Putro et Mortem

[Fijoli]

I am Kayden Van Huatum, this story is about my sister Anna Van Huatum and I. Anna is two years younger than me and this year she will start attending the same highschool as start off my junior year. That day started like any other day, mom was in the kitchen making breakfast and dad was at the table reading the newspaper, borderline cookie cutter family, but only by sheer looks.

Dad spoke first "we'll there goes the town, could they possibly set gas prices any fucking higher?" Anna giggled from behind me as she rushed for her breakfast plate and I sat beside her. "Good thing I don't pay for gas" I jested at my father. Mom plopped my plate down in front of me and we commenced to consume our daily morning breakfast as mom went off to do mom things and dad sat at the table ruffling his papers. Yea, that day started out like everyday.

Anna is my best friend, we don't hate each other like most sisters we come across, Anna and I are peas in a pod. We never fought with each other or hurt each other and we were always there when the other needed it. Anna was mature for her age and I made a vow to never grow up. Unfortunately that day would take a turn for the worse and Anna and I were never quite the same after we got home.

I'll start you off when we got to home room, that when I noticed something was wrong for the first time. I got a feeling that there was something just, off. Anna met me in the hallway and told me she felt weird too. We made it through the school day and met up at our bus, the ride home was hectic. Kids screaming or singing off key and out of sync, cars wizzing by, I looked at Anna. "I don't feel very good."

 

[Wanderfool]

Anna curled a strand of too-orange hair around her pointer finger as she looked out the window from the inside seat, Kayden to her right. There was something sickening about how the entire day had seemed so normal, like that moment in the movie when everything is calm and happy again. Until the zombie pops out of the closet like a sick Jack-in-the-Box. Not one teacher had said so much as a chastising remark in her direction, it made her head ache in a most unpleasing way.

"I don't feel very good." Anna was already nodding, agreeing with her sister. "My head is hurting really bad." Feeling Kay's nervousness mixing with her own, Anna shifted uncomfortably before grabbing Kaylan's hand. There were only a few more stops before they would be home, and it felt like the closer they got the worse the feeling became.

The bus was becoming a bit overwhelming, and Anna longed to be up in her tree house in the backyard. Playing mancala, or maybe even spying on the neighbors with the binoculars she got for Christmas last year. "O-o-oh saaay can you seeee!" An obnoxious boy she recognized as an upperclassman started to sing the national anthem much too loud and off key. Girls giggled around him, egging him on when all Anna wanted was for him to shut up. He started up again and Anna turned around in her seat to glare at him.

"When are you going to start driving Kay?" Anna grumbled as she slid back down in her seat, her head now a steady throbbing with her heart. "I will be so happy when we don't have to ride this obnoxious yellow limo." Anna thought for a second, "I can help pay for gas if this torture will end." Smiling at her sister she saw their cute little brick house sitting unassumingly on their neat green yard. "Cookie Cutter" perfect as her sister liked to say.

 

[Fijoli]

I wasn't doing a grey job at blocking out the noise around me, Anna had started to speak but I couldn't hear her words as all sound seemed to implode into a deafening silence.

I blinked from the sunlight hitting my eyes as we turned to our home street, the stopping jolt, and hissing brakes suddenly brought all the sounds back. Anna's smile remaining for another blink of my eyes until we uprooted and made our exits onto the familiar paved concrete. I didn't want to go home yet so I stood still on the pavement as the bus produced a few more kids and hissed itself further on its route. I didn't move.

 

[Wanderfool]

Anna kept close to her sister, her small hand wrapping around her older sister's hand. Kay seemed out of it, so Anna took the reigns and waited until all the other kids that lived on their street to rise and exit. Anna watched, worry continuing to gnaw at the pit of her stomach as the sun was starting to set on fall time and Kay still had that empty glaze in her eyes. The two of them stood there, their happy little house sitting just yards away. It was always happy looking, emitting the most sunniest of vibes. I dont want to go home... Kay's mind tugged at Anna's as she stood there. Unseeing. "Sissy?" Anna tugged at Kayden's hand.

Glancing over her shoulder Anna looked at Kayden and back at the house a few times. Something was wrong, but Anna didn't know what it was. "Sissy, lets go to the park and swing for a little while." Anna pulled a bit harder on her sister's hand, leading her away from their home in the direction of Forest Park playground.