Hannah couldn't sleep. It was one of those nights where she tossed and turned. It just seemed impossible to find a comfortable position to lay and, even when she did, sleep refused to come.
That's what you get for drinking so much soda before you go to bed, she scolded herself. Of course it was something she often did and she'd paid the price for it many times. Nevertheless, it wasn't a habit she would stop anytime soon.
At least Greg was happy because Uncle Frank had purchased plenty of food from the grocery store, which apparently included some of her brother's favorite snacks such as potato chips and pretzels. On top of that, Uncle Frank had plugged the old Xbox 360 into the television just to give Greg something to do and to keep him quiet. As a result, Greg spent hours there after dinner and had eventually fallen asleep on the couch.
Aunt Marge and Uncle Frank didn't seem to care as long as their niece and nephew were fed and entertained. In truth, Hannah had been hoping that Uncle Frank would allow her to play some games on his computer. He used to let in her there, sometimes, when she was younger as long as he was there to supervise. But whatever he was doing now, she got the distinct vibe that he didn't want anyone in there other than himself.
It made her all the more curious what he was doing in his office. She knew he worked in there, but what was the current project he was working on? Why was he being so secretive about it? She had tried opening the door once after Frank had gone to bed, only to find it locked. He'd never seemed so adamant about keeping people out before.
I almost wish it wasn't Spring Break, Hannah thought with a sigh. She wasn't especially fond of school, but perhaps her parents would have left her and Greg home if it was a regular school week. Instead she had been left in a boring house where no one wanted to do anything with her and she had nothing to do.
If I was at home I could at least be learning to drive, she thought with a discontented sigh. She had her learner's permit in her purse along with fifty dollars she'd earned in exchange for some yard work she'd done for a few of her neighbors back home. But at present there was nothing she could do with either. Aunt Marge didn't seem inclined to take her anywhere, nor did Frank. She highly doubted either of them wanted to take the time to teach her to drive, either.
Come on, I've gotta fall asleep, she thought as she rolled over onto her side. She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. I've gotta get some sleep, or…
Or what? A realization dawned on her. In this house it wouldn't matter if she slept in late as a result of insomnia. Since the kitchen was stocked with ready-to-make food and a few things that didn't even need to be cooked, Marge and Frank probably expected the kids to fend for themselves anyway. They wouldn't even noticed if she slept most of the day away.
Besides, it wasn't like she had to get up early to catch the school bus. That was one major plus.
She turned on her bedroom light and grabbed a book from the nearby shelf. Most of the novels were covered with dust and several of them were worn with many creases along their spines. Apparently this was the room that her aunt and uncle put older books they didn't read very often.
Hannah ended up reading "Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Old Clock". She found the main character to be a bit too sugar-sweet and considered Nancy to be a Mary Sue. She also found that the mystery unraveled itself a bit too smoothly as some of the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place a bit too easily. Well, Hannah thought as she read on, at least it's better than Twilight.
However she found herself unable to finish the book, so she ended up grabbing another one. She took "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" from the shelf and finished it within a few hours. She then set it aside on the edge of her bed. Shortly after her head hit the pillow she drifted off to sleep and began to dream of being in a whole different world where different kinds of creatures lived, physical laws were different, and time itself operated differently.
She eventually awoke to the sound of someone banging on her door and the dream faded from her mind like a snowflake on someone's fingertip. "Ugh," Hannah grunted as she tried to ignore the sound. She still felt tired, even if the sunlight blared through her bedroom window.
What time is it anyway? A brief glance at the wall clock made her blink in surprise. "Two in the afternoon?" She sat straight up, throwing the covers aside. "Holy crap. I've never slept this late before."
She also realized she was starving and she felt a little dehydrated.
"Hannah!" a familiar voice shouted, accompanied by another round of banging on her door.
"Greg…" Hannah inhaled deeply and took a moment to stretch her arms over her head. She stood, walked over to the door and opened it. "What do you want, Greg?" she asked grouchily.
"You were still sleeping?" Greg asked in astonishment. "And you say I'm lazy."
Hannah scowled at him. In truth she was still waiting for the cobwebs to leave her brain; they always seemed to be there when she first woke up. "Just tell me what you want."
"I want you to make us some lunch. I'm starving!"
