The Sleepwalker

Chapter 1 Meet Anna

It's Sunday 12:30am on October 2nd 1988. Anna Boyle is sitting on her front porch listening to her Walkman. "The Killing Moon" by Echo & the Bunnymen is playing. She has been listening to this song on repeat for days. Most people would think it's weird to listen to the same song on repeat. But she found it very cathartic. Being constantly immersed in the chorus and melodies scratches an itch inside her brain that it craves.

While she listens to the music she lights a joint. She takes the smoke into her lungs and slowly exhales.

Anna has been staying up late since this past summer. She has really grown to love the solitude the nighttime brings.

Anna is the oldest child to a large Irish American Catholic family. She has one sister Maeve and three brothers Patrick, Shay, and Brandon. And soon she will have another sibling within a couple of months.

Although she lives in a big beautiful house, it is full of constant chatter and activity during the daytime. And because she has many siblings, she is not as spoiled as most of her classmates at Middlesex High School. She didn't get her own car on her sixteenth birthday. She doesn't have her own bedroom. In fact, she shares hers with her eleven year old sister Maeve who snores very loudly.

Anna is the oldest child but also female, which means she is expected to be the third parent in the family. When she isn't at school or working at her summer job at the local ice cream parlor she is helping clean, cook, and take care of her siblings. She already feels much older than her classmates.

When Anna did work at her summer job she was able to put some money aside for things she wanted. Cassette tapes, brand named shoes, and weed. Now that it's October, her stash is dwindling. So she is trying to ration out what is left of her stash for as long as she can.

The last few days have been rough for Anna. This past Friday she was trying to get ready for school but her mother kept asking for help with her brothers. All of this commotion caused her to leave her homework on her desk. She ended up getting points deducted from her history teacher Mrs. Holly because she forgot her homework.

Once she got off the school bus and arrived home she planned to start her homework. But as she walked through the front door her mother  asked her to drive her two brothers Patrick and Shay to basketball practice because she had to stay home to sew Maeve's costume for Halloween. She tossed the keys at her and two of her three brothers made a beeline for the station wagon.

She was able to get some homework done while  her brothers had practice. Once she got home her mother asked her to drive to the craft store to get gold sequins for Maeve's costume. By then Anna was tired and very hungry. She could smell dinner on the stove. Begrudgingly she left to pick up the sequins.

Once she finally got home she discovered that nobody bothered to save her a plate of food and dinner was all gone. By this point Anna had enough and finally complained.

"Nobody bothered to save me any food? Seriously? I drove the boys to practice and got stuff for Maeve's costume. And I finally come home and nobody had the decency to think of me?"

Anna's mom chirped in, "We'll maybe you should have made yourself a plate and put it in the fridge before you went to the craft store. You can't expect me to do everything for you."

Anna's rolled her eyes, something her mother hated.

"Don't you dare roll your eyes at me! That is disrespectful."

Anna points to her mother, then at her mother's pregnant stomach, "You know what is disrespectful mom? Expecting your oldest daughter to be your second spouse. I didn't ask for all of these siblings to take care of. And lord knows what you'll expect of me when you pop out that one!"

"That's it! Go to your room and stay there for the rest of the day. How dare you speak to me that way!"

Before Anna left the kitchen she made herself a sandwich, grabbed an apple, and happily went upstairs to her bedroom.

The only time she gets any peace during waking hours is when she is sent to her room as punishment.

Then Anna spent most of her weekend helping her mom decorate the house for Halloween on top of the weekend chores she already has to do.

As Anna was starting to rewind the track in her Walkman, she looks across the street and sees Donnie Darko appearing out the darkness of the night. This caused her to jump out of her seat and drop the joint from her hand.

Once she gets her bearings she watches him peddle out of his yard and make his way down the street.