A blank strip of light pierced through the curtains’ gap and dissolved the darkness of night lingering in a bedroom as the sound of footsteps shuffled across the ground floor below over the clinking plates being set on a glass dining table, but the ambient noises of a common house were masked by music faintly being played out of the speakers of a pair of earphones dangling off the side of a desk that was littered with books, stationery, and a bundle of electronics. The modest room was by no means empty, but the lack of decorations made it appear particularly spacious. There was neither a single photo nor one piece of memorabilia of significance, every object appearing brand new except for the worn, wooden sword that was slightly curved and indented along its edge with a hilt blackened by burn marks. It had always been beside its master’s bed within an arm’s reach, but it was useless to him, who even failed to detect the intruder reaching over him to draw his curtains wide. The warm, vibrant sun illuminated his bedroom and had begun forging shadows, planted on the face of his house by a tree in the garden whose branches were dry and naked, the last colours of autumn having been plucked out. Seagulls cawed in the distance, but left alone in the skies was one sparrow, fluttering into the garden before it landed on its nest with a caterpillar in its beak. However, it soon discovered that its home was empty. Frantically searching for its chicks, which were nowhere to be found, the bird panicked and began plucking its feathers in grief until it was left cold and shivering, but no one seemed to notice its suffering. The sun glared and the alarm unendingly rang when a voice tried calling his name, but it was too faint for him to hear, still wrapped in the warmth of his cocoon.
The lack of response annoyed his younger sister, who leaned over him and vigorously patted his arm. “Wake up, Armin!” She called him again, but the boy only squirmed more, giving her a false sense of hope. Bothered by his laziness, the girl sharply huffed and snatched his blankets out of his grasp, but knowing that she would try this move, the boy, pretending to be asleep, unexpectedly hugged onto his blankets and made her fall onto his bed with a startled yelp. “Gods, do you want another strike on your name?” His sister reminded him of his attendance as she recovered from her fall.
Facing the undercut of the windowsill, his bicoloured eyes finally opened, green like the verdancy of summer and blue like the ice of winter. As he came to terms with the need to wake up, he slowly sat up and yawned with half of his face warmed by the rich golden yolk in the sky that highlighted his soft, messy brown hair when he rubbed his eyes that had a misty film of tears before peering out of the window. The brightness made him recoil, and while adjusting to the light, he saw a bundle of feathers left over an empty nest, but the sparrow had gone.
The boy returned his focus to the interior, and before him stood his sister with a boyish stance of dominance, which he looked up at. “Elise…?” Her brother mumbled, wondering why she was in his room.
Her straight hair was tied into a ponytail, and she had large, expressive eyes similar to her brother’s, except both her irises were blue. Formal and well-dressed, she wore a white and navy blue skirt and a cardigan, presenting herself as an example to her peers. Aside from their looks, the siblings shared few similarities in their mannerisms, but however much they would like to deny it, their stubbornness was something that they shared.
Empty-mindedly searching for his uniform with his half-asleep eyes, the boy ran his hands along his bed when Elise spotted a page of homework hidden under his books that lay uninked. “You didn’t finish your homework again.” She was sure that it was his slothfulness rather than his lack of knowledge which refused to do it, but as her brother dressed himself, he remained unconcerned by her discovery. Annoyed by the unfinished work, her eyes turned to the pencil lying on his desk. “Fine! I’ll help you just this once!” Knowing that her brother would never complete his assignment in time for his classes, Elise straightened her skirt before sitting down.
Buttoning his shirt, the boy glanced at his sister who was deep in focus and reminded her in his croaky, morning voice. “That’s what you said last time.”
His sister paid him no attention while she worked on his assignment, and their mother, curious about the commotion, peeked around the bottom of the staircase. “Mai, ka kisashin mi a? (Elise, is your brother awake yet?)” She concernedly asked in the language of her homeland.
Elise reached the final question of the assignment and decided not to answer her mother just yet, focusing all her energy on this single problem. However, she realised that, based on how schools typically structured their tests, the answer was likely more obvious than she had expected. She quickly scribbled down her calculations in her brother’s handwriting before slipping his papers into his schoolbag so he would not forget to take them to class.
She finally relinquished his pencil and rose from her seat to answer their mother. “Kei! (Yes!)” The girl dashed out of her brother’s room and hurried down the stairs, excited for breakfast.
Slipping into his black blazer and pulling a pair of socks up to his knees, the boy sighed, slouched over as he stared at his sword drowsily. It was the fifth day of the week, meaning the weekend was not far away, but he still had a whole day of school ahead of him that he dreaded going to, but he had to, lest he find himself in the headmaster’s office for skipping class again. His window rattled, and a slight draught entered his room, its breeze caressing his back when he decided to rise from his bed. He trudged into the corridor and drifted around the corner of his doorway before spinning into the bathroom, where water from a tap began to flow.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmEJoTTMVB
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