"Why don't you make something yourself?" Hannah ran a hand through her hair and grimaced. She still had bed hair, which reminded her of something she'd forgotten to do.
"I don't want to cook. That's something that girls do," Greg grumbled as he walked into her room. He followed her as she went to retrieve her purse from her dresser.
"You're just lazy," Hannah grumbled. She fished through her purse until she found her hairbrush, then she briskly straightened out her unkempt hair. Thankfully it was only chin-length and it was fairly straight, meaning it didn't tangle too much.
"Says the girl who slept in until two in the afternoon!" Greg retorted.
"I had a rough night," Hannah growled. She finished brushing her hair and put the brush back in her purse. "What have you been doing all day, anyway?"
"Oh… stuff."
"Playing video games, you mean."
"Hey I have to finish Kingdom Crucifix because Keith wants it back when I get home!"
"Weren't you supposed to be reading a book over Spring Break? You know, for English class?"
"I'll get to it!"
"Yeah," Hannah rolled her eyes. "You might as well call your teacher and tell you to grade you an F on that book report and get it over with."
"Oh you are such a smarty-pants just because you get A's and B's all the time. You just don't understand that you gotta relax sometimes, too, or your head explodes!"
"You're just making excuses." Hannah folded her arms. "Either that or you're jealous."
"I am not! I'm just as good at school as you are!"
"Then why don't you study more?"
"Stop trying to be Mom! I'm so sick of you trying to-"
"I'm not trying to be anybody," Hannah stated firmly, then she sighed. "Look, just forget it. You want lunch, I'll make lunch. I'm hungry too." With that she headed out of her room with Greg on her heels.
"What're you gonna make?" Greg demanded as he tailgated her down the stairs. "You better make something good. I'm not eating anything gross like your pot pies or pasta salads."
Hannah grunted as she entered the kitchen. "I'm just going to make something quick and simple," she stated more harshly than she intended.
"Man, you're a grouch."
"Shut up." Hannah desperately needed food in her stomach and possibly some caffeine to improve her mood. Then she could begin acting like a civil human being. "Go play on the Xbox or something until I'm done in here."
"Yeah, okay, Mom." Greg said snarkily, but at least he had the good sense to leave her alone after that. Perhaps it had something to do with the death glare she gave him in response.
Hannah began to heat up some water in the coffee maker and then proceeded to slice up a couple of bananas into strips. After spreading some peanut-butter onto four slices of bread, she put the banana strips on the bread and then had two sandwiches ready.
She wolfed hers down as she finished fixing herself a cup of coffee. She added cream and then took a big sip, grimacing and wheezing through her nose as it burned her tongue. Nevertheless, she was starting to feel a bit better.
"Greg, lunch is ready," she called as she opened the freezer. She grabbed an ice cube and deposited it into her coffee.
"Okay, bring it in here!" Greg called from the living room.
Hannah pursed her lips. "I'm not your personal maid. You can come get it yourself."
She ignored the curse word Greg uttered as he walked reluctantly into the kitchen and looked around. "Where is it?" he asked.
Hannah jabbed a thumb at the kitchen table without even turning around. "Over there." She carefully took another deep sip from her cup; the ice cube helped prevent it from burning her mouth this time.
Greg grumbled unhappily. "A sandwich? I thought you were going to make ramen noodles or something."
"If you don't like it, make something else."
"No, it's okay I guess." Greg picked up the plate and sniffed the sandwich. "What is it?" He gingerly lifted the bread to peer at it. "Yuck, banana and peanut butter. Way to ruin a good banana."
"If you don't like it-" Hannah started to growl again.
"No, it's okay," Greg interjected, rolling his eyes. "I'll just spruce it up a little." He grabbed the bag of potato chips from the counter and reached inside, taking out a large handful of chips. He then spread it all around the sandwich on the plate. "That's better," he said. He opened the fridge and snatched up a soda can.
"Glad it's acceptable now," Hannah muttered as she drank the rest of her coffee.
Greg returned to the couch in the living room without another word. With nothing else better to do, Hannah proceeded up the stairs and went back to her bedroom. She turned on her cell phone and checked for messages; there were twelve, seven of them from Donna.
