My Family
My family lives together in one house. We don’t go outside much, but we play games and do activities every night. Wednesday nights are the best because that’s when we have Talent Show. My cousins and my brother and me put on skits and sing songs, and then at the end of the night, my dad tells us a story. Sometimes his stories are really scary, like one time he told us a story about a meteor that’s gonna hit Earth, but that we shouldn’t be worried because he’s gonna protect us. My dad is 55 years old. He met my mom when she was 17, and my grandparents didn’t like that, so they don’t talk to them anymore. They got married in our house, and my uncle was the priest. I was born 7 months later on September 27th. I never met my grandparents because my dad said they don’t count as family. I have one brother named Michael. My brother’s mom met my dad at a shopping mall when she was 16. My dad and her got married in our house. My mom was still pregnant with me, so I didn’t get to see it, but my mom said I was still technically at the wedding. My brother was born 3 months after me on December 31st. His mom said he’s a “New Year’s Baby.” The other people living in our house are my uncle, his wives, and my cousins. My oldest cousin is four years old. His name is Andrew, and his favorite color is green. He’s my uncle’s first wife’s son. Originally, he was supposed to be twins, but my dad told them they could only keep one, so they picked Andrew. I asked my dad what happened to their other son, and he said he lives on a farm now and that we aren’t allowed to visit him. My aunt said he would’ve been named Jack. My other cousin’s name is Sarah. She’s my uncle and his second wife’s daughter. She’s two years old, and she can’t talk yet. My dad said if she doesn’t start speaking soon, they aren’t allowed to keep her. ... Last night, my dad called a family meeting and told us we all needed to pack up because the meteor would be here soon. My uncle asked where we were going, and my dad said he had a space ship in the woods, and we’d all board it and go into space. My mom packed my brother and me a bag and said we could take one toy with us. Since we left for the woods on Wednesday night, my mom said we could have Talent Show in the car. I sang a song my dad wrote when he was younger. My mom really liked it, but my dad told me I had to be quiet so nobody would hear us. My little brother started crying on the way there so his mom gave him some apple juice to make him go to sleep. We had to walk really far into the woods to get to the spaceship. My feet started to hurt, but my dad said I wasn’t allowed to complain or I wouldn’t get to go to space. We left my brother in the car because he didn’t wake up when we shook him three times. We got to where my dad said the spaceship was, but it wasn’t there. My uncle started swearing at my dad, so my dad shot him with a gun. Then, he shot my aunts and threw their daughter against a tree. My other cousin ran away into the woods. My mom started crying so my dad hugged her and told her it was going to be okay and that he had a backup plan. He said that our souls could still go into space without a spaceship, we just had to close our eyes and sit in a circle and count backwards from 10. I don’t know why, but my mom stopped counting after she got to seven, and my brother’s mom after she got to six. I kept counting, but I only got to two before my dad put something up to my nose that made me fall asleep. ... I woke up because I felt water running in my nose. The doctor said I’m lucky I didn’t drown because the river was moving so fast. He said my mom and my brother’s mom weren’t so lucky, though. He said they were able to wake up my brother and that he might be able to go home in a few weeks, but we weren’t gonna live with our dad anymore because the police arrested him. I finally got to meet my grandparents. They live in Wyoming on a ranch. I live with them now. It’s really fun. They have lots of animals like goats and chickens. I miss my brother, though. He lives in a special home because he can’t breathe on his own anymore. My grandparents said I get to visit him in the Spring, and if he’s doing better maybe he can come live with us. I asked them if we could visit my dad, but they said it’s not a good idea. They said I’m safe now, and that he can’t get me as long as they’re around. Grandma tells me stories at night. They’re not as scary as my dad’s stories, and they always have happy endings. I’m really glad grandma and grandpa are in my family again.