Young Writers Society

Chapter One

I guess at the time, I didn’t know any better. I guess I didn’t quite know how to be thankful like I know people should be. I know I shouldn’t blame myself for what happened, but how can I not? I’m only human.

As the rain pounded on the window, I guess I couldn’t help but think about my past and how it affected my present. The attic was silent except for my younger sister’s, Sophie, slow breathes about five feet away.

I looked over at her slowly. Her skin was as white as the sheets she was sleeping on and face was small and looked hollow. Her blonde hair glistened in the dim light above. Looking at her made me think of my mother. She looked much more like her than I did, even though she was not exactly normal looking. You could almost wrap your hands around her wrist, and she was eleven years old, which clearly isn’t normal.

My mother died in childbirth when she had Sophie when I was about six. Sophie is left with birth defect that’s thankfully not brain damage. The doctor says she may not live to be past 25 and she probably can’t have kids since she’s not strong enough to live through the pregnancy. Sometimes I don’t think she will live longer than fifteen because she just gets worse as time goes on.

When she was first born the doctor didn’t think she would live past three days, but by some miracle she lived. She was probably the closest thing I had and I was determined to keep her as long as I could.

My father left when I was eight and Sophie was two. He left to go find a better paying job in California and promised he would come back to get us once he found one. He promised to keep in touch, but I haven’t heard from him in about nine years. He sent my mothers sister, Aunt Nancy, and two daughters, Caroline and Charlotte, to live with us until he came back.

Sometimes I wondered if he died and my Aunt Nancy kept it from me and other times I wondered if going to California was just an excuse so he could leave after Mother died.

“Violet...”I heard Sophie whisper interrupting my thoughts.

I got up from my chair and knelt by her bed stroking her face.

“Yes?”

“Can I have some water?”

I nodded silently and kissed her forehead gently. I crept down the steps of the narrow staircase and into the dark silent kitchen. I turned the faucet and filled the glass with cold water.

“Excuse me?” I heard a voice call from behind me.

I spun around startled.

“Caroline! What are you doing up?”

“My sleep was interrupted...by you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I was being quiet,” I said starting to get annoyed with her rudeness.

“Obviously you weren’t,” Caroline said again turning to go back to her room.

I let out a small sigh of relief. I took the cold water back up stairs and gave it to Sophie who was fast asleep by the time I got back up. I set it down on her nightstand and went to my bed next to the window. I curled up with the covers and faded off to sleep.

****

The next morning the storm had lighted up and the sun sparkled through my window, blinding me. I looked over across the room and saw Sophie’s bed empty. She had always been an early bird. There were muffled voices downstairs and I automatically knew that everyone was at the breakfast table.

I took the clock off of my nightstand and brought it in front of my eyes so I could make out what it said. Ten-thirty. Breakfast was always served at ten. I quickly jumped to my feet and hurried down the stairs stumbling over my own feet.

“Hello, Sleepyhead. Its wonderful that you could finally join us...or not. You know the rules. You were late,” Aunt Nancy said as she swallowed her eggs.

“Maybe you overslept for a reason...maybe it was because of such a late hour you were up last night,” Caroline said after her.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Nancy. I didn’t mean to stay up late its just that I couldn’t sleep and Sophie wanted water and I had a lot on my mind. I came down quietly. I honestly didn’t mean to wake Caroline up.”

“Sure whatever, Violet...” Caroline started.

“Caroline, no need to be rude. Violet, you know the rules, if you’re late you can’t eat until the next meal. Get some water and then lunch will be at two. And Violet? Please try to take in consideration that people are sleeping when you come downstairs in the middle of the night, so why don’t you be generous for once and think of others before yourself?” She interrupted.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good,” She said as she continued to finish her breakfast.

I got a glass of water and went back up the stairs where I stripped my pajamas and pulled a shirt and jeans on. My hair was still in its tight ponytail from last night. Sophie came in the room right as I left.

“Where are you going?” She asked quietly.

“Out for awhile. I’ll be back soon, Soph.”

Aunt Nancy didn’t like me leaving the house on Sundays. She thought I should stay home and help her clean the house, or in other words clean the house for her. I knew her well enough she wouldn’t come looking for me until after lunch. I opened the window and climbed out the window carefully. I climbed down the vines until I was safely off of our property.

I ran through the wind until I reached the forest. It was my absolute favorite place to go. It was moist and perfectly quiet. I sat down in the grass and grabbed my journal where I usually kept it hidden, in a small hole with a piece of plywood over it. I knew I would never be able to keep it in the house. Once I left the house for school, I knew Aunt Nancy would find it and destroy my life. My journal held every thought that ever went through my head.

Time passed slowly in the forest. I could feel the hours pass by slowly as I enjoyed the peaceful feel and mood of the forest. The forest suddenly fell completely silent. There wasn’t a breeze or even a bird chirp. I quickly got spooked and jumped to my feet feeling as if I wasn’t alone.

I walked deeper through the forest. I reached a steep hill thinking it would be fun to run down it. Before I looked down to see what lie ahead, I took several steps back for a running start. I ripped my hair out of its ponytail hoping it would spin in the air making me feel beautiful.

I started off running as fast as I could until I tripped over a rock, which cut m right leg from my knee all the way down my shin. I rolled down the hill not able to stop myself until something finally stopped me suddenly. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was for my hair was in my eyes and my leg was in splitting pain.

“Are you okay?” a voice asked. It startled me. I thought I must have ran into a tree instead of an actual person. I sat up running my fingers through my tangled hair pulling it out of my eyes to see whom I had encountered.

“I think so,” I said pausing, “I’m sorry. Did I run into you?”

“Not exactly. I stopped you before you went down the hill,” he answered. It was a boy. He had brown hair and looked rather tall, but it was hard to tell since he was squatting down beside me on the ground. He had beautiful big green eyes and a nice complexion.

“Oh. Thank you very much for helping me, but I must ask. This is a small town where everyone knows everyone and I’ve never seen you before. Who are you?”

“I’m Landon. My family moved here about two weeks ago. We haven’t exactly gone out in public since we’ve been unpacking, I start school in a week when everyone else goes back for the fall.”

“Oh.”

“And may I ask who you are?”

“I’m Violet. I live right through those trees,” I replied starting to remember my pain. I looked down at my leg and his eyes followed.

“Whoa. You got quite a cut there.”

“Uh yeah I better go home and uh...fix that. Thanks for your help uh...Landon,” I said feeling embarrassed.

“That looks pretty deep. Maybe you should take care of it before you get home so you wont get any germs in it.” Before I could answer he ripped of the sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around my leg.

“You don’t have to do that...” I said.

“I know, but that cut is pretty bad. It’s not what you call a paper cut.” He ripped off his other sleeve.

“Thank you, but I must go,” I said when he had finished, “I can’t be late for lunch.” He stood up and held his hand out to me.

“I guess I’ll see you next week, Violet,” He said as he pulled me off the ground.

I nodded and thanked him once again for his help and turned away to go back to the forest. I limped back up the hill and walked back to the house as fast as I could, which wasn’t very fast.

I climbed back up the vines trying not to scream in pain until I finally got to the safety of the attic.