{Planet Earth}

Prolouge.

4/25/06

"Happy birthday dear Zelda, happy birthday to you." The group of kids chanted as the little brunette blew out the birthday candles that decorated the top of her perfectly made cake. The wide eyed children had gathered around her to try and be the first to grab a slice, though the birthday girls mother had made her way through the small crowd and cut the first piece for her daughter. Zelda eyed her cake piece up and down, making sure she felt like it was all up to prim and perfect condition, and it was; not a single rosette was out of the line that went down the sides, nor was the strawberry filling oozing out like an infected spider bite. Her hands reached over to the plastic see through spoon and was ready to eat when her mother, Kelly, had stopped her. Touching her wrist lightly as if she was gonna tap her, "Sweetie can you go find your brothers and father for me, I'm sure they'd want to be here for the presents." She told her, her boney hands that gripped the chair to pull it out gripped them like she would her beer bottles at parties. It wasn't often that Zelda's mom was sober but when she was, she was a good mother who loved all three of her children dearly. Like she had given birth to them herself, she loved them like if she carried them in her stomach, however when Kelly was not as sober she was too drunk or passed out to be the good parent she typically was, in Zelda's eyes though, her mother was getting better. Zelda hopped off the chair, walking over to the hallway that connected almost everything, the corridor from the kitchen to the dinning room; the space between the entryway and the stairs and many more combinations from the first floor. She ascended up the stairs, it had almost felt like that the navy blue walls were getting darker as she grew closer to the second floor. Her stomach turned as she got there, feeling like something bad would happen, her gut feeling was right. She walked a little to the right where next to where the pale wooded bannister ended, was the door to her parents room. The master bedroom to some kids felt like a maze, something mysterious, because they were almost never allowed to go in there. Her left hand reached for the knob, as her right arm entirely stayed out at her side, she cracked open the door, taking one step forward. Only to find that in her horror, her father sat at the edge of the bed, on the corner, facing the window to the right corner of the room. With one of her brothers, Vlad, on his right leg, his favorite green cargo shorts were tossed onto the floor by the tall brown dresser along with his underwear. Her father's hand was moving towards Vald's waist, Zelda knew what was going on because it seemed like the same seen she had seen several months earlier. Marco raised a hand to Vlad to silence him, even if he was already quiet, "you do not tell anyone Vlad, or I will do something bad, is that understood?" He asked his tone in the end sounded more threatening than before. Zelda had to leave, she quickly shut the door as softly as she could to not be seen. Her feet scrambled to the end of the hall, to Dylan's room laid, right before her own, she swung open the door this time, aspecting her dad to be in here as well but, there sat the oldest child of the three siblings, Dylan, who just turned nine two months ago. Vlad was eight and Zelda herself today was six years old. Dylan sat on his bright yellow sheets, they were almost completely on the floor except for the end that Dylan was sitting on and kept in place on his bed, the extravagant colors bounced from his walls and lighted the doorway. Zelda leaned on the frame, "mom says to come to the parlor for opening presents" she told him, her voice was shaky and was the equivalent to Someone trembling in fear. She forced her feet back out into the hall, Dylan not even getting a chance to look at his baby sister before she had decided to leave. Zelda descended back down the stairs, feeling like the pit at the bottom on her stomach would grow bigger in time, she could hear her mothers voice still from the dinning room, telling all the kiddies to bring their presents to the living room. Her face appeared in the entrance, walking back in, first looking at her uneaten cake and then her mother who straighten the pearly whites around her neck. Her mother was talking to their next door neighbor,   "They should be all coming down" Zelda walked up to her mother, her big eyes looking up, to see her mothers blonde bright hair that was like the sun, and her green eyes that looked like her emerald earrings her brother in law James had bought her one year for her birthday.
Her astonishing features  is what initially drove her husband away, she was becoming 'fake' in his eyes, this only made her try harder by getting breast implants and hair extensions. But Marco only pushed her back more, taking favor of Kelly's middle sister. Who Zelda would see come in odd hours of the night when mom was working late, her mother was a Art therapist and high school AP art teacher; while her father was an art director for many different people. They both were art majors which is why when they adopted all their kids they had named them after famous poets. The front door opened, as if on cue, Marco walked down the stairs with Vlad in his arms, grinning wide as Aunt Kathrine walked in, the light from outside flooding out the fluorescents. Wrapped in her arms was a large box covered in purple pole dotted paper with a white holographic bow on top. Zelda placed her hands onto her cheeks, jumping at the sight of such a huge gift. Running over she had practically jumped onto her aunt, Kathrine laughed lightly, her voice soft and sounded like she was approachable, likable. A problem for Kelly that everyone loved her sister but her, Kelly had always despised her middle sister from the start, everyday since 87' when Kathrine had indirectly killed their mother. "Slow down there Zel" she bent her knees to get to Zelda's height, "do you wanna open it now?" She asked her, Zelda nodded furiously. Kathrine stood up, taking a step back, "then it's all yours Zel" the child immediately ripped open the paper, reveling the cardboard box containing the gift, inside the large box was a tall plush of the character  Max from 'where the wild things are', Zelda's favorite book. She gasped, hugging the warm stuffed animal, it being almost longer then her whole body, "this Max will protect you, he will keep you safe from all the monsters under your bed" Kathrine explained, tucking back a loose strand of hair behind Zelda's ear, "but not the wild things right?" She asked, clenching it harder, "but not the wild things, the real monsters, the human ones."