Henry

another short story piece for creative writing class

 Henry

I am running; running as fast as my legs can take me.  I don't know what or why I'm running.  I don't even know if I'm towards something or away.  Everything is black and white, completely devoid of color.

"Henry!"

I hear my name off in the distance, but I'm still running.  I let out a cry, hoping the voice will find me.

"Henry!  Where are you?"

The voice is closer this time.  The ground beneath me is splitting and I leap to the side to avoid falling into a giant crevice.  The sky is melting away.  Everything is falling apart.

"Henry!  Wake up, lazy boy!"

My eyes slide oped and I see Jacob staring down at me.  I look around and let out a breath, realizing that it was just a dream, and I'm still in my bed in our room.

"Come on.  Mom's getting out breakfast."

Jake runs out of our room and I assume he is going down to the kitchen.  I lazily make my way out of bed, stretching my muscles and shaking off the last bits of sleep.  I glance down at my comfy bed.  As soon as Jake leaves I am so getting back under the covers.

I make my way downstairs and head towards the kitchen.  Jake is already sitting at the table eating his eggs and bacon.  I sit down, not worrying about my breakfast yet.  I know I'll end up eating half of Jake's anyway.

Mom, known to everyone else as Sharon, comes over and ruffles the top of my head.

"Good morning, Henry.  About time you got up."

I shrug her hand away in return.  She knows I like to get my extra sleep on Monday mornings.

"Mom, can Henry and I go to the park after school? Please!"

Mom looks skeptically at my pleading brother while I silently beg her as well.  I've learned that it's best to let Jake do the talking for us.  He has a better way with words that I do.

"Are you going to do you homework first?"

"Can I promise to do it afterwards?  Please, Mom.  Henry and I need the exercise!"

Mom chuckles at that excuse.  Jacob is a whopping 80 pounds at the most. I'm pretty sure I weigh more than he does.  I'm pretty sure I could eat something bigger than him.

"Okay, you can go."

"Yes!"

Jake jumps up to hug mom while I jump up and down.  The park is our favorite place.  We even have a secret hideout that only we know about.  We found it by accident back when we were both really young.

It was winter, though I'm not sure of the date.  I just know it was really cold and it was getting late.  We had been at the park all day and hadn't been paying attention to the time or the weather.  Before we knew it, it was dark and snowing.  The wind had picked up, making it even colder.  We tried making our way home, but we couldn't figure out which way to go.  Eventually we found a small opening in a circle of bushes.  We climbed through, trying to find shelter from the cold.  While it was still cold inside the bushes, it was definitely not as cold as it was outside.

We huddled together there until Mom and Dad came and found us.  They were worried sick and crying, but happy to have finally found us.  We were just excited to be going home.

Ever since that day, every time we go to the park, we go straight for the hideout.

I lift my head as the sounds of the bus pull me out my memory.  I nudge Jake as a warning, same as I do every morning.

"Mom!  Bus is here!  I gotta go!"  Jake grabs his back pack and runs out the door.

I make my way towards the window and watch as he gets on the bus.  I hear Mom walking up behind me but I don't turn around.  I wish that I could go with him and be able to learn new things like him.  Mom puts her hand on my back and I look up at her.

"I know you wish you could spend all day with him.  But he'll be home soon."

I let out a whimper.  She doesn't get it.  I hate being stuck here all day.  Jake gets to go to school, Mom goes to work and out with her friends, and Dad even gets to go on plane rides to other countries for work.

"Hey, boy.  Do you want to go for a walk?"

My tail swishes violently as I jump up to lick Mom's face.  Maybe being a dog isn't all bad!