Short Story 1: Wish Come True

* All characters and events in this story are fictional and created for the purpose of the story

* The Short Story may contain the depiction of violent and/or graphic scenes. Readers are warned.

I stared hard into the eyes of the furry creature that stood in front of me. It had glossy black eyes and dark fur. It was roundish, kind of like a porcupine without its spines. It had four stubby legs, making it look kind of cute to me.

I reached out for it, wondering what the creature was.

"Kim!" I heard my mom call from the first floor of the house. "Dinner!"

"Just a minute!" I shouted back.

I was in my room. There was a shelf shoved full of books I rarely read behind where I was sitting down. A bed was to my left, the door to my room on the right. In front of me was a desk, topped with a lamp and stationery set. I adjusted my glasses, wondering if the creature I saw in front of me was real or just another figment of my imagination.

"Kim! Last call!" My mom called out.

I got up before touching the creature. I pointed at it, telling it, "Stay here."

I left my room and walked downstairs. I guess I hadn't been looking at where I was going. I bumped into my younger brother, who was wearing a jacket, hood pulled over his head. He wore a pair of headphones, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket.

"Perce," My mom called out to my brother. "It's time for dinner!"

My younger brother, Perce, ignored her, stomping up the stairs and disappearing into his room. I walked down while looking up the stairs, not exactly sure how I was supposed to react to such an event. I came face to face with my mom.

Some people said I was a spitting image of my mother when she was younger. Personally, I could not see the similarities between us.

I pulled out a chair slowly, staring at my mom for even the slightest bit of frustration at my actions. Luckily, she was too busy staring up the stairs to notice me.

She stomped past me and up the stairs. I sat down in my seat, staring blankly at the dinner that was prepared for our family. I picked up a fork and stabbed a piece of dry chicken, chewing it. I was not particularly hungry. I was never a big eater anyway.

I had eaten a few bites when I heard shouting from the second floor.

"Rip your eyes off the computer screen for once!" I heard my mother shout. "You... you don't do anything but game all day. Don't think I don't know that you've been skipping school to play games!"

I let out a soft sigh as I continued eating.

"What about your studies? You've been failing everything!" My mother continued shouting. "Stop playing games and focus on life!"

I heard a crash, followed by a hard slam of the door. The slam was followed by heavy footsteps that gradually got closer. I turned to see my mother stomping towards me.

She sat down across from me, staring at the meal she had prepared. I could see her lips waver, and her eyes were starting to get foggy. She covered her face and inhaled deeply before asking me, "How did the latest test go?"

"Alright," I replied.

"What do you mean by 'alright'?" My mother demanded.

"I topped the class," I replied, not even looking at my own mother. "Just like you wanted. Full marks, just like you wanted."

My mother clasped her hands together, nodding to herself. She whispered, "Good... good..."

I finished eating, standing up and bringing my plate to the sink. My mother sat at the dining table, staring at the food she had cooked up, deep in thought. I washed the plate and rushed upstairs, back to my room.

Even in my room, I could hear the faint laughter and occasional angry shouts from my brother next door to me. I ignored him and sat down, staring at the creature that had appeared in my room less than an hour ago.

I had been trying to meditate when I noticed the strange creature pop out. I wasn't particularly spooked by it, but I did find it adorable.

I tried patting it, and to my delight, it squished like a plushie. I picked it up and brought it near my face. I felt myself smile at the cute creature as I told it, "You're adorable! I wanna keep you around forever! What should I name you though..."

I looked to the side before the idea came up. "Bobby!"

I hugged the creature, squashing it as if it was a plushie. It made no noise or movements, so I guess it was something like a pillow or plushie.

I heard faint footsteps approaching my door. I threw the creature aside and under my bed. I quickly got up, pulling my chair back and sitting down on it. I flipped one of my notebooks to a random page before pretending to be reading it.

My mother opened the door to my room, looking in momentarily before closing the door. When she closed the door, I let out a sigh and rested my head on the desk.

It's really tiring.

Next day, morning.

I woke up to the usual. A mix of alarm bell noises and screaming.

"Where have you been all night?" I heard my mother scream.

"None of your business, woman," I heard my father shout back.

"You had me worried sick!" My mother continued. "Were you out drinking again? What if you got into an accident? Are you cheating on me?"

"Shut up!"

