"I'm so excited about this lesson." Alex rambled as we walked home. Conner was staring way too far ahead of himself to be paying attention,I just listened while putting my hands in my jacket pockets.
"Mrs.Peters made a very good point you know." Alex started to ramble,"Think about everything children miss out when they're deprived of fairy tales! Oh, how terrible for them! Don't you feel awful for them? Conner? Nicole? Are you listening to me?"
"Yup." Conner lied while I nodded my head. Conner started kicking an abandoned snail shell on the sidewalk. Poor thing.
"Can't you imagine a childhood without knowing all those characters and places?" While Alex continued I climbed onto one of those stone fences and walked along it like a tightrope,"Were so lucky Dad and Grandma made such a point of reading them to is when we were little."
"So lucky." Conner muttered.
This was how it would usually go down. We'd listen to Alex ramble on while we walked In a nice neighborhood, surrounded by another nice neighborhood, which is surrounded by dozens of more nice neighborhoods. We were forced to listen to Alex say ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING on her mind. Which is a giant burden for me, because of my ears.
"How am I ever going to find a story to write about? It's too difficult to choose!" Suddenly I jumped back because of Alex clapping her hands."Which one are you going to write your papers on?"
"Um..." Conner looked up from the sidewalk with a panic look, just like when he woke up,"The Boy Who Cried Wolf."
Wow....it must've taken a lot of time and effort to decide. (Note the sarcasm)
"You can't choose that one!" Alex shook her head,"It's the most obvious one! You have to select something more challenging to impress Mrs.Peters. You should pick something with a message hidden deeper inside it, not one that isn't so-on-the-surface." Conner sighed, meaning he was deciding which one to do.
Alex looked up to me,"And you Nicole?"
My eyes were glued to the upcoming sets of bushes planted along the Stone Fence. There were two stories I was debating on, but I just couldn't decide on which one to choose.
"It's a surprise." I decided to answer.
Those blue eyes fell to the concrete,"Oh....okay....Conner have you decided?"
"Fine, I'll pick 'Sleeping Beauty'."
"Interesting selection,"Alex playfully rubbed her chin,"What do you suppose the moral of the story is?"
What he said next I didn't like,"Don't p*ss off your neighbors, I guess."
"CONNER." I scolded softly,then started jogging on the stone fence because they were walking a bit faster.
"Exactly what Nicole said,"Added Alex,"That is not the moral of 'Sleeping Beauty '."
Conner snorted and stopped walking, Alex stopped a few inches ahead and looked at him, I sat on the fence,"Sure it it. If the king and queen had just invited the crazy enchantress to their daughter's birthday party in the first place, none of that stuff would've happened."
"They couldn't have stopped it from happening."Said Alex,"That enchantress was evil and provably would've cursed the baby anyway. 'Sleeping Beauty' is about trying to prevent the unpreventable. Her parents tried protecting her and had all the spinning wheels in the kingdom destroyed. She was so sheltered, she didn't even know what danger was,and she still pricked her finger on the first spindle she ever saw."
You know, I really felt like I was watching a tennis match. Conner was on my left and Alex on my right,I was literally in the middle of their argument.
"I disagree."
See my point?
"I've seen how upset you get when people don't invite you to places. And you usually look like you would curse a baby, too."
Alex gave her twin a glare while I started to chuckle "C'mon Conner, that's not very nice and you know it."
To my right Alex started another debate,"While there's no such thing as wrong interpretation, I have to say that this is definitely misread. Right Nicole?"
Just as I opened my mouth to reply Conner spoke,"I'm just saying be careful who you are. I always thought Sleeping Beauty's parents had it coming."
"Oh,"Alex said, as I took out my sketchbook and continued my drawings,"And I suppose you thought Hansel and Gretel had it coming too?"
"Yes,"Okay, now Conner was just trying to be clever,"And so did the witch!"
"How so Conner?" I asked, not looking up.
