Mini Killjoy

Can this be forever?

Olivia's POV

I was awakened by my seven-year-old sister, Charlotte, barging into my room and jumping on my bed.

"Liv! Liv! Wake up!" She squealed, still jumping.

I groaned and buried my face farther into my pillows, "Please go away Char, I'm trying to sleep."

She just giggled and laughed louder.

"Please!" I whined.

She stopped jumping as I let out a relieved sigh, "I only stopped jumping because you said please, but you need to wake up!"

I turned to look at my younger sister. She had dark brown hair wavy, like my dad, green eyes, and freckles around her nose. I have ash brown straight hair, like my mom, blue eyes, and dimples. If my sister was two years older so she could be my age, which is nine, we would be twins because of how alike we look. The only difference between us is the colors of our eyes, and hair, and how one of us has freckles and one of us has dimples. 

"Why do I need to wake up so bad? It's Friday and we're on spring break!" I exclaimed, "I need to recharge."

"Because Liv," Charlotte hopped off my bed, "We're taking a trip to the beach."

"Really?" I shot up.

"Go talk to mom and dad! They'll tell you more,"

I nodded and rolled off my bed, creating a loud thump noise. I groggily walked to the bathroom and hopped in the shower. I decided not to wash my hair since I'm gonna have to after we come back home. Once I finished cleaning myself, I hopped out and brushed my teeth. After that, I put on my sleeveless shirt and big shorts. I combed my hair and gave myself two braids then headed downstairs only to find my parents sitting down at the table having a conversation about their jobs.

"I almost lost a patient the other day, but they were strong and hung on to their life," my dad informed my mom.

"That's amazing honey!" My mom congratulated him.

My dad smiled bashfully at her, then leaned over the table to press his lips into hers.

"Oh!" I exclaimed and frightened my two parents, "my eyes!"

I began screaming about how they blinded me as they laughed.

"Okay, okay, enough nonsense," my dad chuckled and motioned for me to sit at the table, "sit. We need to talk."

I began to get worried. Was it something I did? Am I in trouble? Are we moving? What about my friends?

I guess my parents could sense my worried expression. So they immediately tried to assure me that I wasn't in trouble.

"It's nothing you did if that's what you're thinking," my mom told me which made me relax a bit, "we just want to tell you about some... changes, that are happening here."

"You can not tell your sister about this... she'll only be confused and scared," my dad said.

"Tell my sister what? What's going on?" I began getting scared again.

My dad sighed and began speaking, "While we are on our vacation, this city will be changing. It was on the news today, a corporation called Better Living Industries is trying to turn us into a... Utopia. You know what that is right?"

"A better world," I answered, "an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect."

My mom smiled proudly at me, "Our kid's a genius. We're telling you this because we want you to protect your sister at all costs. We want you to put her life before everyone else's. While you're doing that we will be putting your life before all else's. We love you, Olivia. We want to make sure you're okay and safe. You're a smart kid, and we know that you know what you're doing. We fully trust you, okay?"

I nodded and smiled at them, "Alright. But, you didn't have to tell me to put Charlotte before everyone. I was already planning on doing that."

"You are so mature for a nine-year-old. We're so proud of you." My dad said.

I smiled and pulled both my parents into a group hug. We stood there until a loud boom startled us, and shook our whole house, knocking over some furniture and decorations we had.

"What was that?" I asked, terrified.

"Nothing!" My mother answered way too quickly, "just check on your sister, pack your swimsuit, grab the sunscreen, and hurry back down here so we can leave!"

I did what I was told and checked on my sister. Her door was closed, so I knocked to ask for permission to come in.

"Char?" I called, "can I come in?"

I grew worried as I was met with silence. I knocked again.

"Can I come in?" I started to sound desperate.

I tapped my foot impatiently on the floor and concluded that I waited long enough, before barging into her room.

"Char?" I looked around for her, "Charlotte?"

I checked her bathroom and under her bed, but couldn't find her anywhere. That's when I started getting worried. I speed-walked to my room to check to see if she was there. I opened my door to see a lump under the covers of my bed. I slowly and carefully pulled the covers to find Charlotte under, shaking and crying.

"Charlotte!" I exclaimed, while quickly sitting on my bed and moving her onto my lap, "What's wrong?"

"I-i," she stuttered, "I'm scared! What was that no-noise?"

"Might have been something falling over. We'll be okay, though!"

"How-how do y-you know?"

"I just do, okay? You have to trust me. You have to trust that I will always protect you."

"Alright, I tr-trust you."

"Good, now get your swimsuit on and head downstairs to mom and dad."

"Okay," Charlotte smiled and made her way to her room.

I sighed and searched for a swimsuit to wear. I find my favorite two-piece and put on the (your choice) color one (options at the top). After putting that on under my outfit, I raced down the stairs to see my parents and sister grabbing their belongings and turning off all electronics.

"Come on, Liv!" Charlotte grabbed my
hand, "We're ready."

My dad held the door open for me, my sister, and my mom then raced us to the car. I was first in the car, my mom was second, my dad was third, and my sister was last claiming that "it wasn't fair because she was ready". During our two-hour-long drive to the beach, we sang songs played games, told jokes, and just had an overall great time.

We made it to our destination and parked in an area that wasn't far from the entrance to the beach. Then the fun began.

**two and a half hours later**

We were walking back to the car, groggily. Two hours of horse playing in the sun can drain all of your energy.

While driving back home, you felt a weight on your shoulder. You knew that was your sister sleeping on your arm.

You leaned your head on hers and closed your eyes.

Before sleep consumed, you spoke, "Mom?"

"Yeah, hun?" She asked.

"Can this be forever?"

"We'll see what we can do, honey."

I fell asleep with a smile on my face that night, not knowing that it wouldn't be forever.

WORDS: 1213