[AN: This story is heavily inspired by the book Room by Emma Donoghue, I highly suggest you read it. It's amazingly written. You'll notice a lot of the same parts from the book and from the motion picture as well. But I do plan to bring a little originality to this plot. I obviously don't own anything, not Danny Phantom and not Room. I really hope you guys like it!]
Today I am five.
That means five times ago, I was floating in outer space until Ma plucked me out of the sky. I zoomed down from outer space, through skylight, into Room. And began kicking Ma from the inside. BOOM. BOOM. Then I came out onto Rug with my eyes wide open and Ma said, "Hello James."
Ma says before I happened, she was sad and cried and cried and watched TV all day, until she was a zombie. Now the rule is: Only TV for one hour.
I open my eyes and look over to Ma, she's Off right now. I move my hair out of my face and whisper, "Ma, I'm Five." It takes two seconds and Ma is switched On. She opens her eyes, purple like always, and smiles at me.
"I'm so old now!" I say at her.
"You're such a big boy now."
She grabbed me and pulled me on top of her. I laughed cause her hair tickled me. It's dark and long, just like mine, except Ma's is much longer. Her's is just a few down from her shoulders, a little above her elbows.
I shoot up from Bed, SWOOSH, since it's morning. Ma says we can't stay in Bed all day cause then our bones will turn to jelly.
Lamp is closest to Bed so I tell her good morning first. Then Plant, who is next to Lamp on Nightstand, to get light. Her leaves are starting to come off. Underneath Bed is Egg Snake, I tell him good morning too.
"Good morning Rug." She is all kinds of colors except for the part that's all dark and grey from the stain I spilt by accident getting born.
"Good Morning Wardrobe. Good Morning TV. Good Morning Sink. Good Morning Toilet. Good Morning Everyone." I go around Room and touch them to wake them up.
"Okay, time for breakfast."
Ma sets Bowl on Table. Then she goes to Thermostat to hot the air. I don't think He came last night. The air is always different when He comes. I don't ask because Ma doesn't like saying about Him. I walk around her to Table.
"It's my birthday I'm five."
"Okay I get it."
I take Chair number one closer to Bed, and Ma takes chair number two closer to Fridge and Door. Door's the tall of Room and goes BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. after nine when I should be switched Off.
"Here, take your vitamin. It's the last one." Ma hands me Vitamin and when I grab to take it I see the time on Watch on Ma's left arm. 10:58.
Vitamin is hard and not very good, but today's breakfast is cereal. That should make the taste away. I watch Ma take a big spoonful of cereal without spilling like I used to when I was Four. Ma makes a grunt sound and touches the left of her cheek.
"Is Bad Tooth hurting?" Dumbo Bad Tooth is always hurting Ma. She says it's rotting cause she didn't take care of her teeth. She promises to never do it again, but some are still all rotted.
"Mhhmm." She hums a sound that means yes and puts a finger to her forehead. "But... mind over matter right?" Ma is always right.
"If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!" I point at her and she does a smile at me.
"You're right." She says. I guess now that I'm Five I can be right too. "Hey, do you know what we're gonna do today?" Ma is still smiling, lots and lots. I ask her what.
"We're going to make a birthday cake." Her eyebrows go up a little and she's still smiling.
"A birthday cake?" Ma hums the yes again. "Like from TV?" How's Ma gonna make a birthday cake from TV?
"Yes, but for real." A birthday cake for real sounds to good to be real.
"No Way." Ma's smile never goes down so she can't be tricking me. That's when I start smiling extra lots.
Ma does a silly laugh and starts eating her cereal again. During breakfast we play Hum. I start first since it's my birthday. I hum "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Ma guesses right away. She gets a kiss. She starts humming and I guess "She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain." I get a kiss too. I'm the best in the family at this game.
We brush our teeth after breakfast and Ma double checks to make sure I'm doing it right. She doesn't want my teeth to go all rotted like hers.
"Lemme see." I show Ma my smile like a vampire. "You're teeth, they're so shiny! They're dazzling me!" Ma puts a hand over her eyes and looks away. Silly Ma.
Next, Ma gets clothes out of Wardrobe for us to change out of our night clothes. Why there's clothes only for night, and only for day?
Ma starts cleaning up Room while I get to sit and watch TV for one hour cause that's the rule. I grab TV remote and flick through all the planets. Some are fuzzy and grey that hurts our eyes if stared at too long. Ma likes the wildlife planet with all the animals. I keep flicking until I see Dora The Explorer. She's my favorite since she's the only one who listens. I run up to TV to give Dora a hug and tell her about my super powers now that I'm Five. i almost don't see Ma stop to look at me when I tell Dora how cool my powers are.
After one show Ma shuts off TV cause it could rot our brain cells. But we get them back through the day in time to watch another show after Dinner. Sometimes shows on TV scare me and I hide behind Ma's fingers, which are twice the long as mine.
