In the never ending sea of darkness, a small fragment of light suddenly flickered into existence. The light slowly expanded, almost as if consuming the endless pitch black, replacing it with an all too familiar sense of warmth.
I recoiled under the embrace of that warmth, trying to deny its hold on me; but it was already too late.
*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*
It was a sound I knew all too well. A sound that made all hope drain from my body, filling me with nothing but resignation. It was my alarm, telling me that my night of blissful sleep had come to a close.
I reluctantly opened my eyes, and was immediately assaulted by the blinding light of the sun. The sudden pain caused my body to jolt upright, making me retreat from the sanctum that was the comfort of my bed.
I took a glance at my room, it was the same as usual. The room gave the sense that it was devoid of any life. The air carried a slight chill that would constantly make your skin crawl in a subtle sort of way. With the only source of warmth coming from the rays of light that peeked through my curtains, allowing me to see wisps of dust motes here and there.
I half-heartedly got up from my bed and made my way to the washroom to get my day started. I turned the faucet on with warm water and rinsed my hands, sending comforting shivers through my body. I decided to enjoy this feeling a little longer and took a glance at the mirror.
Call it a little egotistical, but I quite like staring at my reflection. Nothing's wrong with admiring yourself, sometimes you gotta be your own hype man. It took me years to get my jet black hair to the length it was today. A little longer than what guys usually have, but not long enough where I'd be mistaken for a girl.
While I was lost in a trance, appreciating myself, I felt something that resembled a log hitting my ass. I turned to see that it was my little sister, looking at me with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.
"How long are you gonna be hogging the bathroom, you narcissist? Go stare at yourself somewhere else!"
"You ever heard of first come first serve? Just shut up and wait. And stop hitting my butt all the time."
She gave me a look of utter exasperation. Like I had just said something fully despicable.
"What are you talking about? How am I supposed to do that? It's just so… THICK!"
I gave a sigh of indignation. I just don't get how she can be so energetic in the morning, or at all really. Even though my little sister can be an annoying piece of shit sometimes, these little moments are entertaining in their own way… I guess.
I made the motion of shooing her off, as if she were nothing more than a feral animal.
"Gimme 5 more minutes and I'll be done."
"Okay~."
I watched her waltz back into her room and joyfully hop onto her bed.
If you didn't want to get out of bed, you didn't have to get up just to harass me, brat.
I couldn't help but smile.
"Get that stupid smirk off ur face, it's ugly."
"Whatever, just go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when I'm done."
After that, I quickly got to doing my morning routine. I brushed my teeth, rinsed my face, did my hair in a messy middle part type of style, and dried myself off with a towel.
"I'm done, the washroom's all yours."
"..."
No response. Just what the hell does she think she's doing? She came at me with all that bravado just to go back to sleep. How the hell does she even fall asleep that fast?
I barged into her room and took a glance at her repulsive face. A wicked grin suddenly made its way to my face, and I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle over what I was about to do next.
I reached my hand towards her, and quickly veered off into the direction of her blanket, taking hold of it and pulling on it with all my might. Almost as soon as the blanket left her body, her eyes shot open and she instantly reached out and grabbed hold of it before it could be completely taken away.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I said I'd wake you up, and I'm doing just that."
"I don't care! Give me my blanket back, you stupid old man!"
It looked like we were in a stalemate, but that's what I wanted her to think. It was gonna be funnier if I gave her a fighting chance of getting her beloved blanket back, just to take it away at the last moment.
As it looked like she was about to successfully take the blanket away from me, I yanked on it with all my might. The inertia caused her to fly off her bed and tumble onto the floor, without even the soft embrace of a blanket to cushion her fall. A complete and utter defeat.
"NOOOO! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!"
She leapt off the ground and started flailing her arms around for the blanket. But before she could close the distance on me, I grabbed her face with my hand to keep her away, and put the arm holding the blanket over my head. It was quite the pitiful sight if you looked at it from the outside.
I couldn't help but let out a genuine laugh. The thought of my sister fighting an unwinnable battle, crying, screaming, and complaining is a joy only an older sibling could understand. But it seems I got too overconfident. While reveling in my complete victory, I felt a sharp pain course through my entire body.
I pulled the hand that was holding her back and looked at it. I saw deep bitemarks penetrating my flesh, and in their wake leaving nothing but a sharp pain. I looked at my sister in sheer shock.
"What the hell is your problem?! You're 13 years too old to be biting still!"
"Well, maybe you should stop bothering me next time!"
Before I could say anything back to her, a voice from downstairs reached both of our ears, permeating the space around us.
"What's taking you guys so long? School is about to start!."
My sister flinched, and my smile faded.
The once playful and loving atmosphere that had filled this room suddenly froze, as if hell had frozen over. It was like the concepts of warmth and happiness were sucked away, replaced by an air that could leave deep gashes on your very soul.
What a killjoy.
I couldn't help but let out a genuine sigh of annoyance.
It was the voice of my mother.