This is my first story on here so comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you! - LittleCabbage


I slept restlessly. My sleep was plagued with nightmares that left me with a feeling of doom when I woke. I used to have nightmares like this when I was little, but hadn't had one in years. This surprise reoccurrence had taken its toll. As I looked in the mirror I saw that my dark blonde hair was tangled and there were dark circles under my eyes. My eyes change daily between shades of grey and blue depending on my mood. Dark grey when I'm mad, light blue when I'm happy, and a startling grey-blue when I'm scared. My eyes were grey-blue.

"Elizabeth, Mom made breakfast. She said if you're not down stairs in ten minutes you don't get to eat." My fifteen-year-old step-sister Madeline said. I was so engrossed in my shocking appearance that I hadn't even noticed her walk into my room and sit on my bed. My father had married my step-mother, Gwen, when I was six months old so she is the only mother that I've ever known, but she's never treated me like she does Madeline. My father's away with work most of the time so he never sees how Gwen treats me. Luckily my Dad's taking me to a summer camp today at noon so I get a summer free of my wicked step-mother.

I throw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that's lying on the floor and run a brush threw my hair as I make my way down the stairs. Where my step-mother lacked in her caring for her only step-daughter she made up for in her cooking. On Madeline's fifteenth birthday she made her a triple layer chocolate cake with homemade icing that was to die for.

"Morning darling." My father placed the newspaper that he was currently reading on the table to stand and kiss my hair. There are three people that I'm certain I love; My Dad, My Grandma, and little Ben.

"Morning Daddy. I can't wait for camp." My father went to the same camp that he's bringing me to when he was a teenager. He's something of a big shot there. It's not hard to see why though, my dad's a natural leader. He has this something that just makes people listen to him. You can see it in his electric blue eyes that command attention. It suites him well with his being a CEO and all.

"All your bags are packed and ready? Do you have all of the books that you want to bring? What about your phone?" For some reason campers aren't allowed to have cell phones with them, but my dad's making me bring mine for emergency cases. I was packed weeks ago. Packing clothes wasn't the difficult part, the hard part was figuring out which books I wanted to bring. I literally have a whole library worth of books in my bedroom. And at the age of ten I'd read all of the books at our local library. Madeline says I'm a nerd, but I prefer the term 'smarter than you'.

"Yes, yes, and yes." The clock over the kitchen table read; 11:30 so I shoved food into my mouth. The faster I ate the faster we could leave.

"All righty then once I finish eating I'm going to take a shower and then we can leave." I had a grin on my face as I walked down the hall to Ben's room.

Benjamin Thomas Mathews is my four-year-old half-brother. He was a surprise to us all because Madeline was eleven and I was eight when Gwen gave birth to him, but truthfully I think he was the best thing to happen to this family. Ben doesn't have a mean bone in his body which is a good thing considering who his mother is. Walking in his room I see the normal scene, Ben at his desk with crayons and paper.

"Hey Buddy, whatcha doing?" little Ben turn around so fast when he hears my voice you would think he'd have whiplash. His bright blue eyes, same as dads, stare at me joyfully.

"Lizzy, I made you a drawing! Daddy said you're going away so I made you a going away drawing." He hands me a typical little kid drawing with the stick people and their names. There's Ben holding onto a leash and dog only we don't have a dog, Gwen wearing what looks like an apron, Madeline on her phone, Dad holding some foreign gold object with a lightning bolt above his head, and me. I look the strangest. Ben put both a lightning bolt and what looks like an owl above my head.

"It's really good Benny. Thank you, but I have some questions. What's Dad holding? And why are there lightning bolts over dad and I's heads? And an owl over me?" Ben turned around and seriously said,

" The lady told me to put them there."