Marching resolutely onwards head-first through the brisk night sky, I'm swiftly provided a stark reminder of natures dominance as a savage gust of wind slices mercilessly through my fragile skin, instantly sending heart-rendering shivers tingling down my spine. The usually cheerful and vibrant streets lay eerily deserted, the only audible sounds either the rain crashing down upon the earth or the occasional stray dog desperately seeking refuge from nature's indiscriminate and unstoppable fury.
Nervously raising my hands towards the heavens, the cooling droplets of rain twinkle brilliantly in the light of the lone street lamps, temporarily illuminating my path ahead before evanescing into a enchanting pool of nothingness. All of a sudden the beautiful emerald viridescence of Lucy's entrancing eyes flash across my mind, my old friend De-Ja-Vu deciding the time has arrived to make his highly anticipated return.
"Quite an eventful day," were Lucy's words if I remember correctly; Never had a statement been so unknowingly true.
The steadily increasing rumble from the impending storm forces me to quicken my pace. Were man to have an infinite number of attempts in his conquest against nature, nature would forever triumph. Whilst the familiarly warm lights from my humble abode draw ever closer; I'm reminded of a suitably fitting phrase, the winds of change have arrived culminating in a final outcome almost impossible to predict. Although if the slightly immoral and evidently hormone-driven images of Eve lying soundly asleep across my chest, Rea sensually licking her lips and Lucy sitting comfortably above my waist are indicative of my inevitable future, it's definitely a future worth embracing.
Finally stood upon the threshold, I raise my hand towards the door handle yet a moment of hesitation forces a hasty retreat, a speculative reaction built upon a sudden rush of excitement as opposed to a nervous feeling of trepidation. Drawing a deep breath provides the required composure as I assuredly push down upon the handle and (as if an imaginary veil was lifted from my eyes), the hidden wonders within are instantly revealed in all their brilliant splendour.
Momentarily lost in thought, words which feel intimately familiar yet altogether completely foreign begin reverberating repeatedly within my mind:
"My story remains unwritten yet I fear not the unknown, for progression is my weapon, intelligence is my shield and therefore onward I'll strive. The future maybe unwritten yet my destiny remains firmly within the palm of my hands."
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"Welcome home my dearest Onii...That rapist-style grin of yours suggests you were having lewd thoughts about your innocent baby sister!!!" Eve suddenly reclined away in dramatic fashion, theatrically throwing her arms around herself as if in protection against sexual assault. Though clearly a ruse, the slight truth unknowingly hidden within her words required a brisk tactical shift in conversation.
"Aren't younger sister's dutifully required to show respect towards their older siblings??" Cleverly disguising my intentions as I walked nonchalantly towards Eve; Upon reaching my sister's side I instantly reached my hand towards her exposed skin, subsequently running my icy cold and rain-soaked hand down the back of her neck before swiftly taking cover behind the couch. The deafening sound of Eve's piercing shriek a definite signal of my tremendous mistake.
Nervously gazing out from just behind the couch, I suddenly had the inescapable feeling of an extremely unlucky dear frozen in fear from the oncoming head-lights, only able to stand in wait for the final cruel moments remaining on our beautiful yet unforgiving planet. Mean-whilst Eve's murderous gaze never wavered from my direction as I instinctively gulped and began praying for rain.
Though thinking back I'm unsure:
A) How rain would have been particularly useful in my current situation.
B) When the last time was rain had occurred indoors, as of yet I remain unable to summon forth rain from the heavens, (though I've never tried a rain dance....One for the future?)
"Here, NOW Onii." Not having blinked once, (in similar fashion to an owl....Wait do owls blink??? Never mind), Eve had neither provided me with any other viable options nor was she willing to accept tardiness. With little to no opportunity to escape from within these four unbreakable walls, I trotted begrudgingly towards the spot Eve was pointing towards and forced my eyes tightly shut, bracing myself in contemplation for the divine retribution this cruel mistress was about to bestow upon my poor soul.
