Love- (Noun) a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another

I never believed in love. Love is an excuse for people to split bills and have offspring, not to cuddle up and die when someone's not around.

No one dies of being love sick these days, Romeo and Juliet oh now that was love. But that was a long time ago and in this day and age, we've taken back to our roots.

We're pure-blood animals. We mate and breed, there is no love involved at all. People get together to have babies because they are told that is what to do. Some people don't even mate, they just breed, which is fine with me. If you want to bring a child into this shitty world to have a shitty life it's fine by me. I've seen what false love can do to someone.

I woke up to the screaming of my parents.

"You ignore the family!"

"I do more shit for the family and YOU than heavenly possible!" Glass breaks and a door slams.

I sighed and pulled myself up out of my bed of false promises of a better tomorrow. It was five in the morning. A girl should not be up at five in the Goddamn morning. I crept across the hall, glad that my crying mother was too absorbed in her tears to notice her daughter was awake upstairs.

I got to my younger brother's room. I didn't bother knocking, but just snuck inside and flipped on the light. Kohoku was sitting on his unkempt bed. His shaggy brown hair covered his face, but I could see the occasional tear drop onto his tiny hands, which he seemed to be staring at.

"You ok?" I asked, a hint of sympathy in my normally solid voice.

Kohoku raised his head. His face was red with tears, his brown locks stuck to his wet face, and he looked ready to die. He was NOT alright. He smiled and nodded anyway.

I sat next to the tiny kid. A fifth grader should not have to listen to these ridiculous arguments. Of course, nether should a seventeen year old, but I managed.

"Don't you wish they just got a divorce?" Kohoku cried out suddenly.

I chuckled. Of course I did, I'd hoped and prayed since I was five that they just stopped arguing. It wasn't until I was Kohoku's age that I realized that divorce was the only answer.

"Like that's gonna happen. You know Mom is going to stay with him, short of him walking out or him becoming abusive."

Kohoku sighed. "I'd run away if it weren't for Spot and Coco." Spot was his spotted leopard gecko and Coco was his Newfoundland (the dog not the country.) they were his life.

I nodded. The only reason I stuck around was for my iguana, Crash; my Labrador, Bliss; and Kohoku. Or else I would have my picture hanging up on the Walmart bulletin board with MISSING printed on the top.

"Come on," I urged, punching my brother in the arm. "Get dressed."

Kohoku frowned. "Where are we going?"

"Surfing."

A smile lit up Kohoku's face. Surfing was a tradition with us. Every time we woke up early we went surfing. "Meet me downstairs in ten minutes. If I'm not there, go outside and wait by the car. Oh! And grab some Poptarts." And with that, I was gone.

The waves rocked back and forth, like the hand of God himself was pushing and pulling the water. Watching the blackness of the early morning on the open ocean were two small pawns in the game He played.

"Come on," I instructed. I pulled of my top and bottoms, kicked of my shoes and peeled off my socks, and then I was in the water.

Kohoku repeated, jumping in after me he cried, "Sango?"

"Over here!" my voice cried out. He kicked over to the black blob that was floating on the surface. He felt my kick and together, we raced after our first wave.