This is a narrative about me throughout my most crucial years in high school. I grew up in a little town near the mountains, which were so massive that they seemed to hide an entire world behind them. Because our town's buildings were all connected, the majority of the residents got along well. Children ran and played in the fields while their parents toiled away in order for those same children to have a place to call home. It was a typical city, but my parents despised it, or perhaps despised is the wrong word. They were embarrassed to live in a small town, and they constantly wanted me and my elder brother to go to college and earn high-paying jobs so they could take advantage of their own children. And this is what led to my life's events.
Act 1:
Even though we had a terrible relationship with our parents, my brother and I had the strongest sibling bond. My brother was always someone I looked up to; he had a natural gift, which is why he didn't want to put in the effort. He was a delinquent who formed gangs to cause trouble for students he didn't like at school. He knew how to be a decent brother, even though he was a troublemaker. When he was in middle school, he would miss class to be with me when I was sick. This is why I saw him as a hero. He was someone I wanted to be in the shadow of all the time. I couldn't have chosen my own lifestyle because I didn't know how. I was raised to follow in the footsteps of the herd. My brother, on the other hand, didn't like the idea of this, and he was always trying to persuade me to live my own life. But I didn't want to do that, so I started getting into fights in an attempt to imitate him, but I only ended up in trouble with other delinquents. He'd always come in and try to save me, which resulted in me being bruised and having to go home. My parents would just discipline me for being reckless, so he'd definitely do the medical work for me. He had a horrible reputation but a wonderful, caring demeanor. When he entered high school, though, all of that came to a stop. All of his friends had begun to ignore him; it was high school, and they couldn't risk getting in trouble for fear of being expelled. As a result, my brother abandoned his interest and began doing schoolwork, which he couldn't resist because he didn't want to fail and disappoint his parents.
4 years later:
"Mallory, get up! We're going to be late!" We have to hurry or we'll miss the bus!" I heard a familiar voice.
After a few seconds I realized that it was my beloved brother.
I awoke disoriented, which was strange; I felt nauseous like I had never felt before.
"I'm sorry, but I won't be able to go today." I murmured, "I'm really exhausted."
My brother sighed and walked downstairs to inform my mother of my situation.
My mother stormed into my room, yelling angrily. She began lecturing me on the importance of taking better care of my body. My mother was concerned not because she was concerned about me, but because I would miss a school day, which would result in me losing credits.
Even though I was unwell, I stayed at home that day; it was a wonderful day without having to worry about the stress of school. When my brother returned home from school, though, things changed. It was report cards day, and my parents were the angriest they had ever been when they saw his grades. They talked him down mentally; he was already depressed due to the amount of stress he had been exposed to throughout his life. When he was only 17, he carried the weight of the entire family on his shoulders. His teachers expected him to do outstanding work, and our parents expected him to get good scores.
"I didn't raise you for 17 years only to see you fail!" My mother screamed.
"This is how you repay me for shedding tears, sweat, and blood for you to enjoy a wonderful life?" My father tacked on.
My brother simply sat calmly and accepted the mental jabs. He was more depressed than he'd ever been. They then pretended to cry in front of me, claiming that I was their only chance for success.
One thing I regret is that I never tried to talk to him because I thought he would just get better by the next day, but that was not the case. On that night he gave up on life. I saw him hanging, I was terrified. I saw the person that I was supposed to follow in the footsteps of dead in his room. He couldn't handle being used everyday and having that stress on him. On that day a bird flew out of a cage, to the sky while looking at another bird locked up.
I was heartbroken... I cried and cried till my eyes dried. My parents did not grieve, they were furious because they will be paying for his funeral.
After the funeral, I had to go back to school. It was the last week and I passed my freshmen year so I was on my way to sophomore. After school, I did not have much to do in the summer. My brother was the only friend I played with outside so I was lonely. But that's why I started reading comic books. There was always this one store that sold a lot of comic books and even had a free 5 comics in the back of the store every week because they were unsuccessful. My parents will obviously not give me money to buy them so I took one of the free ones. I was fascinated, I read and read the whole book in a day. I became obsessed with being an artist, it was like I just found an actual dream to achieve. I only read comics the whole summer. I stole some if I had to.
Then, when sophomore year was about to come; my mom asked me with a huge grin "What are you going to be when you grow up"
I was nervous, I didn't know if I should take the risk but I just gave in and said it's all or nothing.
"I wanna be an artist.." I said while looking down.
My mom's eyes became wide open and she started yelling at me.
"NO, you're going to be at a high paying job and not just an artist! Now go and prepare your books so you can make us proud! You'll be far more successful than that failure of a son I had."
My dream was crushed, it felt like my own purpose was taken away in a flash of light. A bird wing was cut off in his cage.
It was the final straw for me. I attempted to escape by rushing down to the mountains, but I was too afraid to cross because I had no idea what was beyond. A gorgeous bird flew towards me, his feathers white and his eyes golden. I was frozen since I didn't know what to do when he landed on my shoulders, so I just stood there. I believed I was dreaming when he unexpectedly began speaking to me, so I pinched myself to wake up, but I soon realized that this was reality.
"Hey, where are you trying to go?" he asked in a high-pitched voice.
My eyes were wide open, my jaws were on the floor, and I had a brief period of silence before responding:
"I- I want to- I want to cross the mo- mountain" I stammer.
He gave me a look before taking off to the north.
I ran and followed him till he came to a halt; by then, I was exhausted and collapsed on the green grass. While laying on my back, I noticed three entities peering at me from above. One was a pale little creature who appeared ashamed, as if they had just done the most heinous thing imaginable. The other two appeared to be polar opposites; one was a demon-like figure with a screwed-up face and a missing leg; he appeared terrified and was holding the hand of his sister; the other was an angel-like figure with a brilliant appealing face, blond hair, and a very confident attitude.
"Can you tell me who you are?" I asked.
"My name is Farnese..." The pale creature answered quietly in the back.
"This is my brother Eden, and I'm Earl." The angel-like woman said.
"And my name is Rei," the bird explained as it flew around the field.
I was nervous about what they would do to me once it was my turn to introduce myself, but I calmed down and did so.
"My name is Mallory," I said, a smile on my face.
I took a look at the place, it was gorgeous; the clean grass field without toxic environments and pollutions, the animals running around freely. The waterfall pouring down from the river, the calm background when you can only hear birds chirping, animals eating and babies playing.
This is truly heaven I thought to myself.