And here comes the slap that rang throughout the house. I stared at my ceiling, thinking the same thoughts I would think almost every morning. 'Will they ever stop doing this?'

I got out of my room not too long after, coming face to face with my father. He barely looked at me before shoving me aside to get to his own room. He reeked of cigarettes and alcohol, a smell I had associated with my father. I looked down the hallway, seeing my mother there. Her face was plastered with tears, and her left cheek was red.

I saw what was in her hands and took a few steps back into my room.

It was not uncommon to see my mother holding a knife. I guess I had gotten used to it?

I waited, setting my school clothes aside.

My mother stormed into my room, knife in hand. She looked insane, her eyes wide and desperate like she was being attacked by a wild animal. I simply stood there, staring at the ground. If she wanted to stab me with the knife, she should just do it already.

Instead, she started pulling my hair.

"Ouch," I said monotonously to myself.

She grabbed my hair and shook me around.

"Ouch," I said monotonously to myself.

"I left my hopes and dreams for this?" My mother screamed, shaking me more violently. "Why? Why is God so unfair to me?"

I stared at the ground, seeing the knife in my mother's hand, wondering when she was going to plunge it into me.

She scratched me, beat me, insulted me. I honestly couldn't care less.

When my mother calmed down, she stormed out of the room, shouting, "Get up!" as she slammed on my brother's room's door.

I got up and picked up my clothes to go to the bathroom. I was in pain, but I've already come to accept it long ago.

I stepped out and walked by my brother's room and to the bathroom. I took a quick shower before going back into my room. I could hear more shouting.

"You're going to school!" My mother shouted, likely to my brother.

There was no reply from Perce. It was likely that he was ignoring her.

"ANSWER ME!" She hollered.

"SHUT UP!" Perce shouted back, followed by a slam. "All you do is yap at me all day! Give me a break!"

Yeah right, like you have it worse.

I got my stuff and walked downstairs. I dodged the flying plate, the plate shattering on the wall to my left. I put on my shoes as the argument continued in the background. I glanced back, saying, "I'm not having breakfast. Diet."

I walked out and headed towards school.

School time. Same old, same old. No matter what other students may try to do, it wouldn't faze me. Surprisingly enough, nothing much really goes on in school.

School? Ended. Afterschool? Home. Home? Same old, same old.

I stepped into my house. I know my mother liked sleeping around this time. To her, when no one was in the house, it was the most peaceful time. I knew that because she made herself crystal clear when letting out her stress on me.

I climbed up the stairs and into my room.

I reached under my bed and brought out the black creature I had hidden. I stared at it before hugging it close, staring at the ceiling. I could feel myself calm down when I hug Bobby. It was adorable, and it acted as my personal plushie.

I could tell my mother knew that I was home. I heard the rattling of keys and the slamming of a door.

I was alone in the house once again. I stared at the creature I named Bobby.

"Wouldn't it be amazing if all of this were to disappear?" I asked Bobby, squeezing it as I talked.

I could have sworn I saw it blink.

"It's just so... tiring," I told it.

I hugged it once again, adjusting my glasses. I should be studying, but my mother wasn't at home, so I didn't give two shits about it. Lying down on my bed, I lifted a leg before letting it drop. I tossed Bobby in the air and caught it.

It really is so tiring.

I rubbed my eyes, a sudden wave of fatigue passing over me. I closed my eyes for a second and opened them again. I stared down at Bobby, the creature blinking at me. I could see my own reflection in its shiny black eyes.

"I don't know where you come from," I told it. "I don't even know if you're real. But you are quite adorable."

I squished Bobby a few more times, a smile starting to spread on my face. Playing with Bobby may be the only thing that brings joy to my life anymore. I hugged it close before falling asleep once again.

Loud noise. How annoying.

I opened my eyes to shouting, nothing unusual.

My mother was shouting about something. My brother was shouting about something. My father was shouting about something.

It is rare to have them all arguing at the same time.

I put Bobby down on my bed before I walked down the stairs.

"I could have married a doctor! But instead, I trusted you!" My mother screamed at my father before pointing at my brother. "Now I'm married to an alcoholic and have this for a son!"

"Not like you're any better yourself!" My father shouted.

"Don't you two ever shut up?" My brother added on.

"Don't be rude to your father, brat!" My father shouted, punching my brother across the face.

