one of us calling the other some vulgar name.

"Yeah, it'll come from the heart, or whatever. Plus, you're her favorite, she'll love whatever you get her." He was being suspiciously nice. Joe was about five years older than me, so we'd never been all that close to each other. He never listened to anything I ever had to say. So I was kinda surprised that he was actually suggesting things to get mom. I nodded slowly, thinking the idea over.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." I mumbled. Joe raised one of his thick, dark eyebrows. "I think I'll go with that."

"I'll leave you to it then." Joe turned to go. "Oh, and dinner's almost done."

"Thank you. I'll come inside soon." I told him. He went back into the house and I was left alone. The faint sound of thunder resonated throughout the air. I smiled to myself. Whenever it rained, I got really inspired and could play guitar for hours.

Smiling to myself, I started strumming chords to one of my favorite blink-182 songs. I'd go eat dinner when I felt like it. I closed my eyes, only to feel a wind whip across my face like a slap. My eyes flashed open to absolutely nothing in front me. I glanced around the musky and dank garage around me. Nothing.

I resumed playing the instrument in my lap. Chords and notes flew from my fingertips. Guitar was one of the very few things I was good at. I shut my eyes again and continued when I felt that whip of wind again. I sighed, well, the weather was literally being a bitch. I shut the garage door and went inside.

I could work on my mother's birthday song another time.

___

My mother wasn't my most favorite person, but she was my mother. I loved her and always wanted to make her proud of me. Sadly, I usually failed at making her proud, since I tended to mess up everything I touched. I had just dropped a glass plate onto the kitchen floor in my attempt to fix myself a plate.

"I'm so sorry." I was apologizing profusely. My mom kept telling me it was fine and May was muttering about how much I screwed up everything.

"It's okay Jack, I got it. Everyone go sit down, everyone go eat, it's okay." Mom assured all of us as she swept the glass shards into the dustpan and into the trash can. I got another plate and started putting food onto that one.

"Try not to drop that one too, Ditz." May sneered as she went back into the dining room. I bit the inside of my cheek, holding in my words.

"Now, May, accidents happen. It's not his fault." Mom said to May sternly. "Apologize to him." May glared at our mom, her eyes dark with anger.

"I will when he decides to apologize for killing dad." May growled. My eyes widened, and I almost dropped the plate in my hands. The room went still.

"May! How dare you! It wasn't his fault." Mom yelled loudly. But it was my fault. It always was my fault. "Go to your room." May pushed past me and into her room. Joe didn't look at me. Mom asked me if I was okay, but I merely nodded and fled to the bathroom. I sat in the bathtub, just sitting there, feeling my jeans absorb the small amount of water in bottom of the tub.

I didn't literally kill my father. It was an accident. He was teaching me how to drive and I had drove too fast...another car hitting the passenger side, killing him on impact. I was left with a broken arm and scars that refused to fade. May had always blamed me for it. And it was my fault in a way. If I hadn't been driving so fast...but at the time, it didn't feel like I was even going that fast. I glanced at my right side, where most of my scars lay. I missed my dad. Everything turned to shit when he died. I let a few tears fall, and convinced myself I wasn't hungry. I could stand to lose a few pounds off of my stomach anyway.