Nothing ever scares Ma. Except Him maybe. I don't even really remember the name of Him, something that starts with 'V'; mostly we just don't say about Him. He comes in the night, after 9 and sometimes brings us things from TV by magic. I asked Ma once is he old and she says he's nearly double her, which is pretty old.
"Can't I watch one more, it's my birthday, I'm five."
"Too much TV is bad, you know the rule." Ma moves over to the side of Wardrobe. "How about we check your height now Mr. Five?."
"Only if you call me Mr. Five again!"
"OK Mr. Five, lets see how much you've grown." We both giggle.
I stand next to Wardrobe who's all brown and faded. Ma marks a line above my head on one of Wall's squishy tiles. There are other marks lower of that one from when I was Four then Three then Two and One.
"Was I ever minus numbers?" I asked Ma once.
"What do you mean?"
"Like 0, then minus one, minus two?"
"No, the numbers only started after you zoomed down from outer space."
"And then happened in your tummy!"
"Yup, then you started kicking me from the inside and i thought, 'James is on his way!'" Ma bumped her shirt up and down to show me kicking. I always laugh at that part. Silly Ma.
Ma only draws on the tile for height. One time I scribbled on a different tile and Ma got mad and said, "Now we have to live with that forever."
"I'm gonna grow so big until I'm a giant!" I tell Ma. Ma's way taller than me, but she says I'll catch up.
"Yeah, you are." Ma is moving Furniture all way to make space in the middle to play in. While I jump super high on Bed.
"I'm going to be James the Giant, Giant Killer! And burst out of Skylight, to outer space with my dog Max!" Max is my pet dog, but I don't have him for real, yet. Maybe when I'm older.
"We'll BOING! BOING! BOING! between all the planets!"
"Alright time for some Stretch." Ma moved Table and Chairs, and Carpet cause the floor is grippier and so we could have more space. We both stand in the middle reaching high, high up. Almost touching Skylight, but not really. Then we reach down, our hands between our legs spread apart. Ma does a laugh and I look up to her. She just puts her forehead on mine and smiles.
We do more stretches to our legs and arms, until it's time for Track.
"I bet I can do there-and-back's in sixteen steps!"
"Wow, when you were four you did it in eighteen steps didn't you? C'mon lets see what you got."
I run to one side of wall until I touch her tiles, then run back to other side. VROOM! I can hear Ma counting.
"Faster James you got this!" I swoosh past her again. I start going faster, almost like I'm flying like a superhero, until Ma grabs my shoulders.
"OK calm down you'll hurt yourself James." I'm breathing hard, my chest bumping up and down, but I don't feel tired. I look up at Ma, she smiles but not really.
We start to make the cake. I bet it's gonna be delicioso with candles the same number as me and on fire like I've never seen for real. I crack an egg on the side of Bowl, just perfectly so it doesn't break into tiny pieces. I'm the best in the family at cracking eggs. I put the egg into Bowl. We're using her to make the cake Ma promised was real.
"Alright that looks good."
"That's the batter?"
"Just a part of it, now we're gonna add butter. Look at all that." Ma shows me another bowl with butter in it, and another with flour.
"Ooo, butter!" It sounds funny to say. Ma starts to smash all the things together.
"Now we just gotta... stir... it all... together." Ma drops Spoon into Bowl. "How about... you do that. Do you think you can... handle that."
Ma hides her hand behind her back. It must be her sprained wrist, but I don't say about it. I just stir all the batter together until it gets smooth and Ma says stop.
After Ma puts the cake into Toaster Oven, I wash the pots and bowls in Sink since Ma's wrist it hurting. She won't say about why it got hurt, and I don't ask.
"Alright, here it comes! Cover your eyes James."
I sit at Table and put my hands over my eyes like Ma says. I feel her coming and I peek a little between my fingers, but I cover them up again as she gets closer.
"Abracadabra." I open my eyes and Ma is kneeling next me. I look at Table and see the cake. Yellow at the bottom and white icing at the top. On the top there's the number 5 drawn into the icing. I smile. A cake for real, but it's missing one thing.
"Now the candles!" I say to Ma. She doesn't say anything so I look at her. She's smiling but not really again.
"We don't have any candles." She says, looking away from me. I frown and look at the cake. "I know I'm sorry."
"You said a birthday cake for real. That means candles on fire." I get a tingly feeling in my eyes. I thought Ma wasn't tricking me.
"James..." She looks in my eyes. "... it's okay without the candles, it's still a birthday cake."
"You should've asked for candles for Sunday Treat, not dumb jeans." Sunday Treat is when He brings us things Ma asked for. Like the chocolates we got for Christmas, or food for Ma to cook. I don't know where he gets the treats. Maybe from the TV by magic.
Ma's face changes. She doesn't look happy anymore.