"Because,if your going to live in a house made of candy, don't move next door to a couple obese kids. A lot of these fairy tale characters are missing common sense."
I busted into laughter. But quickly shut up when Alex gave me a glare.
"The witch didn't live next door! She lived deep in the forest! They had to leave bread crumbs so they would find their way back, remember, and the whole point of the house was to lure the kids in, they were starving! At least have all the facts straight before you criticize."
I turned to page as I finished a drawing of a plant and started drawing the two arguing.
"If they were starving, what were they doing wasting bread crumbs?" I looked up at Conner, he was right."Sounds like a couple of trouble makers to me."
I craned my neck to see Alex grunt,"C'mon Alex. Don't ignore it, he has a point."
"THANK YOU!!"
After shooting another glare my way, Alex asked,"And in your deranged mind, what do you think the lesson of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' is?" The twins started walking again,doing it quickly I packed up my sketch book and walked along the fence.
"Easy."Conner smirked,"Lock your doors! Robbers come in all shapes and sizes! Even curly-haired little girls can't be trusted."
With his comment I started laughing. So much I fell off of the fence and onto the grass next to it. When I bounded back up I saw Alex trying her best to to laugh.
" 'Goldilocks' is about consequences! Mrs.Peters said so herself. What do you suppose 'Jack and the Beanstalk' is about?"
One second later my brother's face held a sly grin,"Bad beans cause more than indigestion."
"Wow Conner, where'd you get an idea like that?" I grinned, ruffling his hair. He playfully swatted me away and fixed his hair again.
"And what do you think the lesson of 'Little Red Riding Hood' was about?" My sister asked,"Do you think she should have mailed her grandmother the gift basket?"
"Now your thinking/Exactly!" Conner and I spoke at the same time.
"Although I've always felt sorry for Little Red Riding Hood. It's obvious her parents never liked her very much."
Alex crossed her arms,"Why do you say that?"
"Who sends their daughter into a dark and wolf-occupied forest carrying freshly baked food and wearing a bright jacket?" Conner asked,looking insane,"They were practically asking for the wolf to eat her! She must've annoyed the heck out of them!"
A miracle happened right then and there, Alex let a chuckle slip. Conner bumped her on the shoulder,
"I know you secretly agree with me. Nicole doesn't even need to speak to agree with me! Look at her!"
At that point I zoned out and started chasing a butterfly,"Yeah, you can see her agreement bursting through her."Alex deadpanned. From that point on I continued to chase the butterfly. But after a few houses I stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. My blood ran cold, my worst fear came true.
"Hey Nicole what's the matter?" Conner asked,jogging over.
Infront of us was a large house, it was a peaceful home. It was painted blue with a white trim,several windows were found on the outside, and the lawn resembled a meadow, on the side was a giant oak tree perfect for climbing.
"Look,"Alex said, pointing at a sign that shouted 'For Sale'. It had a giant sticker strapped over it screaming,'Sold'
"It's sold......It's sold....."Alex's face looked like it was about to drain.
The whole world around me seemed to have lost color,everything turned grey. A ringing grew in my ears, and tears threatened to spill.
"We all knew it would happen eventually." Conner spoke softly.
"Then why do I feel so surprised?" Alex asked herself,"I guess it's been for sale so long....it seemed to be.....just waiting for us...."
A sensation formed,telling me Conner started walking away."C'mon Alex,Nicole, let's go."
Alex stood there for a second before walking away with our brother, I stayed behind. Paralyzed. Not because of the house-even though I'm sad because of it- but because my eyes seemed to have tricked me. I swore I saw one, a floating jellyfish on the window sill. Like it was waiting for someone to go......home....
"Nicole?"
My train of thought crashed as I looked at Alex and Conner,they were both staring back at me. Desperate, I looked back at the house; the jellyfish was gone.
"I'm-I'm coming." Placing my hands in my pocket I walked next to them.
This was our old home,we lost it, after we lost dad.
