August was your typical 13-year-old, bubbly, outgoing, and
loved to be social and be around people.
His appearance was a little different, because he had spiky black hair,
sparkling sky blue eyes, and rather pale skin. August had loving parents, a
teasing younger sister, and life for him was great.
August was out on the basketball
field one day with his friends, Liam, Marcus, and Trevor. Marcus was sort of stocky and muscular, and a
bit shorter than August, and had dark brown hair, tannish skin, and murky brown
eyes. Liam was blonde, lean, and tall,
and had greenish blue eyes, and was a bit taller than August, which gave him an
advantage in basketball. Trevor was the
younger one, a couple grades below the rest of the guys, but was just as
fun. Trevor had dark green eyes, light
brown hair, and was still a bit short.
“
Aw,
come on, August, that’s impossible!”
Marcus complained good-naturedly.
They were playing Horse, and August had just scored while throwing the
basketball backwards, his back to the hoop.
He now grinned at Marcus.
“Sorry I’m so awesome,” August joked, high-fiving Trevor as he
went to the end of the line. Marcus
groaned, then attempted to make the shot, just missing the hoop. When he did, the other guys said “Oh!” all at
the same time, then started laughing.
Marcus pretended to look annoyed, but couldn't help a grin.
“Well,
dude, that’s an R for you,” Liam chuckled when they calmed down.
“August! Come on, buddy!” August’s dad called out of the rolled down
window of his car as he drove up, a smile on his face.
“Sorry
guys, see you in a couple of weeks,” August told his friends, smiling at them.
“Man,
why do you have to go on a road trip?” Marcus complained lightly.
“My
family hasn't been on one in a while, and my mom thought it would be fun for
all of us,” August replied, shrugging.
“Well,
we’re going to miss you,” Liam said, frowning a little. August punched him lightly in the shoulder.
“I’ll be
back before you know it! See you guys,” August said, then ran to his dad’s car.
August’s dad smiled at him.
“I was
about to honk the horn! You, sir, still
have to pack,” He teased, and they drove off.
August
and his dad arrived at home, and August walked into the kitchen, from which
there were tantalizing smells drifting.
“Hey, mom,” He greeted his mother warmly. August’s mother was beautiful, with reddish
brown hair, warm green eyes, and pale-ish skin, and a lithe build. She grinned at her son from where she was
making Asian stir-fry.
“Hey,
honey! How was your day?” His mom asked,
turning back to her stir fry.
“Great!
Where’s Sarah?” August asked, smiling.
“In her
room. She might need help with her
homework,” His mother remarked.
August
nodded and hurried up the stairs, knocking on his little sister’s door
quietly. “Come in!” A rather
high-pitched feminine voice came from inside, muffled a bit by the door. August
walked in, to see his 9-year-old sister lying on her stomach on the floor of
her neat, girlish room, staring down at a math sheet.
August
chuckled a bit. “Need some help there,
Sara?” He asked.
“Would
you?!” Sara gushed, making August laugh. He nodded and sat down beside her.
A couple
days later, August, his parents, and his sister were in a car, bags packed, to
some unknown getaway. No one but
August’s dad knew where it was, and he was apparently sworn to secrecy. “Come on, Dad, where are we going?” Sara
whined from where she sat with August in the backseat.
Their
dad chuckled. “Sorry, sweetheart, can’t
tell you,” He replied from the front seat.
August
chuckled as well. “Give it up, Sara, he’s not going to tell us,” He remarked.
Sara
glared playfully at him, but suddenly there was a loud screech, followed by a
yell from their dad. For a split second
August could see a truck coming straight at them from Sara’s window, and the
terrified look on everyone’s face, before he heard metal collapsing, glass
cracking, and felt instant pain ram into his side and his throat, before
everything went black.
August
woke up for a few seconds, to hear sirens blaring, and see the car in ruins
around him, and a few flames. He
instantly felt almost unbearable pain in his throat and arm and thigh on his
left side, but sucked it up and tried to see if his family was okay. August saw that his dad was gone, someone
must have taken him out, but his mother was completely motionless, blood
pouring from her mouth.
August
felt a heavy lump in his throat, and turned to look at Sara. She was lying motionless, eyes closed. Sara? August tried to say, but there was
instantly a sharp pain in his throat, so he couldn't say anything. Sara? He
tried to say again, but couldn't. August
felt tears on his face, but it hurt a lot to sob. He remembered someone’s, probably a
firefighter’s face before he blacked out again.
August
woke up now to the beeping of a heart monitor, and white-washed walls. As he processed his surroundings, he realized
he was in a hospital. What’s going on? He wondered, when
suddenly he remembered. The crash. Were Dad, Mom, and Sarah all right? August tried to move, but felt pain in his
left thigh and left arm that stopped him.
“No,
don’t try to move,” A doctor insisted when he walked in, putting a hand
out. He was a man in his 30’s, and was
carrying a white board and marker. Are my parents and sister okay? August
tried to ask, but felt pain in his throat.
“No, don’t try to talk either.
Just write,” The doctor insisted again, handing August the white board
and marker.
August
furiously scribbled out what he had tried to say and showed the whiteboard to
the doctor, who sighed sadly. “August…
your parents and sister are dead. Your
mother and sister died on impact, and your father died not too long ago… I’m so
sorry,” He murmured.
August’s
eyes welled with tears, and they spilled out onto his face, running down his
cheeks uncontrollably. The doctor walked
out slowly, knowing August would need some time alone. August cried himself to sleep, replaying that
split second he had seen the truck, over and over again in his mind.
Turns
out, the impact of the truck had sent a piece of glass at his vocal cords,
severing them. So, August was a
mute. Also, there were severe scars on
his left thigh and shoulder from the accident, forever reminding him of what
had happened, and how he had lost his family.
He could no longer speak, and he never wanted to. After what happened, he was put up for
adoption. No one really knew his past,
because he never told anyone. Or, I
guess, wrote it.
One day
another kid from the adoption center, a guy about August’s age, whose name was Crevan,
heard August crying from inside his room.
Crevan had bright red hair, and striking blue eyes, and was a good kid,
and always assumed August was just shy.
“August?” He called, opening the
door cautiously. There was August,
laying on his bed, crying his eyes out.
Because August’s vocal cords were severed, his sobs sounded strangled
and gasping.
Crevan
rushed to his side and set a hand on August’s shoulder. August eventually calmed down, thanks to
Crevan. “What’s wrong?” Crevan eventually asked gently when he was
sure August had calmed down enough.
August gestured to his throat, and the scar that was there, and made a
gesture of refusal. Crevan suddenly
understood, and promptly handed August a piece of paper and a pen.
August
and Crevan came to an understanding with each other. Crevan found out about what happened to
August’s family, and said he understood.
His parents were actually murdered during a break-in by accident, when
the robber just intended to scare them when he was little, and that he had been
here a while. August had written that he
was sorry, and he and Crevan started a regular conversation.
The two
became friends, playing basketball together, joking, laughing (August at least
attempted to laugh), and playing sports.
When August go sad, Crevan was there to comfort him and remind him he
wasn't alone. And August believed him.
Thanks for reading my first short story on this blog, loveys!
- Anonymous #3
.jpg)
