A new beginning
Chapter 1
I was happy. I had a perfect home, a perfect family, and a perfect life. The glorious memories of my childhood is still printed inside my brain. However, the bad memories are cursed so that i can never forget them. You know what one of the worst things that I had to suffer through was? Let me tell you. (I was 8 years old and my brother was 5)
3 YEARS AGO,
When the moonlight poured into my room, I decided to tiptoe to my brothers. When I saw him, I sat on the side of his little bed and watched him sleep. It was like a miracle happening. I couldn't imagine how a little jerk like him could turn out to be a peaceful angel at night. I listened to his gentle snoring and stared at his fluttery eyelids. I could already tell that he was dreaming. I ran my fingers through his tousled and short brown hair. Suddenly, I heard a glass plate crash to the ground downstairs. My brother woke up groggily and found out that I was sitting next to him. He mumbled to me, "Annika, what happened?" I patted his back a few times and whispered, "Go back to sleep Nik. You probably just heard the wind from outside. Its a bit chilly too. I'll go turn up the heat in your room." I walked to the edge of the stairs, and shot my brother one last look before crawling down to the first floor. I leaned to the left, being cautious of the creaks.
When I got down, my parents were too busy arguing to notice my appearance. So I did something that any eight year old would do. I crawled under the dining table, hoping that they don't see me. I craned my head and tried to find out what my parents were arguing about this time. I caught a few sentences, but the meaning was as clear as ice.
"Rob, the children can hear you-"
"Irene, you should stop worrying about those DARN KIDS!"
"There is a place that can help you with your drinking problem-"
"Maybe its better to divorce."
"Who will Annika and Nik choose?"
"they decide-"
"lets ask-"
"go upstairs as soon as I get my wine-" My dad told mom.
I rushed to the stairs and raced to my room. I jumped on my clean bed and pulled the sheet over my body and pretended to sleep. A few long minutes later, my white door finally opens and my parents emerges into my place. They shook my shoulder, and said to get up. I do and I find myself face to face with my mother. As my dad goes to wake Nik up from his slumber, my mom whispers to me,
"Annika, you might not understand what will happen in a few minutes, but I just want you to know that the choice is yours to make. And remember, you have to stay strong."
I'm still a bit lost with what my mom said to me when my dad comes in holding my brothers dainty little hand.
"Okay guys. Do you know what divorce means?" My dad booms with a slurred voice. "It means that your dad and mom separates and goes on different roads. But the children have to choose who they want to go with. Your mom or your Dad. Lets start with Nik." My dad was squeezing my brothers hand too tight that Nik began to cry. "Ow! Dad, your hurting me!" Once Dad let go, Nik raced towards mom and sobs into her warm, inviting arms. My dad nods his head with his fists clenched and his jaw tight. He walks towards me and also grabs my hand.
"ANNIKA, IT'S YOUR TURN. DO YOU WANT TO GO WITH MOM OR DADDY?!" He yelled at me. I tried to wriggle my hand to free it from his mighty grip, but instead I crumbled to the ground. I began to sob too, because I had to choose from my fun dad and my caring mother. (who would you choose?) I just kind of sat there crying while my family looked at me. I decided that it was better for me to stick with my brother and my mom, so I went over to mother and hugged her. It was so relieving to finally end this, but my dad was not ready to just give up the fight like that.
He went over to our box of memories, dug around till he found our precious and most cherished video camera, (filled with our memories from when we were young) and hurled it against my wall. I ran to where the video camera was and prayed that it could still work. Meanwhile my dad slammed the door behind him and went down to watch T.V. The eight years of our time together was crammed into the video camera, and it was sad to see it vanish before our eyes. I tried to put the pieces of it back together again, but it was almost impossible. I laid down on my rug next to the camera and just stared at the mess of broken pieces, shattered memories, and wet tears.