-Flashback-
You see, we lost our dad a few days before our birthdays. The day seemed alright, we were sitting around the table waiting for him,then mom got a call. They say he was in a car accident. But he wasn't found.
Mr.Bailey was one of the most loving and caring person I've ever met. He owned a book store, and I would always help whenever I could. But one time I came in there crying.
"What's wrong Nic?" Dad asked,setting down a new edition of 'Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief.'
Without speaking I ran my 8 year old self into him, crying into his chest. He placed a hand over my beanie and calmed me down. Afterwards he led me to the storage room and let me talk,
"They saw it...They saw them!" I spoke.
"What did they see? Who was it?" Dad asked confused.
"My ears! This kid named Paul. He pried my beanie right out of me and saw them, afterwards he made fun of me. I didn't know what to do!" Before tears started spilling Dad placed a caring hand on my cheek.
"Calm down Nic, I'm sure he's just jealous."
"Jealous?" I asked,"Jealous of what?"
"That your different,those ears make you, you. We use our differences as our advantage. Now, what do you hear?" This meant to take off my beanie, I did so and listened.
Pages were being turned softly, soft breaths were being inhaled, and there were people talking happily outside.
"Someone's talking on the phone with their husband, wanting to get their son a book. She'll be here in......" The sound of the bell jingling came in. Dad gave a pleased chuckle,"You see? When you see that Paul kid just ignore him, and if he tries to take off your beanie just scream as loud as you can. Love you." He winked, stood up and left to tend the woman.
I gave off a smile,maybe I do have an advantage.
-Reality-
By the time I finished reliving that time we were at our rental house. It was small, boring,brown walls and a flat roof. The lawn was like a desert,and no flowers we in sight. Yet.
Without a word we all walked in, crept up the stairs, and went into our own rooms. My room was small and only had one small window, a one person bed was on the floor right next to the window, and several paintbrushes and paintcans I had stashed were under the bed. The art teacher was nice enough to let me have some of her extra paint cans. She knew how much I loved art.
Taking out a high chair from the kitchen I steadied myself onto it and grabbed some black,white,and blue paint. No one except for Conner knew I was painting my ceiling,mainly because they never bother to look up anyway. I dabbed some white paint and started painting several of those glowing jellyfish from this morning.
After about an hour I heard my mom come in. Mrs.Bailey was a nice woman, she had a giant caring heart. She had blue eyes and red hair, which the twins inherited. But ever since dad died she had to work more than usual at the children's hospital, I barely get to see her anymore.
Doing it quietly I stashed the paint cans, brushes, and ladder under my bed and walked downstairs to see my siblings and mom all at the table. In one hand was a phone and the other hand my mom held envelopes.
"Hi guys,"Mom said,covering the receiving end of the phone,"Have a good day at school?"
Alex nodded,Conner unfortunately gave an over enthusiastic thumbs up. I just watched the envelopes in her hands.
"Yes, I cam work double this Monday. No problem." She's lying. She won't be able to see us that day, AT ALL. And tomorrow's our birthday.
I watched as she secretly put the envelopes facing down onto the table,and she kept talking,"Thank you." Mom clicked the phone off and turned to us,"How are you guys?"
Should we tell her about the house? Does she even know?! How would she react?
"Good." We all spoke in unison.
Suddenly she looked at all of us suspiciously, especially me. "What's the matter? You all seem down? And Nicole is never sad."
Curse my optimism.
"C'mon,what is it? You can tell me anything." I slumped onto the table and crossed my arms over it.
"We aren't upset." Conner spoke first,"We knew it was going to happen eventually."
Mom looked confused,"What?"
"The house got sold." I muttered bitterly.
"We knew it was going to happen anyway." Alex added. There was a silence, I looked up from the floor and saw a hint of disappointment in mom's eyes. But as soon as she met mine she forced a smile,"Oh that?" She said, brushing it off," Yes, I know. You shouldn't be sad about it though. We'll find a bigger and better house as soon as we catch up on things here."