"I'm sorry. You know that I have to ask for stuff we actually need. Stuff he can get easily."
"But He gets anything! By magic!" Ma doesn't understand. All she has to do is ask. My eyes get tingly again.
"Why don't we try your cake."
"No." Ma closes her eyes.
"James... let's try a bite of it-"
"I SAID NO!" Ma looks away from me. I can see her but not really. There's wetness on my face. I didn't want to yell, but Ma shouldn't have lied. She said a birthday cake for real.
Ma stays quiet. She pulls me into a hug and puts her head on top of mine. I rub away the wetness.
"Next week when I turn six, you better ask for real candles." I move away from her. She's looking down and I can't see her face until she moves her hair behind her ear. Ma opens her eyes and looks down at the floor.
"You mean.. next year." She closes her eyes again.
My cake was the best thing I ever tasted. It's getting dark out. Skylight is sucking all the light away, she's nearly all black.
"It's the spring equinox." Ma says looking up at Skylight. "I remember I heard it on the TV the day you were born. There was still snow that day too." Ma says all quiet but I still hear her.
"What's equinox?"
"It's means equal. When there's equal parts light and dark." She's still looking up at Skylight. I look at Watch and it's 7:30. Time for bath.
I lay with Ma in the tub, on top of her chest. It's funny cause I go up and down when she breathes. She washes the soap out of my long hair, her fingers tickle. I grab the shirts and wash them in the tub. Ma says it saves water if us and our clothes take a bath at the same time.
After bath at 8:30 Ma hangs the clothes so they can dry in the night while we're sleeping. I ask her if i can have some since it's my birthday and we lay down on bed, Ma lifts up her shirt and I have lots. I can feel Ma put her fingers in my hair and she tells me a bedtime story. This is the bestest birthday ever.
Ma starts getting Wardrobe ready for me to sleep in. She makes it all nice and cozy, but I only have to be in there in case He comes.
"Can I have more birthday cake?"
"Tomorrow."
"Just a bite?"
"We brushed our teeth already James." Ma's watch starts beeping. 9:00. I'm supposed to be sleeping.
"Please just one more story." I wasn't tired yet.
"It's getting late James, let's get to bed." I breathe out air and go to lay down in Wardrobe. If I lay straight, the top of my head and the bottom of my feet touch Wardrobe. Ma sticks her head in, her black hair falling over her purple eyes.
"Three kisses?"
"No, five for Mr. Five." She smiles and gives me five kisses.
"Okay goodnight." She shuts Wardrobe's doors. I can still see through the slats. Light coming through to the inside. I hear Ma taking the killers. Two at night always, for the pain. I can hear Bed squeak as she gets on.
"Why I'm always hided away?" I whisper. I wonder if Ma can hear me.
"I just don't want him looking at you. Even when you were a baby, I would wrap you up in a blanket so He could never see you."
"Would it hurt?"
"Would what hurt?"
"If He looked at me."
"No, go to sleep now." The bed squeaks again as Ma moves.
"Do the bugs." I tell Ma.
"Night-night, sleep tight, don't let the bugs bite." I hear a click and the light go out at the same time. I shut my eyes real tight so I can be switched off faster. I wonder if Ma is switched off already. And I hope the bugs don't come to suck my blood.
I feel the air change before I hear the Door. Cold air. Then, BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. I get switched on and see a little bit of light coming into Wardrobe. Door goes a loud SWOOSH. He's here.
I hear the plastic bags.
"Grapes, and canned pears." His voice is deep. I look around wardrobe. At my picture of Dora the Explorer. I should not be up right now, Ma would be upset.
"What is this? A birthday cake?" I sit up in Wardrobe and try to be as quiet as a mouse, like from the TV with the cat who's a big meanie. "Should've told me. I would've got him a present. How is he coming along?"
I look through the slats. He has long white hair, tied up like mine sometimes. He takes off his pants and walks towards bed. I hear Lamp click and then there's no light.
I lay back down and count 37 bed squeaks before I switch off again.
There's room. Then Outer space, with all the TV planets. Then Heaven.
Plant it real. But not trees.
Spiders are real. And one time the mosquito that was sucking my blood.
But Squirrels and Dogs, are just TV. Except Max. He's my dog that might come some day.
Monsters are too big to be real, and the sea.
The TV persons are flat, and made of colors. But me and you are real.
I don't know if He's real. Maybe half.
I feel Ma pick me up from Wardrobe but I'm too tired to open my eyes. She puts me down in bed and then lays next to me.
"Goodnight James. I love you." I hear Ma whisper in my ear.
I hear Lamp click off again. And feel Ma's warm next to me as I switch off.
[Annnnd there's chapter 1! Can y'all guess who's who yet? Let me know what you guys think or if i should even continue. The story will all be told in the perspective of James, if he doesn't sound too childlike let me know. He's supposed to be pretty bright since his Ma has nothing but time to teach him things.]