Running Away

December 30, 2068

I can’t take it anymore! I have to get out of here. My head was spinning with the possibilities of where I would live. Maybe I could go leave with Grandma Angelina. She always let me do what I wanted to do without many questions. But as soon as I got there I knew she would owl Mom so she wouldn’t worry. Then she would come to retrieve me from the place and it would just turn into a bad situation. Maybe I could find my way to where Jae lived. I knew he would never turn me away, but would they owl Mom, as soon they knew I was safe too?

I didn’t really care anymore. I just needed to leave. I hated that Mom worried about me every second. I hated the look Dad would give to me when he thought I wasn’t looking. I hated that Sammy was gone away to school…again. I hated that Benny was still in his coma. I needed to be by myself. I needed to cool off. I wanted to be alone.

I picked up my sky blue jacket and threw it over my frail body, not bothering to zip it up. My white tennis shoes were already on my feet and I had some clothes packed into my backpack. That was the next thing I grabbed and I was walking out of my room. It was around ten o’clock at night, so the house was dark. I knew my mom went to bed after about an hour of her trying to get me to have a conversation with her. So she would be a problem.

Couldn’t she just accept that I was not a talker and be happy that I talked to her at all these days? I used to not say one word to her, but now I was warming up to her again. But she was just ruined it. She just had to have me “normal” like other little boys. Normal to her was me talking a lot like my sister and being mischievous like the twins. But I wasn’t like that. I was a shy boy. I knew this. Sammy knew this. Even the twins who were four year old understood that I kept to myself more than try and be outgoing. But she for some reason didn’t grasp this. I’ve grown accustomed to her pestering me into joining a conversation but today I felt like exploding at her. She went to far today and I can’t take it anymore. I was running away.

I cautiously looked around before I took a step in the hallway. There was a yellow glow coming from under the closed door of the den. Dad must be working at his desk. I looked to the room that was directly across, where he and Mom shared. It was dark and silent. Meaning Mom was asleep. I listened intently back in the den’s direction. I knew I was different and if I listened hard enough I could hear whispers of what Dad was thinking. I didn’t know where this ability came from, but I didn’t ask questions. I was grateful of this special hearing tonight, as I planned my escape.

“Wonder if I should call Dennis. We need to buy more…” I quit focusing so hard, and his warm voice ceased in my head. He was distracted with his work. He would never hear me leave. I tiptoed away from my door. I’ve always been as stealthy as a cat. But tonight I was slipping. My backpack caught on the end table and made the vase swagger. I quickly froze in my spot, and swished my pale hands out to steady the vase. I then stood very still, waiting for somebody to come see who made all the noise. But nobody came. Dad was still concentrating on his work and no sound came from their bedroom. I began walking again. Now I was passing Sammy’s room, where the twins were beginning to sleep by themselves in. The door was opened but I didn’t bother to look inside.

The front door was in sight, when I heard two sets of feet behind me. I stopped mid step and slowly turned anticipating Mom’s angry face. But what I saw surprised me. Two sets of hazel eyes were looking at me with confused expressions on their face.

“Danny?” They said in perfect union.

“Shh! Don’t wake Mum and Dad.” I said hurriedly, even though I knew for a fact Dad wasn’t asleep.

“Where are you going?” Breanna’s smooth whisper reached my ears. She just gotten a hair cut, so now her sandy brown hair only reached her shoulders. It was straight and looked so soft hanging messily in her face.

“I…have to go somewhere for a little while.” I replied to her. I couldn’t tell her I was running away because I knew this would scare the both of them. I was trying to not get mad at myself for waking them up. They must have heard me hit the end table in the hallway.

“Can we go with you?” Ethan’s cheerful smile lit up the room.

“No Eth. He wants to go by himself.” Breanna said before I could say something. She had this look in her eyes, like she knew something. I wondered what she was thinking…

“He’s leaving.” I heard her think. But she wasn’t talking to herself. More like having a conversation.

“Why?” I recognized Ethan’s velvet voice, but I wasn’t straining to hear inside his head. I was only listening to Bre’s thoughts. So why did I hear Ethan?

“I don’t know. Maybe Mum finally pushed him over the edge today.” Breanna’s soft voice thought.

“Don’t be mean Bre. She only wants to know he is ok. You know she worries like a momma bear.” Ethan thought defensively.

“Yeah but telling him she wished he would be more like Benny went over board didn’t she?” Bre asked skeptically.