Opening my left eye slightly open proved to be a huge error in judgment. Catching the tiniest glimpse of Eve's onrushing hand and subsequently being inflicted by the overwhelming feeling of being forcibly drowned in bitingly cold water; Causing me to cough and splutter much to my baby sisters overbearing hysterical amusement.
Finally kneeling over in a desperate attempt to catch my breath and hopefully wrestle back a small measure of composure, I suddenly underwent the feeling of becoming completely devoured by some type of vicious and gigantic fluffy creature as my surroundings turned as black as Dracula's non-existent heart.
"Dry yourself off with the towel Onii....Your messing up my lovely clean floor!!" Hmm I guess a towel makes substantially more sense then having a gigantic fluffy creature thrown upon me by my own gorgeous yet slightly psychopathic baby sister.
Slowly dabbing my rain-drenched clothes with noticeable disdain, I made sure to stick my tongue out towards my unequivocally hysterical sister before languidly strolling upstairs, (theatrically sticking my fingers up in an inverted V sign behind my back).
Comfortably sitting upon my new 16 trillion spring bed, (in fact that's literally just the price of the mattresses of today), finally warm and dry within some recently ironed pyjamas, I was suddenly drawn towards some vehement knocking from beyond my door.
"Come in whatever evil Ass-hole awaits outside my humble lodgings." Eve strolled in with her tongue playfully sticking out in my direction, gleefully throwing herself onto the bed just beside me with barely a moments hesitation or thought; On a side note, being this insatiably and undeniably cute whilst gazing towards me with those familiar sparkling bright blue eyes and infectious smile is so undeniably pleasurable I'm convinced it should be illegal.
"You took your sweet time tonight Onii, is there anything you wish to relay to your beautiful baby sister?" Countless years spent suffering alone, caught up in a vicious and endless cycle of self-absorbed denial compounded with misinformed hatred and soul-crushing depression. I had almost forgotten the infinite warmth derived, not only from conversing but also just being within the general vicinity of such a positive and incredible person. So much so I'm even ready to forgive the fact that she recently turned her Onii into a walking puddle (though in fairness I may have slightly deserved that punishment).
"That depends my annoying little baby sister, how long do you have to listen?" Eve instantly pounced on me, playfully pushing me down on the bed before laying close beside me. Propping her head with her hands whilst smiling sweetly, the familiarly sweet scent of lavender instantly entrancing my every possible sense:
"All night long my dearest Onii....All night long."
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If your lucky enough to have the powers of recollection able to recall information from sixteen long chapters ago, (or perhaps in your infinite wisdom the more inventive viewers amongst yourselves may choose to simply re-read the first 2 chapters), you'd inevitably happen across statements whereupon I reference my pathetically limited attention span. A seemingly unavoidable consequence due to my lazy and laid back nature, the number of exceptions to this rule I could literally count on one hand, (my recent run-in at Miss Hardy's humble abode and sitting in extremely close proximity to my sister Eve in Adventure World).
However whilst recounting to Eve my unexpected kiss with Rea, Lucy's (completely accidental) risqué fall and finally reaching home before the storm reached a fever-pitch, I almost felt as if the two of us had become magically relocated to a mythical dimension whereby time had little or no meaning. To Eve's credit, my utterly enthralled baby sister participated whole-heartedly throughout my prolonged and slightly exaggerated speech, fully utilising her extensive vocabulary of auditory comments consisting of "Oooo," "Ahhh," and "Mmmmm," occasionally including her own melodramatic hysterics and highly inventive mockery, (I actually felt a teensy bit proud of her).
Upon finishing my slightly "jazzed-up" version of events, the familiar beep from my Galaxy smart-phone signalled the requirement to draw our highly enjoyable impromptu conversation to an abrupt close, (in simpler terms it was now 11:00pm on a school night and I was struggling in my pathetic attempts just to keep my eyes open).
"Onii?"
"Hmm?"
"Would you mind...If I slept here tonight?" Eve's unexpected hesitant words failed to automatically register within my sleep-deprived brain, drawing a slightly dumbfounded and extremely confused expression across my face:
"Why would you want to sleep here?"
