This is chapter eleven (or so I’ve been told) of a story entitled The Other One. To start at the beginning, click here.

No matter how much time is spent sleeping on a couch, it’s still sleeping on a couch. It’s never actually restful, and even when it feels great  at the time, when you get up you feel like you’ve missed the entire night and you’re bitter at the world for making you feel this way.

At least, that’s how I was beginning to feel on this particular day after waking up on Alex’s couch. I had slept well and peacefully for the most part, yet the actual waking up process was painful. I was suddenly longing for a nap in an actual bed, though I hadn’t been awake for more than five minutes. I figured that wasn’t a good sign for the rest of the day.

I had wandered over to Alex’s house the previous evening at Jenn’s encouragement, and as it turns out, it was great for both of us. It was a temporary break from the chaos around us, and I think we somehow both needed it.

We watched stupid movies and played stupid old video games and for a brief moment, had more of a teenage brother relationship than we ever had when we were actually teenage brothers. It helped me out tremendously because for a little while, I felt totally at home and at peace. I was able to enjoy a stupid evening of doing nothing with my brother, and that’s all the evening needed to be. I didn’t want to have to strain to think of things to say or do, I just had to sit down and hang out.

I didn’t have to think hard about what to say. I didn’t have to be a shoulder to cry on. I just had to be an opponent in a video game, nothing more. That was something I was sure I could handle. Continue reading “December 27th”

This is chapter ten of a story entitled The Other One. Wow, ten chapters? Really? That can’t be right. Anyways, to start at the beginning, click here.

Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

We had exchanged gifts, but it was more of a formality than anything else. The normal giddiness of ripping off the colorful paper was noticeably absent. It felt as though it was supposed to be a distraction from the tension of knowing a family member was hospitalized, but the presents were failing miserably at their purpose. We went through the motions, said thanks, and moved on as if it had to be finished before we could do anything else with our lives.

There was still no word on Bryce. He had become stable, had some trouble, then stabilized again. As far as we could tell, he wasn’t in severe trouble, but doctors had to pay close attention to him and still couldn’t tell what the problem was.

We could spend time in the waiting room. We could bring food and drink to Alex and Rachel. We could bring them changes of clothes. We could do all of these little things, but best we could tell, all we could really do was wait.

I chose to wait at my parents house, on the couch, isolated. I felt frozen, honestly. I had no idea what good my presence would be. I had some words I could share with Alex if he needed them, but really, those words only felt appropriate if things took a major turn for the worst. All I really knew was sorrow, I guess, and the waiting period was something I never could understand.

So this couch, by myself? That’s where I belonged. A place I could understand. Continue reading “December 26th”

This is chapter nine of a story entitled The Other One. To start at the beginning, click here. Merry Christmas! If you … Continue reading December 25th

This is chapter eight of a story entitled The Other One. To start at the beginning, click here.

“Well if Christmas Eve gets boring, let me know! I’m sure I can help  ”

I never got around to responding to that message. I mean, even a “Sure will!” would have been a enough of a response, but for whatever reason, I stayed silent. Oh well, I’m sure at some point, I would think of a way to move past the stalemate I got myself into.

Truth be told, Christmas Eve was boring. It was one of those days where the thrill of seeing everyone again had almost worn off, but the excitement of Christmas wasn’t quite here yet.

So I found myself on the couch, watching whatever animated special had come on at whatever random time of the day, all the while staring at that one text message. I guess I hoped at some point I would just have no other choice but to respond and see what happens, but until then, it looked like another airing of A Christmas Story lied ahead for me.

My phone buzzed. Strange, considering the rest of the family was here at the house and Alex wasn’t supposed to stop by until dinner. Maybe it was somebody back in New York? I hadn’t actually spoken to anyone up there in a few days. Either way, I was confused to say the least.

“Great! Why don’t you meet me downtown for coffee? :)”

Oh no. My fingers had betrayed me. I had already replied and didn’t even realize it. And I guess I’m going downtown now.

And why does she insist on including smiley faces? Continue reading “December 24th”

This is chapter seven of a story entitled The Other One. To start at the beginning, click here.

Sleeping til the afternoon wasn’t supposed to be a habit during this visit, but I apparently wasn’t trying to fight it. Of course, you don’t really have much of a choice when the night before involves concerts going late into the night and visits to Waffle House that last hours longer than you planned. And as my eyes started to slowly creep open and I thought back on the entire evening, there wasn’t a single exhausting moment I honestly regretted.

The walk down the stairs was much more difficult than I expected, though, particularly when there was little sleep and great need of caffeine. The world I discovered at the bottom of those steps greatly rivaled the sleepy world up above, and the only thing I wanted out of my day was an opportunity to relax and recover. The final step was filled with an overwhelming feeling that I should have stayed in bed.

“Well THERE you are!” Ashley would have been this excited at five in the morning. “You’re already late. Come on, hurry up and get ready.”

“Yeah, good to see you too. Late for what?”

“Christmas shopping! Come on, I need to pick up a few gifts and you are helping me.”

I paused for a moment. I know I hadn’t been good at time management the past few days, but surely my sister didn’t just say we were going Christmas shopping.

“Ash, uh….shopping? It’s already Christmas Eve’s Eve. Aren’t you running a little behind?”

“Why do you think I’ve got helping with me, silly?” Ashley was somehow making me feel like the idiot in this situation. “I only need to grab some stuff for the other men in the family. You’re easy to take care of.”

“Gift cards?”

“Gift cards.”

“Cool.” It was good to be so well understood. Continue reading “December 23rd”

This is chapter six of a story entitled The Other One. To start at the beginning, click here.

It was probably only a few minutes, but it felt like I spent two hours staring at my suitcase, trying to remember what was appropriate to wear to a concert in a bar. Or maybe I was figuring out what was appropriate to wear when invited to a concert in a bar by an attractive female whose motives for inviting me I didn’t understand.

Either way, I was partly terrified of going out with a group of people I didn’t know, but none of my begging had convinced Ashley to drop her plans and tag along. I was flying blind, dressing slightly nicer than normal and just hoping I wouldn’t do something dumb enough to require leaving early.

The show was some twenty minutes away in Jackson, the capital of the state. Growing up, there were always places in Jackson we went and places we didn’t. Our little suburb had what we needed, and the things we didn’t were safely in particular areas of Jackson. It wasn’t so much that my parents were afraid of the city, but when you have children, I think you just start to get a bit more paranoid than you were before.

There was something about the city, though, that had definitely changed over the years in the name of Progress. There was the old mall that we used to shop at because it was closer. Then, it became a place you only went to if you were interested in being stabbed, and we had to drive slightly farther to the “new” mall. However, this “new” mall has since been replaced by bigger and flashier malls farther outside the city, making it a place people didn’t care to enter.

Progress kept pushing things farther and farther out of the city, and people on the outside started to get more and more afraid of the places they had abandoned. The reason for their fear never seemed to cross their mind. Continue reading “December 22nd”