Hey everybody! This was an idea that came to me in the car! (Don't ask...) Well, it's a one-shot songfic to the Green Day song Wake Me up When September Ends, and it's in Squids POV.
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own, so you can't sue! I'm a poet!
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up
When September ends
Today started out like an average ordinary day. Wake up early, grab some horrible excuse for breakfast, and start digging. As we were walking to our holes, Zigzag made a little 'announcement.'
"It's September."
Like my father's come to pass
Seven years has gone so fast
Wake me up
When September ends
September. The time of year dreaded most by kids. Summer ends, and school starts. I dreaded September the most. And not because of school-to me, school was like an escape.
September was the last time I'd ever seen my dad.
Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are
I guess you could call me a Daddy's boy. I was only two, but nevertheless spent an incredible amount of time with him. We would go out in the yard and play catch or walk to Mr. Yummy's ice cream stand, or go to the park and play with the dogs.
But, my family wasn't totally perfect. Mom had started to get worse and worse. Mom started to leave for work earlier and earlier and coming home later. She and Dad would have awful fights constantly. The fights got louder and more violent over time, and when I was three, she threw a glass bowl at Dad's head.
I bet he still has the scar.
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up
When September ends
By this time, I was three, and Dad wasn't the same. I would go downstairs in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, and Dad would be asleep on the couch. He lost his job at the factory he worked at. His appearance changed too. He had scruffs of facial hair, dark bags under his eyes, and his hair was steadily graying.
It wasn't just his physical appearance that changed. He was different on inside too. We wouldn't get to go down to the ice cream parlor or the park. Dad was more irritable and angry. I thought it was my fault that Dad was different.
Summer has come to pass
The innocent can never last
Wake me up
When September ends
Mom was different too. She and Dad would fight if they were within 10 feet of each other. She quit her secretary job, and began drinking. She and Dad were both unemployed, and any extra money we had, Mom spent on beer. We had to a move from a small house in a decent neighborhood to a tiny apartment on the other side of town. We were surrounded by gangs, drugs, and alcohol.
Ring out the bells again
Like we did when spring began
Wake me up
When September ends
Within a few weeks, we had nothing. Mom sold our furniture so she could buy alcohol, the electrical company revoked our electricity and water. I had to sleep on a hard wooden floor with only my toy squid.
My stuffed squid was like my savior. I was only three, and had no idea what was happening to Mom and Dad. I thought it was my fault that Dad was never the same around me, Mom was always angry, and they fought constantly. I thought I did something wrong.
When my parents began to fight again, I would go to my room and lock my doors. I would sit on the floor and cry, clutching my stuffed squid. I felt like my squid was the only one who liked me. The squid was the only memory of my happier life.
Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are
One September day, I guess my father had had enough. My mom was drunk, and began screaming at him like she usually did. He grabbed the closest thing to him, and just screamed. He then yelled that he was going out to buy some ice cream.
I asked of I could come with him, but my dad screamed, "No Alan! You can't come with me, and you never will!"
I sat on the floor as my dad ran out of the apartment, slamming the door behind. My eyes began to grow fuzzy, and my lip quivered.
My mother yelled obscenities after my Dad. She spotted me crying and screamed, "If you don't stop that, worthless little rat, I'll give you something to cry about!"
Obviously, if I was crying, I all ready had something to cry about. I didn't point this out to my mother, though. She was drunk and dangerous, and, even at the age of three, I knew that one false move could kill me.
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up
When September ends
I sat by the window, waiting for my dad to come home. I imagined seeing him walking down the stone path with a big gallon of Mr. Yummy's chocolate chunk ice cream tucked under his arms. He would come through the door, give me a hug, give Mom a kiss, and we would have a happy life again.
I needed to stop dreaming.
Mom got a job down at a local bar. She would get discounts on beer, and spent all her extra money on more beer. Everyday she would come home hopelessly drunk and scream curses at me.
"You're never going to go anywhere, Alan! You're a worthless little shit! Do you still carry the Squid around? What are you, a baby? Get off your fat ass and do something for once!"
She threw beer bottles and cans at me constantly. One time, it was a bout a millimeter from my face. I've been scared of flying objects since.
Summer has come to pass
The innocent can never last
Wake me up
When September ends
One time, mom brought home her new boyfriend, Roger. Roger made me feel even worse then Mom, if possible. Together, they would yell at me and throw things at me. Then they would go to Mom's room to do what I don't want to know.
Roger secretly threatened me. He told me that if I made one false move, I could kiss my head good-bye. He kept saying I was a toe away from crossing the line. He always made a subtle 'off with your head' motion when he saw me.
I stopped going to school. I would have to walk three miles to get there anyway, since Mom certainly wasn't going to drive me.
All day, I sat by the window, wishing Dad would come back. It had been almost fifteen years, so I knew he wouldn't, but I felt like everything would be better if he did.
I had no education. I had no food. I had no family. I had no real home. Sure, I had a house, but not a home. Not a home, where you're surrounded by loving people who care about you. I sort of befriended some local kids in a gang. We would go to houses and steal spare change and soda.
Basically, I had nothing. I felt like I wanted to die. My mother felt the same way, since she threatened me and cursed at me. The only thing that got me through was my toy squid.
I got sent to Camp Green Lake for stealing. I was actually happy to leave my hellhole of a home. At this camp, it was like a new beginning. No abusive mothers or ice-cream less fathers. Just my squid, my holes, and me.
Like my fathers come to pass
Twenty years have gone so fast
Wake me up
When September ends
Wake me up
When September ends
Wake me up
When September ends
"Hey, Zig?" I asked.
"Yeah?"
"You just said it was September, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Would you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Wake me up when September ends."
Wow. That's probably the most dramatic, angstiset, thing I've ever written. I love that Green Day song so much. It's so pretty and so sad.
Well, this was a one-shot, but leave a nice review!