The Call
Book One: Ignoring
By: Katie Johnson
May looked back behind here to make sure her older brother was still fallowing her. He wasn’t, he was to busy looking at the flock of birds in the tree above him. “Come on!” she called, her brother’s head snapped towards her then he ran the few yards between them.
“Sorry sis’er” He hung his head, looking at his shoues.
“It’s alright just stay with me.” May sighed. She was tiered, her day had gone all wrong and she constantly made to watch––baby sit more like––her older brother. Luke didn’t mean anything; he just was…slow. She admitted she had enjoyed it when she was little, having an older brother that never got tiered of playing ‘kid games’, never had better people to see, and all her friends had liked him because he was older and still like being with them.
But May grew up and Luke didn’t. He stayed in his never ending childhood as May out grew all her dolls and veggie tails and playing princess and prince. Oh, the doctors had explained it all before, many times. Luke was ‘special’ he would never fully understand the world, would always be a child. What it really seemed to mean was he would always fallow her. She would always be his caretaker.
When she pointed this out both her parents looked shocked and Luke who was usually doodling and talking to one of his doctors would look over and smile nervously. Like he really wanted to always be able to fallow her, but the tense silence made him uneasy, like he was being tested. Then the doctors would recover and pointed out Einstein needed a caretaker more than Luke did. Luke rembered to feed himself. May never bothered pointing that Luke was not going to come up with the next theory of relativity any time soon.
And of coarse they convinced them selves that Luke needed school. Not just any school, May’s school. He never stayed in a class for to long, more like he would wander around and poke in and out of subjects. But this was a new school year and so far he’d stayed in all his classes. For a whole two weeks. Then again now he had the bands drum majors watching him too, keeping him in the band hall for the first three periods, then one took him to art.
Yep Luke was in band, ever since he got lost last year in the fine arts hall and discovered a natural talent for music. Now he had that and his sketches, and his strange ability to make animals instantly like him. Three major skills that hardly helped him in school. The last period of the day was his math and reading. He could add and subtract but that was it. Reading didn’t always work out better. So far ‘The tale of Desprux’ was the largest book he’d ever tried to read. And he was praised endlessly for it.
Was May? Oh no, she’d read ‘Lord of the Rings’ in the fifth grade and could understand ‘The Scarlet Letter’ but that was nothing she still had to do more. Had to make it into the big colleges. She was tenth in her class, but that was no good, she had to be first. She played the flute in middle school but had dropped it for color guard. Her mom made it seem like the world had come crashing down. She never bothered to say she’d published a series of children’s books under a pen name for fear she’d need to start spewing novels.
But not Luke, first born, first loved, first praised, first in any thing. Luke could do no wrong. May could only mess up.
“Sis’er?” Luke peaked at her. “What’s wrong?”
You! You’re all-wrong and get adored for it! I’m normal! I can read cologe level books, take Ap classes! I can memorize Shakespeare and know what I’m saying! I’ve published books! I can…just stand in the shadows…smiled nod and be the cheery girl every one wants… May shook her head. “Nothing, I’m fine.” She kicked at a louse peace of sidewalk. “Every thing is just peachy.”
“But you look mad.” Luke frowned trying to figure it out. “I won’t tell.”
“It’s nothing.”
“But––“
“Nothing Luke! Just leave me alone for the love of all that is good and holy!” she turned on him. Luke staggered back a few steps, shock written on his face. May turned and stormed off. Luke blinked and slowly fallowed her. May was muttering things under her breath that he couldn’t hear. She continued to storm down the sidewalk and up the steps of their house, slamming the door behind her.
Luke walked into the house and into the kitchen. Fresh baked cookies were cooling on a tray by a note. He looked at it frowned and squinted at the words as if it’d help him understand. He thought about getting May to help him but then he rembuered he was supposed to leave her alone. So he stood there staring at the words trying to sound them out in his head. He got store, ill be back, and, five o’clock. There was a funny looking letter he couldn’t rembuer how to pronounce. It looked a bit like an ‘a’ but then not completely.
‘@ store be I’ll be back @ five o’clock.’
Luke shook his head, and picked up a cookie. He heard May screaming into her pillow up stairs. Maybe she’d like a cookie…but he had to leave her alone. He picked up another cookie and a small plate. Carefully he crept up the stairs, trying really hard to be quiet. He stopped outside of May’s door. He could hear her crying now; maybe he should have brought more cookies. “Sis’er?” Luke knocked softly. “Sis’er?”
“What?” May’s voice was horce. “Can’t you do you homework on your own for once?”
Luke stood out side the door uncertain. May always helped him. She was so smart! She understood things and could explain him. “Sis’er?”
“What?” May snapped as the door flew open. Luke blinked; he suddenly didn’t know what to say. He held the plate of cookies out to her. “We can’t eat in our rooms.” May sighed.
“I won’t tell.” Luke promised.
“Alright.” May let him in.
“Sis’er not mad anymore?” Luke brightened.
May sighed; he believed the world could be fixed with chocolate chip cookies. “No, I’m not mad.” Luke beamed.
“I’ll do my own homework too.” He nodded. May smiled softly. Luke was always trying to please every one else, as if the world’s problems were his to fix even if he didn’t understand them. He stood there for a moment the backed out.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to leave you alone?” Luke blinked, as if coming up to her room with a plate of cookies didn’t violate ‘leave you alone’. “I’ll be down stairs if you need more cookies.” He stepped out and scampered down the stairs.
May flopped back on her bed. It would be so much eseyr to be mad at him if he wasn’t so sweet to her…in a little kid way. Always the little kid way. She herd something spill all over the tile floor and Luke voice piping out an “Oppes”. May bit in to one of the choclet chip cookies. It was Friday, football game tonight at five o’clock. Then who knew, there was going to be homework that was all that was for sure. She needed more cookies.
Luke looked down at the scattered M’M’s on the floor. “Oppes.” He’d only meant to use them for his math, not spill them all over the floor. He didn’t want them on the floor. Luke bent down about to pick them up, but the candies were no longer on the floor.
They floated up to even with his hands. Luke blinked and pointed at the candy jar. The rainbow of bright chocolates flew in the glass container as the lid opened it’s self, closing as the last one fell in. Luke continued to stare at the jar, he’d done that. Some how he’d done that. He turned and looked at the water in the flower vase. Could he do it again? Luke stared at the water and beconed slowly. The water snaked out forming in to an orb above the vase.
“Luke!”
Water splashed everywhere as Luke jumped. May stood in shock, not fully ready to believe what she saw.
“Sis’er?” Luke frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“You Luke, there is something very wrong with you.”
Ta Da! Thats the first chapter! I found the color button!!! Whooo this is fun! Al right I'm going to stop cuz I've got a line of children behind me!
R&R!
Katie, you really need to start finishing these stories. You need to PUBLISH them. You really are incredibly gifted! I'll admit — I'm a little jealous! This story brought tears to my eyes (right up to the unexpected twist at the end) ... of course, that could have been listening to Najoua Belyzel while reading it, I'm not sure. =)
ReplyDeleteI'm really, really impressed, Katie! FANTASTIC job!
I absolutely agree, Katie. The good thing about you writing your stories is that I can rewrite them for you minus the occasional spelling fuzzydoodle mishap and we can eventually bind them and work on publishing. Or something like that.
ReplyDeleteKatie, you are driving me crazy. You have inherited the Thomas procrastination gene. Or you get easily bored. Or you are big tease !!! FINISH THE DARNED STORY. You keep starting them, getting me interested, and then not finishing them. BIG tease.
ReplyDeleteThe story was great. Love, Grandma T