The st dregs of sun illuminated the sky from beyond the horizon, as the low hum of my engine was joined by the crunch of gravel beneath rubber - an unneeded welcome as I pulled into the driveway. Bringing the steel beast to a halt and silencing its beating heart, I let out a lengthy sigh accompanied by the stress of another long day.
I sat there for a moment, my mind wandering from the events of that day to the monotony of life as a whole. I couldn’t stay like this. My thoughts were cut short when I noticed the glow from the kitchen window momentarily darken; my return had been noticed. I took a breath and stepped out of the car, grabbing my work bag and heading into the house, not looking back as I locked the vehicle behind me.A warmth washed over me as I stepped through the door, shortly accompanied by a plethora of scents: I had left some meat in the slow cooker before I left for work and that was thoroughly tenderised. The vegetables and a sizeable pan of mashed potato were simmering away on the stove, being tended by a familiar face.
My sister Opal, yet another one of the trials left behind by our parents for me to look after while they were away. Judging from her casual clothes, she’d been let out of school early today, considering she would normally be home barely a half hour before me; I suppose that’s Friday for you. While I didn’t enquire too often - we both had our own lives and rarely discussed them at home - she seemed to be getting on fine. With decent grades and a solid social life - something I had sorely missed out on in my formative years - she appeared happy enough for someone approaching exam season.“‘Sup”I was snapped out of my drifting thoughts, providing a polite nod of acknowledgement before helping to dish up dinner. I’d change out of my work stuff ter, probably taking an early night and grabbing a shower in the morning. Sitting down at the table, the exhaustion of the day was evident for both of us as we ate mostly in silence. Wanting to be a responsible guardian and older sibling, I attempted to initiate polite conversation;“So, how was school?”“Okay I guess”“...any pns for the weekend?”“Was gonna hang out with some friends in town.”
Well this conversation was falling ft pretty quickly…
“Want me to drop you off somewhere then? I need to do some grocery shopping anyway.”“Eh, sure. Around noon, so you should have plenty of time to mope around in the morning.”I took slight offense at that, but she wasn’t exactly wrong; recently I had been spending my days off just wandering aimlessly round the house, unless there was something that needed doing.
The rest of dinner finished with no further communication, and I cleaned everything up while Opal double checked her homework and school stuff for the following week. We crossed paths briefly after I finished loading the dishwasher, but no more words were exchanged that evening. Leaving my sister to her own devices, I washed myself up and went to change ready for bed. I had definitely been fgging the st few weeks; ever since our parents left on their trip; but I don’t think it was the isotion or responsibility or any other direct consequence of that. Something had been bothering me for as long as I could remember and it was simply becoming more prevalent now I had the extra time for introspection. I y back into the mattress and let my thoughts wander to something outside of my own mind - they settled on the past week at work, and one person in particur.***
My friend- no, colleague, Cire, was certainly an interesting young woman. Although calling her that felt odd as she had a couple of years beyond my own age of barely nineteen. I’d started out as a library assistant a half year back now, and she had been assigned to my training despite predating myself by not even a year in the position. While her outward presentation was a bit unusual (somewhere in the vicinity of mild goth? Fashion styles were never my strong suit) which did take a few of our older customers off guard a few times, she was a very kind, outgoing person and an effective teacher.While it was true my social life had suffered throughout my teenage years, my academic success was more persistent and I finished fairly near the top of my css. Nonetheless, adapting to the environment of a job - my first one at that - was still a challenge that Cire had helped support me through. She had an almost infectious level of confidence that led to more than one occasion where I had gotten cocky and almost messed up before asking for help, and overall I would have been gd to call her my friend, if I knew how to make those any more.As the pull of sleep drew closer, I found the likeable characteristics of my coworker circling around my mind. The personable charm, the confidence, the can-do attitude… All things I had lost or never had.The darkness drifted over my mind as I found myself uttering a st hope of that day:“I wish I was more like her…”
Seraphoenix
