Red Eyes

Up and at 'em

Mitchel opened his eyes to the sudden blinding light coming from his window. He groaned as he looked around and saw his younger brother standing over him chuckling.

"Yo, time to get up. Mom wants us to do some last-minute shopping before Halloween tomorrow. "

Mitchel groaned again as he turned his face into the pillow and huffed.

"Oh no you don't." Timmy pulled the pillow off of his reluctant brother and proceeded to bash him with it as his sibling retreated under the covers.

"C'mon man," chuckled Mitchel. His long dreads fell out from under his covers while eyes remained shielded. "What's the rush? It's still super early. Plus, I can just go grab it tomorrow while you're at school and I've got a break in between my classes. Mom won't even notice." He waved his hand in a shooing fashion as he tried once again to get comfortable only to have his covers yanked off of him with a frustrated 12-year-old peering down on him.

"Mom, was very clear about getting the candy tonight since kids are going to be trick-or-treating early tomorrow due to early release happening at the nearby elementary school. It's already four-thirty! I want to get this over with before night falls. There's no way in hell I'm going to be stuck outside any later than I need to tonight." Timmy then proceeded to walk away as Mitchel slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"ugh! WHY?" Mitchel yelled after him.

"You know why" Timmy said with his usual amount of sass, but his voice held a slight waver. And it wasn't due to his recent burst of puberty. Mitchel then sighed his head held low before getting out of the bed and looking outside his bedroom window.

He looked across the street to the house that had been abandoned for half of his life. He observed the wood that creaked and showed signs of cracking and disrepair. He observed the large oak that stood before its left side in the prime view of his window. It was where his brother first saw them, back when this room was his.