“Maybe, but you can tell it was a slip on her part. She didn’t mean it. It came out wrong. Maybe Danny was different when Benny was alive.” My hands began to shake after hearing what Ethan thought. Benny was not dead. I would go crazy if he was. I wouldn’t be able to handle anything. I can’t…I need to stop thinking about it before I lose it.

“He’s not dead Ethan! Don’t even think that! He’s sleeping remember!” Breanna all but shouted in her head.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean it!” Ethan said hurriedly, looking ashamed.

“It’s ok. Just be careful what you say when Danny is listening.”

I took a step back, my eyes widening. How did she know I was listening to them talk? Nobody knew my secret. And how were they talking to each other? Did they have special hearing like I did?

“How…How did…How?” I stuttered to find the right words. They both looked at me with angelic smiles.

“Told you he could hear us.” Breanna thought smugly.

“Yeah I owe you a cookie.” Ethan chuckled in her head.

“Ok. Stop! Can you two hear peoples minds too?” I asked shakily. I don’t know why this put me on edge so badly. I mean I could do the same thing, but the fact that the two of them could read minds too scared me a little. I thought a lot of bad things today, and I don’t want them thinking I was a bad person for thinking them.

“Don’t be mad Danny. We can’t hear what you are thinking.” Ethan said, his hazel eyes growing big, like they had offended me.

“We can only hear each other.” Breanna finished for him.

“Then how did you know I…I mean how did…?” I stopped, not knowing exactly what I wanted to ask.

But they must be able to read the question on my face, because Breanna said, “We didn’t know for sure if you were able to hear what we were thinking.”

“But I felt something the other day. I can feel when Bre is in my head listening to what I think. But this time I felt like Bre was listening twice.” Ethan said his grin on his face was almost infectious. How could he be so happy all the time? I didn’t get it.

“What he means is, he felt two people hearing his thoughts.” Breanna said rolling her eyes. She looked so much like Sammy when she did that.

“What made you think it was me?” I asked.

“Because Mom would of stopped us before we played parachute off the side of the coach and Dad wasn’t there.” Breanna giggled.

“What about Sammy?” I asked. But I already knew they were right. I liked to hear what the both of them were thinking sometimes when I wanted to get my mind off of things or just wanted to calm down about something. They always had peaceful minds to listen to and were always able to soothe my problems away. But I was never aware that they knew I was listening. I never caught them having conversations in their minds either. This was all new to me.

“We knew it wasn’t Sammy. We tested her out the day before she left for school.” Ethan chuckled at a private joke. I began to wonder how they had tested her out, but I got distracted at the solemn look on Breanna’s face. I gave her a questioning look, but she looked away. Curious, I concentrated on hearing what she was thinking.

“I’m not going to tell you!” She huffed.

I closed my eyes, breaking our connection. “Are you sure you can’t read my minds?” I asked rubbing my temple.

“She’s sad you are leaving.” Ethan said matter-of-factly.

“Oh.” I said, quietly. I immediately felt my cheeks begin to burn. I hadn’t thought about what the twins would think when my bed came up empty tomorrow. They were good fun to be around, but I didn’t really think about them much when I decided to run away.

“I’m sorry you two, but I…I can’t.” I said slowly, trying to figure out a way for them to understand.

“Are you leaving because of mum?” Ethan asked, his grin no longer taking up half his face.

I couldn’t tell them the truth, but I knew I couldn’t lie to them either. So I just nodded timidly. In the back of my head I noticed how my four-year-old siblings could make me shy in an instant like anybody else.

“You shouldn’t get mad at mum.” Ethan said, his eyes watching me closely.

“You don’t understand Ethan. She wont let it go that I am not a big talker.” I said sadly.

“You’re talking a lot right now. Why don’t you talk to her?” Breanna asked, her face smoothing out of her scowl.

Her revelation took me by surprise. I hadn’t noticed that I was talking a lot right now. I was actually having a conversation with my siblings. I usually strayed away from having conversations because I was a little afraid of my voice. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it; I just really feared public speaking. I hated the concept of talking over people and it frightened me when people expected me to say something. For a while I never said a word, but I was getting better. But apparently to Mom I wasn’t.

“Mum doesn’t even care that about my feelings.” The words rushed out of my mouth before I really had a chance to think about what I was saying. Ethan gasped and Breanna squinted in anger. Looking a lot like Sammy again.

“Don’t ever say that! Mum does too care! She loves you more than anybody in the world probably!” Breanna said hysterically. I began to worry about Mom and Dad hearing her so I put my finger to my lips cautioning her to be quiet.

