Part One

We were adjusting well; better than we ever had. The atmosphere in the house is something I could never explain. Everything was happy, even when we were in the worst of moods. Birds always chirped, crickets always clicked and the only voices heard were mine, my brother’s, and my mother’s. We were distant from the town; cars never came down the road. Around the house, there was nothing but woods. There were miles and miles of woods; just how I liked it. The house was small, stuffy, and hot, yet somehow comforting. Being in the house made us feel as though we were the only people in the world.

The house made our family happy, but if our thoughts strayed to him not even the powers of the house could keep us from our emotions. Before we moved here my thoughts were always on him but now, the house protects me.

We had been in the house since May, my brother and I missed the last few weeks of school. We had enjoyed our summer in the house, but soon School would come to interrupt us. School would pull us from the house, where we felt so much comfort, and bring us to a hard, cold, concrete building, where our emotions would be able to run wild.

Everyone never left the house. Mother no longer worked, as him paid for everything, as the judge had wanted it. My mother couldn’t work if she had wanted to. She was too frail; still recovering from her last diabetes low, which had caused her to have a stroke. The judge although was thinking of the welfare of my brother and I, was not thinking of my mother. There we were, miles from people, and the nearest hospital, although my brother could drive, he wouldn’t get us there quick enough.


***

I was sitting at my old desk in the stifling heat of the house, typing up my Summer Reading Report which was mandatory because I missed so much school the year before. I was trying to focus on the words I had written, but my mind was somewhere else. I didn’t have a care about the book with the big whale, I wanted to read a different book; a book that was not yet written.

I pushed my chair back from the desk. I was frustrated with the report and I couldn’t read the words anymore. I secured my chair back in the corner of my room and ran down the tiny flight of steps and ended up in the living room. My mother was in the corner, on the armchair, struggling to read a book. I pranced over to her as the powers of the house once again took control of my brain. “Supernatural,” I said to her, making each syllable pronounced. “Thank-you,” my mother muttered as she had finally gotten past the word she couldn’t figure out.

I felt so bad for my mother, having to learn to read, write, and speak again. My brother, Shane, and I tried to help her, but my mother was stubbornly independent and she only lets us help her with very little things.

I slipped on my sneakers and walked down the gravel driveway and down to the road. “Shane!” I called out. “Over here!” I heard Shane call from the backyard. I strolled around to the other side of the house to find Shane on the roof of the house.
“What the heck are you doing up there?” I called up to him.
“I saw a way up so I had to climb it. Besides, we know the roof’s been leaking,” He said as he pulled off some moss that clung to the roof.
“Like you know how to fix a roof. Now will you get down here before you fall off?” I said, even though neither Shane nor I have ever seriously injured our selves.
Shane scaled the water heater, down to the ground. He came over to me, patted me on the shoulder and said, “Thanks, Mom.” I glared at him and he backed away into the house through the back door.
The incident reminded me of how adventurous both Shane and I were. We were natural outdoorsmen. We could climb trees with ease, run through the woods without tripping, and knew enough skills to survive for weeks alone in the wilderness.
The woods were my home. Running through the woods, exploring, jumping, and climbing were my hobbies. I go miles into the woods, following streams, chasing small woodland animals, and most of all, just enjoying the beauty of nature. I was a primitive human. I hated technology, nor could I ever get it to work. I liked the old fashioned way of doing things, and the 21st century was not the right time in history for me.
I ran into the woods, hoping to find the ‘Big Boulder’ that Shane had told me about the week before. He told me it was three stories tall, but I wasn’t sure if he was exaggerating or not. Nevertheless, I wanted to find it, scale to the top of it, and prove to Shane I was better at climbing then him.
The woods were damp, for it had rained the day before. The leaves piled on the group were slippery and soaked the bottom of my jeans. Branches continuously tore at my face, but it caused pain that I was used to. I pulled some remaining berries of a nearby bush, a recognized them and immediately knew they weren’t poisonous. I squirrel jumped from tree to tree above me, and a chipmunk skittered somewhere near my feet.
I went to my left for about a mile, like Shane had told me to do, but I never saw a single boulder taller than me. I assumed Shane was lying to me and I turned back, but I sensed someone around me, I figured it was nothing and didn’t even bother to turn around.