It was hard to believe it had been three years since they moved in with Dave. It felt as if only a few days had passed since they'd written their first song with him, but so many things had changed since then. It seemed impossible to remain oblivious to the changes going on around them, but they did, they all did. They seemed to be completely unaware as time passed them by.

It was only now that Alvin realized where he stood in time. He couldn't help but wonder if anyone else had noticed.

'What did Simon think about this?' he asked himself. 'What about Theo?' But more importantly, 'What did Dave think about this?'

He wasn't sure what made him notice, but he found himself looking at some old photographs. These photographs weren't hidden somewhere in the attic, they were all over the house. They'd always been there.

He went from room to room admiring the photographs on the shelves, each one bringing back different memories.

There was one of their first christmas with Dave. He recalled helping set up the christmas tree, helping make some cookies and later eating them along with some hot chocolate, but most importantly giving Dave his wallet for Christmas. It was ingenious, he stood by that statement 'till that very day.

There was one of them with "popcorn Jackie"; there was even one where they were still living with Ian.

All of these memories seemed to be positive. He knew there were rough times, but the good seemed to outweigh the bad. He knew his memory was flawed from the situation, it was idealized, turned into something that it really wasn't. No one really thinks about the bad things when they look at photographs and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. He got to appreciate things that he hadn't grasped the understanding of at such a young age. When looking at a photograph you get to see the best aspects of a human being that you remember, it takes away all your criticisms and you're just left with this idealized version of the truth.

He tried to step away from this idealized truth to look at how things really were. He recalled the reason he moved in with Ian. He remembered taking everything for granted and realized how spoiled he was. He was a constant screw-up, the pictures reminded him of that. Now, he looked at the photographs and all he wanted to do was apologize.

He learned that sometimes it's okay to idealize things. Because if you don't, it's just too damn sad.

As he went about his day he couldn't help but wonder what his life would've been like if Dave hadn't let them in. Would they still be living in the forest, struggling to find their next meal? Would they even be alive?

All he could do now was hope that whenever they thought about him that they could just smile.

All these thoughts he was having made him want to change his path in his music career. He didn't want to sing meaningless little pop songs, he wanted to sing something that was gonna be remembered through time. He only hoped people could take a chipmunk seriously.

Author's Note: I found out that I write better when I'm tired, ain't that great? I guess I should just write when I'm dead tired.. I'm not sure if there's gonna be a second chapter. I'm scared it might ruin what I have going on here. But then again, maybe I only think it's good because I'm tired. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Tell me what you guys thought. Review! :3