"We haven't had a sleepover for like 10 years....I just thought it might be nice." Regardless of my weary and energetically defunct state, I retained my unerring ability to recognise subtly improvised answers.
The second piece of homework for you unflinching voyeurs is to attempt to recall my initial revelation in regards to said ability. As a clue this was roughly around the time of my humble introduction...Hahh and you peons thought the days of scheduled homework were safely behind you upon graduating from your respective educational institutions....How wrong you were!!
"There's only one bed in here though." (Cough excuse my slight diversion from narrative abilities as we promptly return to our feature film). My reference towards having only one bed was a manifestation of curiosity in regards to the motivations behind Eve's obvious misinformation, coupled with my own nervous inhibitions stemming from recent dangerous hormonal thoughts regarding my own precious baby sister.
"I'll get the sleeping bags, well sleep on the floor K?" With those final emphatic words, Eve joyfully bounded towards her room, returning fully clad in her favourite pink and white bunny pyjamas with two sleeping bags grasped gleefully in hand. Carefully sliding my deceivingly-heavy nightly mechanism of slumber towards the corner of the room, (regardless whether my sister is currently the more physically able between the two of us, asking Eve for help would destroy what little I had left of my testosterone-fuelled pride), before wearily laying some sheets above the floor (dragging that stupid bed halfway across the room required more effort then I imagined); Waiting momentarily for Eve to finish laying the sleeping bags side-by-side across the floor before flicking off the lights.
Wearily sliding into my respective sleeping bag I found myself hopelessly unable to curtail my curiosity, stealing one final speculative glance towards Eve's awe-inspiringly captivating figure before she became completely enshrouded within the thick coat of darkness currently enveloping my room. With a heavy sigh, (and with my arms laying outside the bag so as not to sweat buckets throughout my nightly slumber), my breathing began to slow as my eyelids faded towards a close in preparation for the inevitable. However a sudden burst of warmth flowing through my palm and deep within my very lifeblood, forced my eyelids to retract whilst simultaneously my heart-rate shot from zero to a hundred, coincidentally coinciding with Eve's hand tenderly becoming wrapped over my own.
"Eve??? Is everything OK??" My hushed words were met with a deafening silence, broken only by Eve's oddly cute breathing coupled with the intense pounding of my heart deep within my chest. Exhaling a large swath of air had a distinct cooling effect upon my lungs as I glanced longingly towards my sister seemingly sound asleep close beside me; Her sleeping bag rhythmically moving with every delicate breath escaping her flawless lips. Eve's grip around my hand eventually loosened however the warmth from her touch had penetrated deep within my soul as I began silently praying she'd never leave my side whilst autonomously entwining my fingers tightly between hers.
"Good night Onii." Eve's tender yet unexpected words jolted my eyes wide open as I nervously released my grip around her hand. Had I unknowingly stepped over the sacred forbidden boundaries??
"I.....I thought you were asleep?"
"I know you did, all part of the plan....Siscon." Eve's joyous giggle under her breath instantly drew a wide grin deeply embedded with relief across my lips, (though completely invisible due to the lack of light....At least I hope it's invisible!!)
"Hey no fai.." However in typically unsurprising fashion Eve interrupted my words mid-sentence. My cheeks instantly burning ablaze as Eve slowly leaned over and planted a warm kiss across my right cheek, the beautiful smell of Lavender completely intoxicating my nostrils as I momentarily closed my eyes and exhaled whilst revelling in this blissful moment.
Countless thoughts, memories, images, spoken and unspoken conversations began reverberating within my mind as the thought of falling asleep drifted further and further away.
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Lying there unmoving (Eve's definitely asleep this time believe me I checked), gazing towards the various shadowy images dancing their eerie voodoo rituals across the ceiling whilst the flickering lights from the occasional car or HGV raced towards an unknown destination from just behind my curtained portal; All of a sudden a single yet extremely dangerous thought crept silently and completely unnoticed towards the back of my mind:
Perhaps being a Siscon isn't such a bad thing after all??