Don't End Up Like Me

I jumped out of my sheets, awoken by a nightmare too horrid to describe.

I looked at the clock. 4:32 AM. Not a surprise, actually later than usual. I was normally awake near 3:00, but hey.

I got out of bed and turned on the light. I looked around my room, my dirty, unclean room. Grease stains were everywhere, and I hadn't even bothered making the bed for myself. At this point I was either too lazy, or I didn't believe I deserved the comfort of that sort of thing.

There was a book on the shelf. I hadn't looked at it in months, but I took it of the shelf as dust spewed into my face. I coughed and cleared it away, only to find a spider on my snout. I shook it off.

Sitting down on my bed, which made a creak, I opened the book. A folded leaf was inside, thinned to the thickness of a piece of paper. I took it out and placed it on the shelf.

I turned the page. Inside were two pictures. A young wolf, which I assumed to be myself, sitting on some bleachers with a bunch of other animals. They were all smiling.

That is, everyone but me.

The other picture wasn't actually a picture. It was a drawing, a very detailed one made in pencil. It was of a large tree, surrounded by water. Underneath it was a reflection of itself, except this one was colored and there were butterflies and birds flying around it. Now that I thought a bit about it, I noticed that it was a blossoming peach tree. I remembered how proud I was when I made it. I was about 6, maybe 7?

I turned the page.

There were three photos here, all black and white. One was my mother, father, and older brother. The next was just my mother and father and I. And the next just me, standing all alone.

I felt some tears in my eyes, but I wiped them away and hastily closed the book.

I shoved the thing behind the shelf and threw a towel over it. I wasn't going to cry over stupid childhood memories.

I threw on a faded pink dress. It used to be bright and colorful, but now it just looked gray with a tint of the color it used to be. I walked out of my room and into the kitchen. I took some bread from the counter. I saw some mold on it, but I didn't care. I shoved a slice into the toaster. It took multiple tries, but I finally managed to get it to be fully in there. I turned it on and went to the living room.

The TV had been left on. I wondered if it was me, or just a malfunction in the remote. The news was playing. An overweight panda with a turtleneck sweater was jabbering on about how the phantoms may be planning an attack on western Jamaa. I lived in Sarepia Forest, so I assumed that it wasn't that bad for me.

I turned off the TV at the sound of the ready toaster.