“You think she doesn’t care because she worries about you too much?” Ethan asked, looking at him interestedly. He genuinely wanted to know the answer. Breanna was puckering her lips angrily, and I watched as her twin subconsciously slipped his hand into hers to soothe her.

His question made me think though. How he had phrased it, made me seem selfish almost. “It’s not that Eth. She doesn’t even notice how’ve I’ve been getting better. I talked to Sammy a lot while she was here.”

“But she didn’t see that. You two only talked when she and dad weren’t around.” Ethan noted. I hadn’t thought about that. Was that true? “You didn’t talk to Sammy much when Mom was near.”

“She hasn’t noticed you getting better because you won’t let her. It’s like you go quiet when she is in the room.” Ethan said, giving him an encouraging smile.

“So you think I am doing it subconsciously then?” I asked warily.

“What?” Ethan asked, confusion hitting his hazel eyes.

“He is doing it without thinking Eth. He doesn’t even realize how he goes silent with mum in the room.” Breanna said intelligently.

I began to think over what the two of them said. Did I really shut down when Mom was in the room? Was I perhaps over reacting about today? “She hasn’t seen me say one word in front of her, has she?” I said hopelessly.

Both of them shook their heads together, and I looked down dejectedly. In her eyes I wasn’t getting better. I was as mute as I had been when Benny first went into his coma. I was ashamed about my actions today now more than ever. Mom wasn’t comparing me to my older brother. She was comparing the time up to the time he went into his coma and now. Before I was shy, but more friendly to people I knew. I talked to people who I was familiar with happily. But after the accident, I didn’t talk to anybody. For some reason I shut myself off completely to Mom. As I thought about it, I realized how awful I have been toward her for some time now. Whenever she asked me a question, I would answer Dad instead of her. When company came over I hid in my room or if I was able, outside. I never talked to her and avoided her a lot. I’d been doing this all subconsciously because I could never do something so harshly to her on purpose. I immediately began to feel so bad my stomach hurt. I knew my face was crumbling by the identical expressions on the twins face. I hurt Mom really bad and I didn’t care enough to notice.

“I don’t want him to go.” Breanna thought unhappily.

“I don’t either. It will be really lonely without him here.” Ethan thought back. I hadn’t even realized I was trying to hear what they were thinking. I looked back over at them and saw them both looking sadly at the ground.

It comforted me a little to see that they would miss me. Finally, I sighed and said, “I’m not leaving.” They both lifted their head at the same time, smiles brightening up their round faces. “But you two need to help me with something.”

“Anything.” They said in union.

I smiled and took both their hands into my own. Then I began walking down the hallway. I could hear them giggling next to me. Letting go of Ethan’s hand for moment, I turned the knob of my parents’ bedroom, and pushed open the door. I took a breath, a little scared of what I was about to do.

“Lets wake her up first.” Breanna giggled in her head.

“Yes! Lets!” Ethan laughed out loud and then the both of them were pulling me into a run toward Mom’s sleeping figure. They let go in time to jump on the edge of the bed laughing hysterically. I reluctantly jumped on the edge too. I felt Mom shoot up, startled.

“What are you two awake for?” her shocked voice not covering her yawn.

“Danny wants-”

“To talk to you!” The two of them began giggling at their wit.

“Danny?” Mom asked through the darkness. I froze. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t talk to her.

“Tell her you love her.” Breanna instructed in her head.

“I love you mum.” I said quietly.

“I love you too Danny. Come here.” She said reaching for me while the twins bounced on either side of her. I scooted closer to her and let her wrap her arms around me. It surprised me how much this hug comforted me. Earlier I hadn’t wanted her to touch me, even when she put her hand out apologetically after she made the comment about Benny. But now I felt like all my worries were drowning with the longer we hugged.

“I’m sorry about what I said earlier. I hadn’t meant to upset you.” She said quietly into my ear. Once again I froze. Do I respond to her? What should I say?

“Tell her its ok you’re not upset.” Ethan said enthusiastically in his head.

“Its ok. I’m not upset.” I repeated. I felt her smiling and listened to her thoughts.

“Maybe he will be ok. I really need to cool it with him. I’ve probably been pushing him too hard.” I smiled to myself. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.

“Tell her we are awesome!” Breanna thought and giggled out loud.

“And that we should all get a cookie!” Ethan thought happily, bouncing higher on the bed at the thought of a cookie.

I opened my mouth to repeat what they just thought, then stopped myself. Chuckling I said, “You two are too smart for you own good.”

They laughed and said together, “I know!”


This is Danny Edwards obviously Hes ten in this ficlet