My brother balled up his fists before pointing at my father. "My father? You're barely ever home! I don't see a piece of shit like you as my father!"

He then pointed at my mother. "Neither do I see you as my mother!"

Their argument heated up, and they seem to have yet to notice me. I sat down on the stairs, halfway down the stairs. I watched the argument, the same argument over and over again.

It's tiring.

Will they ever stop?

I felt something against my back. I turned and saw Bobby jumping and bouncing off my back. I stood up and started walking up, holding Bobby, but it appears that my family noticed me.

"Kim!" I heard my mother shout.

I froze in place and turned around.

My mother was at the bottom of the flight of stairs. She was staring at me, wide-eyed as she approached me, walking up the stairs with a knife in hand. She said to me, her voice dripping with desperation, "Follow your mom, right? You'll follow me, right?"

She made it to where I was.

She grasped my hand. "You'll follow me..."

I stared directly into her eyes. She shouted, "RIGHT?"

She was pulling me towards her. I shook my hand free from my mother's grasp and reached out, holding her shoulders. I brought her closer and hugged her, my mother too shocked to say a thing.

"..."

It's really, really, really, really really really really really rrrreeeeeaaaaaalllllllllllyyyyyyyy

tiring

"no," I whispered.

I gently pushed her away. She fell backwards and down the stairs. I looked down, my brother and father having an argument of their own. My father grabbed a bottle and smashed it against my brother's head, the bottle shattering. Shards of the glass bottle embedded themselves in my brother's head.

Perce grabbed a chair and swung it at my father, who grabbed it, starting a wrestling competition between them. Perce was quickly overpowered. My father slammed the chair into Perce's head a few times until he stopped moving.

I stared down the steps of the stairs and started walking down.

My father calmed himself, looking around and realising what he had done. Perce lay on the ground, blood pooling beneath his head. At the foot of the stairs, my mother lay, blood pooling beneath her too. She had landed on the knife she had been holding.

I got to the last step and stepped over the lifeless body of my mother, getting my bare feet bloodied. My father stared at me, eyes wide. It was probably the soberest I had ever seen him. I walked by him, leaving bloody footprints behind me.

I stepped over the body of Perce and reached the dining table.

That's a nice meal we had prepared.

Was it takeout?

I picked up a knife from the dining table and walked towards my father. He was likely too stunned to do anything but stare. I passed him the knife politely before I stepped away, spreading my arms to either side.

I gave him a big smile, the biggest, purest smile I had.

"Daddy, won't you stab me?" I asked him like a kid asking for candy.

It's so so so tiring.

He held the knife for a moment before he ran towards me. He tripped over one of Perce's outstretched legs and fell. He landed on the knife, the knife stabbing him in the eye. I still had my arms spread as I stared at the bloodied floor of the house.

My feet felt warm as fresh blood pooled around my feet. I squatted down and touched some of the blood, feeling the warmth. I reached out and wrestled the knife from my father's lifeless hands. I held the bloody knife, my clothes and hands also bloodied. I flicked the knife to one side like a conductor.

I skipped over my father-brother pile, trying to reenact a dancer. I slipped on blood and fell back, falling on top of my brother. I swung my right hand down beside me, stabbing the knife into my father.

I got back up, feeling unusually hungry.

"Hm..." I hummed to myself.

I walked over to the dining table and sat down. I saw my reddened hands, still wielding the knife.

An unusual smile spread across my face as I hummed again, "Hm~"

Next day. Morning.

...

Silence.

I stared at my ceiling, my glasses still on me. I noticed that my vision was stained slightly red. I pulled my glasses off and got out of bed, Bobby right beside me. I sat up on my bed, staring at the open door of my room. There were bloodied footprints leading to my room.

I stood up, walking over to my shelf of books. I pulled on it, letting it fall. I hopped over it and went over to my desk, grabbing every piece of paper I could find and ripping them to shreds. I took the lamp and threw it at the toppled shelf.

I walked out, smiling to myself.

What a beautiful day today. I walked down the stairs, stepping over my family as I reached the kitchen. I opened the fridge. The world sure is a lot more colourful. Things smelt better, food tasted better, my ears were feeling better.

Oh what a beautiful day~

"Talk less..." I sang to myself. "Smile more."

I smiled to myself as I reached out. Maybe I'll have some cereal. I recall that cereal was a common breakfast item, so why not try it out?

I feel rather energised today!