Hannah answered each of the texts. One of them was from Damian, the cute boy from her school whom she had a crush on. However he didn't respond back; the one person who was available to exchange texts was Donna, who became more and more annoying by the minute.
Finally Hannah made an excuse about needing to do something and shut off the phone. Sighing, she slipped the phone into her pocket and left her room. "Aunt Marge," she called out as she passed her Uncle and Aunt's bedroom, "if you're in there I'm going out for a walk."
"Make sure you're home before dark," was all Marge said.
Hannah went back downstairs and nearly ran into Uncle Frank as he was starting to come up. "Oh, Hannah," he exclaimed, startled. "Excuse me." He began to move past her; he seemed to be in a hurry.
Hannah watched him as he dashed up the steps and then disappeared from sight. She shrugged; knowing him he probably left one of his tools or something up there. "Yeah, see you around." She opened the door and stepped outside.
0o0o0o0o
Frank had been in his office all day, working hard. The newly built converter device had been completed and plugged into his computer the night before, but he still had a long way to go before he could test it out.
He sat in his desk chair with his eyes glued to his monitor. His fingers flew across his keyboard in a steady rhythm as he worked to complete the software that would control and run the device. The program was nearly finished; the main thing he needed to do was finish checking it over for potential mistakes or glitches.
Of course, it would be hard to find the glitches or smooth out the mistakes and possible complications until he had a chance to test it out.
It was going to be another long work day; he'd already resigned himself to that fact. He didn't mind though, especially since he was doing what he loved doing best. The only times he left his office were when he needed to rush to the bathroom or to get something to eat and drink.
Otherwise he remained transfixed with his work, as if nothing else in the world existed or mattered. Which for him, it didn't, at least not now.
The hours flowed by quickly, seeming only like minutes. Frank made a few final adjustments to the software he had designed and built up from scratch, then gave a little nod at the screen. He had already performed a few rudimentary tests on portions of it but now it was time to give it a full test. That meant installing it for real and seeing how it handled the hardware.
With a few clicks of the mouse and a few taps of his keyboard, he began to installation process. The words "Please Wait" appeared on the screen, just above a progress bar that showed the percentage of the install.
Frank yawned as he lifted his wrist to glance at his watch. He blinked. Was it really that late already? This wasn't the first time he regretted that this office had no windows. It was impossible to tell when the sun had set or even what the weather was doing outside for that matter.
While that's going on, he thought as he stood as stretched, I'm going to step outside and get a smoke. He used to enjoy his cigars in the living room, but Marge couldn't stand the smell. They'd gotten into some nasty arguments over it and, when Frank finally smoked one cigar too many in the house, Marge ended up kicking him out for the night. This had forced him to sleep rather uncomfortably in the back seat of his car.
The fat cow rules the roost, Frank thought as he stepped out of the office and locked the door behind him. The program installation could proceed without him in the room; it might take a while anyway, considering it was a sophisticated piece of software. I'm just her cash cow that lets her live in this luxurious home and enables her high-society friends to keep liking her.
Frank had no doubt that if he ever lost his job, she would be fully capable of throwing him out of his own house. If that ever happens she can have it, he thought with an unamused chuckled. I'd love to see how long she could afford it on her own.
He passed through the living room on the way to the door, glancing at Greg's sleeping form on the couch. The television was still on with the image of a game character on the screen. It seemed that the boy had been equipping an elf character in a fantasy game when he'd dozed off.
Frank simply shook his head and stepped outside. He took a cigar from his pocket along with his lighter, inhaling deeply as he lit the end of the brown stick. I should give up this habit someday, he thought, not for the first time. It was something he told himself every night.
Yet he never did.
I guess there's some things in life you know are bad for you, but you never want to give them up. He inhaled deeply again and had to resist the urge to gag. Instead he simply wheezed. Take it easy. Don't want to asphyxiate yourself all in one night.
He sat down on the porch step, gazing thoughtfully at the sky. He held his cigar absent-mindedly between his index finger and thumb as he gazed into the heavens, admiring the glimmering stars that spread across the cloudless sky. I wonder if there is life out there, he thought.
Then his mind returned to thoughts of his current work. I wonder if there is life in computers, he found himself thinking. It seemed absurd but… perhaps it was something he would soon find out.