If you speak 'Mom' fluently, you'd know that was it. She was lying. And it wasn't her specialty either.
"What did you learn in school today?" Mom asked, changing the subject before it could go further.
"So much." Alex grinned.
"Not much." Conner mumbled with a scowl.
"That's because you fell asleep in class again!" Alex tattled.
"Alex,please just let him be. He's having a hard day, we all are." I spoke softly,looking at the ground.
A disapproving sigh came from mom,"Oh, Conner not again. What are we going to do with you?"
"It's not my fault!" Conner defended,"Mrs.Peter's lessons put me to sleep. It just happens! It's like my brain switches off or something. Sometimes even my old rubber band trick doesn't work." Mom looked up.
"Rubber band trick?"
"I wear a rubber band around my wrist and snap it every time I get sleepy,"He explained,pointing to his wrist,"And I was positive it was full proof."
I sighed,patting his back."Well, back to the drawing board then?" Conner nodded shamefully.
Mom watched us for a second before giving us 'the look'. "Well, don't forget how lucky you are to be in that classroom. All the kids in the hospital would like nothing more than to trade places with you and go to school every day."
A chuckle escaped my lips when Conner commented,"They'd change their minds if they med Mrs.Peters."
Just then the phone rang, Mom gave us another look before picking up and listening to the other end."Hello?" Suddenly she had worry lines etched onto her face,"Tomorrow? No, there must be a mistake. I told them I couldn't work at all tomorrow. It's the kid's twelfth birthday and I was planning on spending the evening with them."
Alex and Conner looked at each other in worry, then both at me. We all traded worried glances before continuing to listen.
"Are you positive there's no one else who can cover for it?" Mom's voice seemed desperate,"No, I understand....Yes, of course...I'm aware of the staff cuts....see you tomorrow." A pang entered my heart as she hung up the phone, closed her eyes, and let out a sad sigh.
"I've got some bad news guys,"She looked at us,"It looks like o have to work tomorrow night. So I won't be her for your birthday. But I'll make it up to you! We'll celebrate when I get home from work the next night, all right?"
Alex forced a smile,"That's fine mom. We understand."
"It's okay,"My brother added,"We weren't really expecting anything special anyway."
My heart did a double take, I thought I saw floating jellyfish on the table. But when I blinked it was gone.
"Nicole?"
I looked up,Mom had a worried expression on her face. A smile-a real one- was suppressed on my lips.
"Helping those kids are more important than my birthday mom."
Suddenly I regretted what I said, mom looked very sad,"Oh...Great. Then we'll have dinner...and get a cake... And have a nice night...now I'm just going to go upstairs for a minute before I head back to work." Before I could blink she left the kitchen.
After a second Alex and Conner hurried up after her. I jumped off of the chair and followed behind. By the time I got to the twins they were peering into mom's bedroom. I heard her crying,Conner moved aside so I could see too. Two balls of tissues were held in her hands along with a picture frame.
"Oh John....I try to stay strong and keep our family going, but it's really hard without you.They're such good kids, they don't deserve this." Suddenly she quickly dried her tears as I walked over and sat on the floor infront of her, Alex and Conner sat on either side of her.
"I'm so sorry, for everything," Tears threatened to spill again,"It just isn't fair you've had to go through all of this at such a young age."
"It's going to be okay mom." Alex said,"We don't need anything special for our birthday."
"Birthdays are overrated anyway,"Conner added,"We know things are tight right now."
"Besides," I added,"We always have your back."
Mom threw her arms around Alex and Conner,"When did you three become grown ups? I am the luckiest mom in the world! Nicole! Stop sitting around and join the hug." Immediately I stood up and tackled all three into a hug. Afterwards we all looked at the picture of dad.
"You know what dad would say if he were here?" Mom asked.
"I do!" I chuckled.
"And what would that be Nic?"
"He'd say' Right now, we're living in an ugly chapter of our lives, but books always get better!' "