• i stared at the unrelenting gray sky as i traveled to Dallas to see my grand parents, unwillingly. my music turned up on my computer so i can’t hear anyone. i turn back to my computer in my lap and typed a short story about today's depressing events and the wanted ones, too.
    we stopped in Hillsboro to get gas for my dads truck and to get something to drink and snack on. i got a v8 splash: berry blend and a jumbo stick of hot and sweet jerky. my step-mom got a sprit, chyanna got a lime pepsi and a big bag of smoothy skittles, and my dad got a dr. pepper and the same jerky as me.
    i stepped outside and took a breath of the cold rainy air to calm myself. it worked a little. once we were back in the truck i passed out everyone's drink and snack and got mine last. we final got back on the long stretch of hi-way which seems to have aspolutly no end.
    as we passed a eighteen wheeler i saw that he was carrying military vessels painted a sandy desert. i guessed they are heading to a military airport to be shipped off to Iraqi, to the war. once again we took an exit but we did not stop and we went through Alverato.
    “Mandolin. Mandolin.” Chyanna said.
    i took off my headphones and said “what?”
    “can i have this piece of jerky?” she asked as she waved it close to my face. “i’ll give you some skittles for it.”
    i had to make sheer that she hadn’t taken what was let of my jerky. there was some left so i agreed to it. she put some of her skittles in my hand but it wasn’t enough to cover the size of jerky i let her get. so, i hassled her until she got the right amount. i smiled at her, she smiled back.
    i turned away from her as she ate the jerky and looked out the window. my face turned from my depression to my anger as we passed a plant or two. “i hate plants.” i said under my breath where no one could hear. i started to feel sleepy. i put away my computer in its case and tried to sleep but the road had to many bums. after awhile it got smooth and i was able to sleep.
    i woke up just seconds from my grand parents house. i sat up and fix my hair as we pulled in to the driveway. i stepped out of the truck into the cool air and went to the front door and rang the door bell. a lady came to the door. she was about in early to late sixty's. she was shorter than me and had gary hair, brown eyes, and a face that looked happy to see me.
    “hi granny.” i said to her as i gave her a little hug and reluctantly letting her kiss my bare cheek.
    “hi. how are you?” she asked me as she hugged and kissed me on the cheek.
    “ok. what about you and papa?” i asked as the others came up behind me. then she began to great the others as i went inside. i walked into the den to see my papa watching the news. i walked towards him as he got up. i gave him two bear hugs and he smiled.
    he was in the same age group as my granny but he’s taller, alot taller, maybe a foot or two, his hair was gary with some brown in it and his eyes were brown, too.
    “how are you, Mandolin?” he asked.
    “ok, you?” i answered him. i love my dad and papa the most and if anything happened to ether one or both my whole world would fall apart completely.
    “I'm fine.”
    “good.” i smiled at him as Chy came in and gave him two hugs, too. i left not wanting to around my sister at that time. walked into the kitchen to see my step-mom, dad, and my grandma snacking on some home made salsa and talking to each other. i went over there and tried the salsa. it was good but not how i liked it... spicy.
    i turned to go out of the room when...
    “sweetie could you set the table?” my grandmother ask. i turned around knowing she was talking to me not my commonly divorced dad and one without a real child experience parent step-mom.
    i sat the table perfectly and by the time i finished my grandma had all the food ready to be put on the table. the dinner was normal as usual, a prayer, blessings, and the common passing of the food. the conversation was normal. i kept my mouth shut and just ate as usual.
    once the food was all gone and the table was cleared we played chicken foot.
    “who’s got the double nine?” my grandmother ask to all of us.
    “i’ve got it.” Cal, father, said as he laid it face up on the table.
    than Chyanna was next, then me. hours past and the game finally ended.
    “its 10:00, time for bed.” my grandmother said. everyone one was sent to bed but i yet to get to that room I'm so-posed to sleep in. i walked to the den and pulled out the old hi-da bed. i laid down on the limed space of the hi-da bed i had and tried to sleep. i constantly tossed and turned that night.
    when i awoke that morning i had a pounding headache and i felt like i was going to trough-up but of curse i didn’t. the hi-da bed was put up and i headed for the kitchen. once i got in the kitchen i found out that everyone but me and my step-mother had not gone to the store. i started to gather up my stuff when Earthen came in the room and told me to gather up both my sister’s and mine.
    “Chyanna can get her own stuff .” i said because Chyanna is 14. “she not a baby.”
    she just looked at me in discuss and said. “just do it.”
    i responded with “thats not my responsibility.” i was right more or less because that is not my stuff. “plus they’ll be back soon. it's just a block away.”
    she gave me this hideous look. “just do it.” i shook my head.
    she started to get angry but i still shook my head. “not my response....” i closed my eye and then the next thing i see is her hands heading strait for me, ready for slapping me. i started to get out of that room not wanting to really fight because of my headache, but she grabbed me by my wrist. i screamed “let go of me b***h!” then she started to bet on me.
    “this is what you get for not doing what you where told!”
    it felt like hours before she stopped her anger rampage. i came out of that no-reason fight with a bleeding cut under my left eye, while she did not have a scrape on her uglily, fat a**.
    i stood-up honorably from the protective fetal position i had fallen in to the moment before. i looked at her and said “betting doesn’t help. so if you don’t mind i’ve got to find aspirin for this retched headache i have.”
    she stopped and left me alone. i fond the aspirin but it took it forever to work. final they came back and nothing was said about the attack for my dads sake. he wouldn’t believe me anyway.
    we all sat and had lunch. nothing big, just sandwiches and chips. i went outside after i ate to look at the cut no apparently no one saw.
    it was still bleeding and my eye was going blood shot; soon i was literally crying tears of blood. i pulled a an-aseptic pad from my pocket and rubbed it on my cut being care full not to let it touch my eye. it stung like hell; it did fell better than being hit.
    finally the cut stopped bleeding and i signed in relief that it had stopped. i looked up at the cloudy sky as thunder sounded as clear as water. i went back inside, gathered up my small suit case, and bring it out to my dads truck. it started to rain hard and lighting hit the drowning ground. i rushed back inside with my hair and shoulders wet. i went to the nearest bathroom and tried to dry myself off but to no avail.
    final we got on the road back to home... to West. it felt like forever before we got home. i looked out the window of the truck. the rain was pouring harder as we entered West. dad pulled up into the driveway and parked. we all rushed to get every thing and get inside. Sugar barked from in the kitchen as we came in.
    i went strait to my room and though my bag on the floor. i locked myself in my room and opened my window to let the rainy air in. bright red birds sat outside my window in a bush to stay dry. they stared at me with their dark eyes as i pulled out a bag of seeds. i lifted up my window screen and sat some of the seeds on the window ledge.
    they hopped from the bush to ledge and began to eat on the seeds. i smiled and shut the window quietly. i left the room and put my clothes that needed to be washed in the laundry room.
    i went up on my bed and listened to the rain pour down. the rain echoed in my ears; it sounded like a emptiness that would never fill. the wind blew the bush and it sounded like someone was scratching away at my window screen trying to get in. i laid there until dinner was ready.
    the diner was the same as always, two types of vegetables and chicken. nothing much went on, we ate in our rooms and returned the dishes to the kitchen when we were finished. i laid on my bed again and thoughts of tomorrow began to fill my mind.
    -he would be back tomorrow... my love... my hero... my werewolf, Kevin Cheketa.-
    he wasn't back and a got a filling he may never be back. my stomach churned at that horrid thought.
    well a week passed... two... three... four and now it was a month. his parents called me to see if he gotten in contact with me and i always said "no". i decided that something was wrong and i had to go find him.