Chapter One: Wishing There Was Something More
I stare out the window, my eyes out of focus. My ears felt muffled and I could barely hear the sounds erupting from the television. The rain trudged down the window and I sat entranced. I could tell I was having one of those moments. The moments when you ask yourself, "this is it, this is my life?" It seemed as if the days were no longer separated, but flowed one into the other, turning into one long life of a never changing routine. The world still has seven continents, the wars never stop, and I still get up every morning and watch with my blue eyes as my life passes me by in school, at work, and at home. It is because of this that I frequently ask myself if I have ever done or ever will do anything worth remembering, or will I just be like so many in this world, a person who is born, lives, dies, and then who is eventually forgotten. Is my life even one worth living?
BANG!!! I jumped. My head turned sharply and I narrowed my eyes at the sight of my brother, "Sokka, have you ever heard of knocking?" I huffed.
He ignored my irritation, "Come on Katara, we're going to be late. I can't be late again or I'll get detention, then Mom will kill me." I rolled my eyes. Who cares anymore? It's not like there is anything important in this life we live.
I slung my book bag on my shoulder and strolled out the door, taking my sweet time just to annoy him. With an exasperated sigh, he clenched my tan arm and dragged me out the door. I tried to lock my knees and use my feet to break free, but it was futile. He finally let go and shoved me towards the car door. "Come on!!" he ushered. I once again rolled my eyes then hopped in the car. He sped down the street, determined to get there on time. It would be more convincing if the reason he wanted to get there so badly was because he wanted to suck face with Kayla, not so he wouldn't get detention. Kayla was Sokka's girlfriend of two years and girl voted most likely to become a gold-digger, but she doesn't know that and neither does Sokka. I don't know what he sees in that girl, but I already tried to convince him to think twice about her and apparently, I'm "too young to know what love feels like and wouldn't understand." Pfft. Yeah right. If love is just sucking face and writing disgusting "I want you" love notes, then I don't want one piece of it.
As soon as the car was parked, Sokka jumped out and darted toward the group of girls where his bimbo girlfriend always is. I slowly got out of the car, shaking my head at Sokka's idiotic sense of good and bad.
The day continued on as usual. The same things happened as usual. I witness my brother making out with his girlfriend a few times, got called on by the teacher and didn't know the answer, tripped in the hallway filled with bustling people, you know, the usual. Sigh. There has got to be something better than this mundane thing they call life here on Earth. Something that you didn't need money to achieve, like most things in this world. Traveling is obviously out since I don't have any money; going dancing at a club is out since I'm not old enough. Sigh, this sucks.
The last bell rang, bringing my out of my contemplation. I gathered my books and exited the classroom. I briskly walked to the car, not stopping by my locker, and waited for Sokka to arrive. "Ready to go?" he asked behind me. I turned to look at him and simply nodded.
I burst into my room the moment we got home, locking the door for safe measure. Mom and Dad were at work. They both worked at a Dentistry office, Dad being the Dentist and Mom, the hygienist.
I stood in the center of my room, looking for something to entertain me. I finally went to my bookcase. My Nana had given me a book at my latest birthday of sixteen and I had yet to read it. Carefully, I lifted the book from the shelf, conscious of its tattered form. The front cover was worn for wear and I could barley make out the title which printed: As You Wish It. Flipping to the first page, I stumbled to my bed and then lay on my stomach.
I read the first line aloud, "On this night and on this hour, I read aloud upon what I see, so that desires and dreams may stand and tower, above this world to fly and be free." My room suddenly lit up by a crack of lightning and I cowered near the wall. The storms had been unusually fiercer and I can't help it when my heart starts thumping at the speed of light every time a thunder rumbles. But then something happened that had never happened before. All the lights turned on in the room and then started to grow brighter and brighter. One at a time, the light bulls exploded with loud pops.
"Sokka!!" I yelled. He rushed up to my room but when he found the door locked, he used his weight to bust it open. Upon entering my room a light bulb busted near him and he jerked right back out. He then ran to my bed and pulled me to my feet. We were just about to make a run for the door when it slammed shut, a gust of wind going past us. Sokka jiggled the door knob, but it wouldn't budge. He turned, saw the window, and shot for it. His muscles flexing, he tried futilely to lift the window.
"Help me!!" he forced through clenched teeth. I rushed to his side and offered my help. We managed to pull it up an inch when it slammed back down. "AAHH," Sokka screamed in pain. He held his fingers between his arm and side, biting his lip, trying to numb the pain.
When the last bulb burst the television and radio started turning on and off. I leapt to the plugs and yanked them out, but to no avail, they continued to flash on and off. I went back to Sokka. "What do we do!!? We can't go through the door, we can't open the window. Sokka, how do we get out!!?"
"I don't know!!" he yelled in a panicked voice. His eyes shifted everywhere, searching for a way out. He started to mumble and pace around the room. The noise was driving me crazy and for some reason in that moment I felt helpless. So desperately, I wrapped my arms around Sokka's waist and buried my head in his chest.
"I'm sorry, Sokka, so, so sorry," I repeated this over and over to him though I don't know what I was sorry for. I just felt like I needed to say it.
With a tilt of my head, I looked into Sokka's eyes and saw tears. That's when I realized that I myself was crying. I didn't bother wiping them, but once again buried my face in his chest, grasping him tightly in a hug like he was doing to me, giving him one last goodbye before what would surely be our end.