The Myth- Chapter one; Welcome to my life.

The world is filled with mysteries, secrets, and myths. Sometimes you will never know that you are a part of it. The most astonishing fact about it is that it ultimately affects the most common and average people, including children. So, you may wonder whether I’m an old man babbling pointless stuff. Well, I’m not. I’m just a twelve-year-old kid.

I just wanted to give you an  extraordinary start. Anyway, here’s how my normal wimpy life changed because of mysteries, secrets and well, you know etc.

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As usual, I was late for school. Who likes to wake up early and go to a boring place like that! I mean to sit on a chair for seven hours and do nothing but learn? That’s seriously stupid.

“Joe, you are late!” I heard my mom calling me from downstairs.

Just for the record, I never think that my mom and I ever have similarities. She’s neat, quick and of course never late. As for me? It's the total opposite. The world would explode if I wake up early.

I jumped out of bed and ran over the heaps of dirty clothes and CD cases. The posters of my favorite video games covered all the walls of my tiny room. I’m kind of glad they did because the walls were painted in pink. Long story short, my mom was expecting that I’d be a girl and the house was never painted after I was born.

The small shelf in the corner, which was supposed to be stacked with books, was stacked with crumpled papers, discarded pens, and other stuff like that.

That does explain why the dustbin was empty. The room was total ‘danger area’ and my mom would die if she saw it. Well, I’m going to clean it up later.

I tried to get ready in such a hurry that I almost swallowed my toothbrush and tripped twice in the bathroom. And to my luck, I didn't fall down and break something. Trust me; that happens a lot.

I wore a pale orange T-shirt and a shabby pair of black trousers along with blue sneakers. Who cares about matching clothes anyway?

I went down the stairs in such a hurry that I almost tripped over Sobo, our pet cat who was lying on the last step.

Sobo is an overweight rascal. I hate cats. But since Sobo was dad’s favorite and most probably only pet, my mom made me agree to keep it. Dad’s death really changed a lot of things. I can’t really remember much about him because I was a baby when he died.

My mom doesn’t have any pictures of him either. That’s pretty weird, I know. But she told me that dad’s a really secretive person and he hated being in pictures. My grandfather disappeared shortly after dad’s death. Nobody knew what happened to him.

All I know is that we lost two family members because of one wretched car crash.

Glancing once more at Sobo, I went to the dining table to have breakfast.

My mom was there reading a newspaper; her big brown eyes had a deep expression. Her beautiful brown hair was combed neatly to a side.

That’s when I realized that I forgot to brush my hair. I had brown hair just like my mother’s. But trust me, my hair is never tidy. I always use my hands to tidy it up.

I did the same thing right now. What can I say? I’m not the tidiest person.

I pulled out a chair and sat down resting my hands on the dark wooden table. "Good morning mom!"

She looked up at me and smiled. She then folded her newspaper and placed it on the edge of the table.

The fresh morning air filled the room. Bright sunlight enlightened the place and made the dining room look like heaven. Or was it just the colorful cereal and milk on the table made me see it that way?

"Good morning,” She grinned, “here’s your cereal.”

She handed over my cereal and greeting me with a pleasant smile. “You’re going to be late for school you know.”

“Yeah, I have to get up earlier,” I said as munched down a mouthful of crunchy, sweet cereal.

“That’s the same thing I have to say. The early bird gets the worm you know?”

“Yeah, Whatever mom,” I said licking milk off my spoon. I really didn’t get the meaning of idioms.

I was going to have another bowl, but my mom was already out of the kitchen. She’s so quick. She has thin and long legs like an athlete. So she can move around quickly.

The clock read 8.00 a.m. Mom was right; I was late! I ran after her hoping she’d offer me a ride.

“Need a lift?”She asked as she got into her small grey car, which hasn’t been repaired for years. My mum works as a bank accounted, so we’re not that rich or anything. But I think we used to have tons of cash when dad was alive. But it really bugged me because my mum never told me what his job was.

Mum was waiting for an answer “Okay, why not?” I said brushing off a few bits of cereal from my face.

I sat on the front seat and tried to buckle up my seat-belt, it was a huge task for me. Okay, so it’s annoying. But that belt’s jammed up, and it’s not my fault.

“Oh sweetie,” Mom said buckling it up for me.

“I could have done it by myself,” I said grumpily.

She just smiled. She knew I was lying. She knew I was still a big baby.

Mom started the engine and we zoomed off. The neighborhood was calm and quiet, especially because Sam wasn’t around. Sam’s the worst kid in my class. He’s a bully and smells like a bag of sweat. And I can still remember how he locked my inside the janitor’s closet when we were in 2nd grade.

In front of our house was this big forest like thing. We prefer to call it the ‘Myth’ because it’s not an important place and it’s like it never exists, just like a myth. But, I couldn’t get over the weird quivery feeling I get whenever I’m passing it; something about that forest made my body shudder.

I also noticed that my mum speeds up the car when we’re passing the Myth. Maybe she gets a weird feeling too.

Anyway, the Myth is awfully long and covers almost half of the town. Thick, tall trees stand as a curtain between the forest and the town; hiding whatever lies inside. The sky above the forest seems to be always covered with dark, gray clouds. As far as I know, no one actually goes there at all.

At the far end of it is my school ‘Fogtown Elementary’.

I really hate that place. School’s not a fun adventure for me, it’s more like a war where I basically try to stay alive.

I got out of the car as fast as I could when we reached school. I was extremely sure that my mom would do something pretty annoying.

But, I was too late. Before I could run for it, she held my hand tightly and said, “Have a good day sweetie. And don't forget to eat your lunch my little Brownie Wiggly.”

I felt as if my face was burning with embarrassment. My mom just told the most annoying pet name! I saw some of my classmates laugh at me. Surely, they must’ve heard what my mum said.

“Okay, mom,” I said quickly and broke free from her firm grip. I ran up the stairs without looking back, my face still burning as if it was on fire.

I heard the engine start as I reached the main doors. She must’ve left.

My mother is really nice. But, sometimes she could be a bit too nice, especially in public. I was already the main source of humiliation at school, so I didn’t want any more annoyance. I hope she realized that.

I went in with a deep sigh, the rusty smell of the old lockers and the sound of kids running to their classes greeted me. Yup, today’s going to be a very bad day.